Podcasts about polish lithuanian commonwealth

In libraries all across the Muslim world, old manuscripts survive by scholars whose names end with al-Qirimi: ‘The Crimean.' Discussing all manner of religious topics, these texts form just part of the rich heritage of Muslims from regions in the east of Europe and to the north of the Black Sea that eventually became part of Ukraine. In this episode, we'll learn how these manuscripts help reveal the long history of Islam in both western and eastern Ukraine, along with the changing forms of religious leadership that emerged under the rule of such different states as the Crimean Khanate, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire, and the Soviet Union. From the cities of Bakhchysarai and Akkerman, we'll follow the trail of Qirimi mystics and scholars to trace the impact of Ukrainian Tatars on such distant places as Arabia and Indonesia. Nile Green talks to Mykhaylo Yakubovych, author of “A Neglected Ottoman Sufi Treatise from 16th Century: Mawahib al-Rahman fi bayan Maratib al-Akwan by Ibrahim al-Qirimi,” The Journal of Ottoman Studies 45 (2015).

Tuesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Raphael Kalinowski, 1835-1907; born inside the Russian partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the city of Vilnius; he was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and priest, who founded many monasteries around Poland after the suppression by the Russians; first male Discalced Carmelite to be beatified since St. John of the Cross Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/19/24 Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/german-studies

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the city of Bologna published a book entitled Sefer Hasidim, a compendium of rituals, stories, and religious instruction that primarily originated in medieval Franco-Germany. How these men, of Italian and Spanish descent, came to produce a book that would come to shape Ashkenazic culture, and Jewish culture more broadly, over the next four centuries is the basis of this kaleidoscopic study of the history of Hebrew printing in the sixteenth century. During these early years of printing, the classic works of ancient and medieval Hebrew and Jewish literature became widely available to Jewish (and non-Jewish) readers for the first time. Printing, though, was not merely the duplication and distribution of pre-existing manuscripts, it was the creative adaptation and transformation of those manuscripts by printers. Ranging from Catholic Bologna to Protestant Basel to the Jewish heartland of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Skloot uncovers the history of that creativity by examining the first two print editions of Sefer Hasidim. Along the way, he demonstrates how volumes that were long thought to be eternal and unchanging were in fact artifacts of historical agency and contingency, created by and for human beings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/italian-studies

In the fourth episode of Ukraine's Story, we're going to cover the Polish-Lithuanian era of Ukraine's history. From the late 14th century until the mid-17th century, Ukraine was under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a powerful union of Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, that existed until the end of the 18th century. This era witnessed a complex interplay of cultural, religious, and political dynamics as vast swathes of Ukrainian territory became integral parts of the Commonwealth. Polish-Lithuanian rule represented yet another era of foreign domination for Ukraine, marked by a complex intermingling of cultures, political subjugation, and periodic tensions within the diverse socio-religious landscape of the region.Find out how you can support Ukraine in its struggle for peace and freedom here.You can find bonus content such as videos and extended versions of episodes over at The History Buff Patreon (it's free - for now!). You can also follow The History Buff on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube.Artwork by Leila Mead. Check out her website and follow her on Instagram.Music: As History Unfolds by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this day in legal history, November 27, 1815, marked a significant moment in the constitutional journey of Poland. Emperor Alexander I of Russia, in his capacity as King of Poland, signed a constitution for the Kingdom of Poland, a state reconstituted under Russian dominance. This event followed the Congress of Vienna's directive to provide a constitutional framework for Poland, leading to the unofficial naming of the state as Congress Poland or Kongresówka.The Kingdom of Poland, established as one of the smallest Polish states in history, was significantly smaller than both the preceding Duchy of Warsaw and the earlier Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The constitution was unilaterally granted by the ruler without parliamentary vote, reflecting a top-down approach to governance.Prince Adam Czartoryski played a pivotal role in drafting this constitution, although its final version bore the edits and influences of Emperor Alexander I and his advisors. Notably liberal for its time, the constitution promised freedoms including speech and religious tolerance, showcasing the influence of both Polish and Russian Enlightenment thought. However, in contrast to the Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw, it favored the nobility and rolled back certain rights previously extended to Polish Jews and peasants.The Russian authorities never fully honored the constitution's provisions. Its liberal yet vague articles were frequently manipulated, avoided, or outright violated. The promised parliament, scheduled to convene biennially, only met sporadically, with sessions in 1818, 1820, 1826, and 1830, the latter two held secretly. The infrequent sessions and the government's conservative stance within them sparked liberal dissent among deputies.This growing dissatisfaction, fueled by the disregard for constitutional promises, eventually led to the November Uprising in 1830. During this tumultuous period, the constitution underwent modifications, but following the uprising's failure, it was replaced by the Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland on February 26, 1832. This new statute, far more conservative and granted by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, never saw actual implementation, marking the end of a brief but pivotal chapter in Poland's constitutional history.Kirkland & Ellis, a top-grossing law firm in Big Law, recently reported substantial earnings from retainer payments connected to the bankruptcies of Rite Aid Corp. and WeWork Inc., totaling $41.5 million. These payments come in addition to a $2.5 million retainer from another bankrupt client, SmileDirectClub Inc. Kirkland, recognized for its large number of nonequity partners, has recently inducted seven new partners from its restructuring practice, which gained prominence for representing several cryptocurrency companies in Chapter 11 cases.Kirkland's notable role in high-profile bankruptcies involves complex legal and financial navigations, though the firm did not comment on its specific work for WeWork and Rite Aid. In WeWork's case, Kirkland received over $22 million in retainers and is involved in the company's bankruptcy process to address lease issues, with billing rates for its lawyers ranging from $685 to $2,245 per hour. Other law firms, including Munger, Tolles & Olson; Cole Schotz; and Canada's Goodmans, are also advising WeWork, with varying retainer fees and hourly rates.For Rite Aid's bankruptcy, Kirkland disclosed receiving about $19.5 million in retainers, with similar hourly rates as in the WeWork case. Rite Aid has engaged additional legal counsel, including Cole Schotz, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Kobre & Kim, each receiving significant retainer payments and billing at various hourly rates. The company, under new legal leadership, faces a deadline to emerge from Chapter 11 by March 1.WeWork, Rite Aid Bankruptcy Fees $41.5 Million Haul for KirklandThe Federal Defender Supreme Court Resource & Assistance Panel (DSCRAP) has become instrumental in aiding federal public defenders in preparing for arguments before the US Supreme Court. Andrew Adler, a federal defender, exemplifies this effort, making his third appearance at the Supreme Court, a rare achievement for federal public defenders who usually argue only once before the justices. This trend is notable, as federal defenders across the nation have argued at least one case each term since 2000, according to Adler.The Supreme Court's limited case docket intensifies the competition for arguing cases, with elite law firms often pressuring defenders to hand over their cases to more experienced advocates. To counter this, DSCRAP supports first-time advocates by partnering them with experienced federal defenders. This initiative is a response to criticisms from Supreme Court justices regarding the quality of representation provided by criminal defense attorneys.Justice Sonia Sotomayor, for instance, criticized attorneys unwilling to pass their cases to seasoned Supreme Court advocates, labeling it as "malpractice." This sentiment reflects the dominance of a small, elite group of big firm lawyers in the Supreme Court bar. However, federal defenders often possess deep subject matter expertise and extensive experience in federal appellate courts.Andrew Adler's preparation for his current case, Jackson v. United States, demonstrates the collaborative efforts to ensure successful arguments. DSCRAP assisted in brainstorming strategies and planned moot courts for Adler, while he also worked with Supreme Court veteran Jeff Fisher for brief preparation. Michael Caruso, the federal public defender for the Southern District of Florida, emphasizes the value of partnering with experienced high court veterans for insights and argument preparation.This collaborative approach aims to balance the often David and Goliath-like scenario federal defenders face when opposing top government lawyers, like the U.S. Solicitor General's Office attorneys. The partnerships and support systems developed within the federal defender community illustrate their commitment to providing quality representation in the nation's highest court, countering the perceived home court advantage of repeat players.Federal Defenders Combine Forces to Argue at US Supreme CourtThe new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules for clawing back executive pay are causing significant challenges and discussions in corporate America. These rules, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 but only issued in 2022, require companies to adopt policies to recoup bonuses from executives in cases of accounting errors. Failing to implement these policies by the December 1 deadline risks expulsion from stock exchanges like Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.The complexity of these rules is considerable, as demonstrated by a legal team at Latham & Watkins LLP, who spent over five hours on a call just to create a flowchart for clients. The SEC's directive primarily targets bonuses linked to earnings metrics that are later found to be miscalculated. This not only includes major financial restatements, known as "Big R" corrections, but also smaller, often unnoticed adjustments labeled "Little R" revisions.These "Little R" revisions, typically slipped into regular financial filings, are more common than the more conspicuous "Big R" restatements. However, the SEC's new rules do not cover out-of-period adjustments, which are minor fixes to immaterial errors in past financial statements. Despite this, companies must now indicate on their annual financial statements if any past correction, including out-of-period adjustments, was made.This means companies must now discern between "Little R" revisions and out-of-period adjustments more carefully, a task that has gained new significance under these rules. As Keith Halverstam of Latham & Watkins LLP notes, this represents a new reality where both executive and accounting teams need to be acutely aware of these distinctions.Beyond accounting complexities, the SEC rules also raise questions about their applicability to overseas companies listed on US exchanges, especially in countries where clawing back pay is prohibited. Additionally, the rules apply to the pre-tax amount of wrongly awarded compensation, posing challenges for long-term incentive programs tied to company stock performance.As companies navigate these new regulations, the focus will also shift to how these policies are implemented in practice, leading to further questions and potential issues, as noted by Veronica Wissel of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. This situation indicates a significant shift in executive compensation and corporate governance, requiring meticulous compliance and strategic planning.SEC Executive Clawback Rules Bring Late Nights as Deadline NearsIn recent days, New York has seen a surge in lawsuits filed against notable individuals under the Adult Survivors Act (ASA). This act, passed in May 2022, was a critical amendment to state law, allowing alleged victims of sexual offenses, where the statute of limitations had lapsed, to file civil suits within a one-year period. This "lookback window" began on November 24, 2022, and was set to close on November 24, 2023, creating a sense of urgency for filings.The ASA was designed to address the delayed effects of trauma often experienced by survivors of sexual assault, recognizing that many are unable to come forward immediately after the incident. This legislation mirrors the earlier Child Victims Act of 2019, providing a similar opportunity for adults.As the deadline approached, there was a notable increase in high-profile lawsuits. Figures like Sean "Diddy" Combs, New York Mayor Eric Adams, and former President Donald Trump were among those sued under the ASA. For example, Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation and battery related to an incident alleged to have occurred in 1996.This wave of lawsuits highlights a crucial aspect of the ASA: its capacity to empower survivors of historic sexual abuse to seek justice, regardless of the elapsed time. While the law initially saw relatively few filings, the rush near the deadline indicates a significant response from survivors seizing this opportunity.Overall, the ASA has facilitated over 2,500 legal actions, underscoring the widespread impact of sexual assault and the need for legal avenues to address long-standing grievances. The law's expiry has prompted a final push for justice, bringing numerous cases into the public eye and spotlighting the pervasive issue of sexual misconduct across various sectors.Adult Survivors Act deadline prompts rush of sexual assault lawsuitsGovernor Hochul Signs Adult Survivors ActActor Jamie Foxx accused of sexual abuse in New York lawsuit | ReutersNew York Mayor Eric Adams accused of sexual assault in 1993 | Reuters Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

The Swedish campaigns in Central Europe in the Thirty Years' War are remembered in folklore for their brutality, for massacres of civilians and ‘scorched earth' tactics. And yet, as their leader, King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden (1594 – 1632) is remembered almost as a saint, even in these very same regions. King Gustavus Adolphus, an experienced military commander who had already fought and won wars against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Denmark, intervened in the Thirty Years' War like a force of nature – a ‘Lion from Midnight'. He was the champion of the Protestant cause, fighting the Catholic Habsburgs and their followers. In a series of huge moves, his armies swept through the Holy Roman Empire, winning battles at Frankfurt/Oder, Werben, Breitenfeld, Rain on the River Lech, and, finally, Lützen – but this last Swedish victory cost him his life. Professor Gunnar Åselius explains the paradox: Gustavus Adolphus prided himself on his military reforms and the discipline he kept among his soldiers, but even they would turn to pillage and murder to feed themselves when they were not paid. Holding degrees from the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm, Professor Åselius teaches Military History at the Swedish Defence University.

Who was the greatest-ever military general? What was history's most disastrous party? Is identity politics ruining the study of history? And what on Earth was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?All these questions and more are answered by the co-host of the smash-hit 'The Rest is History' podcast, Dominic Sandbrook.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Buy tickets to see The Rest is History live in Australia here.

In the late 1500s Poland and Lithuania joined to create the Commonwealth, a remarkable, if flawed, experiment in constitutional monarchy that would last more than 200 years. Its legacy of religious tolerance and representative republicanism is strangely overlooked in American history books - and I would guess in other histories as well. One of the chief economic engines of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the Wielizcka Salt Mine, an amazing wonder delved over 700 years. To visit Wieliczka is to be amazed at the artistry of salt sculptures and impressed by the sheer cheesiness of all the salty dwarves. So many salty dwarves. Or maybe they're gnomes... Finally, let's grab some friends and make pierogis! 

Story takes place in the early 18th century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The wealthy magnates,szlatcha, developed their own government and had the Jews run their industries. So what happens when a powerful magnate insists on marrying a Jewish girl? Based on a true story. And why is Reb Leib Sarahs named after his mother, Sara? PS. A big thanks and a big welcome to my wife on her acting debut.

Between 1558 and 1721, Sweden, Denmark, Muscovy / Russia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Prussia-Brandenburg competed for power and influence in a series of wars dubbed "The Northern Wars" by our guest professor Robert Frost. We discuss how these states handled the challenge of new military technology and tactics, growing armies, skyrocketing military spending, and combat against opponents with varying capabilities in different climate and terrain, in in a process called military revolution. It would transform the societies and warfare alike, creating the fiscal-military state, the precursor of modern states. This first of military revolutions is by it is seen by its supporters as an prerequisite for major military and political change ever since.

The 3 May Constitution of 1791 is known as being Europe's first modern constitution, following on from the United States two years before. At the time, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a multi-ethnic state, comprising Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Jews, Germans, Armenians and other ethnicities. The document was revolutionary in that it established a new voting system across the country, increased the rights of the peasantry, upkept religious tolerance and abolished the liberum veto, where one vote against could bring down any legislation being debated in the Sejm. While the effects of the new system were only in effect for under two years until the Grodno Sejm in 1793 (and ahead of the Kościuszko Uprising and the Second Partition), it is seen as progressive, a reflection of the Enlightenment ideals of the time. John Beauchamp is in Krasnogruda on the Polish-Lithuanian border where he meets Krzysztof Czyżewski from the Borderland Foundation to talk about the 3 May Constitution and how patriotism can be given new wind thanks to a look back to the ideals of the Commonwealth: hospitality and openness. The name of the high-school student mentioned by Krzysztof in the interview is Patryk Jankowski, who comes from a mixed-heritage Polish-Lithuanian family and who recently won the seventh edition of the Jagiellonian University's Polish Department annual essay competition for a paper on modern-day patriotism.  

For the first 20 chapters the action centered around the major cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, circa 1805. This chapter heads to the countryside to one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, Smolensk, founded in 863 A.D. It is west of Moscow and a bit south, not that far east of the Belarusian border. Smolensk was part of the Kyivan Rus', the first state to rise among Eastern Slavs. While the early history of Ukraine is the history of Russia, the converse is not true. Generally, many think “Russia,” when they hear “Rus''” but there is so much more to the Rus', who were Scandinavian Vikings. Rus' is also thought to be a navigational term meaning “rudder.” Smolensk was also part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tsardom of Russia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire. It has remained on an important trading and invasion route. The story moves to the fictional “Bald Hills,” in Smolensk, the estate of Prince Andrei's father, Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky. Nikolai is a fictional general who had a falling out with a historical emperor not held in high regard – Paul.  Tolstoy desires to build up Nikolai's status, so he puts him at odds with the hapless Paul, who was likely killed by his own officers. Paul was Catherine the Great's son and Alexander's brother. The Old General was banished by Paul from the major cities. Even though he is now free (under Alexander I) to go where he wishes, Nikolai chooses not to leave Bald Hills. He lives with his daughter Maria/Marya, whom he tutors, and Mayra has a companion of French derision, Mademoiselle Amelie Bourienne. There are also a number of serfs on his estate.The first part of this chapter is a character study in Nikolai and this episode will concentrate on him, leaving a second part of chapter 22 to deal with his daughter Marya. Unlike a writer like Hemingway, who often lets the action tell the story, Tolstoy is descriptive of his characters' traits.Nikolai is industrious and orderly, which perhaps earned him the nickname “The King of Prussia.” Nikolai is full of energy and intelligence and does not tolerate idleness nor superstition.He spends his time managing his property, serving as superintendent, architect, and even doing gardening. He also spends hours at his lathe, as a carpenter. He exercises the mind as much as the body, writing a military memoir and working out math problems. In his study, books and plans are all over. He keeps himself busy at every moment with continuous, varied and regulated activity. It keeps his body and mind strong.While exacting, Nikolai is not cruel. He inspires both fear and respect. One area that he lacks impressiveness is his physical appearance. He is described as quite clownish or at least out-of-date. He is short, has bushy grey eyebrows and wears a powdered wig. He carries the odor of tobacco and old age. Nevertheless, he retains a spark in eyes, one demonstrating youthful energy. He is the type who appears for his meals at exactly the same time, which brings him to the morning he expects the arrival of his son, who is traveling westward to war. Andrei is also dropping off his pregnant wife, Lise.After his own geometry studies, Nikolai comes to meet his daughter, Marya. Knowing he is coming, Marya makes the sign of the cross in hopes he is in a decent mood. Nikolai tells his daughter she has a letter for her from Julie Kuragin. He goes out of his way to say that he won't read it. He reads every third or fourth letter to see if she is involved in idle gossip and needs correction. Marya doesn't mind if he reads all her letters.He then draws her attention to a geometry problem and she quickly becomes embarrassed at lacking understanding. Sometimes, he flings the math book across the room when frustrated. After a mild outburst, he gave his daughter a comforting touch. He explained the answer and importance of mathematics. He suggests she persevere and rise above those who don't work at such problems.  Nikolai also notes Julie sent Marya a religious book called “The Key to The Mystery.” It is clear he wasn't impressed with the selection.The Princess left with her letter and book to her room and we get a description of her. She looks in the mirror and sees her sickly and plain face. Nevertheless, there is something majestic about her magnificent eyes. She put the book down and opened her letter with eagerness.  

Potop aka The Deluge (1974) This week we don our fuzzy hats, load up on pierogies, and charge forward in our polar bear sleigh as we join Jerzy Hoffman in defending the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against short movies and Swedish invaders

In 1791, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted one of the world's most avant-garde constitutions, one establishing a progressive constitutional monarchy. And yet in 1795, the Commonwealth altogether disappeared, partitioned between Prussia, Austria and Russia. This contrast between the Commonwealth's seemingly advanced regime and its total collapse in four years has earned it the neglect of historians. Yet for nearly four centuries, it stayed a major actor in central European politics, controlling at its peak somewhere between a third and a fourth of the European landmass, with liberal political and religious rights for its time and vibrant intellectual, economic and cultural conditions. This week, we cover this fascinating history with two leading experts. Norman Davies is the Polish-Welsh honorary fellow at St Antony's College (Oxford). He's a professor Emeritus at UCL and the author of many books on Poland, including God's Playground: A History of Poland (1979). Adam Zamoyski—in his third appearance on the podcast—is the author of Poland: A History (2009). As always, please rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions either on Twitter at @UnDecencyPod or by e-mail at undecencypod@gmail.com. And please consider supporting the show through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod.

In the 17th century, Jan Sobieski, the king of the powerful Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth saved Vienna from the Ottoman Empire. A hundred years later,  this state disappeared from the map. How was it possible? To access transcripts for this and other episodes, visit https://store.lrcpodcast.ca Find out how to rapidly make progress in spoken Russian How to listen Give it a try with our free Sample transcripts Learn Russian Conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7pE0ufROXRDlQSlVWiLqQ Ready to leave the classroom and try modern Russian? Learn Russian Conversation is the best place to practice your Russian! If you want to start speaking Russian fluently, you can do it here. Listen to Russian conversations regularly, improve your understanding of spoken Russian, and start speaking Russian today at our Russian Conversation Club.

Medical and genetics experts in Poland say that a heart infection caused by a common skin bacteria could have caused the 1817 death of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish and U.S. military leader and national hero. The experts said last month they found the genome of the Cutibacterium acne in the wax, wood and linen that had long-term contact with the tissues of Kosciuszko's heart, which has been preserved. They said it could have led to endocarditis, or inflammation inside the heart, and to his death, aged 71, in Switzerland. The team was led by Prof. Michał Witt, head of the human genetics institute at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan, and Dr. Tadeusz Dobosz of the Wroclaw Medical University. They took the samples for their molecular tests from a vessel where the heart is being kept, at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Under some conditions, skin bacteria can attack the internal organs, including the heart, leading to very serious problems, Witt told Polish Radio Zet24. He stressed that it's hard to say for sure what caused Kosciuszko's death but that their findings have led them to the “rationally based hypothesis” that it was the acne bacteria that caused the documented rapid deterioration of his health and death. Previously, typhoid fever or pneumonia were believed to have ended Kosciuszko's life. He was said to have developed a high fever and chills after he had fallen off his horse into a cold stream. Born in 1746 in the then-Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Kosciuszko fought as colonel of the Continental Army in the 1776 American Revolutionary War. A military engineer and architect, he designed and oversaw the construction of America's fortifications, including West Point. Back to restless Poland, in 1794 he commanded an ill-fated uprising against the Russian Empire that was annexing some of Poland's lands. He spent his last years in Switzerland. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #693! Today's guest is harpsichordist Alina Rotaru. Alina studied piano and choral conducting at the music academy in her hometown of Bucharest. After moving to Germany, she studied harpsichord with Siegbert Rampe and Wolfgang Kostujak at the Folkwang University of the Arts Essen, with Bob van Asperen at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and with Carsten Lohff and Detlef Bratschke at the University of the Arts Bremen. She is an active soloist and ensemble player, and also in charge of various orchestral, opera, and sacred music projects of the German Early and Late Baroque as an artistic director. As a soloist, she has performed across most of Europe, as well as in Japan, South America and USA. She teaches at the University of the Arts in Bremen. Her solo recordings of harpsichord works by JP Sweelinck, JJ Froberger, and English virginalists have earned excellent reviews in the music press and among their peers. Together with viol player Darius Stabinskas, Alina is the co-founder of the ensemble MORGAINE, which focuses on the music of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this conversation, we talk about her love for early music, playing harpsichord and Sigismundus Lauxmin International Harpsichord Contest which she organised the 2nd time this year. Relevant links: https://alinarotarumusic.wordpress.com http://www.bmfestival.lt http://www.bmfestival.lt/bmf2022/en/contest.html​ http://fontesmusicae.pl/notes-editions-c-series/​ http://fontesmusicae.pl/szelest-en/​

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the republic that emerged from the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th Century. At first this was a personal union, similar to that of James I and VI in Britain, but this was formalised in 1569 into a vast republic, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Kings and princes from across Europe would compete for parliament to elect them King and Grand Duke, and the greatest power lay with the parliaments. When the system worked well, the Commonwealth was a powerhouse, and it was their leader Jan Sobieski who relieved the siege of Vienna in 1683, defeating the Ottomans. Its neighbours exploited its parliament's need for unanimity, though, and this contributed to its downfall. Austria, Russia and Prussia divided its territory between them from 1772, before the new, smaller states only emerged in the 20th Century. The image above is Jan III Sobieski (1629-1696), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, at the Battle of Vienna 1683, by Marcello Bacciarelli (1731-1818) With Robert Frost The Burnett Fletcher Chair of History at the University of Aberdeen Katarzyna Kosior Lecturer in Early Modern History at Northumbria University And Norman Davies Professor Emeritus in History and Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford Producer: Simon Tillotson

Why does Ukraine look to the West for inspiration as opposed to Russia? To answer this question, we have to understand the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries - a country that is now lost to history, a country that engulfed much of modern-day Ukraine. The government of this Commonwealth was a mixture of different forms of ruling systems - e.g., monarchy, aristocracy and a republic, with many checks and balances that limited the powers of its elected kings. Later in its history, the Commonwealth adopted the first modern European constitution. In addition, the ruling elite of this polity mainly were Catholic. All of this, including Catholicism, affected Ukraine's history, and its preference for a consensual form of government. As Professor Robert Frost explains in this episode, Ukraine was occupied by this Commonwealth and ruled from Krakow just as long, if not longer, than it has been occupied by Russia and ruled from Moscow. Professor Frost is the Chair of History at the University of Aberdeen. For the last 22 years, his main research interest has been in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Union and its legacy. Visit his academic homepage to learn more about his extensive scholarship. I hope you enjoy this episode. Adel Host of ThePeel.news podcast Russian Revolutions, Prof. Steinberg Wars in Ukraine, Prof. Stone Who are Ukrainians?, Prof. Wanner SUPPORT: please click here and join our other supporters in the news peeler community. Thank you. Image attribution: by Rzeczpospolita2nar at Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

This week we take a look at the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. What made it a commonwealth? How wasThe PLC, (Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth), born? Who were some of its leaders and what was it`s influence on European history? Find out this week on "Well That Aged Well", with "Erlend HedegartSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/well-that-aged-well. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we cover some background to recent events in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, and then take a look at the remainder of Tsar Mikhail Romanov's (and Filaret's) time in charge of Russia. Period Covered 1619 -1645 Website   https://www.historyofrussia.net Twitter       HistoryRussia1 Email        nordicworld@outlook.com

Dates and tricky words in the episode: the 9th century, the 12th century, Kiev, Moscow, Orthodoxy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – Киев, Москва, православие, Польско-Литовское государство. To access transcripts for this and other episodes, visit https://store.lrcpodcast.ca Find out how to rapidly make progress in spoken Russian How to listen Give it a try with our free Sample transcripts Learn Russian Conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7pE0ufROXRDlQSlVWiLqQ Ready to leave the classroom and try modern Russian? Learn Russian Conversation is the best place to practice your Russian! If you want to start speaking Russian fluently, you can do it here. Listen to Russian conversations regularly, improve your understanding of spoken Russian, and start speaking Russian today at our Russian Conversation Club.

Our last episode was on Project MAC, a Cold War-era project sponsored by ARPA. That led to many questions like what led to the Cold War and just what was the Cold War. We'll dig into that today. The Cold War was a period between 1946, in the days after World War II, and 1991, when the United States and western allies were engaged in a technical time of peace that was actually an aggressive time of arms buildup and proxy wars. Technology often moves quickly when nations or empires are at war. In many ways, the Cold War gave us the very thought of interactive computing and networking, so is responsible for the acceleration towards our modern digital lives. And while I've never seen it references as such, this was more of a continuation of wars between the former British empire and the Imperialistic Russian empires. These make up two or the three largest empires the world has ever seen and a rare pair of empires that were active at the same time.  And the third, well, we'll get to the Mongols in this story as well. These were larger than the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, or any of the Chinese dynasties. In fact, the British Empire that reached its peak in 1920 was 7 times larger than the land controlled by the Romans, clocking in at 13.7 million square miles. The Russian Empire was 8.8 million square miles. Combined the two held nearly half the world. And their legacies live on in trade empires, in some cases run by the same families that helped fun the previous expansions.  But the Russians and British were on a collision course going back to a time when their roots were not as different as one might think. They were both known to the Romans. But yet they both became feudal powers with lineages of rulers going back to Vikings. We know the Romans battled the Celts, but they also knew of a place that Ptolemy called Sarmatia Europea in around 150AD, where a man named Rurik settle far later. He was a Varangian prince, which is the name Romans gave to Vikings from the area we now call Sweden. The 9th to 11th century saw a number o these warrior chiefs flow down rivers throughout the Baltics and modern Russia in search of riches from the dwindling Roman vestiges of empire. Some returned home to Sweden; others conquered and settled. They rowed down the rivers: the Volga, the Volkhov, the Dvina, and the networks of rivers that flow between one another, all the way down the Dnieper river, through the Slavic tripes Ptolemy described which by then had developed into city-states, such as Kiev, past the Romanians and Bulgers and to the second Rome, or Constantinople.  The Viking ships rowed down these rivers. They pillaged, conquered, and sometimes settled. The term for rowers was Rus. Some Viking chiefs set up their own city-states in and around the lands. Some when their lands back home were taken while they were off on long campaigns. Charlemagne conquered modern day France and much of Germany, from The Atlantic all the way down into the Italian peninsula, north into Jutland, and east to the border with the Slavic tribes. He weakened many, upsetting the balance of power in the area. Or perhaps there was never a balance of power.  Empires such as the Scythians and Sarmatians and various Turkic or Iranian powers had come and gone and each in their wake crossing the vast and harsh lands found only what Homer said of the area all the way back in the 8th century BCE, that the land was deprived of sunshine. The Romans never pushed up so far into the interior of the steppes as the were busy with more fertile farming grounds. But as the Roman Empire fell and the Byzantines flourished, the Vikings traded with them and even took their turn trying to loot Constantinople. And Frankish Paris. And again, settled in the Slavic lands, marrying into cultures and DNA.  The Rus Rome retreated from lands as her generals were defeated. The Merovingian dynasty rose in the 5th century with the defeat of Syagrius, the last Roman general Gaul and lasted until a family of advisors slowly took control of running the country, transitioning to the Carolingian Empire, of which Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, as he was crowned, was the most famous. He conquered and grew the empire.  Charlemagne knew the empire had outgrown what one person could rule with the technology of the era, so it was split into three, which his son passed to his grandsons. And so the Carolingian empire had made the Eastern Slavs into tributaries of the Franks. There were hostilities but by the Treaty of Mersen in 870 the split of the empire generally looked like the borders of northern Italy, France, and Germany - although Germany also included Austria but not yet Bohemia. It split and re-merged and smaller boundary changes happened but that left the Slavs aware of these larger empires. The Slavic peoples grew and mixed with people from the Steppes and Vikings. The Viking chiefs were always looking for new extensions to their trade networks. Trade was good. Looting was good. Looting and getting trade concessions to stop looting those already looted was better. The networks grew. One of those Vikings was Rurik. Possibly Danish Rorik, a well documented ally who tended to play all sides of the Carolingians and a well respected raider and military mind.  Rurik was brought in as the first Viking, or rower, or Rus, ruler of the important trade city that would be known as New City, or Novgorod. Humans had settled in Kiev since the Stone Age and then by Polans before another prince Kyi took over and then Rurik's successor Oleg took Smolensk and Lyubech. Oleg extended the land of Rus down the trading routes, and conquered Kiev. Now, they had a larger capital and were the Kievan Rus.  Rurik's son Igor took over after Oleg and centralized power in Kiev. He took tribute from Constantinople after he attacked, plunder Arab lands off the Caspian Sea, and was killed overtaxing vassal states in his territory. His son Sviatoslav the Brave then conquered the Alans and through other raiding helped cause the collapse of the Kazaria and Bulgarian empires. They expanded throughout the Volga River valley, then to the Balkans, and up the Pontic Steppe, and quickly became the largest empire in Europe of the day. His son Vladimir the Great expanded again, with he empire extending from the Baltics to Belarus to the Baltics and converted to Christianity, thus Christianizing the lands he ruled.  He began marrying and integrating into the Christian monarchies, which his son continued. Yaroslov the Wise married the daughter of the King of Sweden who gave him the area around modern-day Leningrad. He then captured Estonia in 1030, and as with others in the Rurikid dynasty as they were now known, made treaties with others and then  pillaged more Byzantine treasures. He married one daughter to the King of Norway, another to the King of Hungary, another to the King of the Franks, and another to Edward the Exile of England, and thus was the grandfather of Edgar the Aetheling, who later became a king of England.  The Mongols The next couple of centuries saw the rise of Feudalism and the descendants of Rurik fight amongst each other. The various principalities were, as with much of Europe during the Middle Ages, semi-independent duchies, similar to city-states. Kiev became one of the many and around the mid 1100s Yaroslav the Wise's great-grandson, Yuri Dolgoruki built a number of new villages and principalities, including one along the Moskva river they called Moscow. They built a keep there, which the Rus called kremlins.  The walls of those keeps didn't keep the Mongols out. They arrived in 1237. They moved the capital to Moscow and Yaroslav II, Yuri's grandson, was poisoned in the court of Ghengis Khan's grandson Batu. The Mongols ruled, sometimes through the descendants of Rurik, sometimes disposing of them and picking a new one, for 200 years. This is known as the time of the “Mongol yoke.”  One of those princes the Mongols let rule was Ivan I of Moscow, who helped them put down a revolt in a rival area in the 1300s. The Mongols trusted Moscow after that, and so we see a migration of rulers of the land up into Moscow. The Golden Horde, like the Viking  Danes and Swedes settled in some lands. Kublai Khan made himself ruler of China. Khanates splintered off to form the ruling factions of weaker lands, such as modern India and Iran - who were once the cradle of civilization. Those became the Mughals dynasties as they Muslimized and moved south. And so the Golden Horde became the Great Horde. Ivan the Great expanded the Muscovite sphere of influence, taking Novgorod, Rostov, Tver, Vyatka, and up into the land of the Finns. They were finally strong enough to stand up to the Tatars as they called their Mongol overlords and made a Great Stand on the Ugra River. And summoning a great army simply frightened the Mongol Tatars off. Turns out they were going through their own power struggles between princes of their realm and Akhmed was assassinated the next year, with his successor becoming Sheikh instead of Khan. Ivan's grandson, Ivan the Terrible expanded the country even further. He made deals with various Khans and then conquered others, pushing east to conquer the Khanate of Sibiu and so conquered Siberia in the 1580s. The empire then stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  He had a son who didn't have any heirs and so was the last in the Rurikid dynasty. But Ivan the Terrible had married Anastasia Romanov, who when he crowned himself Caesar, or Tsar as they called it, made her Tsaritsa. And so the Romanov's came to power in 1596 and following the rule of Peter the Great from 1672 to 1725, brought the Enlightenment to Russia. He started the process of industrialization, built a new capital he called St Petersburg, built a navy, made peace with the Polish king, then Ottoman king, and so took control of the Baltics, where the Swedes had taken control of on and off since the time of Rurik.  Russian Empire Thus began the expansion as the Russian Empire. They used an alliance with Denmark-Norway and chased the Swedes through the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, unseating the Polish king along the way. He probably should not have allied with them. They moved back into Finland, took the Baltics so modern Latvia and Estonia, and pushed all the way across the Eurasian content across the frozen tundra and into Alaska.  Catherine the Great took power in 1762 and ignited a golden age. She took Belarus, parts of Mongolia, parts of modern day Georgia, overtook the Crimean Khanate, and modern day Azerbaijan. and during her reign founded Odessa, Sevastopol and other cities. She modernized the country like Peter and oversaw nearly constant rebellions in the empire. And her three or four children went on to fill the courts of Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands. She set up a national network of schools, with teachings from Russian and western philosophers like John Locke. She collected vast amounts of art, including many from China. She set up a banking system and issued paper money. She also started the process to bring about the end of serfdom. Even though between her and the country she owned 3.3 million herself.  She planned on invading the Khanate of Persia, but passed away before her army got there. Her son Paul halted expansion. And probably just in time. Her grandson Alexander I supported other imperial powers against Napoleon and so had to deal with the biggest invasion Russia had seen. Napoleon moved in with his grand army of half a million troops. The Russians used a tactic that Peter the Great used and mostly refused to engage Napoleon's troops instead burning the supply lines. Napoleon lost 300,000 troops during that campaign. Soon after the Napoleanic wars ended, the railways began to appear. The country was industrializing and with guns and cannons, growing stronger than ever.  The Opium Wars, between China and the UK then the UK and France were not good to China. Even though Russia didn't really help they needed up with a piece of the Chinese empire and so in the last half of the 1800s the Russian Empire grew by another 300,000 square miles on the backs of a series of unequal treaties as they came to be known in China following World War I.  And so by 1895, the Romanovs had expanded past their native Moscow, driven back the Mongols, followed some of the former Mongol Khanates to their lands and taken them, took Siberia, parts of the Chinese empire, the Baltics, Alaska, and were sitting on the third largest empire the world had ever seen, which covered nearly 17 percent of the world. Some 8.8 million square miles. And yet, still just a little smaller than the British empire. They had small skirmishes with the British but by and large looked to smaller foes or proxy wars, with the exception of the Crimean War.  Revolution The population was expanding and industrializing. Workers flocked to factories on those train lines. And more people in more concentrated urban areas meant more ideas. Rurik came in 862 and his descendants ruled until the Romanovs took power in 1613. They ruled until 1917. That's over 1,000 years of kings, queens, Tsars, and Emperors. The ideas of Marx slowly spread. While the ruling family was busy with treaties and wars and empire, they forgot to pay attention to the wars at home.  People like Vladimir Lenin discovered books by people like Karl Marx. Revolution was in the air around the world. France had shown monarchies could be toppled. Some of the revolutionaries were killed, others put to work in labor camps, others exiled, and still others continued on. Still, the empire was caught up in global empire intrigues. The German empire had been growing and the Russians had the Ottomans and Bulgarians on their southern boarders. They allied with France to take Germany, just as they'd allied with Germany to take down Poland. And so after over 1.8 million dead Russians and another 3.2 million wounded or captured and food shortages back home and in the trenches, the people finally had enough of their Tsar. They went on strike but Tsar Nicholas ordered the troops to fire. The troops refused. The Duma stepped in and forced Nicholas to abdicate. Russia had revolted in 1917, sued Germany for peace, and gave up more territory than they wanted in the process. Finland, the Baltics, their share of Poland, parts of the Ukraine. It was too much. But the Germans took a lot of time and focus to occupy and so it helped to weaken them in the overall war effort.  Back home, Lenin took a train home and his Bolshevik party took control of the country. After the war Poland was again independent. Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Serbs became independent nations. In the wake of the war the Ottoman Empire was toppled and modern Turkey was born. The German Kaiser abdicated. And socialism and communism were on the rise. In some cases, that was really just a new way to refer to a dictator that pretended to care about the people. Revolution had come to China in 1911 and Mao took power in the 1940s.  Meanwhile, Lenin passed in 1924 and Rykov, then Molotov, who helped spur a new wave of industrialization. Then Stalin, who led purges of the Russian people in a number of Show Trials before getting the Soviet Union, as Russian Empire was now called, into World War II. Stalin encouraged Hitler to attack Poland in 1939. Let's sit on that for a second. He tried to build a pact with the Western powers and after that broke down, he launched excursions annexing parts of Poland, Finland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia. Many of the lands were parts of the former Russian Empire. The USSR had chunks of Belarus and the Ukraine before but as of the 1950s annexed Poland, Easter Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria as part of the Warsaw Pact, a block of nations we later called the Soviet Bloc. They even built a wall between East and West Germany. During and after the war, the Americans whisked German scientists off to the United States. The Soviets were in no real danger from an invasion by the US and the weakened French, Austrians, and military-less Germans were in no place to attack the Soviets. The UK had to rebuild and British empire quickly fell apart. Even the traditional homes of the vikings who'd rowed down the rivers would cease to become global powers. And thus there were two superpowers remaining in the world, the Soviets and the United States.  The Cold War The Soviets took back much of the former Russian Empire, claiming they needed buffer zones or through subterfuge. At its peak, the Soviet Union cover 8.6 million square miles; just a couple hundred thousand shy of the Russian Empire. On the way there, they grew to a nation of over 290 million people with dozens of nationalities. And they expanded the sphere of influence even further, waging proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Korea. They never actually went to war with the United States, in much the same way they mostly avoided the direct big war with the Mongols and the British - and how Rorik of Dorestad played both sides of Frankish conflicts. We now call this period the Cold War. The Cold War was an arms race. This manifested itself first in nuclear weapons. The US is still the only country to detonate a nuclear weapon in war time, from the bombings that caused the surrender of Japan at the end of the war. The Soviets weren't that far behind and detonated a bomb in 1949. That was the same year NATO was founded as a treaty organization between Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States.  The US upped the ante with the hydrogen bomb in 1952. The Soviets got the hydrogen bomb in 1955. And then came the Space Race. Sputnik launched in 1957. The Russians were winning the space race. They further proved that when they put Yuri Gagarin up in 1961. By 1969 the US put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Each side developed military coalitions, provided economic aid to allies, built large arsenals of weapons, practiced espionage against one another, deployed massive amounts of propaganda, and spreading their ideology. Or at least that's what the modern interpretation of history tells us. There were certainly ideological differences, but the Cold War saw the spread of communism as a replacement for conquest. That started with Lenin trying to lead a revolt throughout Europe but shifted over the decades into again, pure conquest.  Truman saw the rapid expansion of the Soviets and without context that they were mostly reclaiming lands conquered by the Russian imperial forces, won support for the Truman Doctrine. There, he contained Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe. First, they supported Greece and Turkey. But the support extended throughout areas adjacent to Soviet interests. Eisenhower saw how swiftly Russians were putting science in action with satellites and space missions and nuclear weapons - and responded with an emphasis in American science.  The post-war advancements in computing were vast in the US. The industry moved from tubes and punch cards to interactive computing after the Whirlwind computer was developed at MIT first to help train pilots and then to intercept soviet nuclear weapons. Packet switching, and so the foundations of the Internet were laid to build a computer network that could withstand nuclear attack. Graphical interfaces got their start when Ivan Sutherland was working at MIT on the grandchild of Whirlwind, the TX-2 - which would evolve into the Digital Equipment PDP once privatized. Drum memory, which became the foundation of storage was developed to help break Russian codes and intercept messages. There isn't a part of the computing industry that isn't touched by the research farmed out by various branches of the military and by ARPA.   Before the Cold War, Russia and then the Soviet Union were about half for and half against various countries when it came to proxy wars. They tended to play both sides. After the Cold War it was pretty much always the US or UK vs the Soviet Union. Algeria, Kenya, Taiwan, the Sudan, Lebanon, Central America, the Congo, Eritrea, Yemen, Dhofar, Algeria, Malaysia, the Dominican Republic, Chad, Iran, Iraq, Thailand, Bolivia, South Africa, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Angolia, Ethiopia, the Sahara, Indonesia, Somalia, Mozambique, Libya, and Sri Lanka. And the big ones were Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. Many of these are still raging on today.  The Soviet empire grew to over 5 million soldiers. The US started with 2 nuclear weapons in 1945 and had nearly 300 by 1950 when the Soviets had just 5. The US stockpile grew to over 18,000 in 1960 and peaked at over 31,000 in 1965. The Soviets had 6,129 by then but kept building until they got close to 40,000 by 1980. By then the Chinese, France, and the UK each had over 200 and India and Israel had developed nuclear weapons. Since then only Pakistan and North Korea have added warheads, although there are US warheads located in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, and the Netherlands.  Modern Russia The buildup was expensive. Research, development, feeding troops, supporting asymmetrical warfare in proxy states, and trade sanctions put a strain on the government and nearly bankrupted Russia. They fell behind in science, after Stalin had been anti-computers. Meanwhile, the US was able to parlay all that research spending into true productivity gains. The venture capital system also fueled increasingly wealthy companies who paid taxes. Banking, supply chains, refrigeration, miniaturization, radio, television, and everywhere else we could think of. By the 1980s, the US had Apple and Microsoft and Commodore. The Russians were trading blat, or an informal black market currency, to gain access to knock-offs of ZX Spectrums when the graphical interfaces systems were born. The system of government in the Soviet Union had become outdated. There were some who had thought to modernize it into more of a technocracy in an era when the US was just starting to build ARPANET - but those ideas never came to fruition. Instead it became almost feudalistic with high-ranking party members replacing the boyars, or aristocrats of the old Kievan Rus days. The standard of living suffered. So many cultures and tribes under one roof, but only the Slavs had much say.  As the empire over-extended there were food shortages. If there are independent companies then the finger can be pointed in their direction but when food is rationed by the Politburo then the decline in agricultural production became dependent on bringing food in from the outside. That meant paying for it. Pair that with uneven distribution and overspending on the military.  The Marxist-Leninist doctrine had been a one party state. The Communist Party. Michael Gorbachev allowed countries in the Bloc to move into a democratic direction with multiple parties. The Soviet Union simply became unmanageable. And while Gorbachev took the blame for much of the downfall of the empire, there was already a deep decay - they were an oligarchy pretending to be a communist state. The countries outside of Russia quickly voted in non-communist governments and by 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and the Eastern European countries began to seek independence, most moving towards democratic governments.  The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in 15 separate countries and left the United States standing alone as the global superpower. The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO in 1999. 2004 saw Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join. 2009 brought in Albania and Croatia. 2017 led to Montenegro and then North Macedonia. Then came the subject of adding Ukraine. The country that the Kievan Rus had migrated throughout the lands from. The stem from which the name  and possibly soul of the country had sprouted from. How could Vladimir Putin allow that to happen? Why would it come up? As the Soviets pulled out of the Bloc countries , they left remnants of their empire behind. Belarus, Kazakstan, and the Ukraine were left plenty of weapons that couldn't be moved quickly. Ukraine alone had 1,700 nuclear weapons, which included 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Add to that nearly 2,000 biological and chemical weapons. Those went to Russia or were disassembled once the Ukrainians were assured of their sovereignty. The Crimea, which had been fought over in multiple bloody wars was added to Ukraine. At least until 2014, when Putin wanted the port of Sevastopol, founded by Catherine the Great. Now there was a gateway from Russia to the Mediterranean yet again. So Kievan Rus under Rurik is really the modern Ukraine and the Russian Empire then Romanov Dynasty flowed from that following the Mongol invasions. The Russian Empire freed other nations from the yolk of Mongolian rule but became something entirely different once they over-extended. Those countries in the empire often traded the Mongol yolk for the Soviet yolk. And entirely different from the Soviet Union that fought the Cold War and the modern Russia we know today.  Meanwhile, the states of Europe had been profoundly changed since the days of Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man and Marx. Many moved left of center and became socialized parts of their economy. No one ever need go hungry in a Scandanavian country. Health care, education, even child care became free in many countries. Many of those same ideals that helped lift the standard of living for all in developed countries then spread, including in Canada and some in the US. And so we see socialism to capitalism as more of a spectrum than a boolean choice now. And totalitarianism, oligarchy, and democracy as a spectrum as well. Many could argue reforms in democratic countries are paid for by lobbyists who are paid for by companies and thus an effective oligarchy. Others might argue the elections in many countries are rigged and so they aren't even oligarchs, they're monarchies.  Putin took office in 1999 and while Dmitry Medvedev was the president for a time, but he effectively ruled in a tandemocracy with Putin until Putin decided to get back in power. That's 23 years and counting and just a few months behind when King Abdullah took over in Jordan and King Mohammed VI took over in Morocco. And so while democratic in name, they're not all quite so democratic. Yet they do benefit from technology that began in Western countries and spread throughout the world. Countries like semi-conductor manufacturer Sitronics even went public on the London stock exchange. Hard line communists might (and do) counter that the US has an empire and that western countries conspire for the downfall of Russia or want to turn Russians into slaves to the capitalist machine. As mentioned earlier, there has always been plenty of propaganda in this relationship. Or gaslighting. Or fake news. Or disinformation.  One of those American advancements that ties the Russians to the capitalist yoke is interactive computing. That could have been developed in Glushkov's or Kitov's labs in Russia, as they had the ideas and talent. But because the oligarchy that formed around communism, the ideas were sidelined and it came out of MIT - and that led to Project MAC, which did as much to democratize computing as Gorbachev did to democratize the Russian Federation.

Michał Weichert, a lawyer, but also an avant-garde director and theatre theoretician, lived at 8a Długa Street from the mid-1930s. A figure of great merit for the history of Yiddish and Polish theatre, he founded the Young Theatre (Yung-Teater). Originally hailing from Galicia, the Polish territory partitioned by Austria-Hungary, Weichert settled in Warsaw only in 1918, as a mature man of 28. He came to the capital after a stay in Berlin, where he studied under the supervision of the famous director Max Reinhardt, a theatre reformer. In Warsaw, he had an intensive career as a publisher and director, as well as a pedagogue. From the early 1920s, Weichert organised experimental acting studios in the capital, the first Jewish acting schools of their kind. Their graduates formed the core of the Yung-Teater in 1932, which Weichert was director of until 1939. One of the seats of the Yung-Teater was located nearby, at 19 Długa Street, almost opposite 26 Długa Street, another building that is part of this series of Unseen. Further reading: Jewish Theatre in Poland: Fragments of an Illustrious History // on Culture.pl Jung Jidysz // bio on Culture.pl Where is Poland? // a multimedia guide about the era 1795-1918 when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned by three neighbouring empires 8 Remarkable Yiddish Books from Poland // on Culture.pl From ‘Last Sunday' to ‘Last Shabbos': Poland's Legendary Jewish Tangos // on Culture.pl The Lost World of Yiddish Films in Poland // on Culture.pl The Rise & Fall of Polish Song // on Culture.pl How to listen: Unseen is available as a downloadable podcast, although it is best experienced through the Echoes geolocative storytelling app available for iOS and Android. After loading the app, search for soundwalks in Warsaw and you'll find Unseen.

The three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 & 1795 ended the Polish Kingdom (or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and divided it between Austria, Russia and Prussia. This had far reaching consequences for the largest Jewish community in the world which had resided within the borders of the kingdom.  Their new rulers desired a more central authority, and much of the Jewish autonomy was curtailed as a result. The Jewish communities of each empire found themselves under new political entities, new laws, new language and culture, and they now were on a different trajectory than their brethren who were on the other side of an international border. In the last years of the Polish Kingdom the Four Year Sejm took place between 1788-1792. The reforms which were raised in regards to Jews economic opportunity and political status, would echo through the Jewish communities of partitioned Poland throughout the upcoming 19th century.    For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history contact Yehuda at:  yehuda@yehudageberer.com   Subscribe To Our Podcast on:    PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/   Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites You can email Yehuda at yehuda@yehudageberer.com

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the republic that emerged from the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th Century. At first this was a personal union, similar to that of James I and VI in Britain, but this was formalised in 1569 into a vast republic, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Kings and princes from across Europe would compete for parliament to elect them King and Grand Duke, and the greatest power lay with the parliaments. When the system worked well, the Commonwealth was a powerhouse, and it was their leader Jan Sobieski who relieved the siege of Vienna in 1683, defeating the Ottomans. Its neighbours exploited its parliament's need for unanimity, though, and this contributed to its downfall. Austria, Russia and Prussia divided its territory between them from 1772, before the new, smaller states only emerged in the 20th Century. The image above is Jan III Sobieski (1629-1696), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, at the Battle of Vienna 1683, by Marcello Bacciarelli (1731-1818) With Robert Frost The Burnett Fletcher Chair of History at the University of Aberdeen Katarzyna Kosior Lecturer in Early Modern History at Northumbria University And Norman Davies Professor Emeritus in History and Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford Producer: Simon Tillotson

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the republic that emerged from the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th Century. At first this was a personal union, similar to that of James I and VI in Britain, but this was formalised in 1569 into a vast republic, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Kings and princes from across Europe would compete for parliament to elect them King and Grand Duke, and the greatest power lay with the parliaments. When the system worked well, the Commonwealth was a powerhouse, and it was their leader Jan Sobieski who relieved the siege of Vienna in 1683, defeating the Ottomans. Its neighbours exploited its parliament's need for unanimity, though, and this contributed to its downfall. Austria, Russia and Prussia divided its territory between them from 1772, before the new, smaller states only emerged in the 20th Century. The image above is Jan III Sobieski (1629-1696), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, at the Battle of Vienna 1683, by Marcello Bacciarelli (1731-1818) With Robert Frost The Burnett Fletcher Chair of History at the University of Aberdeen Katarzyna Kosior Lecturer in Early Modern History at Northumbria University And Norman Davies Professor Emeritus in History and Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford Producer: Simon Tillotson

Jacob Kettler was the Baltic German Duke of Courland and Semigallia, part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century. Kettler decided the best way to modernize his duchy was to copy the major powers of Western Europe, by making the Duchy of Courland a colonial power

In the sixth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the eighteenth-century decline and fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, covering the period between 1697 and 1795. He examines the Saxon kings, the descent into political disorder, the Enlightenment and reform, Hasidic Judaism, the Constitution of the Third of May, and the three partitions that wiped the Commonwealth from the map of Europe.The Brief History of Poland series covers over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today. Check out the previous episode in our Brief History of Poland series.Producer: Sebastian LeśniewskiSupport the show (https://notesfrompoland.com/donations/support-us/)

In the fifth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the war-torn seventeenth century and the beginnings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s decline, covering the period between 1582 and 1699. He examines the Polish occupation of the Moscow Kremlin, the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque, Sarmatian culture, Ukraine and the Khmelnytsky Uprising, conflict with the Ottoman Turks, and the Battle of Vienna.The Brief History of Poland series will cover over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today.Producer: Sebastian Leśniewski Check out the previous episode in our Brief History of Poland series.Support the show (https://notesfrompoland.com/donations/support-us/)

Though born in Romania Alina, a classical musician, had called Germany her home for 16 years before moving to Lithuania in 2015. As a performing musician that also teaches at the University of the Arts in Bremen, she travels a lot bringing music from the 16th and 17th century (specifically from the Polish-Lithuanian-Commonwealth) to other parts of Lithuania and abroad. She's also part of the organisation staff at the festival for Early Music "Banchetto Musicale" which I was surprised to hear takes place in Vilnius every year. During our conversation we also touched some more difficult subjects of voicing your opinion online about the country you live in as a foreigner and the reactions it can provoke as well as the need for more social structures to be put in place to level the playing field for musicians. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did, let's get into it!

Dr. Paulina Banas unravels the purported Persian roots of 17th century Polish identities, through the Czartoryski Polonaise Carpet. Imported from the Safavid Persian Empire, Polonaise carpets were highly prized across the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – so much so that they were often mistaken as Polish-made. But beyond symbols of wealth, these textiles served a particular purpose for the Polish upper-classes, who looked East to consolidate their domestic rule. Weaving together Persian patterns with a Polish coat of arms, the Czartoryski Carpet challenges theories of exotic consumption, exposing transimperial textiles and identities. PRESENTER: Dr. Paulina Banas, post-doctoral fellow and faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art. ART: The Czartoryski Polonaise Carpet (17th Century). IMAGE: ‘The Czartoryski Carpet, 17th Century'. SOUNDS: Metastaz. PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic. Follow EMPIRE LINES at: twitter.com/jelsofron/status/1306563558063271936 Support EMPIRE LINES on Patreon: patreon.com/empirelines

In the fourth part of our Brief History of Poland series, Notes from Poland editor-at-large Stanley Bill looks at the "golden age" of Poland-Lithuania in the sixteenth century, covering the period between 1505 and 1572. He examines the reign of the last two Jagiellonian kings; the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; religious tolerance and conflict; the great cultural achievements of the Polish Renaissance; and the beginning of the free royal elections.The Brief History of Poland series will cover over a thousand years of Polish political and cultural history, from 966 until today.Producer: Sebastian LeśniewskiSupport the show (https://notesfrompoland.com/donations/support-us/)

The Battle of Tannenberg was the first major battle of World War One, fought between Germany and Russia, who surprised everyone with its fast mobilization. This muddled the plans of Germany, which sought to quickly fight a two-front war against France and Russia, knock France out of the war, then focus its resources on Russia. The plan didn't work, but Germany issued a crushing blow against Russia, largely due to its fast rail movements that allowed it to focus on two Russian armies at once (and Russia failing to encode its messages did nothing to help). Germany named the battle after Tannenberg in order to avenge a defeat from 500 years earlier in which the proto-German Teutonic Knights were defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The past was alive and well in the minds of these combatants. Commanding general Alexander Samsonov was so humiliated by the defeat he committed suicide.

The Battle of Tannenberg was the first major battle of World War One, fought between Germany and Russia, who surprised everyone with its fast mobilization. This muddled the plans of Germany, which sought to quickly fight a two-front war against France and Russia, knock France out of the war, then focus its resources on Russia. The plan didn't work, but Germany issued a crushing blow against Russia, largely due to its fast rail movements that allowed it to focus on two Russian armies at once (and Russia failing to encode its messages did nothing to help). Germany named the battle after Tannenberg in order to avenge a defeat from 500 years earlier in which the proto-German Teutonic Knights were defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The past was alive and well in the minds of these combatants. Commanding general Alexander Samsonov was so humiliated by the defeat he committed suicide.

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this...

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A refugee crisis of huge proportions erupted as a result of the mid-seventeenth-century wars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tens of thousands of Jews fled their homes, or were captured and trafficked across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Rescue the Surviving Souls is the first book to examine this horrific moment of displacement and flight, and to assess its social, economic, religious, cultural, and psychological consequences. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources in twelve languages, Adam Teller traces the entire course of the crisis, shedding fresh light on the refugee experience and the various relief strategies developed by the major Jewish centers of the day. Teller pays particular attention to those thousands of Jews sent for sale on the slave markets of Istanbul and the extensive transregional Jewish economic network that coalesced to ransom them. He also explores how Jewish communities rallied to support the refugees in central and western Europe, as well as in Poland-Lithuania, doing everything possible to help them overcome their traumatic experiences and rebuild their lives. Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century (Princeton University Press, 2020) offers an intimate study of an international refugee crisis, from outbreak to resolution, that is profoundly relevant today. Adam Teller is a Professor of Judaic Studies and History at Princeton University. He is the author of Money, Power, and Influence in Eighteenth-Century Lithuania: The Jews on the Radziwiłł Estates. Robin Buller is a Doctoral Candidate in History at UNC Chapel Hill and a 2020-2021 dissertation fellow with the Association for Jewish Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, on the Russian History Podcast, we're covering the escalation of the war between the second pretender claiming to be Dmitry, son of Ivan Grozny, and Czar Vasily Shuisky. Sweden, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, will pick a side each and join the conflict. Questions and queries can be emailed to therussianhistorypodcast@gmail.com or by following @ruhipoca on Twitter. You can support the show on Patreon, where for $2.50 a month, you can help the show continue with increased costs as more and more sources are now available; please find further details here: https://www.patreon.com/therussianhistorypodcast

About the lecture: In 1915 Germany's successful offensive in the east resulted in the occupation of the Western chunk of the Russian Empire, a swath of land between the Baltic and Black Seas. We refer to it as the Intermarium, and it is essentially coterminous with the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Germans shared their conquest with their junior partners, the Austrians. Both made sure not to include the captured lands into their own partitions of Poland. Instead, they kept them apart as the so-called Polish Kingdom and, further east, the Ober Ost. In the former, the Germans favored the Poles; in the latter, they advantaged the Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Jews. In neither place did the occupiers agree to serious political concessions; they permitted local autonomy at best. It was a classical divide et impera situation. The main objective of Berlin (which by 1918 totally dominated its Viennese partner) was to gain a permanent geopolitical advantage and to exploit the area's economy and labor. The Second Reich pursued a similar policy toward Ukraine when it expanded there in the wake of Brest Litovsk in February 1918. Ultimately, however, Germany's plans collapsed as a result of its defeat on the Western Front. About the speaker: About the speaker: Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz holds The Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics and leads IWP's Center for Intermarium Studies. At IWP, he also serves as a Professor of History and teaches courses on Geography and Strategy, Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy, Russian Politics and Foreign Policy, and Mass Murder Prevention in Failed and Failing States. He is the author of Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas and numerous other books and articles. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has previously taught at the University of Virginia and Loyola Marymount University.

This event is part of the 10th Annual Kościuszko Chair Spring Symposium in honor of Lady Blanka Rosenstiel sponsored by the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies and the Center for Intermarium Studies. About the lecture: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's small armies, based around a seemingly outmoded form of heavy cavalry, Winged Hussars, were able to hold their own against numerically superior foes, including those using tactics and weapons designed specifically to defeat such cavalry for more than two hundred years. This lecture discusses how armies of the Commonwealth and their commanders successfully used a combination of troops and tactics to “shape the battlefield” and overcome superior enemy forces time and again.​ About the speaker: Dr. John Radzilowski has taught history, art history, and geography at University of Alaska Southeast on the Ketchikan campus since 2007. Prior to moving to Alaska, he taught history courses at the University of St. Thomas, Hamline University, and Anoka-Ramsey College in Minnesota. Dr. Radzilowski also served as assistant project director at Center for Nations in Transition, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota where he helped design and administer USAID and State Department-sponsored training programs for business, economics, and political science faculty and NGO leaders in Ukraine and east central Europe. Dr. Radzilowski's research and teaching interests are wide-ranging and diverse: immigration and ethnicity, military history, war and genocide, the impact of technology on the history and geography of the Great Plains and Midwest, local and regional studies, and the history of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and central and eastern Europe.

1523 - 1668 - The House of Vasa was predominantly the royal house of Sweden, but also of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  Its greatest member was Gustavus Adolphus the Great.

About the lecture: The Intermarium's Nationalisms: Old and New discusses historic nationalism, which was predicated on civic and local identity, and non-historic nationalisms, which stressed their ethnic and folk character. The former concerned mostly the legacy of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; the latter reflected newly emergent nations, including the Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. About the speaker: Dr. Chodakiewicz currently serves as a Professor of History at The Institute of World Politics, where he holds the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. He also leads IWP's Center for Intermarium Studies. At IWP, Dr. Chodakiewicz teaches courses on Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy, Geography and Strategy, Mass Murder Prevention in Failed and Failing States, and Russian Politics and Foreign Policy. He was formerly an assistant professor of history of the Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at University of Virginia. He also served as a visiting professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Computing In Poland Welcome to the History of Computing Podcast, where we explore the history of information technology. Because understanding the past prepares us to innovate (and sometimes cope with) the future! Today we're going to do something a little different. Based on a recent trip to Katowice and Krakow, and a great visit to the Museum of Computer and Information Technology in Katowice, we're going to look at the history of computing in Poland. Something they are proud of and should be proud of. And I'm going to mispronounce some words. Because they are averse to vowels. But not really, instead because I'm just not too bright. Apologies in advance. First, let's take a stroll through an overly brief history of Poland itself. Atilla the Hun and other conquerors pushed Germanic tribes from Poland in the fourth century which led to a migration of Slavs from the East into the area. After a long period of migration, duke Mieszko established the Piast dynasty in 966, and they created the kingdom of Poland in 1025, which lasted until 1370 when Casimir the Great died without an heir. That was replaced by the Jagiellonian dynasty which expanded until they eventually developed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. Turns out they overextended themselves until the Russians, Prussians, and Austria invaded and finally took control in 1795, partitioning Poland. Just before that, Polish clockmaker Jewna Jakobson built a mechanical computing machine, a hundred years after Pascal, in 1770. And innovations In mechanical computing continued on with Abraham Izrael Stern and his son through the 1800s and Bruno's Intergraph, which could solve complex differential equations. And so the borders changed as Prussia gave way to Germany until World War I when the Second Polish Republic was established. And the Poles got good at cracking codes as they struggled to stay sovereign against Russian attacks. Just as they'd struggled to stay sovereign for well over a century. Then the Germans and Soviets formed a pact in 1939 and took the country again. During the war, Polish scientists not only assisted with work on the Enigma but also with the nuclear program in the US, the Manhattan Project. Stanislaw Ulam was recruited to the project and helped with ENIAC by developing the Monte Carlo method along with Jon Von Neumann. The country remained partitioned until Germany fell in WWII and the Soviets were able to effectively rule the Polish People's Republic until a socal-Democratic movement swept the country in 1989, resulting in the current government and Poland moving from the Eastern Bloc to NATO and eventually the EU around the same time the wall fell in Berlin. Able to put the Cold War behind them, Polish cities are now bustling with technical innovation and is now home some of the best software developers I've ever met. Polish contributions to a more modern computer science began in 1924 when Jan Lukasiewicz developed Polish Notation, a way of writing mathematical expressions such that they are operator-first. during World War II when the Polish Cipher Bureau were the first that broke the Enigma encryption, at different levels from 1932 to 1939. They had been breaking codes since using them to thwart a Russian invasion in the 1920s and had a pretty mature operation at this point. But it was a slow, manUal process, so Marian Rejewski, one of the cryptographers developed a card catalog of permutations and used a mechanical computing device he invented a few years earlier called a cyclometer to decipher the codes. The combination led to the bomba kryptologiczna which was shown to the allies 5 weeks before the war started and in turn led to the Ultra program and eventually Colossus once Alan Turing got a hold of it, conceptually after meeting Rejewski. After the war he became an accountant to avoid being forced into slave cryptographic work by the Russians. In 1948 the Group for Mathematical Apparatus of the Mathematical Institute in Warsaw was formed and the academic field of computer research was formed in Poland. Computing continued in Poland during the Soviet-controlled era. EMAL-1 was started in 1953 but was never finished. The XYZ computer came along in 1958. Jack Karpiński built the first real vacuum tube mainframe in Poland, called the AAH in 1957 to analyze weather patterns and improve forecasts. He then worked with a team to build the AKAT-1 to simulate lots of labor intensive calculations like heat transfer mechanics. Karpinski founded the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He would win a UNESCO award and receive a 6 month scholarship to study in the US, which the polish government used to spy on American progress in computing. He came home armed with some innovative ideas from the West and by 1964 built what he called the Perceptron, a computer that could be taught to identify shapes and even some objects. Nothing like that had existed in Poland or anywhere else controlled by communist regimes at the time. From 65 to 68 he built the KAR-65, even faster, to study CERN data. By then there was a rising mainframe and minicomputer industry outside of academia in Poland. Production of the Odra mainframe-era computers began in 1959 in Wroclaw, Poland and his work was seen by them and Elwro as a threat do they banned him from publishing for a time. Elwro built a new factory in 1968, copying IBM standardization. In 1970, Karpiński realized he had to play ball with the government and got backing from officials in the government. He would then designed the k-202 minicomputer in 1971. Minicomputers were on the rise globally and he introduced the concept of paging to computer science, key in virtual memory. This time he recruited 113 programmers and hardware engineers and by 73 were using Intel 4004 chips to build faster computers than the DEC PDP-11. But the competitors shut him down. They only sold 30 and by 1978 he retired to Switzerland (that sounds better than fled) - but he returned to Poland following the end of communism in the country and the closing of the Elwro plant in 1989. By then the Personal Computing revolution was upon us. That had begun in Poland with the Meritum, a TRS-80 clone, back in 1983. More copying. But the Elwro 800 Junior shipped in 1986 and by 1990 when the communists split the country could benefit from computers being mass produced and the removal of export restrictions that were stifling innovation and keeping Poles from participating in the exploding economy around computers. Energized, the Poles quickly learned to write code and now graduate over 40,000 people in IT from universities, by some counts making Poland a top 5 tech country. And as an era of developers graduate they are founding museums to honor those who built their industry. It has been my privilege to visit two of them at this point. The description of the one in Krakow reads: The Interactive Games and Computers Museum of the Past Era is a place where adults will return to their childhood and children will be drawn into a lots of fun. We invite you to play on more than 20 computers / consoles / arcade machines and to watch our collection of 200 machines and toys from the '70's-'90's. The second is the Museum of Computer and Information Technology in Katowice, and the most recent that I had the good fortune to visit. Both have systems found at other types of computer history museums such as a Commodore PET but showcasing the locally developed systems and looking at them on a timeline it's quickly apparent that while Poland had begun to fall behind by the 80s, it was more a reflection of why the strikes throughout caused the Eastern Bloc to fall, because Russian influence couldn't. Much as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth couldn't support Polish control of Lithuania in the late 1700s. There were other accomplishments such as The ZAM-2. And the first fully Polish machine, the BINEG. And rough set theory. And ultrasonic mercury memory.

I’m a Nerd and I’m okay, I play all night and I sleep all day, I read science journals, I eat my lunch I ride on the hover train (I wish). Welcome back to another exciting and fun filled episode from those whacky Nerds. First up this week we have a story about China influencing game studios to block any references to protests in Hong Kong. Obviously we weren’t approached, probably because of Buck’s rants. But this is kind of bad as it is enforcing the propaganda of a military regime. So please listen in and then go forth and show support for Hong Kong in its bid for democratic freedom from oppression. Viva la revolution!Next up we look at news of resorts and hotels being planned for space. That’s right, hotels in orbit! You will be able to play basketball in one if you are so inclined. There is even mention of accommodation available on the ISS for a price, but no airport transfers, sorry. So if you know anyone expecting a return visit from aliens and wanting to avoid those pesky immigration queues then this might be just the ticket.Then we look at the Emmy awards, particularly the creative side. They took place recently and there are some interesting winners to take a look at. There are the usual suspects that are to be expected, such as Game of Thrones, but also others such as “Age of Sail.” So take a look through the list and see who you like and also if there is something you like and we over looked it.As always we have the shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and special events from this week in history. We are planning on being at Supanova again this year, if you are let us know and we will be happy to see you. Until next time stay safe, take care of each other and stay hydrated.EPISODE NOTES:Hong Kong protest references removed in game - https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/d4brd7/mobile_game_second_galaxy_removing_guilds_with/A Space hotel experience - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/fake-gravity-and-supersized-basketball-a-look-inside-the-space-hotel-experience/ar-AAHhTCr2019 Creative Emmy Awards and the winners - https://deadline.com/2019/09/creative-arts-emmy-awards-2019-winners-list-1202734630/Games currently playingBuck– The Orville Fan experience - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1096200/The_Orville__Interactive_Fan_Experience/Professor– Creeper World : Anniversary Edition - https://store.steampowered.com/app/422910/Creeper_World_Anniversary_Edition/DJ– Warframe - https://store.steampowered.com/app/230410/Warframe/Other topics discussedWhite Chicks (2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_ChicksForensic Firearm exam (forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms as well as any cartridges or bullets left behind at a crime scene.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_firearm_examinationSteam removes Devotion game- https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18239937/taiwanese-horror-game-devotion-gone-steam-removed-winnie-the-pooh-meme-chinaUniversity of Queensland as students clashed over their views on China and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-24/uq-student-protest-anger-over-hong-kong-chinese-minorities/11343130Shenmue 3 undergoing slight changes- https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/09/shenmue-3-reportedly-undergoes-slight-alterations-for-chinese-localization/93134/?fbclid=IwAR3icI-5tQESFeT0-2G4i7Zgr_jhh89E8eJvjBQKaoA6eoGajwU7rIM1svMSony’s strict content censorship- https://boundingintocomics.com/2019/04/23/sony-confirms-existence-of-strict-content-censorship-policy-regarding-playstation-4-releases/AC/DC (Australian Band)- https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/artists/acdcVon Braun Station also known as Rotating wheel space station- https://gatewayspaceport.com/von-braun-station/- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_wheel_space_stationFly in Fly out (method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly-in_fly-outLaunchbat (Bat hanging onto space shuttle)- https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts119/launchbat.htmlSpace Elevator (proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevatorSpace Station V (Largest orbital structure ever built. It featured an orbital hotel, run by Hilton Hotels; a Howard Johnson's restaurant; lounge areas; and picture phone booths. It was featured in 2001 : A Space Odyssey)- https://2001.fandom.com/wiki/Space_Station_VAge of Sails (2018 animated movie)- IMDB page - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8908420/- Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3HOcRayC8Love, Death & Robots stylized as LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS (American adult animated science fiction anthology web television series on Netflix)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love,_Death_%26_RobotsIf Memory Serves (Star Trek Discovery episode)- https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/If_Memory_Serves_(episode)It’s My Birthday (Thor Ragnarok scene)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z8BBBJRxMkCutscene Saga (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/cutscenesagapodcastImogen and Harrison Predict the Future (New TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/iahptfpodcastShoutouts16 Sept 1959 - The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York, on live television from New York City. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_91416 Sept 1976 – Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir. While jogging alongside Yerevan Lake with his brother Kamo, also a finswimmer, Karapetyan had just completed his usual distance of 20 km when he heard the sound of a crash and saw a sinking trolleybus which had gone out of control and fallen from a dam wall. The combined effect of cold water and the multiple lacerations from glass shards led to Karapetyan's hospitalization for 45 days, as he developed pneumonia and sepsis. Subsequent lung complications prevented Karapetyan from continuing his sports career. He was awarded the Medal "For the Salvation of the Drowning" and the Order of the Badge of Honor. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavarsh_Karapetyan16 Sept 2019 - Fisherman catches ‘alien’ fish with huge bulbous eyes off Norwegian island and ate it. Mr Oscar Lundahl, 19, was fishing for the blue halibut of Andoya in northern Norway, He nearly jumped out of his fishing boat when he saw the bizarre-looking species with bulbous eyes on the end of his line. The specimen is a ratfish, whose Latin name Chimeras Monstrosa Linnaeus is aptly derived from a Greek mythical monster that had the head of a lion and tail of a dragon. The fish — a relative of the shark that dates back 300 million years — live in deep water and are very rarely caught. Not wanting to waste it, he said he took the fish home and fried it up. Despite its ugly appearance, it was delicious. “It is a bit like cod but tastier,” he said. - https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/fisherman-catches-alien-fish-with-huge-bulbous-eyes-off-norwegian-island/news-story/7bee99e9f22dd336031d40692636c008Remembrances16 Sept 1736 - Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, a physicist,inventor, and scientific instrument maker. Fahrenheit was born in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), then a predominantly German-speaking Hanseatic city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but lived most of his life in the Dutch Republic (1701–1736) and was one of the notable figures in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A pioneer of exact thermometry, he helped lay the foundations for the era of precision thermometry by inventing the mercury-in-glass thermometer (first practical, accurate thermometer) and Fahrenheit scale (first standardized temperature scale to be widely used). In other words, Fahrenheit's inventions ushered in the first revolution in the history of thermometry (branch of physics concerned with methods of temperature measurement). From the early 1710s until the beginnings of the electronic era, mercury-in-glass thermometers were among the most reliable and accurate thermometers ever invented. He died from mercury poisoning at the age of 50 in The Hague - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Gabriel_Fahrenheit16 Sept 2005 - Gordon Gould, American physicist who is widely, but not universally, credited with the invention of the laser (Others attribute the invention to Theodore Maiman). Gould is best known for his thirty-year fight with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to obtain patents for the laser and related technologies. He also fought with laser manufacturers in court battles to enforce the patents he subsequently did obtain. He died from natural causes at the age of 85 in New York City - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gould15 Sept 2019 - Richard Theodore Otcasek known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and painter. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and songwriter for the rock band the Cars . In 2018, Ocasek was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars. That same year, he exhibited several his paintings in a national tour. He died from heart disease at the age of 75 in New York City - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ric_OcasekFamous Birthdays16 Sept 1875 - James Cash "J. C." Penney Jr., American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the J. C. Penney stores in 1902. In 1898, James Cash Penney began working for a small chain of stores in the western United States called the Golden Rule stores. In 1902, owners Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan, impressed by his work ethic and salesmanship, offered him one-third partnership in a new store he would open. Penney invested $2,000 and moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming, to open a store there. He participated in opening two more stores, and when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907, he purchased full interest in all three stores. By 1912, there were 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States. In 1913, he moved the company to the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The company was incorporated under the new name, J. C. Penney Company. By 1924, Penneys' reported income of more than $1 million annually. The number of stores reached 1,400 by 1929. He remained as chairman of the board until 1946, and after that as honorary chairman until his death in 1971. Until the end of his life, he continued to go to his offices. He was born in Hamilton, Missouri. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cash_Penney16 Sept 1925 - Riley B. King, known professionally as B.B. King, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert and Freddie King). King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts per year into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows. He was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King16 Sept 1956 - David Seth Kotkin, known professionally as David Copperfield, American magician, described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's television specials have won 21 Emmy Awards of a total 38 nominations. Best known for his combination of storytelling and illusion, Copperfield's career of over 40 years has earned him 11 Guinness World Records, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a knighthood by the French government, and he has been named a Living Legend by the US Library of Congress. Copperfield has so far sold 33 million tickets and grossed over $4 billion, more than any other solo entertainer in history. In 2015, Forbes listed his earnings at $63 million for the previous 12 months and ranked him the 20th highest-earning celebrity in the world. When not performing, he manages his chain of eleven resort islands in the Bahamas, which he calls "Musha Cay and the Islands of Copperfield Bay". He was born in Metuchen, New Jersey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copperfield_(illusionist)16 Sept 1960 – Danny John Jules, British actor, singer and dancer. He played Cat in the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf and policeman Dwayne Myers in the crime drama Death in Paradise. He was also a protagonist in the hit CBBC children's spy drama M.I. High, in which he portrayed Lenny Bicknall, the caretaker. On 13 August 2018 he was announced as one of the celebrity contestants on the 2018 series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was eliminated from the show on 11 November 2018. He was born in Paddington,London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_John-JulesEvents of interest16 Sept 1963 – The Outer Limits first aired on ABC, the series is often compared to The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction stories (rather than stories of fantasy or the supernatural matters). The Outer Limits is an anthology of self-contained episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits_(1963_TV_series)16 Sept 1979 - Eight people escaped from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon. The plot to accomplish this was carried out over a period of one and a half years, including an unsuccessful attempt, three different balloons, and various modifications until the successful escape occurred. One failed crossing alerted the government to the plot, but the police were not able to identify the suspects before their flight to the west. The escape has been portrayed in two films: Night Crossing and Der Ballon. The former, also called With the Wind to the West - the English translation of the German title, was an English-language film produced by Disney. The latter was a German-language production which "both families welcomed [Director] Herbig’s desire to, as he put it, 'make a German film for an international audience. In 2017, the balloon was put on permanent exhibition at the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (Museum of Bavarian History). - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_German_balloon_escape17 Sept 1978 – Battlestar Galactica first aired its 148 minute pilot on ABC, starring Lorne Greene,Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict, it ran for the 1978–1979 season before being canceled. In 1980, a write-in campaign revived the show as Galactica 1980 with 10 episodes. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_(1978_TV_series)IntroArtist – Goblins from MarsSong Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJFollow us onFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamatedSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrSiTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rssGeneral EnquiriesEmail - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

We got the opportunity to chat with Military Historian Damazy Podsiadło. The first part of the interview covers the period of the decline of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth, the partitions of Poland and the troubles Poles had to endure during this calamity. The second part of the interview addresses the events that led Poland to rebirth. We also learn more about Józef Piłsudski . Please consider donating to Radio Hussar to help our channel grow!

We got the opportunity to chat with Military Historian Damazy Podsiadło. The first part of the interview covers the period of the decline of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth, the partitions of Poland and the troubles Poles had to endure during this calamity. The second part of the interview addresses the events that led Poland to rebirth. We also learn more about Józef Piłsudski . Please consider donating to Radio Hussar to help our channel grow!

This show covers the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a surprisingly modern country existing from the 16th to 18th centuries. Feedback Link: https://goo.gl/forms/EnyKyfWgVGKvQFPr1

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky's seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin's twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today's podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky's seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin's twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today's podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky’s seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin’s twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today’s podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky’s seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin’s twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today’s podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky’s seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin’s twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today’s podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky’s seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin’s twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today’s podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cover of Amelia Glaser‘s new edited volume, Stories of Khmelnytsky: Competing Literary Legacies of the 1648 Ukrainian Cossack Uprising (Stanford University Press, 2015), bears a portrait of the formidable Cossack leader by that name. Inside the book, twelve contributing authors including Dr. Glaser, approach this legendary yet enigmatical figure from a number of perspectives—Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Western—across the centuries, with plenty of overlap, assembling together a single, fragmented, but nonetheless collective narrative (3). Khmelnytsky’s seventeenth-century Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is—depending on your point-of-view—an event of national liberation, treacherous factionalism, murderous pogrom, or personal vendetta, (again) with plenty of overlap. And the image of the Cossack warrior, the free horseman on the open steppe, serves as many narratives, right up to the present day with Mr. Putin’s twenty-first century Ukrainian land grab. On today’s podcast, Professor Glaser speaks about this remarkable figure and the issues at stake. Amelia M. Glaser is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego, and Director of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program, and also Director of the Jewish Studies Program at UCSD. Dr. Glaser is author of Jews and Ukrainians in Russias Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop (2012), and editor, with David Weintraub, of Protelpen: Americas Rebel Yiddish Poets (2012). She has also written a number of scholarly and popular articles including a recent piece for the New York times about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of the Early Modern Spanish Empire specializing on culture, diplomacy, and travel. He completed his PhD in 2017 at UC Berkeley where he is now a Visiting Scholar; he also teaches at Los Medanos College and Berkeley City College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In many respects, The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth resembled the United States of America, albeit in the pre-modern era. The aim of this lecture is to present the similarities between the two political entities, pointing to analogies between the two systems of government and the thoughts and attitudes that spawned them. Mrs. Maria Juczewska is an Associate Director of the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics. She is a communication specialist with international experience. Her main research interests are topics related to Central and Eastern European affairs with focus on propaganda and disinformation. She also writes journalistic reports for American NGOs' portals.

Our coverage of the complex and juicy diplomacy continues! While the main event is the examination at last of the Habsburg-Polish treaty of alliance, the events leading up to such an event are also something to behold. The French threat remained strong and Louis XIV's presence across the Rhine remained a menace to those German potentates who otherwise would have jumped at the chance to crusade against the Turk. This, as we've by now learned, was no accident. By keeping the Habsburgs and their German allies divided, Louis could ensure that he had more security and influence to lord over his weaker German neighbours.As the episode progresses, you'll notice the sense of re-arming that seemed to characterise much of what the Germans in particular were doing. Everyone seemed either to be grouping themselves into an alliance bloc or preparing for some kind of conflict. At the top of this alliance building we find the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, led of course by King Jan Sobieski, and the subject of our very special biography if you weren't aware! It would prove a battle in itself not merely negotiating, but also ratifying this treaty in the Polish Sejm, as the vested interests of the foreign powers culminated, not for the last time, in heated scenes at such a weighted time in Polish history. In the event, Sobieski would agree to march, but the campaign would be nothing like what he expected...Remember history friends, you can help make WDF thrive! Head on over to www.patreon.com/WhenDiplomacyFails now and support us to bring history podcasting to new heights and receive some awesome audio goodies in return! For everything else, make sure to head to www.wdfpodcast.com and as always, See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe's Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the publication of this book five years ago, Steven Seegel has become a leading authority on map-making in the Russian Empire with particular expertise on the western borderlands.Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2012) provided a firm foundation for his reputation by exploring how imperial priorities shaped map-making of he dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how these changed over the long century during which a fully independent Polish state did not exist. While focused primarily on Russian cartography is the primary focus of this work, Seegel places those developments in context with discussion of Polish nationalist map-making and a discussion of Habsburg map-making of the region as well. In so doing, he also offers intriguing portraits of the cartographers who ultimately made this research possible. It was a pleasure to interview him at last about this book and I invite you to listen to our discussion of his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

with Michael Tworekhosted by Nir Shafir, Polina Ivanova, and Shireen HamzaDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudA man known as Wojciech Bobowski to some, Albertus Bobovius to others, and Ali Ufki to yet others, is one of the prime examples of an early modern intermediary operating in the seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire. In this podcast, we discuss with Michael Tworek the fascinating figure of the Bobovius, from his childhood in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to his capture in a Tatar slave raid, to his numerous translations both from and to Ottoman Turkish. These included musical treatises, the translation of the New Testament, the Genevan Psalter and more. In particular, we focus on how Bobovius mediated and developed his image as an inter-imperial mediator to his correspondents in the Republic of Letters.« Click for More »