Romantics such as the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people—das volk. It was through folk songs, folk
poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist) was popularised. So collecting and recording these forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building. The emphasis on
vernacular language and the collection of local folklore was not just to recover an ancient national spirit, but also to carry the modern nationalist message to large audiences who were mostly illiterate. This was
especially so in the case of Poland, which had been partitioned at the end of the eighteenth century by the Great Powers—Russia, Prussia and Austria. Even though Poland no longer existed as an independent
territory, national feelings were kept alive through music and language.
(i) They used music to keep their unity and identity. Karol Kurpiniski kept up the national struggle by staging his Polish operas and music.
(ii) The Polish people used dances like "polonaise" and "mazurka" making them nationalist symbol.
(iii) In the region of Russian occupied Poland, the Polish language was replaced by Russian language [in schools and Russian language was imposed everywhere. As a rebellious act, the Polish used their own language to develop nationalist feelings.
Language was also used as a weapon of national resistance in church gatherings and religious instructions. Even though a large number of bishops were put in jail or sent to Siberia as punishment.
The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance. In 1831, there was a Polish armed rebellion against the Russian rule but the rebellion was crushed.
