Krajowcy

The Krajowcy (Polish pronunciation: [kraˈjɔft͡sɨ], Fellow Countrymen or Natives;[1] Lithuanian: Krajovcai, Belarusian: Краёўцы) were a group of mainly Polish-speaking intellectuals from the Vilnius Region who, at the beginning of the 20th century, opposed the division of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into nation states along ethnic and linguistic lines.

The Krajowcy attempted to maintain their dual self-identification as Polish–Lithuanian (gente Lithuanus, natione Polonus) rather than just Polish or Lithuanian.

[3] The democratic Krajowcy wanted to neutralize ethnic strife and proposed the creation of a civil society in the former territory of the Grand Duchy (principally Lithuania and Belarus), which would include Lithuanians, Poles, Belarusians, Jews, Ukrainians, and other nationalities.

The democratic Krajowcy either lukewarmly supported or opposed the Polish federalists who dreamed of resurrecting the Polish-led Commonwealth.

[7] After the outbreak of World War I, and especially after the re-establishment of the Polish and Lithuanian national states, members of the Krajowcy were hard-pressed to hold onto their dual self-identification and had to declare their loyalty to one country or the other.