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Pocket History of Poland - ebook

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Data wydania:
1 stycznia 2019
Format ebooka:
EPUB
Format EPUB
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Pocket History of Poland - ebook

„Pocket History of Poland”, to książka powstała z materiałów wykładu o Polsce w trakcie projektu mobilności europejskiej na Maderze. Pozycja jest dedykowana przede wszystkim obcokrajowcom, którzy wiedzą na temat naszego kraju niewiele.
Książka opowiada historię Polski jakby w trakcie przyjaznej pogawędki przy kuflu piwa. Takie podejście, wg autora, jest najlepszym sposobem na zainteresowanie czytelnika i pozwala na dobre zrozumienie niełatwej historii Polski. Książka obejmuje legendarne pochodzenie kraju i jego mieszkańców.
Zabierając czytelnika w podróż przez czasy osadnictwa, średniowiecze, Polskę mocną i okres okupacji aż po sprawy bieżące, „Pocket History of Poland” opowiada historię Polski od nowa, z humorem, jednak utrzymując powagę ważnych wydarzeń historycznych.

The history of Poland is unique within Europe, in that it must be contextualised within its relations with its often more powerful and aggressive neighbours. From the early days of the Piast dynasty through to the dark periods during the 20th century, Poland and its inhabitants have had to contend with oppression from both the east and the west. This has contributed to a tumultuous history and formed a steely national character. It is therefore unsurprising that in 1804 the fledgling Haitian state selected the Poles as one of the very few Europeans permitted to reside and own property in the new republic. The Haitian slaves turned revolutionaries felt a kindred spirit with Poland, with first president Jean-Jacques Dessalines referring to the Poles as 'the white negroes of Europe'. It is this story, of overcoming adversity and oppression, that Dariusz Sirko explores in The Pocket History of Poland.

From its mythic origins through to its Machiavellian medieval period, and more well-known struggles against totalitarian regimes, The Pocket History of Poland tells Poland's history in its entirety. While this may seem daunting, Sirko imbues the text with his own humour and keen eye for metaphor and euphemism, making it an utterly compelling read. Such is the author's deep appreciation for Poland's national story that moments of levity and wonder are presented appropriately, while the darker elements of Polish history are treated with the gravitas that they deserve. I was particularly struck by the passage focusing on the Smolensk plane crash of 2010, in which President Lech Kaczyński and many others lost their lives. This recent event clearly affected Mr Sirko deeply, which is borne out within the text. While contentious and challenging, the way in which the fallout of the crash is discussed clearly taps into a contemporaneous national mood of anger and frustration, and will be easily recognisable to a person from any nation that has lived through a period of national mourning.
From a personal perspective, my desire to work with the author on this project was motivated by my own heritage. My grandfather was born in Lublin in 1931, before moving first to Wadowice in 1936 and then to Edinburgh on the onset of the Second World War. I have always had a desire to learn more about my ancestors, and working on the English language text of The Pocket History of Poland was a fantastic way to gain a closer connection to my own family's past. Therefore, I can wholeheartedly recommend the book to Polish expatriates and people of Polish ancestry who want to learn more about the history and culture of Poland, in a conversational manner that has been designed to appeal to English speakers. Equally there is much for Polish nationals to learn, with Poland's legendary origins and medieval history of courtly intrigue befitting of a Hollywood reinterpretation. Regardless of your own personal situation, if you are seeking a light read that will both amuse and inform, I would highly recommend The Pocket History of Poland.
(Josef Butler, freelance historian, editor to The Pocket History of Poland).

Kategoria: Popularnonaukowe
Zabezpieczenie: Watermark
Watermark
Watermarkowanie polega na znakowaniu plików wewnątrz treści, dzięki czemu możliwe jest rozpoznanie unikatowej licencji transakcyjnej Użytkownika. E-książki zabezpieczone watermarkiem można odczytywać na wszystkich urządzeniach odtwarzających wybrany format (czytniki, tablety, smartfony). Nie ma również ograniczeń liczby licencji oraz istnieje możliwość swobodnego przenoszenia plików między urządzeniami. Pliki z watermarkiem są kompatybilne z popularnymi programami do odczytywania ebooków, jak np. Calibre oraz aplikacjami na urządzenia mobilne na takie platformy jak iOS oraz Android.
ISBN: 978-83-951649-1-0
Rozmiar pliku: 2,2 MB

FRAGMENT KSIĄŻKI

Pocket History of Poland

More praise for Pocket History of Poland

This is a wonderful book, to learn about History of Poland in one day. A great travel size book, perfect for any history buff

Harshal Vaper, Media & Communications

Professional, NYC

I recommend reading this Pocket History of Poland as an example of work of art in which individual patterns and European themes merge together giving birth to an easy and pleasant inquiry tool

Riccardo Bravi, lecturer of Italian language at University of Hanoi, Vietnam

A Must-Have Pocket guide for getting acquainted with and interested in Poland’s history. Recommended to read before starting to plan your next trip to Poland!

Katerina Popovska,

NGO SFERA MACEDONIA

FRSP was Sirko’s Sending Organization for an EVS project in Teatro Metaphora — Associaçao de Artes. Sirko’s book is the easiest way to get to know more about history of Poland, since it has been created. He writes clearly and uses accessible words and phrases, understandable for foreigners. If you plan to go to Poland, we suggest you to bring the book with yourself and read it while sightseeing. It can help you to understand our charming country and our nation.

FRSP teamIntroduction by the author

There are already many accounts of Polish history available in print. This pocket book aims to informally present information to the reader, as if it were an interlocutor, partaking in a friendly chat over a pint of beer. I consider this approach to the subject to be the best way to keep up with the reader’s imagination, and for our history to be clearly understood. I also want to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that book is intentionally designed to provide intriguing ideas about Poland, rather than to present simple dates and wrote formulas as if it were standard textbook. I believe that the latter is crucial, at a time when Poland is represented by international media as a nation of fascists and ill-patriots, with the politics of soviet-style regime. It’s important to give people a broader comprehension of who Poles are and what they, as a distinct nation, have been standing for throughout centuries of existence.

Polish history indisputably belongs to these exceedingly long and rather convoluted narratives. In my personal belief, it is as complicated as the most complex thing in the universe; the human brain. In pushing this idea further, we find that Poland, throughout its centuries, from the very beginning of its existence, underwent a series of traumas. From intense states of euphoria in victory, to the grey and deeply bitter heartbreaks of loss and defeat. Letting my imagination run free, if Poland were a woman, she would be an enigmatic beauty, prone to violent swings of mood, vulnerable and in need of a shoulder to cry on. This personification would be of no surprise to anyone familiar with Polish history. If you knew her as a neighbour, you will be aware of the hardships this woman has experienced. While she holds on to her bitter grief, she still has her pride and finds the strength to stand tall with her European friends, albeit with a slight stress hump on the back of her neck.

I will stop this analogy now before my writing transforms into an episode of Sex and the City. Polish history is far more than a romantic comedy, although we are not above romance and passion.

Pocket History of Poland covers the legendary origins of the country and its people, before taking reader through the times of Slavic settlements of the Middle Ages, to the periods of foreign occupations and up to current events. This is a story of the nation that continually fights in self-defence. A nation which to this day displays the visible signs of awkward internal discords. As you read you’ll learn that this lack of harmony and exhaustive propensity for domestic disagreement has its origin in Poland’s convoluted past. It appears to me that this might be an incurable, unconsciously auto-reactive compulsion of the Polish people; a self-destruction virus that infected the layers of Polish society and activates in certain situations, causing uncompromising disunity between Polish citizens. Unfortunately, this uncontrollable inclination to split socio-politically presents the opportunity for foreign hands to meddle in the domestic affairs of Poland, as they have done time and time again. Who is to blame? Hopefully we can find some answers.The origin story of Poland can be traced to the 13th century, and in adherence to stereotype it is believed that the creation of the country was a consequence of an argument. As we travel through Polish history the phenomenon of disagreement reoccurs at various important moments. Allow me to set this aside for further evaluation at the end of this book, and I will continue on to the origin of Polish people.

The legend of Poland’s birth tells a story of three brothers; Czech, Lech and Russ, who went on hunting excursion. The siblings began to argue. They could not agree on which animal to hunt. Since none of them were inclined to compromise, they decided to pursue different prey. As a consequence, each of the three moved in different directions.

Czech, the youngest of the three departed to the West. Russ, the middle brother, travelled East and became the founder of Russia. Lech, the elder brother, went north and founded a nation that was first referred to as Lechia, but today is called Poland.

What motivated Lech on settling in what is now known as Central-Western Poland was an encounter with a fierce white eagle, protecting its nest from trespassers. Lech spotted the bird against the red hue of the setting sun, which he took as a good portent. Not allowing for time to cloud his mind with uncertainties, he chose this very place for his homeland. He named the fledgling settlement Gniezno, which can be translated into nest. Gniezno became the seat of the Piast house, the first ruling dynasty of Poland, for four generations, between 930 until 1370. The White Eagle became the national symbol of the country, and today is depicted over a sunset red background as the Polish coat of arms.

Poland’s historical origins can be traced to Medieval Slavic settlements in central Europe. The Slavic people are descended from early Indo-Europeans who had migrated from the Caucuses, a mountainous region in the southeast of Europe. From their home in Central Europe the Slavs began the expansion of their tribal territories, primarily as a response to the diminishing influence of the Roman Empire. The Polanie, the Polish Slavs, were organised into smaller communities who inhabited the territories near the Baltic Sea and the Vistula River Delta. These groups were agrarian, hence why they were referred to as Polanie, which is derived from the word Pole, meaning field. The Polanie shared their lands with Germanic tribes of the South-Eastern regions of Scandinavia, and on occasion with nomadic invaders from Asia, the descendants of Genghis Khan.

The Polish Slavs first united under an officially recorded leader, Mieszko I (930-992), in 960. Mieszko was a member of the noble house of Piast, whose dynasty would rule Poland until the beginning of the 14th Century. In 966 Poland received a so-called ceremonial washing, when the common Slavic pagan faith was forsaken for Christianity, moving Poland closer towards the monarchic hegemony of Medieval Europe. Mieszko was succeeded by his son, Boleslaw I the Brave, in 992. Boleslaw greatly expanded Poland’s borders and ruled as the first King of Poland. Although Boleslaw’s reign as king only lasted for two months, his coronation became symbolic of Poland’s new position as independent kingdom of international renown, with Boleslaw himself becoming a role model for his successors.

Following Boleslaw’s death in 1025, the Piast dynasty went through numerous ups and downs on the international scene. This period was defined by numerous problems in the royal court. One of the most significant of these problems were royal household trappings of Christianity to firm up its authority while many of the nobles were still pagan or both. The result was the Church started speaking of ’legitimate heirs’ and ’legal marriages’ at a time when old customs still lingered. Feudalism was not established in Poland at that time so the rule of primogeniture, the feudal rule wherein the right of inheritance went to the firstborn son could not be easily obeyed. The issue of succession tended to be disputed as was that of legitimate heirs which fanned intrigues and conflicts. This prevented Boleslaw’s son Bezprym from taking his father’s throne, which caused considerable internal friction. The resulting family conflict led to weakening of the centralising process initiated by Boleslaw and resulted in neglecting relations with neighbouring kingdoms. The latter were rather contended with such an outturn especially that they wanted to prevent the Polish Kingdom from becoming overly powerful.

It was not until Casimir the Restorer came to power in 1040 that Poland caught up with its European contemporaries, and became a fully-fledged feudal society. Casimir’s work towards re-establishing monarchic control restored his family’s power, and helped to consolidate the territory Boleslaw had gained. The first historian to write about Poland, Gallus Anonymus, hailed Casimir as ’homo literatus’, referring to his good judgement and rigorous education. While Poland was marginally weaker than its neighbours under his leadership, it was relatively secure. The Polish kingdom was modest, but at the same time powerful enough to repel the Mongol invasion of Europe. The Mongols retreated following the death of the leader Ögedei, the son of Genghis Khan, leaving Poland’s borders safe.

The most significant trend for Poland during the medieval period was its turbulent relations with German kingdoms. This, as many of you may have suspected from the very beginning, was ambiguous to say the least. If one is to believe the medieval legend of Princess Wanda, the relationship between the two peoples is the result of a fatal attraction. While love can be a doorway to peace and prosperity, when one’s love is rejected it leads to great disappointments and anguish. In extreme cases this may lead to a shared hatred and vicious acts. As you may have already guessed, this is what happened in Wanda’s story. According to the Wielkopolska Chronicle’s version of this legend, the German leader Rytygier desired to marry Wanda, and threatened to invade her country if she rejected his proposal. To his misfortune, she refused. Thankfully for Polish kingdom, Rytygier perished during the ensuing battle. Following this fortunate outcome Wanda committed sacrificial suicide to express gratitude to her pagan gods, drowning herself in the Vistula River. This dramatic story typifies the ongoing enmity that has defined relations between Poland and Germany.

Although this legend is not a true story, it has a grain of truth to it. Put simply, Poles and Germans were never the best neighbours. The historical reasons for this the various wars that characterised their early years. As you will learn in the following chapters, Poles came into conflict with Teutonic Knights and Baltic Prussian pagans, which caused centuries of hostilities with the Knights and later on with the German Prussian state. While the German people have formed many states throughout history, none of them have approached Poland with anything other than daggers drawn, and vice versa. The American actress Bette Midler once joked on a television interview that she married a German, and every night she would dress up as Poland so he would invade her. While the intrusion she was alluding to would no doubt have brought her pleasure, it is difficult to make a case for there being any pleasure resulting from the tensions that existed between Poland and Germany throughout the second millennium.

By the time of the last Piast ruler, Casimir the Great, some of the territories on Poland’s western border, such as Silesia and Pomerania, had been lost. However, Poland had arrived as a peaceful and prosperous location on the evolving European map. Casimir delivered this expansion as a result of both his diplomatic skills and strategic acumen. By turning his expansionist attention from the west to the east he negotiated the tensions with Germany and transformed Poland for the better. All of this would change with his death.

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