In the spring of 1871, when Adolphe Thiers’ government fled to Versailles and the capital was engulfed in the flames of revolution, between four and six hundred Polish émigrés volunteered to fight under the red banner. Most of them had already experienced the smell of gunpowder, so they became the elite of the communard army…
Poland reborn after the First World War faced a host of challenges. In particular, the issue of the nature of the constitution provoked a heated debate in the country. The overriding aim of the Act was not only to consolidate the state after the years of partition, but also to create a solid foundation for…
Bronisław Geremek was a man of many passions: history and politics were the most important among them. His political achievements are much more noticeable because of their social impact and significance for the Polish state. Geremek embodied the successes of the foreign policy of post-1989 Poland: the country’s accession to NATO and the European Union….
The ordeal of Polish Army officers, policemen, prison and forest guards, intelligence and counter-intelligence agents as well as Polish administrative staff in the Easter Borderlands began on 17 September 1939. It was then that the Red Army invaded Poland, belatedly implementing the arrangements of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939. Soviet captivity awaited around…
King John III Sobieski is remembered as the commander of the victorious armies on the battlefield at Vienna. Yet this brave and talented commander was also a man of deep feelings, as evidenced by his love letters to his wife, Marie-Casimire de la Grange d’Arquien (Marysieńka). by Piotr Abryszeński Marie-Casimire came from the old…
When the First World War ended, the independent Polish state was born. However, although the state was formally established, its borders were still far from being determined. This was not an easy process, as there were various political, ethnic, historical and economic arguments that needed to be taken into consideration. At certain points, some of…
