On January 22, 1863, the Polish ‘Central National Committee’ proclaimed the outbreak of an uprising and issued a manifesto whereby it proclaimed itself the Interim National Government. The document appealed to all the inhabitants of the former Polish-Lithuanian Rzeczpospolita (Commonwealth), within its pre-partition borders, to fight against tsarist rule for liberty. The manifesto heralded the...
People wrongly believe that as of 11 am on 11 November 1918 the ceasefire was called and peace restored. This was not the case in Central and Eastern Europe where one must instead speak of ongoing hostilities and violence, says Bartosz Dziewanowski-Stefańczyk from the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity. Why the years 1918-1923 were times...
Of all the Polish insurrections in the 19th century, the January Uprising is still an emotional topic. There are many reasons for this – not only was it the largest of the Polish uprisings, but also the most significant in terms of its long-term results. On the one hand, the January Uprising is very symbolic...
Kris Van Heuckelom is Associate Professor in Literary Theory and Cultural Studies at the University of Leuven (Belgium). His well-written and informative study Polish Migrants in European Film, investigates the long-running tradition of Polish migration, with its developments over the course of a century. The starting point lies in the partitions-era, the “Great Emigration”, when...
