Remembrance of the Battle of Varna in Polish historiographic sources until the end of the 16th century

The aim of this article is to trace the means of presenting the Battle of Varna in the Polish historiographic sources until the end of the 16th century. Particular attention was given to such narrative elements as: issue of oath-breaking by the Christian side, information on Poles participating in the battle, formation of king Władysław’s remembrance or establishment of the Jagiellonian Dynasty as the defender of Christendom (which was associated with the conviction of Poland’s unique role in Europe as the Bulwark of Christendom). The article also indicates functions which the recollection of the memory of the Battle of Varna could have played throughout the period of more than a hundred years, particularly in the context of cultural memory.

The Prussians are attacking the Wawel castle – plans of Cracow defence in the spring of 1793

At the beginning of 1793, the Prussian army marched onto the territory of the western provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, executing the plan of the Second Partition of Poland signed in Saint Petersburg. Due to the lack of information concerning the maximum range of the annexation in the early spring, the Confederate authorities started to fear that Cracow might be taken too – by Prussia or by Austria. Thus, general Józef Wodzicki was tasked with securing the city. However, he had to face the fact that there was no possibility of planning his actions around the fortifications and that he had only modest forces at his disposal.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 is traditionally called as the “Liberation War” by the Bulgarians. The conflict led to gaining freedom from the “Turkish Yoke” and started creation process of the modern Bulgarian state. The Turkish perspective on these events is significantly different. The War of 1877–1878 is remembered through the lens of the tragic experience of refugees (muhajirs) and the suffering of the Muslim civilians linked to the pogroms, emigration and exile. The paper will focus on the depiction of the fate of civilians during the conflict in contemporary Bulgarian and Turkish historiography, in which the topic is marked not only by the reliability of historical research, but also by the presence of stereotypes (as is the whole history of the 19th-century Christian-Muslim relations in Bulgaria).

Pacifism and anti-militarism in Western Europe, 1918–1939

As the consequence of the events of 1914–1918, the pacifism was on the rise in Western Europe. Societies of England, France and Germany as well as other Western European countries, set themselves the goal of preventing another war from breaking out. International congresses and conventions were organized. They were attended by peace advocates representing various social and political views, which made cooperation difficult. These meetings did not prevent the Spanish Civil War, the aggression against Abyssinia and the outbreak of World War II. In addition to moderate pacifists, Western Europe was also home to radical anti-militarists who believed that way to the world peace led through the abolition of military service. The pacifists in Britain and France were satisfied with their politicians’ submissiveness and indecision toward Hitler during the 1930s. Pacifism and radical anti-militarism also fitted perfectly into the plans of the Comintern. With its help, the USSR weakened the military potential of Western Europe.

This study examines decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice and their impact on the German-Polish dispute. It considers how international jurisdiction approached the question of minority protection and how the efficiency of this experiment in international justice was extremely influenced by political motives and contrasting political visions. The fragile balance between legal and political aspects was evident, and despite the efforts of the Court, political interests prevailed. It will be argued that the problems of the minority system and the German-Polish controversies proved that the international institutions could only provide the states with a support in settling their disputes: international stability could only be guaranteed by sincere mutual cooperation among the members of a community of states.

Formation of a nationwide research and development facility for the tobacco industry – establishment of the Central Tobacco Industry Laboratory

The text presents the establishment circumstances of the first nationwide research and development institution for the tobacco industry. The need to create such an institution dealing with workings of the broadly understood tobacco industry was felt from the beginning of tobacco cultivation in Poland, and especially after the regaining of the independence. After World War II, the matter became even more urgent due to the fact that the cultivation of tobacco was of great importance for the Polish economy and the consumption of tobacco products was constantly growing. It is difficult to talk about a modern tobacco industry without a specialized research and development facility with qualified personnel of scientists and appropriate laboratories. Long-term discussions as to the form and manner of organization of said facility were crowned with the establishment of the Central Scientific and Research Institute of the Tobacco Industry in 1951. It was intended to then later be replaced with the Tobacco Industry Institute, but instead, the Tobacco Industry Research and Control Laboratory was first established in 1954 and in 1956 it was transformed into the Central Tobacco Industry Laboratory with its seat first in Warsaw and then in Cracow-Czyżyny (until 2004).

Between culture and nature: Some considerations on the perspective of life history

Life history is a term that in the historiography is usually assigned to the Italian school of micro-history. However, it is in fact a concept typical for the natural sciences, where it is a framework designed to examine life history strategies as well as life cycles. Analysis of life history has become the subject of numerous studies around the world and has been gaining in popularity in social sciences. The author presents life history as a possible research strategy for historical studies which allows the incorporation of both natural and cultural approaches. The author draws inspiration for the perspectives of life history research from the examples of recent research into the history of modern Poland.

* Artykuł powstał w związku z realizacją projektu Fundacji Centrum Kopernika „Humanistyka w dialogu”, finansowanego ze środków Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego w ramach programu „Dialog”; nr umowy 0239/DLG/2018/10. Jego angielska wersja ukaże się w specjalnym numerze „Historyki” (2021, t. 52, z. 2) przygotowanym z okazji XXIII Kongresu Nauk Historycznych w Poznaniu, w VIII 2022 r.

[Eugeniusz Quirini de Saalbrück], Kirkcaldy: Polish Christmas in Scotland in 1940

This text is an edited source material that is a part of the memoirs of Certified Colonel Eugeniusz Quirini de Saalbrück (1891–1978) from his stay in Scotland in his capacity as a cultural and educational officer in the Polish soldiers camp in Kirkcaldy during World War II. The text is an account of a Christmas celebration organised for Scottish children on 19 December 1940 under the supervision of Col. Quirini in the local Rio cinema. The original text is part of Col. Quirini’s estate that is in the possession of his family.