“The Battle” from the cycle of paintings “Polonia” dedicated to January Uprising of 1863 and painted by contemporary Artur Grottger
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, parts of Ukraine, and western Russia) against the Russian Empire. It began on 22 January 1863 and lasted until the last insurgents were captured in 1865.
Jewish telephonists in the Lodz Ghetto,
Portrait of Nicholaus Copernicus, 1580
Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a comprehensive heliocentric model which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center of the universe. The publication of Copernicus’ epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), just before his death in 1543, is considered a major event in the history of science. It began the Copernican Revolution and contributed importantly to the rise of the ensuing Scientific Revolution. Copernicus’ heliocentric theory placed the Sun at the center of the solar system and described that system’s mechanics in mathematical rather than Aristotelian terms.
Cheerful German and Slovak soldiers posing with Ukrainian civilians in Komańcza Red Ruthenia, Poland 1939
The Slovak invasion of Poland occurred during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939. The recently-created Slovak Republic joined the attack, and the Slovak Field Army Bernolák contributed over 50,000 soldiers in three divisions. As the main body of the Polish forces were engaged with the German armies farther north of the southern border, the Slovak invasion met only weak resistance and suffered minimal losses.
Armia Krajowa Cross was awarded to veterans of AK by the Polish government in exile
Armia Krajowa collects parts of the V-2 rocket from the Bug River, c. 1944
The Armia Krajowa, or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Union for Armed Struggle). Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces. It was loyal to the Polish government in exile and constituted the armed wing of what became known as the “Polish Underground State.” Estimates of its membership in 1944 range from 200,000 to 600,000, with the most common number being 400,000; that figure would make it not only the largest Polish underground resistance movement but one of the three largest in Europe during World War II. It was disbanded on January 20, 1945, when Polish territory had been mostly cleared of German forces by the advancing Soviet Red Army.
Jan Chryzostom Pasek in the Battle of Lachowicze during the Russo-Polish War, 1660
The Battle of Polonka (Połonka) took place near Polonka during the Polish-Russian War (1658-1667) on June 29, 1660 between Polish-Lithuanian and Russian forces. Polish-Lithuanian forces under Stefan Czarniecki and Paweł Jan Sapieha forced a Russian retreat through a carefully planned hussar ambush and several tactically effective flanking maneuvers. The Russian defeat also meant they had to abandon the siege of Lyakhavichy (Lachowicze).
The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called Thirteen Years’ War, First Northern War, War for Ukraine was the last major conflict between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Second Northern War was also fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus these theatres are known in Poland as “The Deluge”. Although the Commonwealth regained her ground after initial defeats, and won most of the battles, its plundered economy was not able to fund the long conflict. Facing internal crisis and civil war, Poland was forced to sign a bitter truce. The war ended with significant Russian territorial gains and marked the beginning of the rise of Russia as a great power in Eastern Europe.
