Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia, or Czecho-Slovakia, was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993. From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a command economy, its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their government in the Velvet Revolution. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two sovereign states of Slovakia.
Form of state1918 – 1938: A democratic republic championed by Tomáš Masaryk. 1938 – 1939: After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, the Zaolzie region was annexed by Poland. 1939 – 1945: The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and their Allies. Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946 – 1948: The country was governed by a coalition government with communist ministers, including the prime minister and the minister of interior. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union. 1948 – 1989: The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
It was a satellite state of the Soviet Union. 1969 – 1990: The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. 1990 – 1992: Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, reverted to a democratic republic. NeighboursAustria 1918 – 1938, 1945 – 1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918 – 1938 Soviet Union 1945 – 1991 Ukraine 1991 – 1992 TopographyThe country was of irregular terrain; the western area was part of the north-central European uplands. The eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. ClimateThe weather is mild summers. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, Mediterranean Sea from the south. There is no continental weather. 1918–1920: Republic of Czechoslovakia /Czecho-Slovak State, or Czecho-Slovakia/Czechoslovakia 1920–1938: Czechoslovak Republic, or Czechoslovakia 1938–1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic, or Czecho-Slovakia 1945–1960: Czechoslovak Republic, or Czechoslovakia 1960–1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, or Czechoslovakia April 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic The country subsequently became the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, or Československo and Česko-Slovensko.
The area was long a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the empire collapsed at the end of World War I. The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935, he was succeeded by his close ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism, promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people. Nationalism became a mass movement in the second half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the limited opportunities for participation in political life under Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký founded many patriotic, self-help organizations which provided a chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life prior to independence. Palacký supported Austro-Slavism and worked for a reorganized and federal Austrian Empire, which would protect the Slavic speaking peoples of Central Europe against Russian and German threats.
An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to the Reichsrat, first from 1891 to 1893 for the Young Czech Party, again from 1907 to 1914 for the Czech Realist Party, which he had founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl. During World War I small numbers of Czechs, the Czechoslovak Legions, fought with the Allies in France and Italy, while large numbers deserted to Russia in exchange for its support for the independence of Czechoslovakia from the Austrian Empire. With the outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in a union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists. Bohemia and Moravi
Discus throw
The discus throw is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by Discobolus. Although not part of the modern pentathlon, it was one of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon, which can be dated back to at least to 708 BC, is part of the modern decathlon; the sport of throwing the discus traces back to it being an event in the original Olympic Games of Ancient Greece. The discus as a sport was resurrected in Magdeburg, Germany, by Christian Georg Kohlrausch and his students in the 1870s. Organized Men's competition was resumed in the late 19th century, has been a part of the modern Summer Olympic Games since the first modern competition, the 1896 Summer Olympics. Images of discus throwers figured prominently in advertising for early modern Games, such as fundraising stamps for the 1896 games, the main posters for the 1920 and 1948 Summer Olympics.
Today the sport of discus is a routine part of modern track-and-field meets at all levels, retains a iconic place in the Olympic Games. The first modern athlete to throw the discus while rotating the whole body was František Janda-Suk from Bohemia, he invented this technique. After only one year of developing the technique he earned a silver medal in the 1900 Olympics. Women's competition began in the first decades of the 20th century. Following competition at national and regional levels it was added to the Olympic program for the 1928 games; the men's discus is a heavy lenticular disc with a weight of 2 kilograms and diameter of 22 centimetres, the women's discus has a weight of 1 kilogram and diameter of 18 centimetres. Under IAAF rules, Youth boys throw the 1.6 kilograms discus, the Junior men throw the unique 1.75 kilograms discus, the girls/women of those ages throw the 1 kilogram discus. In international competition, men throw the 2 kg discus through to age 49; the 1.5 kilograms discus is thrown by ages 50–59, men age 60 and beyond throw the 1 kilogram discus.
Women throw the 1 kilogram discus through to age 74. Starting with age 75, women throw; the typical discus has sides made of plastic, fiberglass, carbon fiber or metal with a metal rim and a metal core to attain the weight. The rim must be smooth. A discus with more weight in the rim produces greater angular momentum for any given spin rate, thus more stability, although it is more difficult to throw. However, a higher rim weight, if thrown can lead to a farther throw. A solid rubber discus is sometimes used. To make a throw, the competitor starts in a circle of 2.5 m diameter, recessed in a concrete pad by 20 millimetres. The thrower takes an initial stance facing away from the direction of the throw, he spins anticlockwise around one and a half times through the circle to build momentum releases his throw. The discus must land within a 34.92-degree sector. The rules of competition for discus are identical to those of shot put, except that the circle is larger, a stop board is not used and there are no form rules concerning how the discus is to be thrown.
The basic motion is a forehanded sidearm movement. The discus is spun off the middle finger of the throwing hand. In flight the disc spins clockwise when viewed from above for a right-handed thrower, anticlockwise for a left-handed thrower; as well as achieving maximum momentum in the discus on throwing, the discus' distance is determined by the trajectory the thrower imparts, as well as the aerodynamic behavior of the discus. Throws into a moderate headwind achieve the maximum distance. A faster-spinning discus imparts greater gyroscopic stability; the technique of discus throwing is quite difficult to master and needs lots of experience to get right, thus most top throwers are 30 years old or more. The discus technique can be broken down into phases; the purpose is to transfer from the back to the front of the throwing circle while turning through one and a half circles. The speed of delivery is high, speed is built up during the throw. Correct technique involves the buildup of torque so that maximum force can be applied to the discus on delivery.
During the wind-up, weight is evenly distributed between the feet, which are about shoulder distance and not overly active. The wind-up sets the tone for the entire throw. Focusing on rhythm can bring about the consistency to get in the right positions that many throwers lack. Executing a sound discus throw with solid technique requires perfect balance; this is due to the throw being a linear movement combined with a one and a half rotation and an implement at the end of one arm. Thus, a good discus thrower needs to maintain balance within the circle. For a right handed thrower, the next stage is to move the weight over the left foot. From this position the right foot is raised, the athlete'runs' across the circle. There are various techniques for this stage where the leg swings out to a small or great extent, some athletes turn on their left heel but turning on the ball of the foot is far more common; the aim is to land in the'power position', the right foot should be in the center and the heel should not touch the ground at any point.
The left foot should land quickly after the right. Weight shoul
Antoni Słonimski
Antoni Słonimski was a Polish poet, journalist and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justice. Słonimski was the grandson of Hayyim Selig Slonimski, the founder of "ha-Tsefirah"- the first Hebrew weekly with an emphasis on the sciences, his father, an ophthalmologist, converted to Christianity. Słonimski was baptized and raised as a Christian. Słonimski studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 1919 he co-founded the Skamander group of experimental poets with Julian Tuwim and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. In 1924 he travelled in 1932 to the Soviet Union. Słonimski spent the war years in exile in England and France, returning to Poland in 1951, he worked as contributor to popular periodicals: Nowa Kultura and Przegląd Kulturalny. He was an active supporter of liberalization. Słonimski died on 4 July 1976 in a car accident in Warsaw. Sonety Parada Godzina poezji Torpeda czasu, a science fiction novel influenced by H.
G. Wells Droga na wschód, a collection of poems inspired by his travels to Palestine and Brazil Z dalekiej podróży Rodzina, a comedy about two brothers: a communist, a fascist Okno bez krat Dwa końce świata, a novel predicting Warsaw's destruction by a Nazi dictator Alarm Wiek klęski Nowe wiersze Wiersze 1958–1963 138 wierszy Polish literature Barry Keane, Skamander; the Poets and Their Poetry, Agade. "Antoni Slonimski." Encyclopædia Britannica Online Media related to Antoni Słonimski at Wikimedia Commons Profile of Antoni Słonimski at Culture.pl
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw, established in 1816, is the largest university in Poland. It employs over 6,000 staff including over 3,100 academic educators, it provides graduate courses for 53,000 students. The University offers some 37 different fields of study, 18 faculties and over 100 specializations in Humanities, technical as well as Natural Sciences, it was founded as a Royal University on 19 November 1816, when the Partitions of Poland separated Warsaw from the oldest and most influential University of Kraków. Alexander I granted permission for the establishment of five faculties – law and political science, philosophy and the humanities; the university expanded but was closed during November Uprising in 1830. It was reopened in 1857 as the Warsaw Academy of Medicine, now based in the nearby Staszic Palace with only medical and pharmaceutical faculties. All Polish-language campuses were closed in 1869 after the failed January Uprising, but the university managed to train 3,000 students, many of whom were important part of the Polish intelligentsia.
The university was resurrected during the First World War and the number of students reached 4,500 in 1918. After Poland's independence the new government focused on improving the university, in the early 1930s it became the country's largest. New faculties were established and the curriculum was extended. Following the Second World War and the devastation of Warsaw, the University reopened in 1945. Today, the University of Warsaw consists of 126 buildings and educational complexes with over 18 faculties: biology, chemistry and political science and sociology, physics and regional studies, history, applied linguistics and Slavic philology, philology, Polish language and public administration, applied social sciences and mathematics, computer science and mechanics; the University of Warsaw is one of the top Polish universities. It was ranked by Perspektywy magazine as best Polish university in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016. International rankings such as ARWU and University Web Ranking rank the university as the best Polish higher level institution.
On the list of 100 best European universities compiled by University Web Ranking, the University of Warsaw was placed as 61st. QS World University Rankings positioned the University of Warsaw as the best higher level institution among the world's top 400. In 1795 the partitions of Poland left Warsaw with access only to the Academy of Vilnius. In 1815, the newly established autonomous Congress Poland de facto belonging to the Russian Empire found itself without a university at all, as Vilnius was incorporated into Russia; the first to be established in Congress Poland were the Medical School. In 1816 Tsar Alexander I permitted the Polish authorities to create a university, comprising five departments: Law and Administration, Philosophy and Art and Humanities; the university soon grew to 50 professors. After most of the students and professors took part in the November 1830 Uprising the university was closed down. After the Crimean War, Russia entered a brief period of liberalization, the permission was given to create a Polish medical and surgical academy in Warsaw.
In 1862 departments of Law and Administration and History, Mathematics and Physics were opened. The newly established academy gained importance and was soon renamed the "Main School". However, after the January 1863 Uprising the liberal period ended and all Polish-language schools were closed down again. During its short existence, the Main School educated over 3,000 students, many of whom became part of the backbone of the Polish intelligentsia; the Main School was replaced with a Russian-language "Imperial University of Warsaw". Its purpose was to provide education for the Russian military garrison of Warsaw, the majority of students were Poles; the tsarist authorities believed that the Russian university would become a perfect way to Russify Polish society and spent a significant sum on building a new university campus. However, various underground organizations soon started to grow and the students became their leaders in Warsaw. Most notable of these groups joined the ranks of the 1905 Revolution.
Afterwards a boycott of Russian educational facilities was proclaimed and the number of Polish students dropped to below 10%. Most of the students who wanted to continue their education left for Western Europe. After the fall of the January Uprising, the Tsarist authorities' decided to convert the Main School into a Russian-language university, which functioned under the name of Imperial University for 46 years. There were two times. During the 1905–1907 revolution, such a proposal was made by some of the professors, in the face of a boycott of the university by Polish students. Talks on that subject were conducted with a number of Russian cities, including Voronezh and Saratov; the Russian government decided to keep a university in Warsaw, but as a result of the boycott, the university was Russian not only in the sense of the language used, but of the nationality of its professors and students. For the second time the question emerged during th
Rawa Mazowiecka
Rawa Mazowiecka is a town in central Poland, with 17,561 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Rawa County. From 1562 the city hosted the Rawa Treasury for the Polish army. During an excavation in 1948, a hoard wealth deposit dating from 600 BC was found containing 4 underground rooms with barrels of gold and silver. A smaller treasure was found containing bronze artefacts from the Trzciniec culture, dating from around 1700 BC. Rawa has a rich history. First mentioned in 1288, it received city rights in 1321, it used to be one of the most important cities of both the Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a capital of Rawa Voivodeship, a unit of administrative division which existed from 1462 until 1793. The starosta of Rawa was among most important personalities of early Poland, as he controlled the so-called “Rawa Treasury” - a large sum of tax money, kept at Rawa Castle for financing regular army units. Rawa Mazowiecka was first mentioned as a medieval gord located on one of local hills.
In 1321, it received town charter, in 1355-1370, a brick castle of Mazovian Dukes was built here. During the reign of Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia, Rawa was the capital of the whole Duchy of Mazovia. In 1462, Rawa was incorporated into Poland, named capital of a voivodeship; the town prospered: wars of the 14th and 15th centuries did not affect Rawa. It was one of the largest cities of Mazovia. In 1613, a Jesuit church was built here, by 1622, Jesuit collegium was completed. Among its students was Jan Chryzostom Pasek and writer best remembered for his memoirs; the period of prosperity ended during the catastrophic Swedish invasion of Poland, when Rawa was captured by Swedes, who destroyed both town and castle. Rawa never recovered from the destruction, though it continued to be the capital of Rawa Voivodeship, the town lost importance. In 1676, its population was only 100. In 1702, Swedish forces returned during the Great Northern War, once again destroying the town. In 1766, most of Rawa burned in a fire, on February 4, 1793, the town was seized by the Kingdom of Prussia during the military Partitions of Poland.
In 1800, Rawa County was created, in November 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars, Prussians temporarily left the town. It became part of the Duchy of Warsaw. Since 1815, following Napoleon's defeat, Rawa became part of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1822, a town hall was built together with tenement houses in the main town square, in 1829-1830 a hospital was completed. Rawa modernized, but this process was halted by the Tsarist repression after the failed November Uprising of 1830. On February 4, 1863, Rawa was captured by the rebels of the January Uprising; the town was completely destroyed in 1915 during World War I, once again in World War II, after which 60% of all buildings were left in ruins. The Nazis established a Jewish ghetto in Rawa Mazowiecka in March 1941; as Krzysztof Urbański informs in his monograph Zagłada Żydów w dystrykcie radomskim, the ghetto consisted of two parts: one area consisted of a district called Jewish, the second part was located at Łowicka Street. The two zones spread across the eastern part of town from the bridge on Rawka river to the bridge on Rylka river near the hospital.
At the same time the area included the streets of Studzienna, Starościanska, Bóźnicza and Zamkowa Wola. By 1942, the number of Jewish prisoners in the Rawa ghetto grew to four thousand. Typhus epidemic broke out due to poor sanitary conditions; the Jews died as the result of occasional executions carried out in the castle. The murderous liquidation of the ghetto began on 27 October 1942; the day before the action, about four thousand Jews from Biała Rawska were brought to Rawa Mazowiecka and spent that night in the open air. In the morning, the Germans surrounded the ghetto; the Jews were forced to leave their homes, grouped together and deported aboard Holocaust trains to the Treblinka extermination camp. Many town residents were shot during the ghetto liquidation action; the picturesque Rawa Castle was built by King Casimir III the Great in order to oversee and protect the southern parts of Mazovia, according to the ancient Chronicle of Jan Długosz. Another chronicler, Jan of Czarnków claimed however that the Castle was founded by Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia.
It is not known when the construction began: it was in 1355. The castle was not completed until 1370, by it served as administrative center of the Duchy of Rawa, independent in 1455-62. On December 7, 1462, King Casimir IV visited the castle, announcing the incorporation of the Duchy of Rawa, creation of Rawa Voivodeship. In 1507, the complex burned in a fire, two years ago, its reconstruction began. After ten years, the walls and the tower were strengthened. Since Rawa Castle was regarded as a modern fortress, in 1559 the so-called Rawa Treasure was placed here: the tax money needed to finance regular army. Development of military technology made the complex obsolete by the mid-17th century. In September 1655, it was captured by Swedes during the Deluge. In 1657, before their retreat, Swedish soldiers blew up most of the complex. Soon afterwards, high ranking Swedish officer Pontus De La Gardie was temporarily imprisoned in the remains of the castle. After the destruction of 1657, the complex was not rebuilt, by the early 18th century, it was a ruin.
In 1789, the Sejm assigned money for its reconstruction, assigned the task to Starosta of Rawa, Feliks Lanckoroński. His efforts most failed, as by 1794 the castle was abandoned. Prussian authorities ordered its demol
1926 Women's World Games
The 1926 Women's World Games were the second regular international Women's World Games, the tournament was held between 27 – 29 August at the Slottsskogsvallen Stadium in Gothenburg. The games were organized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale under Alice Milliat as a response to the IOC refusal to include women's events in the 1924 Olympic Games; the games were attended by 100 participants from 9 nations: Belgium, France, Great Britain, Latvia, Poland and Switzerland. Kinue Hitomi was the sole participant from Japan, she won the long jump with a new world record, she won the standing long jump, came second place in discus, third in 100 yards, fifth in 60 metres and 6.th in 250 metres putting Japan in fifth place single handedly. The athletes competed in 12 events: running, high jump, long jump, standing long jump, discus throw and shot put; the tournament was opened with an olympic style ceremony, the opening speech was held by Mary von Sydow. The games attended an audience of several world records were set.
Nb Each athlete in the shot put and javelin throw events threw using their right hand their left. Their final mark was the total of the best mark with their right-handed throw and the best mark with their left-handed throw. Sophie Mary Eliott-Lynn competed at javelin throw coming fourth with a throw of 44.63 metres and Mary Weston finished sixth in the shot put. Picture of the Belgian team Picture of the British team Picture of the Czechoslovakian team Film from the 1926 Women's World Games Film 1926 Women's World Games Mixed pictures from the 1926 Women's World Games
Skamander
Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name Skamander, after the Scamander River in Asia Minor; the group was closely related to the Pro Arte et Studio literary monthly and the Pod Picadorem Café in Warsaw. In 1920 it created its own publication, the Skamander monthly, though its members collaborated with Wiadomości Literackie and other newspapers; the young poets were influenced by Leopold Staff and other neoromantic poets. Their main aims were to break the links between history and poetry and to end the nationalist and patriotic functions of Polish poetry, they emphasized the need to restore poetry to the common people by returning to everyday-language usage in poetry, including colloquialisms and vulgarisms. The Skamandrites emphasized the beauty of everyday life and of all forms of life including the biological side. In contrast to the basic aims of the late-19th-century Young Poland movement, Skamander's members eschewed semi-mythological heroes and protagonists, replacing them with common people.
In contrast to the contemporary Awangarda Krakowska movement, they saw themselves as continuers of Polish literary traditions those of romanticism and neoromanticism. Apart from the movement's five chief members, several lesser-known poets and critics adhered to its principles, they included Stanisław Baliński, Gabriel Michał Karski, Światopełk Karpiński, Jerzy Paczkowski, Karol Zawodziński and Wilam Horzyca. Polish literature Barry Keane, Skamander: The Poets and Their Poetry, Agade, 2004, ISBN 83-87111-29-5. "Skamander," Encyklopedia Polski, Kraków, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, ISBN 83-86328-60-6, p. 617
Maria Vidlaková
Milly Reuter
Jadwiga Wajs
