A blonde, her eyes were blue, her complexion unusually white. She was not very tall, but shapely and with a delightful figure.’ Such was the description of Marie Walewska’s appearance by Napoleon’s butler. The Polish woman was to captivate the ‘god of war’ from their very first meeting. According to many researchers, Marie Walewska was…
The end of World War I was greeted with relief throughout Europe, but in most countries this was accompanied by profound disillusionment with the political and social establishment which had brought it about. Such feelings led to revolution in Russia, Germany and Austria, and violent unrest in France, Great Britain, Italy and elsewhere as many…
In 1916, it was the third year of the Great War, and there was no end in sight to the military struggle. All sides of the conflict were looking for new allies, although it was not so much about gaining more political supporters as it was about, above all, gaining more soldiers. For soldiers were…
“Do you know what a Polish sandwich looks like? Two slices of bread and a ration card for the meat in between.” That was how Hungarians used to joke around in the 1980s. However, Poles did not feel like laughing at the time. To buy sugar, cigarettes, shoes, petrol and many other goods they needed…
In the 1980s and 1990s, his songs were known and sung by everyone in Poland. His song “Walls” became the anthem of Solidarity and a symbol of the struggle against the communist regime. Jacek Kaczmarski was not just a “bard of the opposition” but also a charismatic poet, prose writer, and composer. by Jan Hlebowicz…
In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongol tribes, united by Genghis Khan, created the largest land empire in history, stretching from Vietnam to Rus’. The Asian warriors were feared and seen as horsemen of the Apocalypse. Poland’s geographical location made it a gateway through which the invaders tried to penetrate deep into…
