View Full Version : Greatest Polish contribution(s) to the world ?
Poland is a big country and therefore surely deserves its own thread in the series of "greatest contributions to the world". But I admit that Poland isn't a country I know very well, so before posting a poll (no pun intended) I would like to ask Eupedia members their ideas.
On top of my mind, the most famous and influential Pole in history would be Nicholas Copernicus, who was the first to come with a scientific model of heliocentric cosmology, a milestone in the history of Western science.
I have a hard time thinking about Polish inventions or ideas that are still in use and are significant for a major part of the world population today. But as I said, it is a country that I don't know very well.
I am waiting for your suggestions. :satisfied:
I have found this Timeline of Polish science and technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Polish_science_and_technology). Most of these inventions are military though, and mostly outdated or of no use for ordinary people in everyday life.
Don't worry @Maciamo, you will see that great things will surge...
I will start by thanking Poland for giving birth to great composers such as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin
http://www.8notes.com/wiki/images/250px-ChopinDelacroix.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPPDV8wBOQ
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPPDV8wBOQ
Don't worry @Maciamo, you will see that great things will surge...
I will start by thanking Poland for giving birth to great composers such as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin
Yes, I know Frédéric Chopin. I had also thought of Marie Curie. (note that both Chopin and Curie became French citizens and did most of their work in France). But they are merely famous Poles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Polish_people), not properly speaking Polish contributions to the world. Chopin is a famous classical composer, but he is just one among many, in a genre heavily dominated by German speakers (which is why I listed classical music as a German contribution to the world (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16867)).
Curie's achievements (the theory of radioactivity, or the discovery of polonium and radium) could count, but they are not tangible contributions to everyday life, like say the invention of paper or concrete, the development of an international language like Latin or English, the manufacture of some of the world's best cars or electronics, the production of world renown foods (like cheese or beer or chocolate), the dominance of a particular artistic genre, the development of major economic systems (like (mercantilism, free trade, capitalism, liberalism), or else the entertainment of the global population with Hollywood, rock-n-roll or manga comic books. I would like to find contributions in those lines, even if more modest. For example, Denmark is too small a country to rival Britain, France or Germany in accomplishments, but the Danes gave us Lego, which are enjoyed by children the world over.
Well, I was in the process of preparing a list of famous Poles... like for example, Nobel laureates in literature (Wiaslawa Szymborska, Henryk Sienkiewicz), or other important novelists with Polish blood that migrated to other countries and were important in e.g. English or Spanish (Joseph Conrad, Elena Poniatowska)...
In Science, you already mentionen Curie... could I also mention the Cryptologist Marian Rejewski, or the Geologist Ignacy Domeyko...
(Given the amount of Polish migration to the USA, would not be difficult to find many examples as those... )
However, "pure Polish inventions that went to the World", I have to investigate more.
But we have to take into account that many of the famous Polish flowrished outside of Poland proper, precisely because a most haphazard existance of Poland, and the opresion they suffered along their History (and sometime the disapearing Poland from the map).
I will keep on looking, now that I know what are you searching in specific.
Regards.
Mzungu mchagga
01-03-11, 20:09
Can 'Solidarność' be counted as contribution to the world? It actually was the greatest Polish contribution in recent years!
Otherwise I would have also listed Copernicus, Curie and Chopin.
Well, I was in the process of preparing a list of famous Poles... like for example, Nobel laureates in literature (Wiaslawa Szymborska, Henryk Sienkiewicz), or other important novelists with Polish blood that migrated to other countries and were important in e.g. English or Spanish (Joseph Conrad, Elena Poniatowska)...
In Science, you already mentionen Curie... could I also mention the Cryptologist Marian Rejewski, or the Geologist Ignacy Domeyko...
There is no shortage of renowned Polish scientists or artists, as attested by the list on Wikipedia in link above. Whether they are famous outside Poland or Slavic countries is another matter. Interestingly, there is a sizeable number of Poles who achieved fame abroad, mostly in the USA and France. One of my favourite Poles in history is Bronisław Malinowski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronis%C5%82aw_Malinowski), father of modern anthropology, who incidentally lived and worked most of his adult life in Germany, England and the USA (apart from his fieldwork in Papua).
Perhaps it is because Poland was occupied by foreign powers (Russia, Germany, Sweden, Austria-Hungary) during most of its history that Poles did their best work abroad, and also consequently left Poland itself with less contributions that have influenced other countries (as Poles had to leave their own culture behind after emigrating).
Can 'Solidarność' be counted as contribution to the world? It actually was the greatest Polish contribution in recent years!
It may be important for Poland, but how does that help/influence/please people in other countries ?
Mzungu mchagga
01-03-11, 22:53
It may be important for Poland, but how does that help/influence/please people in other countries ?
It was the first and biggest uprising against a communist regime after many years. Please correct me if I'm wrong that it also had some influence on the thinking of Eastern Block head of states as well as other uprisings in Eastern Block countries for democracy and freedom. Which subsequently brought Glasnost and Perestroika. We might also still have the USSR and Cold War then. But ok, it might be this is a little far fetched...
You can hardly imagine a German market without a Polish sausage stand. Polish sausages, like Krakower, are very popular here. However I doubt that this also counts for other European countries.
I just googled for 'Polka', but even this wasn't invented in Poland, but in Czech Republic.
Written by Mzungu
You can hardly imagine a German market without a Polish sausage stand. Polish sausages, like Krakower, are very popular here. However I doubt that this also counts for other European countries.
The "Dönner" could also be counted in the same manner? :D
Written by Maciamo
One of my favourite Poles in history is Bronisław Malinowski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronis%C5%82aw_Malinowski), father of modern anthropology, who incidentally lived and worked most of his adult life in Germany, England and the USA (apart from his fieldwork in Papua).
Yes, I also like him. And his work inspired generations of anthropologists and psychologist (e.g. the work of Wilhelm Reich "Der Einbruch der sexuellen Zwangsmoral" is based strongly in his works).
Regards.
It was the first and biggest uprising against a communist regime after many years. Please correct me if I'm wrong that it also had some influence on the thinking of Eastern Block head of states as well as other uprisings in Eastern Block countries for democracy and freedom. Which subsequently brought Glasnost and Perestroika. We might also still have the USSR and Cold War then. But ok, it might be this is a little far fetched...
There were many other uprisings in other countries of the Communist Bloc. Basically every country that is not Russia today revolted against Soviet rule, even members of the USSR. I think that the Czech and Hungarians played the foremost role in the demise of the Warsaw Pact.
You can hardly imagine a German market without a Polish sausage stand. Polish sausages, like Krakower, are very popular here. However I doubt that this also counts for other European countries.
I just googled for 'Polka', but even this wasn't invented in Poland, but in Czech Republic.
It might be common in Berlin or East Germany, but I can't remember seeing Polish sausages in Rhineland (where I go once in a while, including markets). Like with Chopin and classical music, it isn't Poland who has influenced Germany but the other way round.
Mzungu mchagga
02-03-11, 11:30
There were many other uprisings in other countries of the Communist Bloc. Basically every country that is not Russia today revolted against Soviet rule, even members of the USSR. I think that the Czech and Hungarians played the foremost role in the demise of the Warsaw Pact.
The uprisings in Czech Republic and Hungary were much earlier. But the uprising in Poland was the ignition of an unrest in the early 80's that never really calmed down again and finally ended in the collapse of the USSR and German unification. But anyways this might seem a little far fetched.
It might be common in Berlin or East Germany, but I can't remember seeing Polish sausages in Rhineland (where I go once in a while, including markets). Like with Chopin and classical music, it isn't Poland who has influenced Germany but the other way round.
Not quite. I was born and grew up in a small town near Mainz (Mayence) at the Rhine. I remember every friday a big van came a long in our street that sold Polish sausages and people stood in queues infront of it. I have to admit, it was an area highly inhabited by descendands of Volga Germans, who actually still lived their Russian culture. The same van sold it's products at the weekly market and I could see the same at any other town markets with similiar Polish sausage vendors. When I moved to Berlin nothing changed in that respect. Difference in East Germany is that East European meals prepared out of East European products (like Soljanka, Borscht etc...) are by far more common and popular than in West Germany. But I'm getting off-topic now.
Rastko Pocesta
08-03-11, 17:07
It may be important for Poland, but how does that help/influence/please people in other countries ?
It influenced millions of people all across Europe to revolt against authoritarian regimes. I'm pretty sure Poles were the ones who inspired Germans to resist Honecker's tyranny.
Mzungu mchagga
22-03-11, 23:40
What about this invention by Polish born Julius Fromm:
tatatata:
the first seamless and mass-produced CONDOM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condom
Now that's what I really call a contribution to the world! :good_job:
Since I come from Poland and I do love my country, I'm happy with seeing such topic here :)
If you still want to catch some interesting facts about my country and its history - listen to two Sabaton songs:
1) "40:1" - about battle of Wizna in 1939 when 720 Polish soldiers stood against 42 000 Germans
2) "Uprising" - about Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
PS. It's quite clear that anti-soviet revolution in Europe began in Poland.
Hi Orchid, glad you want to contribute here, but I think you didn't get the topic right.
LeBrok, I chose the right topic and I know that I made some kind of offtopic in my previous message, but I hope you'll forgive ;) .
I just wanted to say that it's nice to know you remember about Poland's contributions to Europe.
Ignacy Łukasiewicz was the inventor of the kerosone lamp and the man behind the first Oil Rafinery in the world (located near Jasło, Galicia) effectively laying foundations for the world's oil industry.
Mzungu mchagga
28-09-11, 17:57
Full conclusion after years of conversation with other people: Polish is the hardest language in the world! Does this count as a contribution? lol
It would be interesting if someone could explain why some languages go toward simplicity like English, and some go into extreme complexity like Polish?
Cimmerianbloke
13-12-11, 03:45
It's all a matter of point of view. Polish cases make it complicated, but the lack of articles makes it easy to form basic phrases. Spelling seems complicated but the rules are straight, and therefore reading Polish is easier than reading English. Pronunciation is a bummer though...
As for English being simple, it is probably because you are fluent. English is very flexible, which is both a blessing and a curse (who hasn't read a phrase, knowing all the single words, and unable to make sense of it?), and the learning process can be challenging (opposition short/long vowels, sounds with several spellings, irregular verbs...).
As for the greatest Polish contribution to the world, I'd vote for Polish women, who are mind-blowingly beautiful.
Hehe, by the way, I start a one-year Polish course tomorrow evening. Wish me luck...
Cimmerianbloke
13-12-11, 03:53
For info, Mzungu, the languages that are famous among linguists for being difficult (in Europe) are Basque and Hungarian. I remember reading a story about God banning Lucifer to the Basques to learn their language...
No,no, Cimmerianbloke, the best polish contribution to the world is ME. Should I said "I"?
PS. I'm polish.
Mzungu mchagga
13-12-11, 10:39
For info, Mzungu, the languages that are famous among linguists for being difficult (in Europe) are Basque and Hungarian. I remember reading a story about God banning Lucifer to the Basques to learn their language...
Could be. But I wasn't this serious anyway, it was more meant as a joke ;-)
Have fun at the course! :smile:
Cimmerianbloke
14-12-11, 04:33
Polish king Jan III Sobieski rescued Viena during the 1683 siege of the Ottomans and therefore, if you believe most historians, saved Christian Europe from an Ottoman conquest. This is surely something that might be on the list.
Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was the first parliamentary monarchy in Europe, most likely in the world too, from 1569. Kings were elected, acting more like presidents than sovereign rulers.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth), formed after the Union of Lublin (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Union_of_Lublin) in 1569 and lasting until the final partition of the state in 1795, operated much like many modern European constitutional monarchies (into which it was officially changed by the establishment of the Constitution of May 3, 1791 (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Constitution_of_May_3,_1791), which historian Norman Davies (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Norman_Davies) calls "the first constitution of its kind in Europe"[10] (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/#cite_note-9)). The legislators of the unified state truly did not see it as a monarchy at all, but as a republic under the presidency of the King. Poland-Lithuania also followed the principle of "Rex regnat et non gubernat", had a bicameral parliament, and a collection of entrenched legal documents amounting to a constitution along the lines of the modern United Kingdom (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/United_Kingdom). The King was elected, and had the duty of maintaining the people's rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_monarchy
The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the "Golden Liberty (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Golden_Liberty)" (Polish (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Polish_language): Złota Wolność, a term used from 1573 on), included:
election (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Royal_elections_in_Poland) of the king by all nobles wishing to participate, known as wolna elekcja (free election);;
Sejm (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Sejm), the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
Pacta conventa (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Pacta_conventa) (Latin (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Latin)), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier Henrician Articles (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Henrician_Articles).
religious freedom (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Religious_toleration) guaranted by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573 (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Warsaw_Confederation),[14] (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/#cite_note-Norman_Davies_1795-13)
rokosz (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Rokosz) (insurrection (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Insurrection)), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
liberum veto (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Liberum_veto) (Latin), the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Liberum_veto) in provincial sejmiks (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Sejmik);
konfederacja (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Konfederacja) (from the Latin confederatio (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Confederatio)), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Lithuanian_Commonwealth
religious freedom (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Religious_toleration) guaranteed by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573 (http://www.eupedia.com/wiki/Warsaw_Confederation),[ (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/#cite_note-Norman_Davies_1795-13)
Is this the first, guaranteed by law, freedom of religion act in the world?
(1) Kopernik (Copernicus) without any doubt.
(2) Poland had a sort of nobility-limited democracy in 15 th - 18 th centuries, and they experimented much on social and political issues in the country. These experiments mostly failed in result, but eventually they deeply influenced political thoughts and doctrines of Europe, contributing much indirectly to modern European and American democracy.
(3) Chopin as an artist and composer. Really his achievments were based among others on the cultural achievments of Polish nobility of his time.
(4) Also Polish scientist Jan Lukasiewicz, who is known as the inventor of the reverse Polish notation, in early 20th century contributed to contemporary logics and, indirectly, computer science.
(5) Ludwik Zamenhof, who was a Polish Jew, was the author of the most known constructed language Esperanto.
(2a) Yet Poles often claim the idea of religios tolerance as their achievment, but in fact the tolerance had been born in multi-reliogious society of then Lithuania (approx. modern Lithuania and Belarus), while original Poland was predominantly Catholic and not more tolerant than Germany at that time.
(1) Kopernik (Copernicus) without any doubt.
(2) Poland had a sort of nobility-limited democracy in 15 th - 18 th centuries, and they experimented much on social and political issues in the country. These experiments mostly failed in result, but eventually they deeply influenced political thoughts and doctrines of Europe, contributing much indirectly to modern European and American democracy.
(3) Chopin as an artist and composer. Really his achievments were based among others on the cultural achievments of Polish nobility of his time.
(4) Also Polish scientist Jan Lukasiewicz, who is known as the inventor of the reverse Polish notation, in early 20th century contributed to contemporary logics and, indirectly, computer science.
(5) Ludwik Zamenhof, who was a Polish Jew, was the author of the most known constructed language Esperanto.
(2a) Yet Poles often claim the idea of religios tolerance as their achievment, but in fact the tolerance had been born in multi-reliogious society of then Lithuania (approx. modern Lithuania and Belarus), while original Poland was predominantly Catholic and not more tolerant than Germany at that time.
Apart from number 2, these are all great individuals, not contributions to the world. You should mention them in the appropriate thread Who were the greatest Poles in history ? (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?27190)
Number 2 (nobility-limited democracy) is a kind of oligarchy and I don't see how it is a contribution to the outside world anyway.
Apart from number 2, these are all great individuals, not contributions to the world. You should mention them in the appropriate thread
You're probably right separating the greatest persons from the national contribution to the world history, but a great person maybe great not only for his or her worldwide contribution, but also for his national contribution or even because of his extraordinar personal features without any contribution to the history. I was aware of every person you have included among the graetest (see the new thread), but i don't think, that king Sobieski, for instance, and some others contributed much to the worldwide development. The people, whom i have listed, except, perhaps, Chopin, had some connection with the history of Poland, and they can be mentioned in this discussion, i think.
Well, i agree, we may need something less personal and more nationalwide to refer in this discussion, but if we haven't, it's not so bad to write what we have. Now it's up yo us, how we'll conclude about this and how these personal contributions must be evaluated in the context of national contribution.
Number 2 (nobility-limited democracy) is a kind of oligarchy and I don't see how it is a contribution to the outside world anyway.
The modern democracy wasn't invented in a day, and any historical attempts to create something alike, especially if they were documented, contributed to its invention. The Polish experience, not so their political system itsef, but rather their attempts to better it and their experimentation on that, is one of the best known examples of such an attempt. The fact, that the Polish experience was more negative and that their attempts eventually failed, doesn't diminish the imput. Many european political scientists of the 18 century had written about this Polish imput, and it's not something absolutely new or unknown. The Polish system wasn't typical oligarchy. They considered it to be a sort of democracy the way, like nationals of Western countries look at their political system nowadays.
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