Poland and Japan: The Imagined Communities?

According to historical literature about Japan and Poland, the XIX Century was a turning point in defining those two countries ––nationhood. Poland was shaping its nationhood in the times of great strife the loss of independence in 1795, the period of “Spring of the Nations” and finally liberation in 1918. In Japan, respectively revolutionary changes had occurred that impacted the core of polity and society. The Shogunate system had been abolished, and in a political vacuum, the Emperor regained seat of his power with the strong notion and necessity for “Westernization”. This paper will attempt to shift the discussion from the Western-centric debate of the nation; that is undoubtedly vast in literature and at the same time accenting modernity as the motor of western nations evolution; into the territory of newly established nations (Japan and Poland) and their unprecedented, corresponding growth.