Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts

January 23 - Partitioning of Poland

   Posted on January 23, 2022


This is an update of my post published on January 23, 2011:


Comedian Eddie Izzard once posited that countries
controlled and colonized other countries with the
cunning use of flags.

It was a joke. But a thought-provoking joke!


What makes a country a country?

I bet you think that the definition of a country is a specific chunk of land that has its own government. But of course you already know that cities, counties, provinces, and states-that-are-part-of-countries are specific chunks of land with their own governments--and yet they are not countries, they are divisions within a country—so the definition is not as simple as that.

It turns out that a lot of what makes a country a country is that other people in the world recognize it as such. However, that's where it gets tricky: not everybody agrees! Some countries see Taiwan as a country; others don't. Some countries recognize Kosovo as an independent country; others don't. There are many other examples of this sort of disagreement.


Poland's current size and location.
In the late 1700s, Prussia (now Germany)
and Russia carved it up!


On this date in 1793, Prussia and Russia carved up (or “partitioned”) Poland. Prussia obtained “Great Poland” and a number of other territories, and Russia obtained eastern provinces from Livonia to Moldavia. Poland ended up being less than one third its original size!

This wasn't the only partitioning of Poland. Poland was tussled over by Russia and Prussia and also Austria before this (in 1772) and after this (in 1795)! With that last partitioning, Poland no longer existed at all.




Is it any wonder various nations fought over ownership of this 
beautiful land???

When I said that, after the 1795 partitioning, Poland no longer existed at all, I of course did NOT mean that the land - poof! - disappeared... 

Instead, I meant to say that people no longer acknowledged Poland as a separate, independent country—not, at least, until more than a century later.


Try Polish Paper Crafts


You're going to love gwiazdy, which is like an 8-sided paper snowflake.

The design above, when cut and carefully unfolded,
looks like the snowflake below:



And how about wycinanki? This folk art is cheery and heavy on the rooster motif!





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November 16 - Jadwiga, a Girl Age 10, Crowned King of Poland

 Posted on November 16, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 16, 2010:




Yes, I did say she was a girl, and yes, I did say she was crowned king.

Back in 1384, Jadwiga's was given the title "king" - a title that was meant to state that she was the ruler of Poland and not just married to the ruler of Poland. Also, back then, Polish law didn't recognize a queen as a possible ruler—but the law did not state that a king had to be male, either.

By the way, when I first wrote this article, some sources stated that Jadwiga was crowned on October 16, 1384, and others claimed that she was crowned on November 16 of the same year. At the time I couldn't confirm either date; an equal number of equally legitimate seeming sources could be found for each date.

Now, more than a decade later, I checked to see what date Wikipedia used for the coronation; they used the October date. I know that Wikipedia tends to be fairly accurate, because of the number of people checking facts, because of the culture of citing sources, and because of the ease of making corrections. However, no source is perfect, and many people - including many college professors and academics - are skeptical of Wikipedia's reliability. 

I figured that, if Jadwiga was crowned king in October of 1384, she was still king in November of 1384!


Here are some other events in Jadwiga's life:


  • Born 1374 – Jadwiga is born in Hungary. She is the daughter of king Louis I of Hungary, but she can claim royal Polish blood from both her mother's and her father's line.
  • 1374 to 1384 – Jadwiga is educated in many fields and learns six languages (Latin, Hungarian, German, Serbian, Bosnian, Polish).
  • 1384 – Jadwiga leaves her home, her family, and her country (Hungary) to go to Poland and become king.
  • 1385 – William of Austria tries to marry Jadwiga (remember, she's only 11 years old at this point), but he is expelled from Poland instead.
  • later on in 1385 – Jadwiga marries Jogaila of Lithuania (Jadwiga is now 12 years old).
  • 1399 – Jadwiga (age 25) has a baby girl but dies from childbirth complications.



Sometimes people today say that children these days grow up too fast, or that life speeds by too quickly because of modern technology. But looking at this royal's life in the Middle Ages makes me realize that, for many people throughout history, life was short, and childhood was really, really short.

Names change...

Jadwiga is the Polish version of our royal's name. In English and German she is known as Hedwig, in Lithuanian she is Jadvyga, in Hungarian she's Hedvig, and in Latin she is Hedvigis.

Also, Jadwiga's husband, Jogaila, was baptized Wladyslaw. That's a pretty big change, as far as I'm concerned!

Accomplishments

Apparently it is thought that this young, female king had little actual power. However, she did lead two successful military expeditions to reclaim lands from Hungary. Remember, she was the daughter of the Hungarian king, and she was able to accomplish the expeditions' goals peacefully, through diplomacy. Jadwiga sponsored writers and artists and donated much of her personal wealth to charity, founding hospitals and doing other good works. She financed scholarships for university students, and she restored the Krakow Academy (a university).

So in her short life—remember, she died at 25—she accomplished a LOT!





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May 26 – Mother's Day in Poland

Posted on May 26, 2019



Celebrating moms is a thing done all over the world - and it's especially popular to choose a date in May to do so! Of all the nations that celebrate a Mother's Day, 127 do it on some date in May, and two more nations often celebrate in May but follow local or religious calendars.

In Poland, Mother's Day is held on May 26. 


Typical Mother's-Day-ish things like giving mom flowers and gifts is common in Poland, and cooking for mom or making her a cake or other dessert occurs as well. Instead of buying greeting cards, many children make laurki, papers decorated with flowers and written with personal notes. (From what I've seen online, laurki seem to be homemade Mother's Day cards. Kid-made is almost certain to be more precious than store-bought!)


Here are a few special things about Poland:

It is home to Europe's largest land mammal, European bison.


Białowieźa Primeval Forest is Europe's last ancestral forest.


Notice the bison running for cover!

It's home to the biggest castle in the world.


Piwnica Swidnicka has for years been called the oldest restaurant in Europe - first opened in 1275 and continuously open ever since!!! - but last year it closed! Darn!


I know and love Polish foods like pierogies (dumplings)...


...kielbasa (sausage)... 


...and gołabki (cabbage rolls)... 


...but I've never heard of Zapiekanka until I read today that it is THE unofficial traditional Polish food! This open-faced sandwich is a baguette cut in half, topped with cheese and mushrooms, and garnished with garlic mayo and ketchup. (Apparently some people like a LOT of ketchup!)


I always think about Poland having wonderful forests (see above!), beautiful lakes and mountains... 




...and, in winter, tons of snow...




...but did you know that there are wonderful, warm (in the summer) beaches there, too?




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