Polish Embassy Research Articles

The Janus Face of Polish Cultural Diplomacy in Paris during the Khrushchev Thaw

The Khrushchev Thaw allowed Poland a slightly larger margin of freedom in its cultural exchange with Western Europe than it had since the end of the Second World War. In this newly relaxed political climate, two models of Polish cultural diplomacy emerged in the West. The first constituted the official foreign policy of Poland’s communist authorities, while the other remained unofficial, relying on a network of contacts with Poland’s government-in-exile. An examination of contemporary Polish art exhibited in Paris during the 1950s and 1960s reveals this dichotomy. The first type of cultural patronage was coordinated in Paris by communist representatives of the Polish Embassy. The second emerged in Paris within Polish political émigré circles. Its key proponents were the Literary Institute (Instytut Literacki), including the intellectual and artistic milieu of the monthly journal Kultura (“Polish-based Culture”) and the Lambert Gallery (Galeria Lambert). State foreign policy, funded by the state budget and anchored in agreements between Poland and France on cultural cooperation determined the former, while the latter constituted an oppositional stance against the Eastern Bloc, deriving its strength from the resolve of Polish political émigré circles, their extensive network of sympathetic foreign contacts, and an understanding of the mechanics of the art market. The communist model sought to build a friendly image of Polish culture despite the apparent ideological rift between Eastern and Western Europe. The émigré approach stemmed from a refusal to accept the political division of Europe and involved searching the world of art for evidence of forces in Poland that opposed the political status quo. Finally, the patronage model adopted by communist authorities followed the state-imposed policy of favoring figurative art over Polish abstract art, whereas the model championed by émigré circles pursued the opposite strategy. It showcased unrestrained, spontaneous, and mostly abstract art. It evidenced an affinity for international trends in the art of the time, including abstract expressionism and, in particular, Parisian Art Informel. How can these two strands of cultural diplomacy co-exist? Which resonated more with international audiences?

“An internal matter for the Soviet Union”. The attitude of the Polish Embassy in Moscow towards problems with changing the citizenship of Polish repatriates from the depths of the Soviet Union in 1945

After concluding the Polish-Soviet repatriation agreement (6 July 1945), the Soviet Union (the USSR) started preparing for the evacuation of Polish exiles: victims of the Soviet deportation from the years 1940–1941. It soon became apparent that those who wanted to return to Poland were required to undergo the procedure of changing citizenship. The exiles had to prove they had been Polish citizens prior to 17 September 1939. The majority of them did not have the documents that could confirm this, thus, the planned repatriation was under threat. In the autumn of 1945, the Polish Embassy in Moscow took action to make the procedure of changing citizenship easier, and finally mass repatriation began.

Curzon's Ultimatum and Its Impact on the USSR Policy Towards Poland

The author raises the issue that was practically unexplored on the impact of the British ultimatum delivered to the USSR in May 1923 on the relations between Moscow and Warsaw. The author cites new documents from the diplomatic correspondence of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs' central office (NKID) with the Polish embassy which show that the uproar caused by the Curzon memorandum in the Soviet leadership extended far beyond the sphere of Soviet-British relations. There are analyzed the concessions that Moscow was ready to make in order to prevent Poland from joining the new anti-Soviet front. The comparative-historical analysis is used to examine the dynamics of changes in the nature and scale of these concessions depending on the tension in Soviet-British relations. The conclusion is made that the Curzon memorandum provoked a turn in the Soviet policy towards Poland which Moscow did not fully abandon even when the fears of forming a new anti-Soviet coalition were dispelled. The article also substantiates the reasons why the Soviet leadership decided not to give up its readiness to make a number of concessions to Poland, despite the fact that in June 1923 there was no threat of a new anti-Soviet intervention and Warsaw's participation in it.

„Nie sądzę, żeby posądzanie mnie o wrogość do Kościoła było słuszne” . Związki Czesława Miłosza z Seminarium Polskim w Paryżu

Czesław Miłosz is one of the greatest Polish poets, essayists and translators. In 1980, in recognition of his literary merits, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was born in 1911 in Lithuania. This is how he graduated from the law studies at the Stefan Batory University. In Vilnius, he was one of the leading activists of the local literary circle. In 1933, his first book was published (Poem of Frozen Time). Before the outbreak of World War II, he worked for Polish Radio. After 1939, he was forced to stay in Romania, then in Vilnius, and finally managed to get to Warsaw. He took part in the underground cultural life of the occupied capital. After 1945, he began to cooperate with the communist authorities. As a diplomat, he worked at posts in New York, Washington and Paris. In 1951, Czesław Miłosz decided to resign from his position as cultural attaché at the Polish Embassy in Paris. For him, a difficult period begins both materially and morally: destitute, with a marriage (civil union) falling apart. By a happy coincidence, the then Rector of Polish Seminary in Paris, Father Antoni Banaszak, stood on his life path. As a result of his efforts, on 13 January 1956, in the Polish church at rue Saint Honoré, the writer sanctioned their long-standing relationship with a church wedding. What was the relationship between the Rector of the Polish Seminary and Czesław Miłosz, a former communist dyplomat who came from he USA?

Współczesna Armenia w opisie Macieja Falkowskiego (Armenia. Obieg zamknięty, Wydawnictwo Czarne, Wołowiec 2022)

MODERN ARMENIA IN MACIEJ FALKOWSKI’S DESCRIPTION
 The reportage book of Maciej Falkowski titled Armenia. Obieg zamknięty [Armenia. Closed Circulation] was issued in 2022 by the Czarne Publishing House. The author – longtime employee of the Polish embassy in Yerevan – in his relation about the contemporary state of Armenia uses his own memories and observations. The book constitutes a significant contribution to the Polish research on Armenia and an important compendium of knowledge concerning this country. The review, while emphasizing the value of the publication, indicates some minor mistakes regarding the Armenian language and the history of Armenia.

Directions and Results of Activities of the Polish Embassy in Rio de Janeiro in Strengthening the Position of Poland and the Polish Community in Brazil in the 1920s – Selected Manifestations

The paper aims to present the challenges in the form of practical directions and results of activities undertaken by diplomats serving at the Polish Embassy in Rio de Janeiro as an institution representing the Second Polish Republic’s interests in the largest country in South America. The article analyses selected archival materials collected in the Archive of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America and available literature. The documents used are in Polish. Some documents were translated from Portuguese. It was shown that the Polish Embassy in Rio de Janeiro contributed to the strengthening of diplomatic relations between Poland and Brazil in the 1920s. The results of the institution’s activities included consolidating the foundations of economic cooperation between the two countries, including the support of the Brazilian Polish community. Moreover, activities in the field of press inspiration in the host country were carried out.

The Image of Poland in Bulgarian Mass Media in 1990–1998 in the Light of Documents from the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

In this article, the image of Poland in the Bulgarian mass media was analyzed. This image was presented on the basis of reports that were made by employees of the Polish Embassy in Sofia and sent to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Polish Embassy in Sofia had the biggest impact in promotion of the Polish themes in the Bulgarian mass media. Polish issues have been present in the Bulgarian mass media from the beginning of political transformation, although the media presented information from Poland with varying frequency. The popularity of Polish issues in the Bulgarian media grew significantly when important political and economic events took place in Poland, or when there were meetings on the highest level between representatives of both states. During this period, the mass media created a positive image of Poland, mainly regarding economic issues. Poland was recognised as the leader in the process of political and economic transformations among Central and Eastern Europe countries.

Wacław Kłoczkowski (1873–1930) – Rear Admiral of the Russian and Polish Navy, Advisor of the Polish Delegation to the Versailles Conference, Military and Naval Attaché at the Polish Legation in London

Wacław Kłoczkowski (1873–1930). He served in the Russian Navy from 1898 to 1917. In 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admi-ral. Served in the Polish Army since March 1919. From April 1919 to February 1922, he was a member of Polish diplomacy (member of the Polish Delegation in Paris), Chairman of the Gdańsk and Shipping Commission, military and naval plenipotentiary of the Polish Embassy in London. After arriving in Poland he was consecutively: head of the Admini-strative Branch of the Military Affairs, second deputy head of the Naval Management, general plenipotentiary of the Ministry of the Military Affairs for Westerplatte, commander of the 15th Infantry Division in Toruń. He died in Warsaw on 15 January 1930.

THE AID OFFERED TO POLISH CITIZENS OF JEWISH ORIGIN IN THE FAR EAST IN THE YEARS 1940–1941

This article presents the activities of Polish organizations, especially the Polish Committee for Aid to the Victims of War, operating in the Far East during the Second World War. Its main concern is with efforts undertaken in support of Polish citizens of Jewish origin who embarked on a long journey outside Europe in search of refuge from the war. The basic research method adopted in the preparation of this article was the analysis of documents and reports left by the Committee. From the research conducted, I found out how over two thousand people–Polish citizens of Jewish origin–received help. Thanks to the commitment and devotion not only of members of the Committee mentioned above but also of the Polish diaspora and the Polish Embassy in Tokyo, over two thousand Polish refugees found shelter in Japan and then, after obtaining exit visas, traveled further to Canada, Palestine, Australia, Burma, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States of America, South America, or Shanghai. The Committee also provided them with material aid. The help and support they received allowed them to reach a place of safety away from the war and start afresh.

Regina Wasiak-Taylor – animatorka kultury, dziennikarka, prezes Związku Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyźnie w Londynie

The aim of the article is to present Regina Wasiak-Taylor – a person of many talents, as a journalist, an efficient animator of the cultural life of the Polish diaspora in Great Britain, a president of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad [hereinafter: ZPPnO – Związek Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyźnie]. The following methods have been used: qualitative analysis of the press content, critical analysis of documents, heuristic analysis, interviews. We get to know Mrs Wasiak-Taylor’s scope of activity: involvement in the organisational life of the ZPPnO, in the Pamiętnik Literacki [Literary Memoir] edited in London, practicing socio-cultural journalism and literary criticism, writing scientific articles, popularisation of the emigration’s literary life and Polish ballet, organizing, among others, multimedia theatre and stage programmes – Poetic Scene [Scena Poetycka] at the Polish Social and Cultural Association [POSK – Polski Ośrodek Społeczno-Kulturalny] in London. Also: initiation of the Literary Parlour within the Polish Watchfire at the Exhibition Road, addressed to the Polish and international intelligentsia in London, active participation in international scientific conferences. Regina Wasiak-Taylor conducts editorial work on books. She is the author of readings, laudations, and her own publications: Dzieje Nagrody Literackiej ZPPnO 1951–2011 [The History of the Literary Award of the ZPPnO 1951–2011] (London 2011), Ojczyzna literatura [Literature Fatherland] (London 2013), Alfabet wspomnień Szymona Zaremby. II Rzeczpospolita, II wojna światowa, emigracja [Szymon Zaremba’s Alphabet of Memories, Second Polish Republic, World War II, emigration] (London 2015). She initiates and promotes books by Polish authors and moderates other meetings of literary and scientific circles at the Polish Embassy in London, at the International Book Fair in Warsaw and at literary events in various places.

Catholic Church Towards Sovietization of Culture and Polish Society in Communication of the Polish Embassy at the Vatican in the Years 1956–1968

The article aims to present the culture-forming role of the Catholic Church, which emerges from selected communications of the Polish Embassy at the Vatican, in opposition to the sovietisation of Polish culture developed by the communist authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland in the years 1956–1968. Materials from the Archive of the Jozef Pilsudski Institute in America and available literature constituted the basis for the analysis. The undertaken research considering the sources fills a significant gap in the knowledge about the Catholic Church’s opposition to the process of sovietisation of Polish culture during the Cold War. It should be emphasised that in the post-war period the Church was the institution that shaped Christian values and a kind of “bastion” of resistance to the authorities whose one of the goals was to sovietise Polish culture. It continued the discourse on the ground of the expression of the inability to reconcile the communist ideology with Christian values in European, including Polish, culture. It also acted as a correspondent for the affairs of oppressed nations subjected to the course of sovietisation. The undertaken research is an answer for lack of knowledge on the Catholic Church opposition towards the process of sovietising Polish culture during the Cold War. All the above allows the hypothesis that the Catholic Church during this period was the only one successful opposition to the PRL authorities which were against the Polish culture and society.

Aktywność turystyczna argentyńskiej Polonii na przykładzie mieszkańców Buenos Aires – w świetle badań pilotażowych

Głównym celem badań jest określenie aktywności turystycznej argentyńskiej Polonii na przykładzie mieszkańców Buenos Aires. W 2017 i 2018 roku przeprowadzone zostały pilotażowe badania ankietowe, dzięki którym uzyskana została informacja dotycząca długości trwania podróży, częstotliwości podróżowania, wyboru środka transportu, sposobu organizacji podróży, tego, z kim argentyńska Polonia podróżuje, gdzie się zatrzymuje podczas podróży oraz jakie są główne motywy podróżowania. Buenos Aires jest głównym skupiskiem Polonii w Argentynie, jednocześnie jest to jeden z większych ośrodków polonijnych, mieszczących się Ameryce Południowej (Malinowski, 2005: 324). Jak podaje Ambasada Polski w Buenos Aires, szacuje się, że w samej stolicy Argentyny mieszka około 18–20 tys. osób pochodzenia polskiego. Wśród Polonii argentyńskiej dominuje turystyka wypoczynkowa, najważniejszym regionem wypoczynkowym jest wybrzeże La Platy. Na wybrzeżu tym dużą popularnością cieszą się kąpieliska Mar de Plata i Miramar (Kurek, 2011: 540). Jak wykazały przeprowadzone pilotażowe badania ankietowe, Polonia argentyńska jest aktywna turystycznie. Około 40 % ankietowanych podróżuje dwa–trzy razy w ciągu roku. Najwięcej osób podróżuje w celach poznawczych i wypoczynkowych. Większość ankietowanych to osoby, które organizują swoje podróże samodzielnie, a podczas podróży najchętniej zatrzymują się u rodziny i przyjaciół.

IAML Congress 2018 General Assembly

IAML Congress 2018 General Assembly Pia Shekhter Tuesday 24 July and Friday 27 July Leipzig, Germany Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Concert Hall DRAFT 1. Welcome and Apologies The President, Stanisław Hrabia, welcomed everybody to the General Assembly. A special warm welcome was given to the many first-time attendees. There was an unusually large number of newcomers this year. He said that he felt honoured to chair the General Assembly for the first time and paid his respect to the five Past Presidents present in the auditorium: Maria Calderisi, Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, John Roberts, and Martie Severt. The system of voting for registered individual members and institutional representatives was explained. 2. Matters arising from the minutes of the 2017 General Assembly in Riga There were no matters arising from the minutes of the 2017 General Assembly in Riga. The minutes were unanimously approved. 3. President’s report The President presented the following report: “Since the congress in Riga, I have participated in several international conferences. I was invited by IAML-Brazil to participate in the 4th Congress of RIdIM-Brazil and the 2nd Congress of IAML-Brazil, 17–21 July 2017, in Salvador, where I presented a paper ‘Cataloguing Through Cooperation: The Role of Music Librarians in Creating a National Union Catalogue’. The congress had been organised under the leadership of Pablo Sotuyo Blanco, the chair of RIdIM-Brazil. I had a chance to meet and talk to people from different libraries and academic institutions. I also took part in a working meeting of the IAML Branch of Brazil, chaired by the President of the Brazilian Branch, Beatriz Magalhães Castro. I have also participated in a conference in Athens. I was invited to the 2nd Conference of the Greek IAML Branch, in the Athens Conservatoire, 27–28 April 2018. I presented, as the keynote speaker, a paper on the topic: ‘Seize the Opportunities: Music Librarians in Today’s World of Information’. Athens has become the World Book Capital for 2018. This conference took place just before the official opening of this celebration; and thanks to the great efforts of colleagues from the Greek Branch—Alexandros Charkiolakis, President, and Stephanie Merakos, Vice President—my visit was associated with this occasion and sponsored by the Polish Embassy in Greece. I am very grateful for both invitations—to Salvador and to Athens. It was a great opportunity to strengthen relations between “big IAML” and the national branches, and for learning more about local efforts and achievements. Thank you very much. [End Page 77] I also had a unique opportunity to represent IAML at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (22–23 August 2017) in Wrocław, Poland, where I met some IAML colleagues: Anders Cato, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, Katre Riisalu, and Anna J. Shelmer-dine. I officially represented IAML in two meetings of the representatives of the national, international, and professional library associations: the Association Members Meeting and the IFLA General Assembly. All these meetings were very inspiring and gave me a new perspective on international activity. Another important event, The International Music Forum of Six Societies ICTM–SEM– IMS–IAML–IASPM–ATMC (Association for Traditional Music in China) on the topic ‘Approaches to Research on Music and Dance in the Internet Era’, took place in Beijing at the Central Conservatory of Music, 11–14 July 2018. After a very successful joint meeting of three societies—IMS, IAML, and ICTM—in Abu Dhabi in March 2017 on the topic ‘Music as Cultural Heritage’, this was yet another event that connects representatives of various music organisations. IAML was represented by sixteen delegates, who presented ten papers and participated in a panel discussion devoted to the four “R” Projects. Besides presenting papers relevant to the main conference topic, it was a great occasion to present IAML as an organisation, and to underline the importance of music libraries, archives, and documentation centres for research, education, preservation of musical heritage, and dissemination of information. As a part of our collaboration with the European Music Council, I have submitted the consultation form of the European Agenda for Music, the document developed out of a continent-wide consultation launched by EMC...

Polska „wobec Rosji” w 1941 r. Nieznany memoriał Ksawerego Pruszyńskiego jako attaché prasowego ambasady polskiej w Związku Sowieckim

Ksawery Pruszyński, one of the most talented Polish writers and publicists of the first half of the 20th century, underwent significant political evolution in his short life. His first articles unequivocally testified that he was an anti-communist, fiercely fighting all sympathy for Soviet policy, and at the same time an apologist of Józef Piłsudski and a spokesman for the Promethean concept. Pruszyński, a conservative, having respect for the Polish traditions of this movement, but seeking his new formula adequate to the requirements of modern times, and a spokesman for „superpower Poland” was at the same time a socially sensitive creator and reluctant to any dictatorship. This quarreled with his colleagues from the editorial staff of „Youth Rebellion” and led to the ranks of cautious apologists of the republican side fighting in the Spanish Civil War. However, he formulated the concept of the Polish-Soviet alliance against Germany, for which the price could be Polish eastern lands, and the prize - German eastern lands, only after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war. In 1941–1942 Pruszyński was a press attaché at the Polish embassy of the USSR. At that time he prepared the presented memorial, probably directed at the hands of Prime Minister General Sikorski, in which he wrote about the need to recognize the importance of the Russian factor in Polish politics. The text anticipated the article Towards Russia, published in 1942, in which the author has already ambiguously suggested the necessity of the assignment of Polish eastern territories in the name of correct relations. This caused a wave of criticism of the publicist, but he was more and more consistent in his views. This led him to return to Poland in 1945 and to accept the post-Yalta reality. He was not an ardent admirer, but he considered her the result of geopolitical realities. This, too, seems to have been the main reason for changing his views on the Soviet Union and communism – adopting hard policy rules as unchanging, perhaps colored by some social spell on Marxist radicalism. At the end of his life, Pruszyński held diplomatic functions. He died tragically in 1950 in a car accident, leaving unfinished texts and questions about the further fate of his views in the changing post-war conditions.

Stolica Apostolska w polskiej polityce zagranicznej na uchodźstwie (Wrzesień 1939 – czerwiec 1940)

The Holy See In Polish Foreign Policy of the Government on exile (September 1939 — June 1940) The article is devoted to the reexamining of the policy of Polish Government on exile toward the Holy See after Poland’s defeat in September 1939 and the reestablishment of the legal authorities of Poland in France, under President Raczkiewicz and General Sikorski as Prime Minister. Terminus ad quem of the narration is the collapse of France and transfer of the Government of Poland to London in June 1940. Problems of Vatican’s perception of Polish Question is discussed on the basis of Polish archival documents, especially those of Polish Embassy to the Holy See. Vatican-Polish relations at the beginning of the World War II require special attention because the last treatment of this highly debatable problem was made in historiography by Zofia Waszkiewicz more than thirty five years ago in her monograph Polityka Watykanu wobec Polski 1939–1945 [Policy of the Vatican toward Poland 1939—1945] (Warsaw 1980). How much Polish diplomacy achieved fighting for the Holy See’s support against Nazi Germany? Two things must be said. Firstly, the Holy See recognized the legal continuity of Polish State after the German-Soviet occupation of Poland’s territory in September 1939, but did not sent the papal nuncio to Angers, when Polish Government resided. Secondly, Polish thesis on the special significance of Polish Question as the test-case of international justice received the positive response of the Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Summi Pontificatus published on October 20 1939, but the guidelines of Vatican’s policy were based on the doctrine of strict neutrality of the Papacy in the international relations. It did not permit for Papal condemnation ex officio of the Nazi crimes and criminal policy of extermination in Poland.

Zanim został ministrem. O kontaktach Ryszarda Zakrzewskiego z wywiadem PRL

Ryszard Zakrzewski, emigrant polityczny, dzialacz PPS w Wielkiej Brytanii, na przelomie lat czterdziestych i piecdziesiątych XX w. kontaktowal sie w Londynie z funkcjonariuszami wywiadu PRL, podającymi sie za dyplomatow. Wiele lat poźniej, na przelomie lat osiemdziesiątych i dziewiecdziesiątych byl ministrem spraw krajowych w rządzie RP na uchodźstwie. Before he became minister. On Ryszard Zakrzewski’s contacts with the Polish People’s Republic intelligence After the Second World War Ryszard Zakrzewski (1913–1994) was a well-known exile political and social activist in Great Britain. In the late 1940s he became one of the leaders of the Polish Socialist Party in emigration. He was also active in the Polish Ex-Combatants’ Association and the Federation of Poles in Great Britain. In 1956, the intelligence of the Polish People’s Republic got interested in his person. Over the next few years Zakrzewski maintained contacts with intelligence officers, employed as diplomats at the Polish Embassy in London. Despite the fact that he was not formally recruited, he provided information about activities of certain political groups on emigration, especially socialists. And, as evidenced by documents, he was paid money by some of his contacts. And it was also him, who sought to made his talks of political nature. When his contacts were exposed by British counterintelligence, he ended his collaboration. In the following years Zakrzewski continued to participate actively in the political life of the Polish emigration, and in 1989 he became a minister of the last Polish government in exile.

Public relations message strategies and public diplomacy 2.0: An empirical analysis using Central-Eastern European and Western Embassy Twitter accounts

This study examined 41 embassy Twitter accounts representing Central-Eastern European and Western countries. Western embassies were more likely to have Twitter accounts and demonstrated more average followers, but a CEE account (the Polish embassy in the United States) had the highest influencer score. A content analysis of 482 tweets brought together relevant literature from public diplomacy and public relations scholarship. A significant association was found between the diplomatic approaches and public relations message strategies, thus identifying a relationship between disciplines that are frequently considered separately. With regard to public diplomacy strategies, Western embassies engaged primarily in advocacy, whereas CEE embassies engaged primarily in cultural diplomacy. Listening was the least likely approach to be taken by both Western and CEE embassy accounts. With regard to public relations strategies, Western and CEE embassy Twitter accounts primarily engaged in message strategies aimed at information sharing (versus facilitative, persuasive, cooperative, etc.). Overall, analyses indicated that embassy Twitter accounts primarily engaged in approaches that may lack strategy, despite their purpose being diplomatic communication. This research provides a basis for predictive, best practices research and recommendations that merge disciplines.

The Limits of Diplomatic Ritual: The Polish Embassy of Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1572–1573) and Criticism of Papal Legates in Early Modern Europe,

This essay proposes that much of the anti-papal sentiment and accusations of papal tyranny that characterized the Reformation grew out of experiences with papal legates a latere , the diplomatic representatives of the Roman see abroad. Because papal “possession” of authority was achieved only indirectly, through representatives, most Europeans’ experiences with, and responses to, the papacy centered on the activities of papal diplomats. After examining the ritual, rhetorical, and juridical framework that surrounded the figure of the legate, this essay examines the uniformly negative reactions to the embassy of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1524-1584) during the Polish interregnum of 1572-1573. It argues that criticism of Commendone’s actions in the royal election reveals a larger disjuncture in early modern political theory. While secular rulers believed they should be able to rule their states autonomously, for respective reasons of state, the papacy and its representatives maintained that the pope had both the right and the duty to intervene in temporal affairs when necessary. Thus, criticism of papal legates suggests a broader critique of papal authority: namely, that the Roman pontiff should not be able to interfere in political affairs, even through representatives.

Tibet in the Crimea? Polish Embassy to the Kalmyks of 1653 and a Project of an Anti-Muslim Alliance

In early modern world, cross-cultural contacts were not a monopoly of Western European ‘trading nations’ and they were not made exclusively through trans-ocean trade. Buddhist Kalmyks arrived in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century and have remained there until today. Following the medieval tradition when Christian Europe looked for allies in Inner Asia against ‘the Muslim danger’, Moscow and Warsaw competed to win the Kalmyks over so that they would become their allies against the Crimean Tatars. In 1653, the Polish court prepared an embassy to the Kalmyks, proposing to help them conquer the Crimean Peninsula in return for a military alliance. Curiously, the letters of the Polish king and chancellor were written in Turkish and drawn in Arabic script, as in that period these were the accepted media of Eurasian communication, even though the letters’ tenor was anti-Muslim. Both letters are extant today and their content is analysed in the article.

Przygotowania do Soboru Watykańskiego II w opinii polskich dyplomatów

Preparations for the Second Vatican Council as Seen by Polish DiplomatsA presentation of the way in which the staff of the Polish Embassy in Rome observed preparations for the Second Vatican Council in 1958–1962. The text belongs to a current of research analysing the attitude of the communists towards the Catholic Church and relations between communist states and the Vatican. The author provides information about diplomats who obtained data concerning the Apostolic See and the titular preparations as well as their chief informers. He also indicated the cooperation between Polish diplomats and those of other communist countries regarding information exchange, joint policies vis a vis the See, and the participation in the Council of bishops from various member–countries of the Soviet sphere of influence. The article is based predominantly on material produced by the diplomatic service: dispatches, notes, reports, and analyses by the staff of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Poland in Rome.