Business сontacts between the residents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Cossack Hetmanate in the first half of the 18^th century

The paper analyses the relations between the citizens of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Hetmanate in the first half of the 18^th century. People living in various Ukrainian territories which formerly belonged to the territory of the Commonwealth still maintained regular educational, cultural, economic and social contacts over the state and confessional borders. Living in two different states didn’t block family communication, especially in the near-border regions. The usual practice of money credits, which the article focuses on, indicates direct and sufficiently trustful business contacts between representatives of Polish-Lithuanian voivodeships and Cossack regiments.

The paper sums up the results of a project realized by thirteen prominent Czech scholars. The project involved a discussion of priestly identities in the Czech lands at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The outcome of the project is a book entitled Priestly Identity in the Czech Lands (1820–1938), which is now in print. We understand the term identity to mean a form of belonging to human society defined by a person’s self-consciousness, i.e. the experience of what an individual thinks or feels. By following the latest research in psychology, social psychology and psycho-history, we perceive identity to be both a personal and social phenomenon. For the requirements of our research we understand identity to be predominantly a historical phenomenon. The project is part of a Central European research on identity that deploys biographical and generational methods. The researched types of priests seem to be particularly suitable for this method as the Czech society is characterized by secularization, separation of the national movement from Catholicism, conflicts between the Czech and German populations, modernist movement and foundation of a national Church in 1920.

The Sejm speeches of Prime Minister Władysław Grabski and ministers of his second government during the debates over draft laws

This article presents the Sejm speeches of prime minister Władysław Grabski and ministers of his second government during the debates over draft laws. The text consists of three parts. In the first section, all speeches delivered by members of the Council of Ministers in the Second Polish Republic’s Sejm of the first term were analysed. This review made it possible to present the relevant statistical information. In the second section, the work of Prime Minister Grabski and his ministers in the Sejm (especially in the context of the reform of the State Treasury) was reconstructed. The third section of the article outlines the participation of the government’s members in the legislative processes initiated by the deputies and clubs of deputies.

Wacław Jędrzejewicz as a military attaché and head of the Polish legation in Tokyo (1925–1928)

Wacław Jędrzejewicz (1893–1993) was the longest surviving member of Józef Piłsudski’s closest entourage. During his lengthy life Jędrzejewicz served his fatherland in a wide variety of ways. The main focus of the article is the period between 1925 and 1928, when he served in Tokyo as the first Polish military attaché, subsequently becoming the head of the Polish legation in Japan, due to the vacancy for the position of deputy. During this time Jędrzejewicz actively worked towards establishing a closer relationship between Poland and Japan. Among his many initiatives was strengthening of the joint anti-USSR activity of the Polish and Japanese intelligence. He was also an attentive observer of Japanese politics and the accounts he sent to Poland remain a valuable resource for any researcher of Japanese interwar history.

A brief outline of cooperation between the staff of the Polish Libraries outside the country and the Polish University Abroad (PUNO) in 1952–1989

Personal relations between volunteers of the Polish University Abroad (PUNO) and workers from the Polish Library in London, and in the 1950s and 60s also from the Polish Library in Paris, played an important role in shaping the history of these institutions. People associated with these bodies relied on one another due to their career history, mutual associations and political situation after 1945. The relationships were evident in completing the multiple projects in the academic field, and in building the émigré community. PUNO also relied on the knowledge of the librarians, such as Dr. Chowaniec, Director of the Polish Library in Paris, and Dr. Danilewicz-Zielińska, Coordinator of the Polish Library in London, while conducting research. Later on this cooperation was carried on by PUNO graduate Dr. Jagodziński. The relations between both libraries and PUNO enabled all these institutions to develop into leading cultural establishments which cherished political independence outside the communist-dominated Poland.

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and the policy of the Italian Communist Party

In 1968 the process of reforms in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had been deterred. The Italian Communist Party (ICP) was carefully observing the events of Prague Spring. The party governed by Luigi Longo associated high expectations with those events hoping for a significant change in all the countries sharing the ideological concept of People’s Democracy. The intervention by the forces of the Warsaw Treaty caused a shock among the Italian communists. Togliatti’s heirs found themselves in a difficult political situation. This article unveils the circumstances of those developments from the ICP perspective: beginning from positive relations with the representatives of the new path in Czechoslovakia, through the intervention up to normalization. Those events are analysed in the context of relations between the “vanguard of communism in the west” and USSR authorities. Can it be said that the year 1968 was decisive for ICP in terms of international politics and its autonomy from Moscow?

The question of the Polish western border and the German reunification in the international policies of the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1989–1990)

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the main problem in the international policies of Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s government was to guarantee the Polish western border before the reunification of Germany took place. In the face of Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s opposition to the idea, the Polish government undertook a wide diplomatic action trying to convince the leaders of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France to make the governments of the FRG and GDR initiate a border treaty before the reunification of both German states. Finally, Mazowiecki’s government managed to safeguard the participation of its representative in the Two Plus Four Conference, at which the conditions for the reunification were established. One of them was about the confirmation of the border between Germany and Poland and abandonment of any territorial claims in the future.

The register of the Polish captives in Crimea from the year 1649

The register of the Polish captives in Crimea taken during the Khmelnytsky Uprising comes from the letters of the Brandenburgian diplomats in Warsaw: Andreas Adersbach and Johann von Hover­beck. Those letters are stored in GStAPK, located in Berlin-Dahlem. The register contains about 150 names, mainly cavalry unit companions and officers, taken captive during the Zhovti Vody campaign (21^st April–16^th May 1648) and battle of Korsun (26^th May 1648). It describes the place of their hostage, sometimes mentioning the amount of ransom. The register was probably made in the first half of 1649, and could have been ordered by Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. It might have been used by the Ruthenian voivode to prepare a special list for the Crown’s finance office, which contained the names of the captives and exact amount of ransom needed to be paid for them. This list is mentioned in the documents of the military commission which was held in March 1650.

Some comments on Fr. Dariusz Wiśniewski’s book Europa i islam w średniowieczu. Konfrontacja i współżycie

Fr. Dariusz Wiśniewski has prepared a book on the confrontation bewteen and coexistence of Latin Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages. As we can read in the introduction, the book is addressed not only to scholars but to a wide spectrum of non-professional readers as well. In fact, the author managed to present some aspects of the very complicated and still actual problem of cross-religion relations in a way that can meet the expectations of more demanding readers. He pointed out and explained some of the most important consequences of the development and expansion of Latin and Muslim societies in the Mediterranean region before the fall of Acre in 1291. One may criticize the author’s decision on the choice of theterminus ad quem. The collapse of the Crusader states in Outremer is not the most important turning point in the history of the relations between the Latin Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages. Thus, we can treat Fr. Dariusz Wiśniewski’s book as an interesting and inspiring, but definitely not final, voice in the important and still open discussion on this intriguing problem of medieval history.