"I wrote this letter in the Chamber during Hohenwarth’s fine speech…’ Family correspondence as a source for research on Polish political life in Vienna during the constitutional period (1861–1914)."

Abstract

This article is concerned with using the source potential of private correspondence to study the lives of everyday Galician Polish people in the capital of the Habsburg monarchy's constitutional period (1861-1914), especially their political activity. Reaching for this type of documentation, especially family correspondence, makes it possible to identify many phenomena that are usually overlooked in the field of everyday history or political culture. Such is, for example, the role of women in political life, the impact of emotions and moods on the activity of political elites or questions of mentality. The catalog of research questions and approaches can be expanded.