Marian Kukiel’s oeuvre is one of the milestones of Polish military historiography. Together with Wacław Tokarz, Marian Kukiel was a co-founder of this discipline. His monumental work on the War of 1812 is an important contribution to European Napoleonic studies. The researcher’s qualities included versatility and diligence. He was a soldier, politician and promoter of…
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…
He died on 19 October 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig – the decisive Battle of the Nations. The battle decided the fall of the First French Empire, and destroyed many hopes and dreams of reestablishing a sovereign Polish state in Europe. Józef Poniatowski, until the final days of his life, refused even the thought…
The black legend of the ‘god of war’, who died aged just 51, had even fewer supporters in partitioned Poland than in France. Only in the Polish anthem does his name appear: ‘Bonaparte has given us the example of how we should prevail’. by Wiesław Chełminiak Was it stomach cancer or poison that killed…
