Kultura legionowa w czasie pierwszej wojny światowej na łamach prasy krakowskiej (1914–1918)

Abstract

[The Polish Legion Culture during World War I in Cracow’s Press (1914–1918)] The First World War and military activities of the Pilsudski Legions gave birth to a very specific phenomenon which may be referred to as the Polish Legion culture. It included lit-erature and poetry, theatre, film, sculpture and painting. At that time seven dailies were pub-lished in Cracow: five principal ones and two published periodically. Independently, there were several weekly and monthly magazines. Actually, all newspapers delivered information from the frontlines of the First World War, and most of all, about the military activities of the Polish Legions. The Legion literature was created by war correspondents and writers fighting in the Legions. They were – among others – Waclaw Sieroszewski, Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, Gustaw Danilowski, Wladyslaw Orkan, Zygmunt Kisielewski, Jozef Relidzynski and Stanislaw Rostworowski. Their works were published mainly by Cracow’s dailies. However, there also appeared independent works of fiction. News about the very first activities of the military shooters organisations appeared in “Nowa Reforma”. Kaden-Bandrowski, whose literary activity is worth particular notice, wrote the history of military actions of the 1st Bri-gade of the Pilsudski Legions, published in “Czas” and – later on – as a book . Also his arti-cles published in “Naprzod” and “Ilustrowany Tygodnik Polski” attracted readers’ attention. Waclaw Sieroszewski, in turn, published his novel in instalments in “Glos Narodu” and a short-story in “Ilustrowany Tygodnik Polski”. About that time his book on Jozef Pilsudski also appeared. Wladyslaw Orkan wrote a series of short stories and published them in “Czas” and “Piast” weekly. Jozef Relidzynski and Stanislaw Rostworowski wrote their stories during and after the war. “Rok Polski” published a scholarly discussion by Jan Zabiello, which later on appeared in form of a book entitled Nowy romantyzm w polskiej poezji czasu Wielkiej Wo-jny [New romanticism in Polish poetry of the Great War]. Independently, other scholarly dis-sertations and popularised discussions were written and reviewed in Cracow’s newspapers. “Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny” presented popularised scientific articles by eminent histori-ans, Wladyslaw Konopczynski and Wladyslaw Semkowicz. We cannot omit Legion poetry and military songs. Jozef Relidzynski’s poems are of par-ticular interest; they were discovered by “Naprzod” and “Na Przelomie” monthly. I will also mention the collection of Legion poems by Karol Łepkowki and a collection of military songs entitled “Plomienie” [Flames] written by Henryk Zbierzchowski. We should recognise a great role that painting played in the social recognition of the le-gion commanders and war heroes. They were painted by eminent artists, such as Jacek Malczewski, Wincenty Wodzinowski and many others. The portraits could be admired at numerous Legion art exhibitions. There’s no doubt that we should acknowledge both the value of the Polish Legion culture and the role Cracow’s press played in popularising it.