Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost strategical points in frontier zone (Smolensk, Polotsk), as a result of wars against Russia, which were waged in XVI century. These yields showed the direction of Moscow’s expansion, toward Baltic Sea. Stefan Batory’s campaigns let the Commonwealth to regain Polotsk Province and Livonia. In the period of so-called Dymitriady Polish-Lithuanian state exploited the Moscow’s difficult position, taking Smolensk (1611) and, thanks to Deulino truce, lands of Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk. Moscow was unable to regain its lost territories in the time of war, waged in 1632–34 and only after thirteen years war (1654–67) took contested lands. Besides them, Russia won Left Bank Ukraine with Kiev (Andrusovo Treaty, January 1667), what was confirmed in peace treaty in 1686. The Commonwealth lost the rivalry with Russia in that part of Europe, since it was not able to conduct more active policy in the East, because of the King John III Sobieski’s engagement in conflict with Ottoman Turkey together with the Holy League....
Ceremonial has always played a great role among European and Middle Eastern societies, reflecting the value systems cherished by their elites. Embassy instructions and envoys' reports provide valuable material concerning codes of behavior in early modern diplomacy. What was considered "proper," and how was an envoy expected to behave in order to stress his sovereign's dignity and power? Oriental courts in Istanbul and Bahçesaray developed elaborate ceremonials for foreign envoys. Forced into a deep prostration before the Muslim ruler, sometimes even threatened with physical violence, Polish envoys deeply resented their humiliation. Some of them sought comfort in alcohol, others produced fabulous reports of their imaginary altercations with Ottoman and Crimean dignitaries, and others found pleasure and revenge in contemptuous descriptions of their hosts' "barbarous" habits. Until recently, such diplomatic reports have been used in Polish historiography almost uncritically. Yet such reports often tell us more about their authors' mentalities than about the world they pretend to describe....
This is a paper presented at the meeting organized at Paris in 2012 to commemorate the 50 years of activity of the Center of Polish Culture at Sorbonne. The Center was organized by Bronislaw Geremek, an eminent Polish historian who played an important political role in the anti-communist movement many years later, and who became the Minister of Foreign Aff airs after the communism. Both Universities established the Center to facilitate contacts of Polish and French social scientists, difficult at the time of communism. The Polish communist government encouraged this endeavour to smooth the contacts with France, which seemed more independent from the United States than other Western countries. Polish social scientists used this political conjuncture to built contacts with their French colleagues, especially from the “Annales” school. Fernand Braudel wanted to know the Marxist historians
from the East and he appreciated the Polish historical school. The Poles seemed him more reasonable than Marxists from most other communist countries. Quai d’Orsay looked with relative optimism to changes in Poland after 1956, so they facilitated the implementation of Braudel’s ideas. Most probably, Warsaw University was the unique University in the Eastern bloc to have such a center in Paris already in 1962.
After the fall of communism the Polish-French contacts are not as important for Polish social scientists as they were before—for the simple reason that the contacts with most other countries are easy today. Let’s hope nevertheless that the Polish French common programs will continue....
Masowa emigracja zarobkowa z ziem polskich przed 1914 r. wywołała żywe dyskusje. Wzbudziła obawy o przyszłość narodu. Winę za spowodowanie tego zjawiska i jego narastanie przypisano m.in. agentom emigracyjnym, czyli pośrednikom sprzedającym bilety na okręty do Ameryki. Wiele przestępstw i nadużyć, które były nagłaśniane w prasie, potwierdzały ten stereotyp. W niniejszej pracy został on poddany analizie i zestawiony z opiniami samych emigrantów. W pracy podjęto również próbę rekonstrukcji i opisu kontekstu społecznego, struktur, zależności i metod działania składających się na pracę agentów emigracyjnych. Zarysowano także problem znaczenia działalności agentów dla emigracji w poszczególnych jej fazach w porównaniu z tym, jaką rolę odgrywały inne czynniki....
One of the main purposes of historical education at post-secondary school is to present to students history of Europe understood as a common civilisation. According to their opinion, the fact thatKievan Rus’ had received the Christian faith from Byzantium—in contrast to its western and northern neighbours—made the country enter the circle of Eastern Christianity. At the same time the authors present their opinion that the formal cleavage of Christian civilisation took place only in the 11th century, and a civilizational separation of Kievan Rus’ was forced by the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. As a result, the culture of the Grand Duchy of Moscow—and its successor, Russia—differed immensely and was isolated from Europe. Russia preserved its specificity both after the reforms of Peter the Great and in the 19th century, when it was a great European power playing a key role in the political arena of contemporary Europe....