Thanks For watching our video!! We hope you liked it. Please don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel @BeyondBorders to stay up to date with all our latest travel adventures!!!!
Technically the three brothers were Lech, Serb and Rus. But as contact with Southern Slavs was lost in 6'th century, legend replace them with most prominent modern states. Lechitic Tribes were prominent part of so called Wends (who are commonly mistaken with vikings), who form larger group of so called West Slavs. Wends ultimately split on three in 10'th century, when Veleti were conquered by Saxons with they capital Berlin being incorporated into Holly Roman Empire. While Great Moravia was Christianized, leading to formation of modern states of Poland and Czechia. Later as result of betrayal Prussia was conquered and stolen from Poland by Germans. And worst... unified Germany 😬 In 6'th century Hun'garians pushed and cut large population Slavs from region of Vistula and while they lead to collapse of West Rome. East Rome established contact with Serbs, at the time refereed as Sclaveni. What lead to modern name of culture as Slavs, though Romans refereed to them as Veneti. But contact was not established, as they were separated by Germanic tribes. Anyway, event lead to misconception that Slavs come from East, when they come from North. Slavs originate from region of Eastern Galicia and part of them move East to region of Dniepr river. Around 10't century. Swed vikings move through river sizing control over this land and later establishing contact with Byzantium. Leading to Christainization of whole region in the Orthodox rite. Unfortunately for them region was decimated by invasion of Mongol Empire, with three remaining states, Galicia-Volhynia being incorporated into Lithuania as Kresy (Ukraine), Novgorod Republic being under control of Sweds and part of Hanziatic League, withe Vladimir-Suzdal was backstabbed, replaced and sold to Golden Orde by its minor subject Moscow. But they didn't become a thing until 16'th century when after conquest of Novgorod, Madman Ivan the Terrible self-proclaimed himself as Emperor of Rome and all Rus. What lead ho humiliating defeat by Poland, who actually hold most of Rus lands. And German Romanov sizing control over the land (they were from Novgorod, if someone ask from where Germans come).
Major mistake in the video. Polish constitution come before French Revolution. Thaddeus Kosciusko, in fact fight in American Independence War and is considered as American hero, known from construction of West Point. Later he comeback to Poland and help in reforms, with Constitution of Third May being second modern Constitution before French one. Unfortunately it did not help.
In German history known much more as Tannenberg if I am not much mistaken. And Grunewald is in fact nowadays part of the Great Berlin west to Charlottenburg.
Also Grunwald is not a forest byt basically a field. There is a monument to the battle that took place there. It was the biggest battle in medieval history. Nowadays every year there is a reconstruction battle taking place there.
Grunwald itself is/was a village (I'm not sure if it exist), but battle took place both on field and in forest. Polish troops came from forest while Teutinic troops were waiting on the top of the hill in front of forest.
@@misiek_xp4886 Quite interesting reasoning. Grunwald was definitely a settlement, because it already existed then and had a name :) Second thing, in those times there were hardly any forests and Jagiełło wanted to fight a big battle, so he was wandering around the area and looking for a place. He didn't want to besiege castles because it would be suicide. The Grunwald area is a conventional place, they included it where they were, in the new museum you have the most artifacts that are excavated far from the marked Grunwald site itself. None of you were there then, not even the chronicler Długosz, who knew this battle only from his father's stories.
9:10: If a woman won an election in your country would she become president or first lady? Well then you already know why Jadwiga became king. In fact, everywhere except the Britain, queen is the title of the king's wife, not the ruling monarch. The ruling monarch is the king.
1:15 Very important correction considering the current events in Europe. "Rus" does not equal "Russia". The name Russia was artificially created by Ivan the Terrible in 1547 to unlawfully claim the heritage of the Kyivan Rus which as the name suggests had its cultural and political center in Kyiv while Russia emerged from a northern principality of the Kyivan Rus called Vladamir and that new separate state was called Muscovia. Its important draw a line here, because of years russian propaganda has pushed to erase the identity of plenty people and nations from this region.
The biggest castle is in Poland, but it was not built by Poles. It's Malbork (Marienburg), originally the headquarters of the Teutonic Order 9:15: Because in English those are different titles, not so in Polish. Here, we have "Król" which means "King"... and "Królowa" which means "she-of-King". Crowning her King was basically equivalent to naming her Queen Regnant rather than Queen Consort. 9:40: Those lands were Rusyn, previously belonging to Kievan Rus. Not Russian, because Russia was not a thing at that time - what became Russia later, was at this time the Duchy of Muscovy and was under a Mongol occupation. 9:50: Well... to Commonwealth did get bigger but that's something for later. 14:55: Remember that Poland already had a functioning parliament (Sejm). The election system meant that the nobles elected the new ruler. 18:03: Part of that was that the Swedish Flood has devastated the country to a degree not unlike WWII would do centuries later. Another part was the veto system in Sejm, where any noble participating in the proceedings could veto ANY action. 19:00: Politics killed Poland, politics brought it back.
Teutonic Order was rogue vassal of the Poland. In fact after local populations rebelled against heretical Teutons, region officially rejoin Poland. But unfortunately was hijacked again by Germans, thorough inheritance scam.
Don't look at castles from the perspective of today. There are still 500 castles and palaces in Poland, even though the Swedes destroyed more than half of them. Malbork has been expanded over the years and is now the largest. Earlier, castles were built that were older and much larger. Two Malbork, the Teutonic one, is only those dark bricks that remained after it was destroyed by the Germans and Russians, so 80% of this castle was built by Poles :)
17:48 Tadeusz Kościuszko was veteran of American Revolutionary War, engineer who made plans of West Point, and suprisingly progressive for his time, calling Founding Fathers to end slavery anf reconcille with native tribes.
Poland has an extremely rich history, a lot of records were lost due to wars but a lot of it prevailed itself in culture itself. Poland was actually very pagan back in the day and another name for us „Slavs” derives from the fact back in the day Poles were sold as slaves. They were seen as pagan compared to then very Catholic Europe, think of „Witcher”- which is also based on polish culture as Witcher was created by a Polish man. In the pagan times there was a lot of herbalism, beliefs in gods or scary creatures (like in Witcher). When I was small in Poland older people would scare me (and children in general) of „Baba Jaga” a forest creature who will punish children that misbehave- a lot for a child! but this little memory I have I think it’s crazy to think the old gods and creatures are no longer believed in and only exist now in games and tv shows, but still grandmothers and parents pass this story from generation to generation and it all comes from those times. There’s many little things like that and that’s why Poles are so proud because of a very unique culture and history.
By saying that Jadwiga was King people basically mean she was Queen Regnant - meaning she was crowned monarch in her own power. Similarly to how late Queen Elizabeth were ruling monarch of UK.
This is an official story, but the reality was different. Slavic tribes before our era occupied very large areas of Europe, they constantly occupied the areas of modern Germany up to the Elbe River, but they also ventured into England and northern Africa. The Slavs of Pomerania competed with the Vikings and the Polish "Vikings" were the Vicens, whom the Vikings feared but also cooperated with them. People don't learn about these times in Poland and this is the result of Catholicism and the partitions. Prince Mieszko I of Poland was baptized so as not to give the Germans a reason to attack Slavic tribes to fight paganism, and such were the Slavic tribes. When most of the Slavs were already Catholic, Pomosh was pagan, then the bishops forged a letter from the Pope so that the Prince of Masovia would bring an order of Teutonic knights, mainly German ones, to Christianize the people of Pomosh. .And the king of Poland brought Jews because the Polish nobility could not engage in trade because they would lose their noble titles, and Poland was rich in grain when there were famines in Europe. Europe knows very little about the Slavs and does not want to know because it is better for them and it is not convenient for them to admit what influence they had on culture and history, so the facts are either concealed or they are not mentioned or taught. For them, it is better to claim that the cradle of European civilization is Greece, Germany, and France.
After the death of the last king from the Jagiellonian dynasty, the principle of "free election" was adopted in Poland. The nobility by electing among the royal families of Europe, or among the Polish nobles, a new king of Poland, who served until his death, and then a new election was made, instead of passing power to his firstborn heir.
You must come to Poland, preferably in the summer. You're welcome! You won't find the legendary white eagle, but you will see something unique in Europe - I assure you. You will see a dynamically developing country with beautiful nature, wonderful monuments, really healthy food, safety and friendly people. Because that's how Poles were, are and will always be. God bless you!
Why king not Queen? The king is the ruling person who sits on the throne and the queen is the partner. Of course, usually men sat on the throne, but when a woman sat on the throne, calling her queen would be offensive at the time
In November 1918, after 123 years of absence on the political maps of Europe, Poland regained independence. This happened mainly thanks to the perseverance and generosity of the active part of Polish society, which during the period of captivity passed on to new generations of young Poles their attachment to the national language and culture. During the years of World War I (1914-1918), favorable circumstances occurred for the Polish cause. Poland's invaders then stood opposite each other, breaking their previous solidarity on the Polish issue. In the summer of 1914, on the threshold of the beginning of the war, Poles faced a dilemma about which side of the conflict to choose. Some, including Józef Piłsudski, pinned his hopes for the reconstruction of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the Central Powers. Volunteer Polish Legions were formed at their side. Others (including Roman Dmowski) saw Russia and its allies in the West as powers that could first unite the Polish lands and, in the long run, lead to Poland regaining independence. For hundreds of thousands of Poles mobilized into the armies of the partitioning countries, the war was fratricidal. Moreover, the hostilities themselves contributed to enormous material destruction and forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes as war refugees.
History is extremely important to us. So many times Poland had to defend themselves it became crucial to understand what we are and where we come from. Our grandmothers and grandfathers, and their grand parents before that, all went through a lot, preserving our culture is very important.
This cartoon was produced by a foreigner, who made it too simple, with many mistakes. For better insight read Norman Davies " Poland - God's playground". You really need to learn more, I keep my thumbs for you!
9:43 Not "russian" "Ruthenian" land. Russia was founded only in the 16th century. Russia was formed from the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which was established in the 12th century.
Okay so, the animated history video is VERY wrong on the part where we called Jadwiga King, like wtf? 😂 So let me clarify, Król - King, Królowa - Queen, the word król is still inside but it doesn't mean it should be translated as king man, 😅
Jadwiga was crowned a king because in polish language word for king is król and it means crowned ruller, while word for queen is królowa and means the wife of king. So the only way to become a queen was to have a husband that becomes a king. This is something that was common back in Poland to add ending "owa" to the name of the profession when you refered to the wife of a person doing this profession. As for king elections, over time knights were receiving more and more privliges and power and became nobles. At some point they had semi-pariment made out of nobles who could in some cases overrule even a king. When bloodline ended at that point the nobles thought electing kings from foreign royals could give them more control over the country.
Slavic tribes did not have a typical capital. You could say that the capital was where the ruler was. Slavic tribes lived in gords (strongholds?). Some were more important, others less important. They could also have had a more sacred or military significance. Gniezno and Poznań were very important grods in the times of Mieszko I. Gniezno was more of a religious capital, and Poznań was more of a military capital (the seat of Mieszko I). when Mieszko I and his court were baptized, not everyone liked it. Gniezno was previously a place of religious worship for the Slavs. It was not a safe place for a ruler who suddenly adopted a foreign religion, hence he chose the best strategic and defensive place for his headquarters - Poznań, and it was here that the first cathedral was built. Poznań had a strategic location and quickly overshadowed Gniezno, which, however, always remained an important place of religious worship (already Christian). Officially it is said that Gniezno was the first capital of Poland, unofficially (especially in Poznań) it is said that the first capital was Poznań. But the truth is that in those times there was no such concept and what mattered was which stronghold was the most important, and in Mieszko's times both these gords were equally important and had different roles to play. Of course, as a Poznań resident, I will add that since Mieszko I had his seat in Poznań and especially expanded and strengthened this stronghold, Poznań has a stronger case (but this is the point of view of a Poznań resident and archeology). Moreover, there are many remains of grods from that time in Greater Poland and other regions. In addition to Poznań and Gniezno, I also recommend seeing Ostrów Lednicki - on the island there is an archaeological site and the Museum of the First Piasts. All these places (Poznań, Gniezno, Ostrów Lednicki) and several others argue about the place where Mieszko and his entourage were baptized. They all have good arguments, but they are insufficient.
There is a city Gniezno and there is old cathedral because around 1000 they established archbishopric, afaik there are old old gates to this cathedral portraiting life of Saint Wojchiech, city is kinda close to Poznań
Accualy the religion was the most important thing that allowed polish culture to survive through centuries and durring the period Poland was not on the map. Polish language and culture was teached trough religion.
Gniezno is still here. Btw Szczecin is not that polish...We get Szczecin after WW2, its German city. If you want see Poland, Szczecin is last place to visit. Btw we have 402 castles ^^
14:44 Yeah, Jagiellon bloodline died, and overpowered Polish nobility made it so nobles seen themselves en masse above king. That's why it was made so kings were elected. Surerly it was a thing before, but as long there was Jagiellons, nobility was like "whatever, we choose King's oldest son". When Jagiellons died out it started problems. That position of Nobility and it's representatives made all system prone to rampart corruption. Most significant noble families created parties around their private goals. And then come Russia that simply started over and over throwing money at Polish nobles for voting in Russian interest...
We crowned a woman as the king because unlike in the uncivilised west women are considered the same as men unlike in the vast majority of the world which also included inheritance rights,
This cartoon was made by a foreigner, who put some effort, but made it too simple, with many errors&misunderstandings. For better insight read Norman Davies "God's playground". Both Polish and English language had a commmon ancestor about 9 - 8 000 yrs ago - Indoeuropean. Western Slavonic people lived also at the area of contemporary Eastern Germany and sadly, germanized, are rather vanishing with their language (Luzyce region). [Explaining everything in a commentary would take too much time, I'd like to, but sorry... 😞] So jumping from the old time to the very recent: Polish president is a lawyer, but he broke not once the constitution as a very dependent puppet of Polish Trump like figure Jaroslaw Kaczynski (the leader of populistic, nationalistic conservative party, who tried to rule the whole state from the back seat. After recent parlament election he starts losing his grip over country in favour of broad democratic coaliton, but polarization and struggle goes on.)
You didn't hear about visiting gniezno because there's nothing to see. The only thing is a cathedral. I know what I'm saying, I live here my entire life
The Berlin Grunewald and Grunwald where the battle happened are too different places. The Battle Field is in current Poland's territory :) Gniezno still exists, it's a cool day trip from Poznań :) The biggest castle is called Malbork, it used to be the headquarters of the Teutonic Order. Poland had elective monarchy since 1573. After the king died passing the throne directly to his children was not automatic, and each new king had to go through the election process. Stanisław August Poniatowski (the last Polish king) even tho originally considered pro-Russian, made significant efforts to implement reforms aimed at strengthening the Polish state, modernizing its institutions, and improving the country's military capabilities. However, these efforts faced resistance from conservative elements within the Polish nobility (szlachta) who were wary of centralized power.
this castle is located in Malbork in the north of the country, and the river near the castle is called Nogat ! And the Poles were the only ones in the world and in history who captured Moscow, no one has ever done it before !
14:30 probably the occupation would have continued and Russia as we know it would not be on the map today if the nobility had not argued for 2 years about who to put on the throne in Moscow
How do you go from a superpower to a sliver of a country, you ask. I'd say it's due to complacency. In times of power and prosperity, people become lazy and corrupt, and when things suddenly go south, there's no contingency plan.
Schlesien came to Germany through marriage, Pommern has been in German hands since 100 BC. We have had wars with Poland for centuries, just as we have had with the French, all about land. Later the wars were about religion and politics. Poland have a funny view on history, but every country is the same, their point of view is always right.
