Communism, which was imposed on Poland in 1945, elicited society’s opposition and resistance. The economic crisis that was becoming increasingly severe in Poland from the mid-1970s, coupled with the growing consolidation of opposition milieux, led to an outbreak of societal discontent in the summer of 1980. Initially, the protests were characterized by uncoordinated strikes in…
The double attack on Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR in September 1939 led to the effective dissolution of the Polish state. Although Poland lost its sovereignty, its legal authorities continued to function, organising the Polish armed forces in France and later in Great Britain. Under these circumstances, the primary aim of the Polish…
From 1385 onwards, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania functioned as two separate states ruled by a single monarch. Initially, only Poland favoured the idea to deepen the union. In time, however, the Lithuanian szlachta (gentry/nobility), seeking to acquire political rights similar to those of the Polish szlachta, came to support the concept. Lest…
On 25 June 1976, in response to a price increase announced by the government, strikes and demonstrations were organized in a number of workplaces across Poland. The most notable disturbances involving workers occurred in Radom, Ursus and Płock. Social protest was brutally crushed by the milicja, the Polish People’s Republic police, and by the Security…
Rafał Lemkin (1900–59) was an outstanding criminal law expert of Polonised-Jewish descent. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the John Casimir University (Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) in Lwów. He contributed to the codification of the Polish penal law, and analysed criminal legislations of the totalitarian regimes of Italy and Soviet Russia. In 1933, he…
Krzysztof Makowski, professor from the Faculty of Historical Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, was unanimously elected vice-president of the International Committee of Historical Sciences during its general assembly. The association focused on research in various areas of historical sciences, established in Geneva in 1926, is composed of 54 national committees, 31 international…
