The present article examines the effect of Lombard occupation of the Apennine Peninsula in the 6th century on everyday life of the local society; traditionally the event thought to usher in the early Middle Ages in Italy....
Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost strategical points in frontier zone (Smolensk, Polotsk), as a result of wars against Russia, which were waged in XVI century. These yields showed the direction of Moscow’s expansion, toward Baltic Sea. Stefan Batory’s campaigns let the Commonwealth to regain Polotsk Province and Livonia. In the period of so-called Dymitriady Polish-Lithuanian state exploited the Moscow’s difficult position, taking Smolensk (1611) and, thanks to Deulino truce, lands of Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk. Moscow was unable to regain its lost territories in the time of war, waged in 1632–34 and only after thirteen years war (1654–67) took contested lands. Besides them, Russia won Left Bank Ukraine with Kiev (Andrusovo Treaty, January 1667), what was confirmed in peace treaty in 1686. The Commonwealth lost the rivalry with Russia in that part of Europe, since it was not able to conduct more active policy in the East, because of the King John III Sobieski’s engagement in conflict with Ottoman Turkey together with the Holy League....
This is a paper presented at the meeting organized at Paris in 2012 to commemorate the 50 years of activity of the Center of Polish Culture at Sorbonne. The Center was organized by Bronislaw Geremek, an eminent Polish historian who played an important political role in the anti-communist movement many years later, and who became the Minister of Foreign Aff airs after the communism. Both Universities established the Center to facilitate contacts of Polish and French social scientists, difficult at the time of communism. The Polish communist government encouraged this endeavour to smooth the contacts with France, which seemed more independent from the United States than other Western countries. Polish social scientists used this political conjuncture to built contacts with their French colleagues, especially from the “Annales” school. Fernand Braudel wanted to know the Marxist historians
from the East and he appreciated the Polish historical school. The Poles seemed him more reasonable than Marxists from most other communist countries. Quai d’Orsay looked with relative optimism to changes in Poland after 1956, so they facilitated the implementation of Braudel’s ideas. Most probably, Warsaw University was the unique University in the Eastern bloc to have such a center in Paris already in 1962.
After the fall of communism the Polish-French contacts are not as important for Polish social scientists as they were before—for the simple reason that the contacts with most other countries are easy today. Let’s hope nevertheless that the Polish French common programs will continue....