The Influence of Adam Czartoryski’s Foreign Policy Thinking and
Agent Network on National Movements in Serbia and Bulgaria
Katalin Schrek
University of Debrecen
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Hungarian Historical Review Volume 15 Issue 2 (2026): 188-220 DOI 10.38145/2026.2.188
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861), a leading Polish political emigrant and scion of one of Poland’s foremost aristocratic families (who even held the hereditary title of prince), recognized early in the nineteenth century that the survival of Central and Southeastern Europe’s small states depended on regional cooperation, especially considering the geopolitical pressures of the Russian, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires. His view of politics was strongly influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution, his time in Russian service, and the lessons of the Polish uprising of 1830–1831. He established the Hôtel Lambert in Paris as the political and organizational center of his activity, and over the course of the 1830s and 1840s, Czartoryski built up an extensive international network, which was also very active in the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan Peninsula.
The network, which consisted of political émigrés, intellectuals, former military officers, and experienced diplomats, provided support to the Balkan national movements fighting for independence. It operated mainly from Constantinople and Belgrade and sought to promote political cooperation in the Balkans. The aim was to strengthen national ideologies and weaken the influence of regional powers, most importantly the Habsburg Empire and the Russian Empire. The purpose of the efforts of Czartoryski’s network in Serbia was to stabilize and strengthen the internal political system. In Bulgaria, the network focused primarily on supporting the movement for the establishment of an independent Orthodox Church and the Uniate Church. The discussion below examines the changes in Czartoryski’s thinking about international relations and the regionally differing mechanisms of his network of agents in the Balkan Peninsula, as well as the long-term effects of the efforts of this network on Balkan national movements.
Keywords: Czartoryski agents, diplomacy, Balkan Peninsula, nineteenth century, geopolitical strategy, Balkan national movements