“This world is arranged in such a dreadful way that not even the most tender sighs can replace statistics…” observed Bolesław Prus, one of Poland’s greatest writers. The author of the novel Lalka knew what he was writing about, as his income from literature was supplemented by working in a statistics office set up by…
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 question posed in the title is provocative, but it also refers to a special episode in history. Two states, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Electorate of Saxony, whose history, traditions, political systems, and social relations had been different until 1697, and which did not even share a common border, became united in a personal…
Three hundred years ago, a new political era began in Poland. A party was formed whose aim, apart from gaining and maintaining power, was to westernise the state. The Czartoryski family and its allies wanted to transform the consciousness of their compatriots, make radical changes in education, the judiciary, finance and the military, as well…
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…
Appropriate behavior is required during various social and business meetings and those who lack good manners are perceived negatively. It was similar in old Polish times when it was believed that everyone should have proper manners. The expectation was thatpolan everyone should be treated with respect and courtesy, although each party must always bear in…
