After Poland regained independence in 1918, it was of great importance to gain recognition and international visibility as a modern state. In this matter nothing is as convincing as circulating images across the world of new investments and flourishing cities with crowds of happy young people on the streets. That’s one of the many reasons…
The life of Zawisza is shrouded in mystery. However, the few surviving sources allow us to conclude that he earned his legend honestly. Modest beginnings Zawisza’s father, Mikołaj from Garbów, came from middle knighthood. He held the position of Master of the Horse in the Land of Sieradz. This type of official had the…
The first years of the reign of Stanisław II Augustus, who was elected king in September 1764, abounded in events that polarized the political life of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Close to the king, the reformatory political faction called Familia was centered on representatives of the magnate families of Czartoryski and Poniatowski. The direction of the…
The uprising of 1846, also known as the Kraków Uprising, was one of the most tragical Polish uprisings. Drawing inspiration for their acts from the Polish Democratic Society (Towarzystwo Demokratyczne Polskie, TDP), the insurgents were preparing their attacks in all three annexed territories at the same time. They wanted to rouse the Polish peasantry to…
The leftist Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) and the nationalistic National Democracy (Narodowa Demokracja) were the two most powerful Polish pro-independence groups established towards the end of the 19th century which continued their political activity in the 20th century. Among the most prominent figures in the first one was Józef Piłsudski (pseudonym “Ziuk”),…
This document, known as the Union of Krewo (also, the Act of Kreva), was issued on August 14, 1385 by Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), Grand Duke of Lithuania, as the outcome of the negotiations he had conducted with the Polish lords acting on behalf of the child queen Jadwiga (Hedwig), and Jadwiga’s mother Elżbieta Bośniaczka (Elisabeth…
