1.
Maksymilian Fajans
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Maksymilian Fajans was a Polish-Jewish artist, lithographer and photographer. Fajans won several prizes at the International Photographic Exhibition organized in 1865 in Berlin and, in 1873, Fajans established one of the first photography studios in Warsaw. In 1851–63 he published 14 folios of Wizerunki polskie after his own drawings, in chromolithography he published Kwiaty i poezje, illustrations for albums and books. He also collaborated with the publisher, Samuel Orgelbrand, in addition, he worked in utilitarian graphics
2.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
3.
Grodno
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Grodno or Hrodna is a city in western Belarus. It is located on the Neman close to the borders of Poland and it is the capital of Grodno Region and Grodno District. In Belarusian, the city is referred to as Го́радня or Гаро́дня. In Latin it was known as Grodna, in Polish as Grodno, the Lithuanian name of the city is Gardinas. The modern city of Grodno originated as a fortress and a fortified trading outpost maintained by the Rurikid princes on the border with the lands of the Baltic tribal union of the Yotvingians. The first reference to Grodno dates to 1005, the official foundation year is 1127. Along with Navahrudak, Grodno was regarded as the city on the western borderlands of Black Ruthenia. The border region neighboured the original Lithuania and it was often attacked by various invaders, especially the Teutonic Knights. In the 1240–1250s the Grodno area, as well as the most of Black Ruthenia, was controlled by princes of Lithuanian origin to form the Baltic state—Grand Duchy of Lithuania—on these territories, after the Prussian uprisings a large population of Old Prussians moved to the region. The famous Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas was the prince of Grodno from 1376 to 1392, since 1413, Grodno had been the administrative center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship. To aid the reconstruction of trade and commerce, the grand dukes allowed the creation of a Jewish commune in 1389 and it was one of the first Jewish communities in the grand duchy. In 1441 the city received its charter, based on the Magdeburg Law, the city was the site of two battles, Battle of Grodno and Battle of Grodno during the Great Northern War. After the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Grodno became the capital of the short-lived Grodno Voivodeship in 1793, as an important centre of trade, commerce, and culture, Grodno remained one of the places where the Sejms were held. Also, the Old and New Castles were often visited by the Commonwealth monarchs including famous Stephen Báthory of Poland who made a royal residence here, in 1793 the last Sejm in the history of the Commonwealth occurred at Grodno. Two years afterwards, in 1795, Russia obtained the city in the Third Partition of Poland and it was in the New Castle on November 25 of that year that the last Polish king and Lithuanian grand duke Stanisław August Poniatowski abdicated. In the Russian Empire, the city continued to serve its role as a seat of Grodno Governorate since 1801, the industrial activities, started in the late 18th century by Antoni Tyzenhaus, continued to develop. Count Aleksander Bisping was arrested and imprisoned here during the January Uprising before his exile to Ufa, after the outbreak of World War I, Grodno was occupied by Germany and ceded by Bolshevist Russia under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. After the war the German government permitted a state to be set up there
4.
Corps of Cadets (Warsaw)
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Szkoła Rycerska or Akademia Szlachecka Korpusu Kadetów Jego Królewskiej Mości i Rzeczypospolitej was the first state school in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The state Corps of Cadets was established in Warsaw on 15 March 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski, the Corps of Cadets was housed in the Kazimierz Palace. The Corps commandant was Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, the Corps of Cadets was closed in 1795 following the suppression of the Kościuszko Uprising, which had been led by one of the Corps first alumni, Tadeusz Kościuszko. In the period between the two World Wars, the institution of the Corps of Cadets would be revived in Poland, three state secondary schools of that name would be created, at Kraków, at Modlin and at Rawicz. After World War II, in the Peoples Republic of Poland, until 1956, presently, the work of the Corps is continued by the Fundacja Szoła Rycerska
5.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
6.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
7.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
8.
Horace Vernet
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Émile Jean-Horace Vernet was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist Arab subjects. Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another painter, who was himself a son of Claude Joseph Vernet. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French Revolution, Vernet quickly developed a disdain for the high-minded seriousness of academic French art influenced by Classicism, and decided to paint subjects taken mostly from contemporary culture. Therefore, he began depicting the French soldier in a familiar, vernacular manner rather than in an idealized. Some of his paintings that represent French soldiers in a direct, less idealizing style, include Dog of the Regiment, Trumpeters Horse. He gained recognition during the Bourbon Restoration for a series of paintings commissioned by the duc dOrleans. Critics marvelled at the speed with which he painted. Many of his paintings made during early phase of his career were noted for their historical accuracy as well as their charged landscapes. Examples of paintings in style include his Four Battles series, The Battle of Jemappes, The Battle of Montmirail, The Battle of Hanau. Over the course of his career, Horace Vernet was honoured with dozens of important commissions. King Louis-Philippe was one of his most prolific patrons and his depictions of Algerian battles, such as the Capture of the Smahla and the Capture of Constantine, were well-received, as they were vivid depictions of the French army in the heat of battle. After the fall of the July Monarchy during the Revolution of 1848 and he continued to paint representations of the heroic French army during the Second Empire and maintained his commitment to representing war in an accessible and realistic way. He accompanied the French Army during the Crimean War, producing paintings, including one of the Battle of the Alma. Vernet died in his hometown of Paris in 1863, in Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter Holmes claims to be related to Vernet, stating, My ancestors were country squires. Was the sister of Vernet, the French artist, without further clarifying whether this is Claude Joseph Vernet, Carle Vernet, or Horace Vernet. Harkett, Daniel and Katie Hornstein, eds, Horace Vernet and the Thresholds of Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture. Dartmouth College Press/University Press of New England Ruutz-Rees, Janet E. Horace Vernet, works by Horace Vernet at Open Library
9.
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
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Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz was a Polish poet, playwright and statesman. He was an advocate for the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Niemcewicz, scion of a moderately well-to-do Polish noble family, graduated from the Warsaw Corps of Cadets and he subsequently served as aide to Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and visited France, England and Italy. Niemcewicz served as a deputy to the Great Sejm of 1788–92 and was an member of the Patriotic Party that pushed through adoption of the historic Constitution of 3 May 1791. He was subsequently a founder of the Friends of the Constitution, after the victory of the Targowica Confederation in 1792 and the consequent overthrow of the May 3 Constitution, Niemcewicz, along with other Patriotic Party members, emigrated to Germany. During the Kościuszko Uprising, Niemcewicz served as aide to Tadeusz Kościuszko, both were captured by the Russians at the Battle of Maciejowice and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress at St. Petersburg along with Niemcewiczs aide-de-camp named Kuźniewski. Niemcewicz was upset when Kościuszko decamped for Europe without giving him any notice, after Napoleons 1807 invasion of Poland, Niemcewicz returned to Warsaw and was made secretary of the senate. After the Congress of Vienna, he was secretary of state, on 11 May 1830 he unveiled a new landmark before the Staszic Palace, the seat of the Society of Friends of Science in Warsaw — a monument to Nicolaus Copernicus sculpted by Bertel Thorvaldsen. During the failed November Uprising of 1830–31, Niemcewicz was a member of the insurrectionary Polish government. In the final months of the Uprising the poet went on a mission to London and he remained in exile, first in Britain, then in France. He died in 1841 in Paris, France, aged 83, as a writer, Niemcewicz tried many styles of composition. His political comedy, The Return of the Deputy, enjoyed great acclaim and his novel, John of Tenczyn, written in the style of Sir Walter Scott, gives a vigorous picture of old Poland. He also wrote a History of the Reign of Sigismund III, Niemcewiczs 1817 pamphlet Rok 3333 czyli sen niesłychany, first published posthumously in 1858, describes a Poland transformed into a sinister Judeo-Polonia. The pamphlet has been described as the first Polish work to develop on a scale the concept of an organized Jewish conspiracy directly threatening the existing social structure. His collected works were published in 47 volumes at Leipzig in 1838-40, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Niemcewicz, Julian Ursin. Marek Żukow-Karczewski, Niemcewicz mniej znany, Życie Literackie, No
10.
Antoni Edward Odyniec
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Antoni Edward Odyniec was a Polish Romantic-era poet who penned the celebrated Song of the Filaretes. Odyniec was born in Giejstuny, Oszmiana County, now in Belarus, Odyniec was an alumnus of Wilno University, where he was a member of the Filaret Association and a defendant, along with Mickiewicz and others, in the 1824 trial of Association members. In 1825 he published his first collection of short works, in 1826–29 he was active in Warsaw. In 1829–30 he accompanied his fellow poet and ex-Filaret Adam Mickiewicz on a tour of Germany, Italy and Switzerland, in 1837 he returned to Wilno, where he edited Gluksbergs Encyklopedia Powszechna and, in 1840–63, Kurier Wileński. In 1866 Odyniec returned to Warsaw, where he edited Kurier Warszawski and published in Kronika Rodzinna his Travel Letters and Remembrances of the Past and he died in Warsaw in 1885. List of Poles Filaret Association Odyniec, Antoni Edward, Encyklopedia Polski, ISBN 83-86328-60-6, Odyniec, Antoni Edward, Encyklopedia powszechna PWN, vol. 3, Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe,1975, p.349, jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed. Literatura polska od średniowiecza do pozytywizmu, Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe,1979, ISBN 83-01-00201-8
11.
Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
12.
Antoni Brodowski
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Antoni Stanisław Brodowski was a Polish painter in the Classical style. According to the wishes expressed in his fathers will, he began by studying mathematics and he also studied art, however, and his first lessons were with Marcello Bacciarelli. From 1805 to 1808, he lived in Paris, tutoring the children of Tadeusz Mostowski, when he went back to Warsaw, he worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice. He returned to Paris in 1809 on a government stipend, taking lessons with Jacques-Louis David. Soon, he balked at the rules required him to send paintings home for approval. He decided to stay in Paris and support himself by painting portraits while taking lessons, this time from François Gérard. Once again in Warsaw, and unable to make a living with his art, he was able to work at the Ministry of the Interior. In 1820, after winning a medal for his painting of Saul and David. He became a full Professor in 1824 and remained there until the University was closed by Russian authorities in 1830. In 1822, he became a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning and, in 1825, he was named a Knight, 3rd Class and he also did numerous works on mythological and biblical topics and wrote a book entitled Co stanowi szkołę malarską. Among his notable students were Rafał Hadziewicz and the sculptor Jakub Tatarkiewicz and he had two sons, Józef and Tadeusz, who both became painters. Krystyna Sroczyńska, Antoni Brodowski, 1784–1832, Życie i dzieło, Agencja Wydawnicza Varsovia,1985, media related to Antoni Brodowski at Wikimedia Commons
13.
November Uprising
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The November Uprising, Polish–Russian War 1830–31, also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress Polands military academy revolted, led by lieutenant Piotr Wysocki and they were soon joined by large segments of societies of Lithuania, Belarus, and the Right-bank Ukraine. Despite local successes, the uprising was crushed by a numerically superior Imperial Russian Army under Ivan Paskevich. Tsar Nicholas I decreed that henceforth Poland was a part of Russia, with Warsaw little more than a military garrison. After the Partitions of Poland, Poland ceased to exist as an independent political entity at the end of 1795, however, the Napoleonic Wars and Polish participation in the wars against Russia and Austria resulted in the creation the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. The Congress of Vienna brought that states existence to an end in 1815, and essentially solidified the long-term division of Poland among Russia, Prussia, United with Russia through a personal union with the Tsar as King of Poland, the province could elect its own parliament and government. The kingdom had its own courts, army and treasury, over time, however, the freedoms granted to the Kingdom were gradually taken back and the constitution was progressively ignored by the Russian authorities. Alexander I of Russia never formally crowned himself as King of Poland, instead, in 1815, he appointed Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich as de facto viceroy, disregarding the constitution. Soon after the Congress of Vienna resolutions were signed, Russia ceased to respect them, in 1819 Alexander I abandoned liberty of the press in Congress Kingdom and introduced censorship. As a result, after 1825 sessions of Polish Sejm were conducted in secret, Nicholas I of Russia formally crowned himself as King of Poland on 24 May 1829 in Warsaw. He abolished Polish social and patriotic organizations, the opposition of the Kaliszanie faction. Although married to a Pole, he was considered as an enemy of the Polish nation. Also, his command over the Polish Army led to conflicts within the officer corps. These frictions led to various conspiracies throughout the country, most notably within the army, the final spark that ignited Warsaw was a Russian plan to use the Polish Army to suppress Frances July Revolution and the Belgian Revolution, in clear violation of the Polish constitution. The rebels managed to enter the Belweder, but Grand Duke Constantine had escaped in womens clothing, the rebels then turned to the main city arsenal, capturing it after a brief struggle. The following day, armed Polish civilians forced the Russian troops to north of Warsaw. This incident is called the Warsaw Uprising or the November Night. Taken by surprise by the unfolding of events during the night of 29 November
14.
Battle of Olszynka Grochowska
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The battle of Olszynka Grochowska was the largest battle of the November Uprising and biggest in Europe since the battle of Waterloo. It was fought between the armies of Poland and Russia on 25 February in the woods near Grochów, at the outskirts of Warsaw. The first months after the outbreak of the November Uprising saw no hostilities between Poland and Russia, both the Polish commander Józef Chłopicki and Russian Tsar Nicholas I were hoping for a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, neither side could propose a compromise, and on 25 January 1831 Nicholas was deposed from the Polish throne. This was seen as a de facto declaration of war and the Russian Army under Hans Karl von Diebitsch was ordered to enter Poland, the Russian army entered Poland on 4 February and started a fast advance towards Warsaw. On 24 February the Russian Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw in two columns, initially Diebitsch was planning an all-out assault on Warsaw on 26 February. The Polish forces deployed to the east of Warsaw constituted the majority of the Polish Army, the majority of the Polish forces was composed of fresh, poorly trained and ill-equipped volunteers. However, the core of the Polish Army was composed of Napoleonic Wars veterans, the Russian forces had some 59000 men under arms and 178 cannon. In addition, at 15,00 the weakened corps of General Shakhovskiy arrived at the battlefield, the forces of Field Marshal Diebitsch were organised into five Infantry Corps, with some cavalry units attached to them. However, the part of the Russian cavalry was defeated in the Battle of Stoczek. The Polish counter-attack in the area of Białołęka on 24 February surprised the Russians, the Russians started a retreat and the Poles started a pursuit, but the Polish advance was halted after an hour. The sound of the battle made Field Marshal Dybich change his plans. At noon the I Corps and the Corps of General Grigoriy Vladimirovich Rosen were ordered to assault the Polish 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions in the woods east of Grochów. At the same time the Corps of General Pahlen was ordered to outflank the Poles from the south, despite numerous assaults, both the woods and the Grochów-Gocławek road were still in Polish hands at dusk. After suffering heavy casualties, the Russians withdrew from the battlefield, however, the Poles had also lost a large part of their forces and were unable to organise a successful pursuit. In the course of a struggle the Russians lost at least 9500 killed and wounded. Polish losses were fewer, but also significant, between 6900 and 7300 dead and wounded. However, Chłopicki did not start a pursuit after the fleeing Russians, because of this, the battle is described as a marginal Polish victory in most handbooks and monographs, both modern and contemporary
15.
Battle of Iganie
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The Battle of Iganie was fought on 10 April 1831 between Russian and Polish forces. It was one of the last major battles of the November Uprising, the Poles, numbering some 4,000 men and 16 cannons advanced rapidly towards the town of Siedlce, a major Russian munitions depot. On 10 April 1831 the Poles encountered forces of Gen. Grigorij Rosen in the village of Iganie, several miles west of Siedlce, Prądzyński, believing the remainder of the Polish forces would arrive shortly, decided to assault the Russians with his avant garde only. The mounted artillery units under Gen. Józef Bem took advantage of its mobility and this allowed for the Polish infantry led by Prądzyński himself to recapture the village. After the initial surprise, the Russian forces under General Geismar managed to regroup across the river and started shelling the Poles with their artillery, much superior in numbers. Seeing the numerical inferiority of the Poles, the Russian commander ordered the artillery barrage to stop, due to Russia superiority in fire power the success was short-living, although Poles managed to inflict heavy casualty on Rosens Observational Corps. Rosen, who arrived back from his meeting with Diebitsch in the middle of the battle, memorie of baron Geismar published by Vladimir Geismar and comments on them. Russkaya Starina -1881, book 5,1882, book 1, facsimile of Gen. Skrzyneckis after-battle report to the government
16.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
17.
Zygmunt Krasinski
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He was the most famous member of the aristocratic Krasiński family. Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński was born in Paris on February 19,1812 to Count Wincenty Krasiński, a Polish aristocrat and military commander, and Countess Maria Urszula Radziwiłł. Zygmunts fascination with the personality of his father, the hopes and ambitions of free Poland, all led to excessive, burdensome and mutual idealization. They both shared a passion of a free nation, an independent country and therefore were strongly anti-Russian. After the war, the family spent most summer vacations and holidays in the privately owned estates in the region of Podolia or in Opinogóra, in September 1826 he entered a local Warsaw Lyceum and received his high school diploma in the Autumn of 1827. As a result of event, in late March 1829. From late May to mid-June he took first foreign trip to Vienna, under the care of his father, in October 1829 he left the country to study abroad. The stay in Geneva was extremely important for shaping the personality of the young writer and he published much of his work anonymously. The blossoming friendship with Mickiewicz undoubtedly accelerated the intellectual mind of the young poet. Soon after his arrival to Geneva, in the beginning of November,1829, he also met Henry Reeve, the son of a doctor, the young Englishman, noble and extremely talented in composing excessive romantic poetry, greatly inspired Zygmunt Krasiński. They soon became friends and often wrote letters in which they stated and extensively highlighted their love for classical and romantic literature. At the beginning of 1830, Krasiński developed feelings for Henrietta Willan and this highly romantic relationship, strictly not associated with the thought of marriage, provided new experiences and proved to be an inspiration for the future works composed by Krasiński. He was released and went to Vienna and he is best known for his philosophical Messianist ideas and tragic dramas. Krasińskis writings from the 1830s are full of plots, strongly influenced by gothic fiction. As the poets most famous show, he is most interested in the extreme face of human existence such as hate. The work was paraphrased and expanded by Edward Robert, Lord Lytton, as Orval, krasińskis Agaj-Han is also well known in Poland. It is a novel, though unlike the historical novels which were popular in Poland. Agaj-Han is filled by macabre motives, death and fratricide, upon human life still exists tragic fate
18.
Thorwaldsen
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Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish/Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, working part-time with his father, who was a wood carver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals at the academy. He was awarded a stipend to travel to Rome and continue his education, in Rome, Thorvaldsen quickly made a name for himself as a sculptor. Maintaining a large workshop in the city, he worked in a heroic neo-classicist style and his patrons resided all over Europe. Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was received as a national hero, the Thorvaldsen Museum was erected to house his works next to Christiansborg Palace. Thorvaldsen is buried within the courtyard of the museum, in his time, he was seen as the successor of master sculptor Antonio Canova. His strict adherence to classical norms has tended to estrange modern audiences, Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen in 1770, the son of Gottskálk Þorvaldsson, an Icelander who had settled in Denmark. Thorvaldsens mother was Karen Dagnes, a Jutlandic peasant girl and his birth certificate and baptismal records have never been found, and the only record is of his confirmation in 1787. Thorvaldsen had claimed descent from Snorri Thorfinnsson, the first European born in America, Thorvaldsens childhood in Copenhagen was humble. His father had a habit that slowed his career. Nothing is known of Thorvaldsens early schooling, and he may have been schooled entirely at home and he never became good at writing, and he never acquired much of the knowledge of fine culture that was expected from an artist. In 1781, by the help of friends, eleven-year-old Thorvaldsen was admitted to Copenhagens Royal Danish Academy of Art first as a draftsman. At night he would help his father in the wood carving, among his professors were Nicolai Abildgaard and Johannes Wiedewelt, who are both likely influences for his later neo-classicist style. At the Academy he was praised for his works and won all the prizes from the small Silver Medal to the large Gold Medal for a relief of St. Peter healing the crippled beggar in 1793. As a consequence, he was granted a Royal stipend, enabling him to complete his studies in Rome. Leaving Copenhagen on August 30 on the frigate Thetis, he landed in Palermo in January 1797 traveled to Naples where he studied for a month before making his entry to Rome on 8 March 1797. Since the date of his birth had never recorded, he celebrated this day as his Roman birthday for the rest of his life. In Rome he lived at Via Sistina in front of the Spanish Steps and had his workshop in the stables of the Palazzo Barberini and he was taken under the wing of Georg Zoëga a Danish archeologist and numismatist living in Rome
19.
Johann Friedrich Overbeck
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Johann Friedrich Overbeck was a German painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Born in Lübeck, his ancestors for three generations had been Protestant pastors, his father Christian Adolph Overbeck was doctor of law, poet, mystic pietist and burgomaster of Lübeck. The young artist left Lübeck in March 1806, and entered as student the academy of Vienna, while Overbeck clearly accrued some of the polished technical aspects of the neoclassic painters, he was alienated by lack of religious spirituality in the themes chosen by his masters. After four years, their differences between his group and others in the academy had grown so irreconcilable, that Overbeck and his followers were expelled and he left for Rome, where he arrived in 1810, carrying his half-finished canvas of Christs Entry into Jerusalem. Rome became for 59 years the centre of his labor, Overbeck in 1813 joined the Roman Catholic Church, and thereby he believed that his art received Christian baptism. The subjects which fell to the lot of Overbeck were the Seven Years of Famine and Joseph sold by his Brethren, after ten years delay, the overtaxed and enfeebled painter delegated the completion of the frescoes to his friend Joseph von Führich. Overbeck was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and he was interred in the church of San Bernardo alle Terme. Portrait of the Painter Franz Pforra Vittoria Caldoni Christs Entry into Jerusalem, christus am Ölberg Italy and Germany Christs Agony in the Garden, in the great hospital, Hamburg. Lo Sposalizio, Muzeum Narodowe, Poznań, Poland, the Triumph of Religion in the Arts, in the Städel Institute, Frankfurt. Lamentation of Christ The Incredulity of St. Thomas, first in the possession of Beresford Hope, London, now in the Schäfer collection, Schweinfurt, the Assumption of the Madonna, in Cologne Cathedral. The Ascension of the Virgin Mary Christ Delivered from the Jews, tempera, the Seven Sacraments Baptism 1862–64, Neue Pinakothek, Munich Drawings for the frescoes for the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Đakovo. His nephew Johannes Overbeck, a professor of archaeology at the University of Leipzig, was noted for his work in art history, in 1843 the Church of St. John the Baptist, Penymynydd, North Wales was built by the Glynne Family of Hawarden, Flintshire. The first vicar, Rev. Lionel Gossman, “Making of a Romantic Icon, The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck’s ‘Italia und Germania. ’” American Philosophical Society,2007. At dianepub. wordpress. com This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Overbeck. Thurston, H. T. Colby, F. M. eds, Johann Friedrich Overbeck in the History of Art Italy and Germany Reproduction Overbeck by J
20.
Peter von Cornelius
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Peter von Cornelius was a German painter. From the age of twelve he attended drawing classes at the Düsseldorf Academy and his father, who was superintendent of the Düsseldorf gallery and professor at the academy, died in 1799, after which Cornelius supported his family by his work as a portraitist and illustrator. In a letter to the Count Raczynski he wrote, It fell to the lot of an elder brother and his earliest major work was the decoration of the choir of the church of St Quirinus at Neuss, commissioned by Canon Wallraff of Cologne in 1803. In 1809 he began a series of drawings illustrating Goethes Faust, for these Cornelius employed a linear style much influenced by a facsimile edition of Dürers prayer book for Maximilian I. Six of the images were shown to the poet, who approved of them, Cornelius continued the series following his move to Rome, and it was published in twelve engravings between 1816 and 1826, under the title Bilder zu Goethes Faust. He moved to Frankfurt in 1809, and worked there until going to Rome two years later, in 1821 he took on, in addition to his work for Ludwig, the directorship of the Düsseldorf Academy. At the death of Director Langer, 1824–5, he director of the Munich Academy. The fresco decorations of the Ludwigskirche in Munich, which were for the most part designed and executed by Cornelius, were perhaps the most important mural works of their time. The large fresco of the Last Judgment, over the altar in that church. The frescoes of the Creator, the Nativity, and the Crucifixion in the building are also upon a large scale. The king abandoned his plans following the revolution of 1848, and he maintained close contact with the art world in Rome, and returned to live there between 1853 and 1869. Cornelius, as an oil painter, possessed little technical skill, even as a fresco painter his manipulative power was not great. And in critically examining the execution in colour of some of his magnificent designs, one cannot help feeling that he was, in this respect, Cornelius and his associates endeavoured to follow in their works the spirit of the Italian painters. But the Italian strain is to a considerable extent modified by the Dürer heritage and these peculiarities are even noticeable in Corneliuss principal work of the Last Judgment, in the Ludwigskirche in Munich. But despite these peculiarities there is always in his works a grandeur, although not dexterous in the handling of the brush, he could conceive and design a subject with masterly purpose. His pupils included Karl Hermann, Wilhelm von Kaulbach and Adam Eberle, Cornelius often relied on pupils and assistants for the execution, and sometimes even the design of the projects of which he was in charge. In 1855 Théophile Gautier wrote that Cornelius enjoyed a celebrity such as few artists enjoy in their lifetime, Germany was in painting and sculpture behind all the rest of Europe. Yet in less than half a century Cornelius founded a school, revived mural painting
21.
Imperial Academy of Arts
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The Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, the academy promoted the neoclassical style and technique, and sent its promising students to European capitals for further study. Training at the academy was virtually required for artists to make successful careers, formally abolished in 1918 after the Russian Revolution, the academy was renamed several times. It established free tuition, students from across the country competed fiercely for its few places annually, in 1947 the national institution was moved to Moscow, and much of its art collection was moved to the Hermitage. The building in Leningrad was devoted to the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, since 1991 it has been called the St. Petersburg Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The academy was located in the Shuvalov Palace on Sadovaya Street, in 1764, Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned its first rector, Alexander Kokorinov, to design a new building. It took 25 years to complete the Neoclassical edifice, which opened in 1789, konstantin Thon was responsible for the sumptuous decoration of the interiors. He also designed a quayside in front of the building, with stairs down to the Neva River, Ivan Betskoy reorganized the academy into a de facto government department, it supervised matters concerning art throughout the country, distributing orders and awarding ranks to artists. The academy vigorously promoted the principles of Neoclassicism by sending the most notable Russian painters abroad, in order to learn the ancient and Renaissance styles of Italy and it also had its own sizable collection of choice artworks intended for study and copying. The adherents of this movement became known as peredvizhniki, led by Ivan Kramskoi, they publicly broke with the Academy and organized their own exhibitions, which traveled from town to town across Russia. Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel and some other painters still regarded the academys training as indispensable for the development of professional and technical skills. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Imperial Academy passed through a series of transformations, after the Academys move to Moscow that year, the building in what was then called Leningrad was renamed Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The national academy has stayed in Moscow, in 1991 it was renamed the Russian Academy of Arts. The old academys art collection, which included works by Poussin, David. During the Soviet era, academies were free of tuition fees as they were financed by the government, many would-be students would apply to the Academy for as many as six or seven years in a row without success. With just twenty places available and thousands of applicants, the competition was brutal, well-known graduates of Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1930–1950s include, The Russian Academy of Arts has been headquartered in Moscow since 1947. Its current president is Zurab Tsereteli and its vice-president is Tair Salakhov and it is also called the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts, Sculpture and Architecture. - Saint Petersburg, NP-Print Edition,2007, the Leningrad School Russian Academy of Arts The St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts Sergei V. Ivanov
22.
Saint Petersburg
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
23.
Nicholas I of Russia
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Nicholas I was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland and his biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky says that Nicholas displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. He saw himself as a junior officer totally consumed by spit. A handsome man, he was nervous and aggressive. Trained as an engineer, he was a stickler for minute detail, in his public persona, says Riasanovsky, Nicholas I came to represent autocracy personified, infinitely majestic, determined and powerful, hard as stone, and relentless as fate. His reign had an ideology called Official Nationality that was proclaimed officially in 1833 and it was a reactionary policy based on orthodoxy in religion, autocracy in government, and Russian nationalism. He was the brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas inherited his brothers throne despite the failed Decembrist revolt against him and his aggressive foreign policy involved many expensive wars, having a disastrous effect on the empires finances. He was successful against Russias neighbouring southern rivals as he seized the last territories in the Caucasus held by Persia by successfully ending the Russo-Persian War and he ended the Russo-Turkish War successfully as well. Later on, however, he led Russia into the Crimean War with disastrous results, historians emphasize that his micromanagement of the armies hindered his generals, as did his misguided strategy. Fuller notes that historians have concluded that the reign of Nicholas I was a catastrophic failure in both domestic and foreign policy. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its zenith, spanning over 20 million square kilometers. Nicholas was born at Gatchina Palace in Gatchina to Grand Duke Paul, five months after his birth, his grandmother, Catherine the Great, died and his parents became emperor and empress of Russia. He was a brother of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who succeeded to the throne in 1801. Riasanovsky says he was, the most handsome man in Europe, Nicholas was not brought up to become the Emperor of Russia, he had two elder brothers. However, as both of them failed to produce sons, Nicholas remained second in the line of succession, in 1825, when Alexander I died suddenly of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother, Constantine Pavlovich, and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine, who was in Warsaw at that time, additionally, on 25 December, Nicholas issued the manifesto proclaiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December, the date of Alexander Is death, during this confusion, a plot was hatched by some members of the military to overthrow Nicholas and to seize power
24.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
25.
Wincenty Pol
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Wincenty Pol was a Polish poet and geographer. Pol was born in Lublin, to Franz Pohl, a German in the Austrian service, Pol fought in the Polish army in the November 1830 Uprising and participated in the 1848 revolution. In spite of his family background, he considered himself a Pole. He was interned in Königsberg after the fall of the November Uprising in Russian partition of Poland and he enrolled at the University but soon became embroiled in controversy, for his anti-Tsarist agitation. While Pol was defended by German speaking professors, Peter von Bohlen and Friedrich Wilhelm Schubert, he left Prussia, while in exile Pol worked on his first poems in tribute to the heroism of the insurgents, issued later in the set of Songs of Janusz. He wrote a fine work, Obrazy z życia i podróży. In 1855 he published Mohort, a poem relating to the times of Stanisław August Poniatowski and his earlier Songs of Janusz inspired Frédéric Chopin to write a number of Polish songs, but only one survives. Pol introduced into Polish literature the term Kresy to describe the territories lying near the frontiers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pol was interred in Krakóws historic Skałka Church, a mini-pantheon of Polish scientists, writers and artists, gawęda List of Poles A selection of Wincenty Pols poems, in English, German and Polish A Poet from Lublin
26.
Siedlce
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Siedlce is a city in eastern Poland with 76,585 inhabitants. Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship, previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship, Siedlce lies between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, along European route E30. It is the fourth largest city of the Voivodeship, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Siedlce, Siedlce is a local educational, cultural and business center. The city, which is a part of the province of Lesser Poland, was most probably founded some time before the 15th century. In 1503, local nobleman Daniel Siedlecki erected a new village of the same name nearby, in 1547 the town, which until the Partitions of Poland belonged to Lesser Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship, was granted Magdeburg rights by King Sigismund the Old. Siedlce as a center was created after a merger of the two neighboring villages. In the 16th century, and until the mid-17th century, Siedlce prospered, with its population quickly growing, after these conflicts, the town belonged to the Czartoryski family, as a dowry of Joanna Olędzka, who married Prince Michał Jerzy Czartoryski. In 1692 Siedlce burned again, and the destruction was used by Kazimierz Czartoryski, in the first half of the 18th century, a new parish church was built. In 1775, after Aleksandra Czartoryska married Hetman Michał Kazimierz Ogiński, at that time Siedlce emerged as one of the most important cultural centers of the nation. The Ogiński Palace was visited by notable artists and writers, such as Franciszek Karpiński. King Stanisław August Poniatowski visited the palace twice, in 1783 and 1793, due to efforts of Aleksandra Ogińska, several improvements took place in Siedlce. Among them, a new hall was built, which now is one of the symbols of the city. Siedlce remained a private property until the military Partitions of Poland, during the third partition of Poland, Siedlce was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and became the seat of Kreisamt in the Austrian Partition before it was confiscated by the Russian authorities. In 1807 Siedlce became part of the Duchy of Warsaw established by Napoleon, following his defeat, during the creation of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland, Siedlce became the seat of a province in the Russian Partition. During the November Uprising against Russian domination, the Battle of Iganie took place near the town, in the January Uprising of 1863, Siedlce was again an important center of the anti-Tsarist rebellion. In 1867 the Siedlce Governorate was created, Siedlce continued to develop with new administration buildings, a post office complex, a courthouse, and a new prison. In the late 19th century, Siedlce became an important railroad junction, with connections to Warsaw, Brest Litovsk, Małkinia Górna, in the beginning of the 20th century, local students launched a protest against the ruthless Russification policies. Subsequently, in 1906 the Russian secret police organized the Siedlce pogrom in order to terrorize the locals, at that time, Siedlce was an important center of Jewish culture, with Jews making up 50% of the population
27.
Battle of Berezina
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The battle ended with a mixed outcome. The French suffered very heavy losses but managed to cross the river, since then Bérézina has been used in French as a synonym for disaster. As the surviving masses of the Grande Armée struggled on for the safety of the west. The French had suffered a defeat just two weeks earlier during the Battle of Krasnoi, the Russians had approximately 61,000 troops at the Berezina, with another 54,000 under Kutuzov just 40 miles to the east who were approaching the river. Napoleons plan was to cross the Berezina River and head for Poland, while his enemies wanted to him there. The original plan to cross the river quickly proved impossible. The nearby bridge at Borisov had been destroyed and most of the equipment to build a bridge had been destroyed a few days earlier. Marshal Oudinot was given the task of drawing off the admiral, the plan worked, and Eblés Dutch engineers braved ferociously cold water to construct the vital 100-metre bridge. Hypothermic death in less than 30 minutes of exposure was likely, the four Swiss infantry regiments acted as the rearguard. Cavalry quickly crossed it followed by infantry to hold the bridgehead, the Swiss suffered terrible losses, but managed to cover both positions and the retreat. This struggle is depicted in the Beresinalied, the Swiss heroic stand saved most of the French troops. A second structure opened within hours and cannons were taken across it to bolster the defensive perimeter and they arrived just in time, as Chichagov realised his error and attacked the 11,000 French troops. By midday of the 27th, Napoleon and his Imperial Guard were across, and the strategy now swung to saving the Swiss rearguard, one of the spans broke in the late afternoon, but more feats of engineering skill had it repaired by early evening. The corps of Marshal Davout and Prince Eugene crossed, leaving Marshal Victors IX Corps to hold off the enemy on the east bank, there is considerable disagreement regarding the numbers of casualties on both sides. While some 22,000 French men became casualties, these included a number of stragglers. A higher estimate is provided by historian Jacques Garnier, who places French losses at 25,000 combatants,25 cannon and 20,000 civilian stragglers, of which around 10,000 were massacred by Cossacks. Russian casualties were high, and although a very moderate 19th century Russian estimate places them at 6,000 they probably amounted to 20,000 men. Historian Alain Pigeard offers more moderate figures, between 13,000 and 16,000 men for the French,13,000 men for the Russians, among the French casualties were three generals and four colonels, killed during this battle
28.
Battle of Tudela
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The Battle of Tudela saw an Imperial French army led by Marshal Jean Lannes attack a Spanish army under General Castaños. The battle resulted in the victory of the Imperial forces over their adversaries. The combat occurred near Tudela in Navarre, Spain during the Peninsular War, Spanish casualties were estimated to be about 4,000 dead and 3,000 prisoners out of a total force of 33,000. The French and Poles lost no more than 600 dead and wounded out of a total of 30,000 and this is one of the battles whose name was engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The Dos de Mayo Uprising of 2 May 1808, followed by extensive uprisings throughout Spain, Blake was active in attacking the French but his offensive near Bilbao was defeated at Pancorbo on 31 October 1808. Napoleon’s strategy was to make an attack towards Burgos splitting off the army of Blake from the others. It was in his interest that the Spanish maintain their exposed advanced positions, the French armies facing them were therefore ordered not to attack. So from October to 21 November 1808, Marshal Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey’s III Corps remained static in front of Castaños’s army, the Spanish armies were however in a constant state of movement to no effect. For much of the time Castaños was ill leaving Palafox to direct operations, Palafox seems to have been indecisive on what course of action to take. The battlefield was the area between Tudela and the hills on the left. The Spanish front was deployed on the hills of Santa Barbara, Tudela, Torre Monreal, Santa Quiteria the top of Cabezoe Maya, and the villages of Urzante, Murchante, separating the Spanish and the French was the Queiles River, a tributary of the Ebro. The French advanced from the Cierzo hills that were in front of the Spanish lines towards the Spanish troops, on 21 November 1808 Castaños was around Calahorra on the Ebro between Logrono and Tudela. These movements threatened Castaños with entrapment between these two armies, to avoid this Castaños withdrew to Tudela. He decided to defend a line 17 kilometres long stretching west from Tudela along the Ebro, then along the Queiles River to Cascante and finally to Tarazona at the foot of the Moncayo Massif. Castaños had insufficient men to hold a line of this length so he asked General Juan ONeylle, as O’Neylle was under the command of Palafox he refused to move without an order from Palafox. This did not arrive until noon on 22 November 1808, O’Neylle moved promptly to the east bank of the Ebro opposite Tudela but decided not to cross the river until the next day. By nightfall on 22 November 1808 Castaños had almost 45,000 soldiers in the vicinity of Tudela, General Roca’s division was on the east bank of the Ebro plus the two divisions from Aragon of O’Neylle and Felipe Augusto de Saint-Marcq. Most of the fighting in the battle of Tudela would involve only the three divisions of Roca, O’Neylle, and Saint-Marcq – totaling about 23,000 infantry, for the French only the III Corps was involved in the Battle of Tudela
29.
Uhlan
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Uhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian. Uhlans typically wore a jacket with a coloured panel at the front, a coloured sash. This cap or cavalry helmet was derived from a design of Polish cap, made more formal. Their lances usually had small, swallow-tailed flags just below the spearhead, in the Turkic Tatar language, it means, amongst other things, a brave warrior or young man. The Kalmyk/Oirat/Dzhungar cavalry made wide use of lances both in European as well as Central Asian wars. One of the members, Colonel Aleksander Ułan, was the commander of a Polish light cavalry regiment in the service of Polish-Saxon kings, August II Mocny. After Ułans death his regiment was nicknamed Ułanowe dzieci and Ułanowe wojsko, prior to 1764, all Polish-Lithuanian Tatar cavalry regiments in Saxon service were named Ułani. Once the Golden Horde Tatar families had settled in Lithuania in the late 14th century, they were required to military service for the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The Poles started incorporating much of their vocabulary and many of their traditions, along with their strategy. Lithuanian Tartars, mostly Muslim, served as part of the Royal armies during various battles of the late Middle Ages and their tasks were to conduct reconnaissance in advance of the heavier cavalry banners. The last Polish King, Stanisław August Poniatowski, had a Uhlan guard regiment simply known as the Royal Uhlans and it was disbanded in 1794 or 1795. The first Uhlan regiments were created in the early 18th century in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1720s and their speed and mobility were key to their popularity. The Uhlan regiment formed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1740, the regiment failed to distinguish itself favorably in the first of the Silesian Wars and was disbanded shortly afterwards. In 1745, Saxony, engaged in a union with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Shortly after, the Marechal de Saxe created a Polish Ulan regiment for the French king, King Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland formed a regiment of royal guards equipped with lances, szablas, and pistols, each guardsman uniformed in kurta and czapka. This unit became the prototype for other units of the Polish cavalry. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ulans officially had the status and traditions of the winged Polish hussars passed on to them in 1776, the Austrian empire also formed a Uhlan Regiment in 1784, composed primarily of Poles
30.
Battle of Somosierra
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The Battle of Somosierra occurred November 30,1808, in the Peninsular War, when a French army under Napoleon I forced a passage through the Sierra de Guadarrama shielding Madrid. Napoleon overwhelmed the Spanish positions in a combined attack, sending the Polish Chevau-légers of the Imperial Guard at the Spanish guns while French infantry advanced up the slopes. The victory removed the last obstacle barring the road to Madrid, by late November 1808 the French Grande Armée had overwhelmed and destroyed both wings of the Spanish popular army. To complete his reconquest of Spain, Napoleon advanced on Madrid with 40,000 men, Gen. San Juan mustered an ad hoc army of militia, reservists and various regular regiments still reeling from earlier defeats--in all about 12,000 men--to defend Madrid. In order to screen the many approaches to the city, San Juan dispersed his already greatly outnumbered forces. Under his orders,9,000 men were sent west to guard the Guadarrama pass while 3,000 occupied an advanced post at Sepulveda, the nature of the terrain and the tenacity of the Spaniards initially worked in their favor. On the evening of November 29 the brigade at Sepulveda repulsed a French attack, inflicted heavy casualties, the following morning Napoleon advanced his infantry directly toward the pass while small detachments crept up the flanks. Exchanging musket volleys with the defenders, the French made slow, to that number must be added members of other squadrons, totaling some 450 men, but these entered the battle later. The charge of 125 against the batteries was joined by Niegolewskis platoon returning from reconnaissance and it is not clear, however, whether the number included only front-line troops or all the soldiers in the units. The decision, arguably callous and imprudent, has been the subject of historical controversy. Jan Kozietulski, who commanded the 3rd squadron that day, mentioned that he called, and, passing the little bridge, added, En avant, Vive lEmpereur. Some western authors have assumed that Napoleon had gone out of his mind in ordering the Poles to charge batteries of 16 cannon over several kilometers of extremely difficult terrain. Others, however, think Napoleon ordered only the closest battery to be taken, in order to open the way for his infantry, and they took the second and third batteries but only a few chevaux-légers reached the last battery, and the Spanish attempted to recapture it. It was then that Napoleon saw his chance and immediately committed the other squadrons, benito de San Juan had 16 cannon at his disposal, arranged in four batteries. Some accounts, based mostly on recollections of French officers, assume that the Spaniards placed all their guns at the peak of Somosierra pass. The first battery defended the entrance to the Somosierra pass, the two covered the pass at its angles and the fourth, only, stood by the heights. It was assumed that all batteries had four cannons, and later theories that the pass was too narrow for that to be possible should be treated as legends, 13th Bulletin of the Army of Spain mentioned that chevau-légers were commanded by Gen. Louis Pierre, Count Montbrun. However, both Polish charge participants mentioned above and Lt. Col. Pierre Dautancourt, one of the French tutors of the unit, datancourt mentioned that Montbrun in conversations with him had laughed at that idea
31.
Battle of Leipzig
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The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813, at Leipzig, Saxony. Napoleons army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine, the battle was the culmination of the 1813 German campaign and involved nearly 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Being decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Coalition hurried to keep their momentum, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814. However, the Russian Tsar refused to even as the French occupied the city. With this string of defeats, the armies of France were in retreat on all fronts across Europe, anti-French forces joined Russia as its troops pursued the remnants of the virtually destroyed Grande Armée across central Europe. He sought to regain the offensive by re-establishing his hold in Germany, the victories led to a brief armistice. He then won a victory at the Battle of Dresden on 27 August. This policy led to victories at Großbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach, after these defeats, the French emperor could not easily follow up on his victory at Dresden. With the intention of knocking Prussia out of the war as soon as possible, Oudinot was defeated at the Battle of Großbeeren, just south of the city. With the intact Prussian force threatening from the north, Napoleon was compelled to withdraw westward and he deployed his army around the city, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz, where he placed his command. The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden, the coalition had some 380,000 troops along with 1,500 guns, consisting of 145,000 Russians,115,000 Austrians,90,000 Prussians, and 30,000 Swedes. This made Leipzig the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, surpassing Borodino, Wagram, Jena and Auerstadt, Ulm, Napoleon conscripted these men to be readied for an even larger campaign against the newly formed Sixth Coalition and its forces stationed in Germany. While he won several battles, his army was being steadily depleted as Coalition commanders, closely following the Trachenberg Plan. The Swedes also had under their command a company of the British Rocket Brigade armed with Congreve rockets, despite being outnumbered, Napoleon planned to take the offensive between the Pleisse and the Parthe rivers. The position at Leipzig held several advantages for his army and his battle strategy, the rivers that converged there split the surrounding terrain into many separate sectors. The northern front was defended by Marshals Michel Ney and Auguste de Marmont, the artillery reserve and parks, ambulances, and baggage stood near Leipzig, which Napoleon made his supply base for the battle. The bridges on the Pleisse and White Elster rivers were defended by infantry, the main battery stood in reserve, and during battle was to be deployed on the Gallows Height. This battery was to be commanded by the artillery expert Antoine Drouot, the western flank of the French positions at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz was defended by Prince Joseph Poniatowski and Marshal Pierre Augereau and his young French conscripts
32.
Saint-Domingue
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Saint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804. The French had established themselves on the portion of the islands of Hispaniola. In the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, Spain formally recognized French control of Tortuga island, in 1791, the slaves and some free people of color of Saint-Domingue began waging a rebellion against French authority. The rebels became reconciled to French rule following the abolition of slavery in the colony in 1793, France controlled the entirety of Hispaniola from 1795 to 1802, when a renewed rebellion began. The last French troops withdrew from the portion of the island in late 1803, and the colony later declared its independence as Haiti, its indigenous name. Spain controlled the island of Hispaniola from the 1490s until the 17th century. The official name was La Española, meaning The Spanish and it was also called Santo Domingo or San Domingo, after Saint Dominic. Spain later ceded the western coast of the island to France, retaining the rest of the island, including the Guava Valley. The French called their portion of Hispaniola Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo, the Spanish colony on Hispaniola remained separate, and eventually became the Dominican Republic, the capital of which is still named Santo Domingo. By the early 17th century, the island and its neighbors, notably Tortuga. In 1606, the king of Spain ordered all inhabitants of Hispaniola to move close to Santo Domingo, rather than secure the island, however, this resulted in French, English and Dutch pirates establishing bases on the now-abandoned north and west coasts of the island. French buccaneers established a settlement on the island of Tortuga in 1625 before going to Grande Terre, at first they survived by pirating Spanish ships, eating wild cattle and hogs, and selling hides to traders of all nations. The settlement on Tortuga was officially established in 1659 under the commission of King Louis XIV, in 1665, French colonization of the islands Hispaniola and Tortuga entailed slavery-based plantation agricultural activity such as growing coffee and cattle farming. It was officially recognized by King Louis XIV, the economy of Saint-Domingue became focused on slave-based agricultural plantations. They followed the example of neighboring Caribbean colonies in coercive treatment of the slaves, more cattle, and slave agricultural holdings, coffee plantations and spice plantations were implemented, as well as fishing, cultivation of cocoa, coconuts and snuff. Saint-Domingue quickly came to overshadow the previous colony in both wealth and population, thus, the income and the taxes from slave-based sugar production became a major source of the French budget. Among the first buccaneers was Bertrand DOgeron, who played a big part in the settlement of Saint-Domingue and he encouraged the planting of tobacco, which turned a population of buccaneers and freebooters, who had not acquiesced to royal authority until 1660, into a sedentary population. But in 1670, shortly after Cap-Français had been established, the crisis of tobacco intervened, the first sugar windmill was built in 1685
33.
Haitian Revolution
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The Haitian Revolution, was a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection that took place in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue that lasted from 1791 until 1804. It affected the institution of slavery throughout the Americas, self-liberated slaves destroyed slavery at home, fought to preserve their freedom, and with the collaboration of mulattoes, founded the sovereign state of Haiti. It led to the greatest slave uprising since Spartacuss unsuccessful revolt against the Roman Republic nearly 1,900 years prior, the Haitian Revolution was the only slave uprising that led to the founding of a state free from slavery and ruled by non-whites and former captives. With the increasing number of Haitian Revolutionary Studies in the last few decades, the legacy of the Revolution was that it challenged long-held beliefs about black inferiority and of the enslaved persons capacity to achieve and maintain freedom. The rebels organizational capacity and tenacity under pressure became the source of stories that shocked and frightened slave owners, while acknowledging the cross-influences, most contemporary historians distinguish the Haitian Revolution from the French Revolution. Some even separate it from the mulattoes earlier armed conflicts, which at first sought political rights for themselves and these scholars show that if the agency of the enslaved blacks becomes the focus of studies, the Revolutions opening and closing dates are certain. From this premise, the narrative began with the enslaved blacks bid for freedom through armed struggle and concluded with their victory over slaving powers, in April 1791, a massive black insurgency turned violently against the plantation system, setting a precedent of resistance to racial slavery. In cooperation with their former rivals, blacks ended the Revolution in November 1803 when they decidedly defeated the French army at the Battle of Vertières. The chief concern flutters around the question if the victorious Haitians were intrinsically revolutionary force, one thing is sure, Haiti became an independent country on January 1,1804, when the council of generals chose Jean-Jacques Dessalines to assume the office of governor-general. One of the states first significant documents was Dessaliness Liberty or Death speech, in it, the new head of state made the case for the new nations coherent objective, the permanent abolition of slavery in Haiti. An independent government was created in Haiti, but the society remained deeply affected by patterns established under French colonial rule. Many of them had used their capital to acquire wealth. Some had identified more with the French colonists than the slaves, mulatto domination of politics and economics after the revolution created another two-caste society, as most Haitians were rural subsistence farmers. Much of the Caribbean economic development was contingent to Europeans demand for sugar, Saint Domingue also had extensive coffee, cocoa, and indigo plantations, but these were smaller and less profitable than the wealthy sugar plantations. Starting in the 1730s, French engineers constructed complex irrigation systems to increase sugarcane production, by the 1740s Saint-Domingue, together with Jamaica, had become the main supplier of the worlds sugar. Sugar production depended on extensive manual labor provided by enslaved Africans in the harsh Saint-Domingue colonial plantation economy, the economic importance of St. Domingue, and several million indirectly depended upon trade from Frances richest colony to maintain their standard of living. To sustain the sugar production amid the climate of the Caribbean with malaria. In one year alone, namely 1787, the French imported about 20,000 slaves from Africa into Saint-Domingue while the British imported about 38,000 slaves to all of their Caribbean colonies
34.
Stefan Czarniecki
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Stefan Czarniecki of the Łodzia coat of arms was a Polish nobleman, general and military commander. In his career, he rose from a petty nobleman to a magnate holding one of the highest offices in the Commonwealth, something that was unprecedented in the Commonwealth history. On 22 July 1664 he received the office of the voivode of Kiev and on 2 January 1665 and he is remembered as an accomplished military commander, and regarded as a Polish national hero. His status in Polish history is acknowledged by a mention of his name in the Polish national anthem, Czarniecki made significant contributions fighting the Khmelnytsky Uprising, during the Russo-Polish War, and the Polish–Swedish war. His use of warfare against Swedes is credited as one of the main reason for the eventual Polish victory in this war. Stefan Czarniecki was born in 1599 in the estate of Czarnca by Włoszczowa in southern Poland in a szlachta Czarniecki family. His father, Krzysztof Czarniecki, was a soldier who participated in wars in the late 16th and early 17th century. However, Stefan had ten siblings, and divided into many parts. However, involvement with the court allowed Krzysztof to boost his sons careers with the court influence. Nothing is known about Stefans childhood and his family could not afford to send him to a university abroad, hence he embarked early on a military career. Before that, he attended a college, either in Kraków or Sandomierz. After finishing his schooling, he became a courtier to then-royal prince, as Stefan could not afford the equipment needed to join a hussar unit, he learned the art of war serving with the Lisowczycy mercenaries, joining them as towarzysz in the spring of 1621. Already an officer at the age of eighteen, he took part in the battle of Chocim in 1621 and they served under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski in the campaigns against the Tatars in 1624. In 1625 they took part in the quelling of a Cossack Zhmaylo Uprising and he fought later against Gustavus Adolphus. His light cavalry was used in reconnaissance, diversion, and raiding the enemy territory, in 1627 Stefan, serving in his brothers chorągiew, was promoted to chorąży. On 6–7 August that year he participated in the battle of Tczew, as the Polish–Swedish war ended, in 1630 Czarniecki enlisted in the Habsburg forces and continued to fight against the Swedes, participating in the battle of Breitenfeld. In 1633 he joined the Commonwealth forces again, to fight under the new Polish king, Władysław IV, during the Smolensk War he learned Western tactics used by the foreign mercenary troops. In December 1633 he commanded a unit that successfully raided and pillaged behind the Russian lines, spreading terror, disrupting supply lines
35.
Siege of Ochakov (1788)
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The Second Siege of Ochakov was one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War. It was known as Özi Kuşatması in Turkish, in 1788, Russian forces led by Prince Grigori Potemkin and General Alexander Suvorov besieged the city, held by Ottoman troops commanded by Hasan Pasha. Despite Suvorovs urging to storm the city immediately, Potemkin had the Russian forces encircled Ochakov, bombarding the city and cutting off the supply of food. By keeping his soldiers out of battle, Potemkin minimized Russian casualties. The argument about storming continued in the Russian headquarters during the entirety of the siege, also, the Russians captured strategically important Pirezin Island on July 18,1788. The Turks made several attempts to break the siege, on July 27, about 5,000 Janissaries attacked positions held by Cossacks and forced them to retreat. Suvorov personally led reinforcements and drove the Janissaries to the gates of Ochakov, Hasan Pasha expected reinforcements from the Turkish fleet, which gathered in Limans. But after the attack of Admiral Senyavins fleet, Turkish reinforcements were cut off, the condition of both armies continued to decline, there was a threat of disease, and the weather was growing very cold. Potemkin ultimately gave in to Suvorovs arguments, on the night of December 6, the Russians attacked, and captured Hasan Pashas palace, forcing its guards to surrender. The Russians lost 956 killed and 1,829 wounded in this operation, the Russian victory was celebrated in a famous ode by Gavriil Derzhavin, and in a Te Deum by Giuseppe Sarti. Кампания1788 года - Очаковское сидение
36.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
