Language aroused the national sentiments in Europe. For instance, the Grimm brothers collected folktales in the German language to oppose French domination and create a German national identity.
The vernacular language carried the nationalist message to a large number of illiterate population. In the case of Poland, even after its partition, the nationalist feeling was kept alive through language. The imposition of the Russian language on the Polish people faced heavy resistance. Russian domination was also challenged by Clergy in Poland. It issued all religious instructions in Polish. As a result, many priests and bishops were put in jail. Thus, language became a weapon of national resistance and a symbol of the struggle against Russian domination.
