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125-832: In the interwar period , the village was situated in Poland , in the Wilno Voivodeship , in the Wilno-Troki County , in the Turgiele Commune. After the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the village became part of the BSSR . In the years 1941-1944 it was under German occupation. On January 8, 1944, in Mikulishki, soldiers of the 3rd and 6th Vilnius Brigade of the Home Army replied the attack of

250-779: A Paderewski Week, with over 6000 concerts in his honour. The 80-year-old artist also restarted his Polish Relief Fund and gave several concerts to gather money for it. However, his mind was not what it had once been and, scheduled again to play Madison Square Garden, he refused to appear, insisting that he had already played the concert, presumably remembering his performance there in the 1920s. Paderewski fell ill on tour on 27 June 1941. Sylwin Strakacz bypassed his secretary and other tour personnel to summon physicians, who diagnosed pneumonia . Despite signs of improving health and recovery, Paderewski died in New York at 11:00 p.m., 29 June, aged 80. He

375-572: A bloc of neutral nations in Eastern Europe collapsed after 1933 with the advent of Hitler's expansionism and the obvious warning of France's desire to resist Germany's expansion. Piłsudski retained the French connection but had progressively less faith in its usefulness. Hitler's long-term goals included annexing Polish territories and subordinating the remaining parts of Poland, an idea that he revealed to his closest circle already in 1933 Poland's solution

500-525: A bronze sculpture in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa near Doylestown, Pennsylvania . In early 1941, the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes commissioned 17 prominent composers to contribute a solo piano piece each for an album to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Paderewski's American debut in 1891. It became a posthumous tribute to Paderewski's entire life and work, Homage to Paderewski (1942). As well, Helena Paderewska had prepared

625-644: A capitulation of the Polish public because of the industrialization projects such as Central Industrial Region (Poland) , nearly finished by early 1939, and the projects that were to follow it. After the death of Piłsudski in May 1935, policies in Poland were set by five senior officials, including President Ignacy Mościcki ; Vice-President Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski ; the Premier, Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski ; and Marshal Edward Smigly-Rydz ,

750-507: A coalition of members of the opposition met in the mansion and was nicknamed the Front Morges after the village. By 1936, Paderewski agreed to appear in a film that showcased his talent and art. Although the proposal had come while the mourning Paderewski avoided public appearances, the film project went ahead. It became notable, primarily, for its rare footage of his piano performance. The exiled German-born director, Lothar Mendes , directed

875-560: A compromise peace treaty at Riga in early 1921 that divided the disputed territories of Belarus and Ukraine between the two combatants. These acquisitions were recognized by the international agreement with the Entente . The treaty gave Poland an eastern border well beyond what the peacemakers in Paris had envisioned and added 4,000,000 Ukrainians, 2,000,000 Jews, and 1,000,000 Belarusians to Poland's minority population. In Soviet historiography ,

1000-686: A democratic, Polish-led federation of independent states — while Roman Dmowski leader of the Endecja movement represented by the National Democratic Party, set his mind on a more compact Poland composed of ethnic Polish or ' polonizable' territories. To the southwest, Poland and Czechoslovakia contested boundary disputes (see: Trans-Olza ). More ominously, an embittered Germany begrudged any territorial loss to its new eastern neighbor. The December 27, 1918 Great Poland Uprising liberated Greater Poland . The 1919 Treaty of Versailles settled

1125-450: A dizzying turnover of cabinets caused confusion and distrust. At a deeper level there was profound disagreement about inclusiveness in the new state. Roman Dmowski envisioned an ethnically-homogeneous Polish nation, and a pro-Western, anti-German path to modernization; he also espoused strong anti-Semitic attitudes, and emphasized that Poland should be a Catholic and hierarchical state. Piłsudski, however, rooted his ideal in notions about

1250-589: A donation of his personal possessions after his death in June 1941. Both Ignacy Paderewski and his sister, Antonina Paderewska Wilkonska were enthusiastic supporters and generous sponsors of the Museum. Antonina, executor of Ignacy's will, decided to donate the personal possessions to the Museum, as well as artifacts from his apartment in New York. The space was officially opened on 3 November 1941. Another museum in his honour exists at Morges, Switzerland, although Paderewski's mansion

1375-880: A famous philosophical example in his article "A Puzzle about Belief." Paderewski was so famous that in the 1953 motion picture The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. , written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss , piano teacher Terwilliker tells his pupils that he will "make a Paderewski" out of them. Two music festivals honouring Paderewski are held in the United States, both in November. The first has been organised each year since 1993, in Paso Robles, California . The second has been held since 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina . The facade of White Eagle Hall , in Jersey City, New Jersey,

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1500-422: A farm manager combined with socialist, "single-tax," and Slavic communal ideas shaped his worldview. He proposed a form of agrarian socialism with large state farms to counteract the inefficiency of very smallholdings. In independent Poland, he advocated expropriation of gentry estates. His observation of peasant individualism convinced him that Poland should combine voluntary collectivism and individual possession of

1625-840: A foundation for young American musicians and the students of Stanford University (1896), another at the Parisian Conservatory (1909), yet another scholarship fund at the Ecole Normale (1924), funded students of the Moscow Conservatory and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1899), as well as spas in the Alps (1928), for the British Legion . During the Great Depression , Paderewski supported unemployed musicians in

1750-522: A larger Polish state; one optimal plan, dating back to the Paris Peace Conference, included the incorporation of East Prussia and the German city of Königsberg being placed in a customs union with Poland. At the same time, the exact boundaries of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were not desired, though mentioned as an opening gambit by Roman Dmowski . Much of this land had been controlled by

1875-526: A member of any of the many Polish political factions became one of his greatest assets and so he rose above the quarrels, and he could legitimately appeal to higher ideals of unity, sacrifice, charity, and work for common goals. In World War I , Paderewski became an active member of the Polish National Committee in Paris, which was soon accepted by the Triple Entente as the representative of

2000-628: A memoir of her husband's political activities between 1910 and 1920, the typescript of which was not published in either of their lifetimes but was discovered in 2015 by an archivist at the Hoover Institution and published. Paderewski is credited as the chief editor of the edition of Chopin's complete works published by the Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, but he died before the work began. The Polish Museum of America in Chicago received

2125-404: A monarchy, and although the great Polish noble families continued to have their names mentioned in newspapers, it was mostly in the society pages. The chief parties were the left-wing Polish Peasant Party (PSL) and on the right National Democracy party (ND) led by Dmowski. The new, inexperienced government faced serious problems; already there was rampant corruption among government officials;

2250-522: A national saviour who was above partisan politics and gained more popular support by distancing himself from the Polish Socialist Party . In 1935 a new Polish Constitution was adopted, but Piłsudski soon died and his protégé successors drifted toward open authoritarianism . Opposition voices were increasingly harassed or jailed, a situation that was not surprising in view of the government's growing fears over national security. In many respects,

2375-441: A plebiscite to determine the ownership of the " Polish corridor ". Only those living in the corridor prior to 1918 would be allowed to vote. The proposal called for a subsequent population exchange that would move all Germans, then in Poland, out of the final region declared to be "Poland". The same would occur for all Poles living in what was declared, after the vote, to be "Germany". Danzig was to become part of Germany regardless of

2500-497: A preemptive military strike to overthrow Hitler in 1933. Most historians do not believe this happened, pointing out that Piłsudski's war plans were focused on Russia and he made no preparations for any sort of war with Germany. Furthermore, no one in France reported any such inquiry from Poland. Piłsudski made demands regarding Danzig that Hitler immediately approved; relations between Poland and Nazi Germany became friendly and they signed

2625-488: A result of the shortage of jobs and of the economic situation, rather than rabid racism as was in Nazi Germany Seven out of ten of the people worked on farms as peasants. Polish agriculture suffered from the usual handicaps of Eastern European nations: technological backwardness, low productivity, and lack of capital and access to markets. The former German areas in the west had better rainfall and soil quality and were

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2750-598: A teaching appointment at the conservatory in Strasbourg which Leschetizky arranged. In 1887, he made his concert debut in Vienna , soon gaining great popularity, and had popular successes in Paris in 1889 and in London in 1890. Audiences responded to his brilliant playing with almost extravagant displays of admiration, and Paderewski also gained access to the halls of power. In 1891, he repeated his triumphs on an American tour. He toured

2875-437: A tremendous success and Paderewski soon moved to Vienna , where he studied with Theodor Leschetizky (Teodor Leszetycki). On 31 May 1899, he married his second wife, Helena Paderewska (née von Rosen, 1856–1934), shortly after she received an annulment of a prior marriage. While she had previously cared for his son Alfred (1880–1901), they had no children together. Paderewski dedicated three more years to diligent study, and

3000-522: A trust fund to encourage American-born composers. The fund underwrote a triennial the Paderewski Prize competition that began in 1901. Paderewski also launched a similar contest in Leipzig in 1898. He was so popular internationally that the music hall duo " The Two Bobs " had a hit song in 1916 in music halls across Britain with the song "When Paderewski Plays". He was a favorite of concert audiences around

3125-586: A war with the USSR looming and refused to support the policy. As the Great Depression worsened in the 1930s, antisemitism began to rise even though Poland was home to over three million Jews (10 percent of Poland's population), the largest Jewish population in Europe at the time. The impoverished Jewish families relied on their own local charities, which by 1929 had reached unprecedented proportions, providing services such as religion, education, health and other services to

3250-670: Is adorned with busts of Polish heroes Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Casimir Pulaski , Tadeusz Kościuszko and Henryk Sienkiewicz . The Academy of Music in Poznań is named after Paderewski, and many major cities in Poland have streets and schools named after him. Streets are also named after him in Perth Amboy, New Jersey , and Buffalo, New York . Since 1960, Paderewski has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. On 8 October 1960,

3375-692: The German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact in January 1934. At the same time, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia were allied in the Little Entente with French support. Polish membership there could have provided additional security; however, relations with Prague were unfriendly due to border disputes, so they never reached an agreement. France was an ally of both Poland and Czechoslovakia and tried repeatedly to get them to resolve their border disputes and become allies, and also collaborate with

3500-501: The Irving Berlin song, " I Love a Piano ", recorded in 1916 by Billy Murray , the narrator says: "And with the pedal, I love to meddle/When Paderewski comes this way./I'm so delighted, when I'm invited/To hear that long-haired genius play." Charlie Chaplin wrote: Paderewski had great charm, but there was something bourgeois about him, an over-emphasis of dignity. He was impressive with his long hair, severe, slanting moustache and

3625-449: The Minuet in G major , Op. 14 No. 1, written in the style of Mozart, became one of the most recognized piano tunes of all time. Despite his relentless touring schedule and his political and charitable engagements, Paderewski left a legacy of over 70 orchestral, instrumental, and vocal works. All of his works evoke a romantic image of Poland. They incorporate references to Polish dances, such as

3750-589: The Munich Agreement , with British and French approval, allowed Germany to take over areas of Czechoslovakia with a significant German minority, the so-called Sudetenland . Poland had long been hostile to Czechoslovakia and now sided with Germany. Poland demanded that Czechoslovakia give up the Teschen , where Poles made about 70% of inhabitants, or otherwise Poland threatened to take it by force. Faced with an ultimatum from both Poland and Germany, Czechoslovakia gave up

3875-703: The NKVD in February 1945. The accommodation of the Home Army soldiers was built thanks to the efforts of the former Home Army communities of the 3rd and 6th Home Army Brigade. Construction costs were co -financed by the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites . The quarters were opened and dedicated in June 1992. For a long time, Józef Pietkiewicz, a resident of the village of Mikulishki, looked after cemetery. The cemetery

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4000-512: The Polish armed forces in France , and pressed elbows with all the dignitaries and influential men whose salons he could enter. He spoke to Americans directly in public speeches and on the radio, appealing to them to remember the fate of his nation. He kept such a demanding schedule of public appearances, fundraisers and meetings that he stopped musical touring altogether for a few years, instead dedicating himself to diplomatic activity. In January 1917, on

4125-640: The Red Army . Poland was driven out of Ukraine and back into the Polish heartland. Most observers at the time marked Poland for extinction and Bolshevization, However at the Battle of Warsaw Piłsudski organized a stunning counterattack that won a famous victory. This "Miracle on the Vistula" became an iconic victory in Polish memory. Piłsudski resumed the offensive, pushing the Red forces east. Eventually, both sides, exhausted, signed

4250-538: The Spa Conference , when Poland was threatened by the Polish–Soviet War , but Piłsudski's success at the Battle of Warsaw later that year rendered those negotiations redundant, and put to an end Paderewski's hopes of regaining office. In 1922, Paderewski retired from politics and returned to his musical life. His first concert after a long break, held at Carnegie Hall , was a significant success. He also filled

4375-535: The polonaise , krakowiak , and mazurka , and highlander music (Tatra album [Album tatrzańskie], op. 12, Polish Dances [Tańce polskie], op. 5). Paderewski's love of his country is reflected in the titles of his compositions, including Polish Fantasy [Fantazja polska], op. 19 and Symphony in B minor "Polonia", which includes a quote from Dąbrowski's Mazurka [Mazurek Dąbrowskiego]), themes (Manru), and musical settings of quotes from Polish poets (e.g., Asnyk and Mickiewicz). In 1896, Paderewski donated US$ 10,000 to establish

4500-596: The 1930s and a 'fifth column' when Poland was attacked in September 1939." Relations with the much larger Ukrainian minority, who formed 15% or so of the national population and were in the majority in several eastern provinces, were even more strained. The Ukrainians were poor peasants who resented their Polish landlords and the government's policy of polonizing them. The schools after 1924 were bilingual (students had to learn Polish), and government offices were not allowed to use Ukrainian. Some Ukrainians tried to sabotage, and

4625-432: The 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden , and toured the United States in a private railway car. In 1897, Paderewski had bought the manor house of the former Duchess of Otrante near Morges , Switzerland , where he rested between concert tours. After Piłsudski's coup d'état in 1926, Paderewski became an active member of the opposition to Sanacja rule. In 1936, two years after his second wife's death at their Swiss home,

4750-620: The Allies in Paris by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski . U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made the independence of Poland a war goal in his Fourteen Points , and this goal was endorsed by the Allies in spring 1918. As part of the Armistice terms imposed on Germany, all German forces had to stand down in Poland and other occupied areas. So as the war ended, the Germans sent Piłsudski, then under arrest, back to Warsaw. On November 11, 1918, he took control of

4875-703: The Commander-in-Chief of the army. Foreign policy was the exclusive domain of the Foreign Minister, Colonel Józef Beck . Elections were held but there was no democracy and the Sejm was merely a rubber stamp. Watt notes that these men had emerged victorious from their struggles for independence and had never known conquest. "Courage, flair, heroism, devouring ambition, all these they had in abundance; realism and worst-case analysis, let alone defeatism or appeasement, were alien to them entirely." Poland's dream of leading

5000-736: The German gendarmerie and the Lithuanian and Belarusian police. From 1944, the village was again in the BSSR. From 1991 in the Republic of Belarus. On the southern edge of the village, in the forest, on the dunes at the edge of the backwaters of the Merkys River there is a cemetery, where, according to tradition, January insurgents were buried. Insurgents from the board of Bolesław Narbutt, the younger brother of Ludwik , who died on June 21, 1863, in nearby Rudniki were buried here. In 22 graves of those killed in

5125-520: The German-Polish borders in the Baltic region . The port city of Danzig ( Polish : Gdańsk ), with a majority German population and Polish minority was declared a free city independent of Germany , and became a bone of contention for decades. Allied arbitration divided the ethnically mixed and highly coveted industrial and mining district of Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland, with Poland receiving

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5250-636: The Jews from all spheres of social, economic, and cultural life in Poland". The government in response organized the Camp of National Unity (OZON); OZON advocated mass emigration of Jews from Poland, boycott of Jews, numerus clausus (see also Ghetto benches ), and other limitation on Jewish rights. At the same time the Polish government supported the Zionist Irgun , training its members in Tatra Mountains and in 1937

5375-629: The Met, a private royal viewing of Manru was staged in Dresden, and it was staged in Prague, Cologne, Zürich, Warsaw, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Moscow, and Kiev. In 1904, Paderewski, accompanied by his second wife, entourage, parrot, and Érard piano, gave concerts in Australia and New Zealand, in collaboration with Polish-French composer Henri Kowalski . Paderewski toured tirelessly around

5500-471: The Polish armed forces and the fear of the Polish military might be shown by Lithuania's acceptance of the 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania ; Poland's military strength made the Polish government's propaganda believable to the public. The Polish government had no choice, but to claim that an attack either by the Germans or by the Soviets would have been successfully repelled. The Polish government could not afford

5625-526: The Polish authorities began to deliver large amounts of weapons to the Jewish underground in Palestine, capable of arming up to 10,000 men. On international arena Poland supported the creation of Jewish state in Palestine hoping gradual emigration over next 30 years will lower Jewish population in Poland to 500,000 and cooperated with the leader of Revisionist Zionism , Ze'ev Jabotinsky who hoped Poland would inherit

5750-402: The Polish military can easily be ranked in the top 10 strongest national militaries as of 1939; not because the Polish military was so great, but because other national military forces were so weak and backward. Zaloga and Madej point out, in "The Polish Campaign 1939" that Poland had one of the largest tank forces on Earth, as of 1939 bigger than the tank force of the US. The relative strength of

5875-420: The Polish population had become Hitler's main objective. He wanted the agricultural land to resettle German farmers. Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski ( Polish: [iɡˈnatsɨ ˈjan padɛˈrɛfskʲi] ; 18 November [ O.S. 6 November] 1860 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he

6000-433: The Polish-Soviet War was also referred to as a "war against White Poles", with the epithet belopoliaki ("White Poles" ) smearing the Poles as " counter-revolutionaries " akin to the White Russians . In 1922, in the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War and Polish-Lithuanian War , Poland officially annexed Central Lithuania following a plebiscite , which was never recognized by Lithuania. The Riga arrangement influenced

6125-448: The Russian Empire since the Partitions of Poland and its inhabitants were struggling to create their own states (such as Ukraine , Belarus , and the Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The Polish leadership did not aim to restore the nation to its 17th-century boundaries. Opinions varied among Polish politicians as to how much of the territory a new, Polish-led state should contain and what form it should take. Józef Piłsudski advocated

6250-497: The Second Republic fell short of the high expectations of 1918. As happened elsewhere in Central Europe , with the exception of Czechoslovakia , the attempt to implant democracy did not succeed. Governments polarized between right- and left-wing factions, neither of which was prepared to honor the actions taken by the other. Serious difficulties arose in dealing with foreign assets and internal minorities. The government nationalized foreign-owned assets and operated them because there

6375-642: The Soviet Union and Germany that would unite to fend them off. However, Poland ran into so many disputes with its smaller neighbors that it was never able to build a bloc. At first, France favored Poland, because France wanted an ally against Germany; if Germany faced a two-front war, it would be less likely to attack France. France was especially helpful at the 1919 Paris conference and in the 1920s when it resisted British efforts to weaken Poland. After 1935, however, France distrusted Beck and lost interest in Eastern Europe and Poland stood increasingly alone. In 1925 , Berlin formally recognized its post-1918 boundaries in

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6500-491: The Soviet Union. There was no success, not just because of the border issues but also because Prague's willingness to work with Moscow clashed with the firm resolve of Warsaw to keep its distance from Moscow. Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš warned that military or even strong political ties with Poland could prove dangerous for Czechoslovakia and rebuffed Beck's proposal to establish anti-German cooperation. The failure to establish any alliances in Eastern Europe meant

6625-611: The United States (1932) and the unemployed in Switzerland in 1937. He publicly supported an insurance fund for musicians in London (1933) and aided Jewish intellectuals in Paris (1933). He also supported orphanages and the Maternity Centre in New York. The many Paderewski-sponsored concert halls and monuments included Debussy (1931) and Édouard Colonne (1923) monuments in Paris, Liszt Monument in Weimar, Beethoven Monument in Bonn, Chopin Monument in Żelazowa Wola (the composer's birthplace), Kosciuszko Monument in Chicago, and Washington Arch in New York. In 1913, Paderewski settled in

6750-434: The United States, where he met President Woodrow Wilson , who came to support the creation of an independent Poland. Wilson included that aim in his Fourteen Points and argued for it at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference , which drew up the Treaty of Versailles. Shortly after his resignation from office, Paderewski resumed his concert career to recoup his finances, and rarely visited the politically chaotic Poland thereafter,

6875-440: The United States. On the eve of World War I and at the height of his fame, Paderewski bought a 2,000-acre (810-ha) property, Rancho San Ignacio, near Paso Robles , in San Luis Obispo County , in California's Central Coast region. A decade later, he planted Zinfandel vines on the Californian property. When the vines matured, the grapes were processed into wine at the nearby York Mountain Winery , which was, as it still is, one of

7000-495: The adoption of a constitution that designed Poland as a republic modeled after the French Third Republic , vesting most authority in the legislature, the Sejm. This was mainly to prevent Piłsudski from establishing himself as a dictator. A multitude of political parties emerged, of which there were four major and dozens of minor ones. All had very different ideologies and voter bases, and could scarcely agree on any major issue. There had been no serious consideration of re-establishing

7125-445: The age of 12, in 1872, he went to Warsaw and was admitted to the Warsaw Conservatory . Upon graduating in 1878, he became a piano tutor at his alma mater . In 1880, Paderewski married a fellow student at the conservatory, Antonina Korsakówna. The next year, their son Alfred was born severely handicapped. Antonina never recovered from childbirth and died several weeks later. Paderewski decided to devote himself to music and left his son in

7250-405: The area, which was annexed by Poland on October 2, 1938. In early 1939, Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia , which, in March 1939, then ceased to exist. Germany had demanded that Poland join the Anti-Comintern Pact as a satellite state of Germany. Germany demanded an extraterritorial highway connecting Germany proper with Danzig and then East Prussia , which would cut off Poland from

7375-467: The battle on January 8, 1944, one soldier of the 3rd AK Brigade who fallen on March 17, 1944, in Czarny Bór, one soldier killed in March 1944 in Murzyny, soldiers of the 3rd AK Brigade Fallen on May 13, 1944, in the battle of Murowana Oszmianka and in June 1944 in the ambush near the road near Jašiūnai , as well as two soldiers of the 6th AK brigade fallen on July 9, 1944, in Kamionka . Aleksander Stankiewicz from Mikulishki and Antoni Piotkowicz murdered by

7500-522: The best-known wineries between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1910, Paderewski funded the Grunwald Monument in Kraków to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald . The monument's unveiling led to great patriotic demonstrations. In speaking to the gathered throng, Paderewski proved as adept at capturing their hearts and minds for the political cause as he was with his music. His passionate delivery needed no recourse to notes. Paderewski's status as an artist and philanthropist and not as

7625-408: The borders of the region for the next two decades. The Polish-Soviet war , began in 1919, was the most important of the regional wars. Piłsudski first carried out a major military thrust into Ukraine in 1920 and in May Polish-Ukrainian forces reached Kiev. Just a few weeks later, however, the Polish offensive was met with a Soviet counter-offensive, and Polish forces were forced into a retreat by

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7750-401: The care of friends and, in 1881, he went to Berlin to study music composition with Friedrich Kiel and Heinrich Urban . In 1884, a chance meeting with a famous Polish actress, Helena Modjeska , began his career as a virtuoso pianist. Modrzejewska arranged for a public concert and joint appearance in Kraków's Hotel Saski to raise funds for Paderewski's further piano study. The scheme was

7875-418: The constitution was adopted, Piłsudski resigned from office, unhappy with the limited role of the executive branch. But he continued to keep a close eye on political developments. The ineffectiveness of the Sejm led some of his inner circle to suggest that he launch a military coup and regain power; he said no. By 1926 he was persuaded and launched the coup of May 1926, which succeeded with little violence. For

8000-404: The country more than 30 times for the next five decades and it would become his second home. His stage presence, striking looks, and immense charisma contributed to his stage success, which later proved important in his political and charitable activities. His name became synonymous with the highest level of piano virtuosity. Not everyone was equally impressed, however. After hearing Paderewski for

8125-408: The districts were gerrymandered to minimize minority representation. The BMN helped elect Gabriel Narutowicz as president on the PSL ticket in 1922, but he came under nasty attacks from the right and was assassinated after five days in office. The BMN coalition declined in significance and shut down in 1930 as the different groups cut their own deals with the government on isolated issues. After

8250-420: The ethnic issue in interwar Poland and summarizes the consensus of historians, he writes: Stachura himself thinks that historians have been too harsh in their negative judgment. He notes that Poland had to contend with "an obstreperous and fundamentally disloyal German minority" that was incited by "fanatical" German nationalists next door. Poles talked of forced assimilation and seizure of industrial assets, but

8375-471: The eve of the American entry into the war , US President Woodrow Wilson's main advisor, Colonel House , turned to Paderewski to prepare a memorandum on the Polish situation. Two weeks later, Wilson spoke before Congress and issued a challenge to the status quo: "I take it for granted that statesmen everywhere are agreed that there should be a united, independent, autonomous Poland." The establishment of "New Poland" became one of Wilson's famous Fourteen Points ,

8500-462: The expense of the country's ethnic minorities who felt alienated by the process. Reborn Poland faced a host of daunting challenges: extensive war damage, a ravaged economy, a population one-third composed of wary national minorities , an economy largely under the control of German industrial interests, and a need to reintegrate the three zones that had been forcibly kept apart during the era of partition. Poland's formal political life began in 1921 with

8625-509: The fate of the entire region for the years to come. Ukrainians and Belarusians found themselves without a country or province of their own, and some Polish speakers also found themselves within the borders of the Soviet Union . The latter experienced forced collectivistion , state terror, suppression of religion, purges , labor camps and famine. The newly formed Second Polish Republic , one-third of whose citizens were non-ethnic Poles, engaged in promoting Polish identity, culture and language at

8750-428: The feature, which was released in Britain in 1937 as Moonlight Sonata , and was re-titled The Charmer when re-released in the US in 1943. In November 1937, Paderewski agreed to take on one last piano student. The musician was Witold Małcużyński , who had won third place at the International Chopin Piano Competition . After the invasion of Poland in 1939, Paderewski returned to public life. In 1940, he became

8875-445: The first prime minister (in November 1918) and Dmowski headed the largest party. From its inception, the Republic fought a series of wars to secure its boundaries. The nation was rural and poor; the richest areas were in the former German areas in the west. Industrialization came very slowly, and was promoted in the mid-1930s with the development of the Central Industrial District . Most Polish leaders of that period wanted to create

9000-455: The first time, when Paderewski was exhausted from his American tour, Moriz Rosenthal quipped, "Yes, he plays well, I suppose, but he's no Paderewski." Paderewski kept up a furious pace of touring and composition, including many of his own piano works in his concerts. He also wrote an opera, Manru , which had its official premiere in Lviv in 1901. A "lyric drama", Manru is an ambitious work that

9125-740: The forces trying to create the state of Poland. Paderewski became the committee's spokesman, and soon, he and his wife also formed other organizations, including the Polish Relief Fund in London, and the White Cross Society in the United States. Paderewski met the English composer Edward Elgar , who used a theme from Paderewski's Fantasie Polonaise in his work Polonia , written for the Polish Relief Fund concert in London on 6 July 1916 (the title certainly recognises Paderewski's Symphony in B minor). Paderewski urged fellow Polish immigrants to join

9250-498: The full fee for his performance. Thomas F. Schwartz, Director of the Hoover Presidential Library , concludes: There seems to be enough doubt by both Hoover and Paderewski to lend credence to the story in their respective memoirs other than to acknowledge that their first meeting may have been in 1896. His unusual combination of being a world-class pianist and successful politician led to Saul Kripke using Paderewski as

9375-466: The globe and women, especially, admired his performances. By the turn of the century, Paderewski was an extremely wealthy man, generously donating to numerous causes and charities, and sponsoring monuments, among them the Washington Arch in New York, in 1892. Paderewski shared his fortune generously with fellow countrymen, as well as with citizens and foundations from around the world. He established

9500-508: The government cracked down with mass arrests; it tolerated the Polish arson of Ukrainian community centers. Orthodox churches were closed, especially in Volhynia province. Some men went underground and tried to assassinate Ukrainians who collaborated with the government, as well as top Polish officials. A compromise was reached in 1935 that somewhat quieted the situation, but the Polish Army saw

9625-495: The governments before 1926 were too weak to carry them out. After 1926 Piłsudski had no interest in so doing. The Germans in Poland had above-average incomes, had a full panoply of civic organizations and German-language schools, and were represented in the Sejm. A stalemate resulted. Their status became a major threat after Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, because "the overwhelming majority of these Germans became ardent Nazis in

9750-518: The head of the National Council of Poland , a Polish sejm (parliament) in exile in London. He again turned to America for help and his broadcast was carried by over 100 radio stations in the United States and Canada. He advocated in person for aid to Europe and the defeat of Nazism. In 1941, Paderewski witnessed a touching tribute to his artistry and humanitarianism as US cities celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first American tour by putting on

9875-573: The head of the Polish National Committee, who was strongly anti-Semitic. At the end of the war, with the fate of the city of Poznań and the whole region of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) still undecided, Paderewski visited Poznań. Following his public speech there on 27 December 1918, the Polish inhabitants of the city began the Greater Poland uprising against Germany. In 1919, in the newly independent Poland, Józef Piłsudski , who

10000-565: The invading Soviets, including one where the Soviet infantry was charging the Polish positions marching shoulder to shoulder, making them into an extremely easy target to the machine guns, and some of the Soviet POW's switched sides to the Polish. Poles broke the early diplomatic version of Enigma cipher and transferred the results to France and the United Kingdom. In spite of its shortcomings,

10125-683: The last time being in 1924. Paderewski was born to Polish parents in the village of Kurilovka, in the Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire . The village is now part of the Khmilnyk raion of Vinnytsia Oblast in Ukraine. His father, Jan Paderewski, administered large estates. His mother, Poliksena, née Nowicka, died several months after Paderewski was born, and he was raised mostly by distant relatives. From his early childhood, Paderewski

10250-505: The leased land. His pragmatism left the room even for private peasant ownership, despite his Marxism. Foreign minister Józef Beck was in full charge of foreign policy by 1935 but he had a weak hand. Poland with 35 million people had a large population but a thin industrial base; its war plans focused on the Soviet Union instead of Germany. Poland had long borders with two more powerful dictatorships, Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR. Poland

10375-410: The mandate of Palestine from Great Britain ; his "Evacuation Plan" called for the settlement of 1.5 million Jews within 10 years in Palestine, including 750,000 Polish Jews This idea was warmly received by the Polish government which pursued a policy of mass emigration towards its Jewish population and was looking for locations for them to resettle; Jabotinsky on his part viewed antisemitism in Poland as

10500-469: The medical and legal professions, Jews in business associations, etc. While in 1921-22 25% of students were Jews, by 1938-9 the proportion went down to 8%. The far-right National Democracy (Endeks) organized anti-Jewish boycotts. Following the death of Poland's ruler Józef Piłsudski in 1935, the Endeks intensified their efforts. In 1937 the Endeks passed resolutions that "its main aim and duty must be to remove

10625-490: The mobilization, under the pressure from France and Great Britain, and restarting the mobilization less than a week later created confusion. Moreover, not only did the German military and civilian volunteers commit war crimes against the ethnic Poles and Polish Jews, they spread rumors of massive ethnic cleansing which led thousands of people to flee the German advance and made military maneuver difficult. Poland did have PZL ,

10750-444: The most productive, while the former Russian and Austrian areas were below-average. The Polish peasantry believed that it would be so much better if they owned their land and did not pay rents to a landowner. They endorsed agrarianism and called for land redistribution away from large estates to peasants. This was done and also many very small farms were consolidated into viable units. Land reforms were undertaken along ethnic lines. In

10875-450: The multi-ethnic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In practice that meant ignoring the minority vote at home and seeking agreements with nearby countries. Universal suffrage gave the minorities a voice, especially when they formed a coalition, the Bloc of National Minorities (BMN) led by the Jews and including the others who together comprised a third of the population and 20% of the vote. However,

11000-432: The next decade, Piłsudski dominated Polish affairs as strongman of a generally popular centrist government, although he never held a formal title except for minister of defense. He retained the 1921 constitution, and the noisy, ineffective Sejm continued to operate, but it nearly always gave him what he wanted. Critics of the government were occasionally arrested, but most were sued for libel. The marshal portrayed himself as

11125-457: The non-aggression pacts signed by Poland with Germany and the USSR. Following a border incident in March 1938, Poland presented an ultimatum to Lithuania , demanding the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania and the previously closed border with Poland to be reopened. Faced with the threat of war, the Lithuanian government accepted the Polish demands. In October 1938,

11250-622: The only ally was France; Piłsudski increasingly doubted the value of that alliance. The Locarno Pact , signed in 1925 by the major West European powers with the aim of guaranteeing peace in the region, contained no guarantee of Poland's western border. In May 1934, the Polish-Soviet non-aggression pact was extended until 31 December 1945. According to Anna M. Cienciala , during the period 1934–1939, Polish-Soviet relations were "correct but cool", while Polish-German relations could be characterized as "normal and at times friendly". The budget for

11375-527: The partition in the late 18th century while some did not have an ethnically Polish majority in the first place they were still viewed by Poles as their historic regions since they envisioned Poland as a multiethnic state. In the end, the negotiations broke down, sinking Piłsudski's idea of Międzymorze federation; instead, wars like the Polish-Lithuanian War or the Polish-Ukrainian War decided

11500-537: The peasants whose incomes plunged 50% or more. The government had few solutions except to reduce its own spending as tax revenues fell. About a third of the total population were members of minorities, including five or six million Ukrainians , over three million Jews , one and a half million Belarusians , and some 800,000 Germans . These minorities were increasingly alienated, complaining that they were marginalized in politics and denied rights Poland had agreed to in treaties. Historian Peter D. Stachura has examined

11625-555: The principles that Wilson followed during peace negotiations to end World War I. In April 1918, Paderewski met leaders of the American Jewish Committee in New York City, in an unsuccessful attempt to broker a deal in which organised Jewish groups would support Polish territorial ambitions in exchange for support for equal rights. However, it soon became clear that no plan would satisfy both Jewish leaders and Roman Dmowski ,

11750-532: The puppet government the Germans had set up. Ignacy Daszyński headed a short-lived Polish government in Lublin from November 6 but Piłsudski had overwhelming prestige at this point. Daszyński and the other Polish leaders acknowledged him as head of the army and in effect head of what became the Republic of Poland . Germany, now defeated, followed the terms of the Armistice and withdrew its forces. Jędrzej Moraczewski became

11875-676: The ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, legislation on protection of ethnic minorities in the new state, and the establishment of a public education system. But Paderewski "proved to be a poor administrator and worse politician" and resigned from the Government in December 1919, having received criticism for his perceived submissiveness to the Western powers. At the request of his successor as Prime Minister, Władysław Grabski , Paderewski represented Poland at

12000-400: The reserves. A major problem was lack of funds. The limited defense budget allowed minimal mechanization; most weapons were produced in Poland, but the production rate was low ( 7TP tank is a prime example), and foreign exchange was scarce. The fact that Poland was halfway through the rearming process that was to end in 1942 did not help. Ten divisions were never mobilized. The cancellation of

12125-414: The role of the Soviet Union. Hitler thought Britain and France were bluffing, but he handled the Soviet problem in late August, by a stunning agreement with Stalin in what amounted to a friendly alliance, which included secret provisions to partition Poland—and indeed divide up much of eastern Europe The British and French offer was not a bluff—they declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland, but neither

12250-505: The sea and its main trade route to which Poland refused. Germany also pressed for the incorporation of Danzig, a Nazi ruled city-state with a 90% German population that had been separated from Germany in 1920 and functioning as a Free City in a customs union with Poland ever since. After it rejected German territorial demands regarding Danzig and Gdańsk Pomerania , Poland's position was steadily weakening as other nations such as Hungary and Romania gravitated toward Germany's orbit. Poland

12375-410: The service of my country." Paderewski became Prime Minister of Poland, but I felt like Clemenceau , who said to him during a conference of the ill-fated Versailles Treaty: "How is it that a gifted artist like you should stoop so low as to become a politician?" There is an anecdote in circulation about Paderewski having been booked for a concert at Stanford by the future president Hoover and not receiving

12500-536: The small tuft of hair under his lower lip, which I thought revealed some form of mystic vanity. At his recitals, with house lights lowered and the atmosphere sombre and awesome when he was about to sit on the piano stool, I always felt someone should pull it from under him. During the war I met him at the Ritz Hotel in New York and greeted him enthusiastically, asking if he were there to give a concert. With pontifical solemnity he replied: "I do not give concerts when I am in

12625-592: The smaller in size, but a more industrialized eastern section in 1922, after series of three Silesian Uprisings . The military conflict with the Soviets proved the determinant of Poland's frontiers in the east, a theater rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions and subsequent civil war . Piłsudski envisioned creating a federation with the rest of Ukraine (led by the Polish-friendly government in Kiev he

12750-585: The state aviation company that made good planes. In 1931 it developed the PZL P.11 , the most advanced fighter in the world of the early 1930s. In the mid-1930s its successor the P-24 was even better armed and faster, but Poland exported it to earn currency, forcing the use of semi-obsolete PZL P.11 and a couple of dozen old PZL P.7 fighters. They were no match against the German Messerschmitt 109 which could fly higher,

12875-461: The value of 200 million zlotys a year, thanks in part to Jewish per capita income among the working Jews more than 40% higher than that of Polish non-Jews. From the 1920s the Polish government excluded Jews from receiving government bank credits, public sector employment, and obtaining business licenses. From the 1930s limits were placed on Jewish enrollment in university education, Jewish shops, Jewish export firms, Shechita , Jewish admission to

13000-463: The vote, but if Germany lost, it was still guaranteed access to East Prussia through an autobahn system that it would administer, stretching from Germany proper to Danzig to East Prussia. If Poland lost the vote, the corridor would go to Germany and the seaport of Gdynia would become a Polish exclave with a route connecting Poland with Gdynia. After the British-French guarantee of support for Poland

13125-516: The west with France, but not in the east with Poland. The same year, Germany slashed coal imports from Poland by half, which triggered the German–Polish trade war . Relations with the Soviet Union remained hostile, but Piłsudski was willing to negotiate, and in 1932 the two countries signed a non-aggression pact . Shortly afterward, Hitler came to power. Rumors circulated to the effect that Piłsudski proposed to France that Poland and France launch

13250-495: The west, Germans who had been made foreigners in 1919 quickly lost their land. In the east, by contrast, Ukrainian and Belarusian peasants tilled for Polish landowners and no serious moves toward land redistribution were taken. No alternative industrial jobs were developed and underemployment was high in rural areas. The socialist politician Bolesław Limanowski thought deeply about Agrarianism and worked out an eclectic program that fit Polish conditions. His practical experience as

13375-539: The world and was the first to give a solo performance at the new 3,000-seat Carnegie Hall . In 1909 came the premiere of his Symphony in B minor "Polonia" , a massive work lasting 75 minutes. Paderewski's compositions were quite popular in his lifetime and, for a time, entered the orchestral repertoire, particularly his Fantaisie polonaise sur des thèmes originaux (Polish Fantasy on Original Themes) for piano and orchestra, Piano Concerto in A minor , and Polonia symphony. His piano miniatures became especially popular, and

13500-652: The world wars are known as the Interbellum . Poland re-emerged in November 1918 after more than a century of partitions by Austria-Hungary , the German , and the Russian Empires . Its independence was confirmed by the victorious powers through the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919, and most of the territory won in a series of border wars fought from 1918 to 1921. Poland's frontiers were settled in 1922 and internationally recognized in 1923. The Polish political scene

13625-513: The year 1934-35 allocated 762 million zlotych for the army, about 32% of the total. It provided for an effective strength of 7,905 officers, 37,000 professional soldiers, and 211,110 militia soldiers. Apart from the army, the budget provided 105 million zlotych for police troops consisting of 774 officers and 28,592 men. By 1939 Poland had a large army, with 283,000 on active duty, in 37 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, and two armored brigades, plus artillery units. Another 700,000 men served in

13750-400: Was a policy of normal relations with both Germany and the Soviet Union but alliance with neither (also described as "the policy of equal distance" or "equilibrium"). Accordingly, the Polish leadership rejected German proposals of cooperation against Russia. At the same time, Beck's goal was to prevent Poland from entering into an isolated conflict with Germany. The policy rested on two pillars:

13875-414: Was announced on April 3, negotiations over Danzig ended. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The issue of Danzig was not the cause of the German invasion; Hitler told his generals in May 1939: “It is not Danzig that is at stake. For us, it is a matter of expanding our living space in the east and making food supplies secure.” The total destruction of the Polish state, Polish culture, and indeed

14000-409: Was at the time allied with Romania and France. Two critical developments caught Poland by surprise. At the end of March 1939, Britain and France announced that if Germany invaded Poland they would declare war. In terms of helping Poland in an actual war, everyone realized they could do very little. The hope was that the threat of a two-front war would deter Germany, especially since it had to worry about

14125-500: Was better armed, and flew 100 km/h faster. In spite of the shortcomings, at least 110 victories were credited to the P.11 for the loss of about 30 of their own. The PZL.37 Łoś was an excellent twin-engine medium bomber; Poland had 36 ready-to-fight when the war started. In 1939 Poland had 390 combat planes that were mostly obsolescent. Germany had 2800 new fighter planes plus bombers and transports. The Poles, in spite of their desperate situation, managed to win two battles against

14250-436: Was democratic but chaotic until Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) seized power in May 1926 and democracy ended. The policy of agrarianism led to the redistribution of lands to peasants and the country achieved significant economic growth between 1921 and 1939. A third of the population consisted of minorities— Ukrainians , Jews, Belarusians, Lithuanians and Germans . The independence of Poland had been successfully promoted to

14375-771: Was destroyed by the Belarusian authorities in July 2022. History of Poland (1918%E2%80%931939) Timeline of Polish history The history of interwar Poland comprises the period from the revival of the independent Polish state in 1918, until the Invasion of Poland from the West by Nazi Germany in 1939 at the onset of World War II , followed by the Soviet Union from the East two weeks later. The two decades of Poland's independence between

14500-507: Was formally inspired by Wagner's music dramas. It lacks an overture and closed-form arias, but uses Wagner's device of leitmotifs to represent characters and ideas. The story centres on a doomed love triangle, social inequality, and racial prejudice (Manru is a Gypsy ), and is set in the Tatra Mountains . It is still the only opera by a Polish composer that the Metropolitan Opera has performed in its 135-year history. In addition to

14625-493: Was in a position to provide serious help. Poland itself had a million-man army (and another million in the reserves) but fell far short in terms of training, airpower, artillery, tanks, machine guns, radios, and trucks. The Polish military budget was about 2% of Germany's; its commanding general Marshal Smigly-Rydz was not well prepared for the challenge. The Germans wanted restoration of the pre-Versailles Treaty borders and so they launched new demands on Poland. They insisted on

14750-541: Was increasingly isolated. Overy says that of all the new states in Europe: In February 1921, Poland signed a secret military agreement with France , which obliged each party to mutual aid in the event of German aggression. In March 1921, the Poles signed a treaty of mutual assistance with Romania , directed against the threat from the Soviet Union. Poland sought to be the leader of an independent bloc of nations between

14875-454: Was insufficient domestic capital to buy them and because it was easier than determining who should get what. Overall, Poland had a higher degree of state involvement in the economy and less foreign investment than any other nation in eastern Europe. This emphasis on economic centralization hampered Poland's development. The economy was largely rural, and the worldwide Great Depression that began in 1929 saw hardship in every sector. Worst hit were

15000-474: Was interested in music. He initially lived at a private estate near Zhytomyr , where he had moved with his father. However, soon after his father's arrest in connection with the January Uprising of 1863, he was adopted by his aunt. After being released, Paderewski's father married again and moved to the town of Sudylkov , near Shepetovka . Initially, Paderewski took piano lessons with a private tutor. At

15125-706: Was razed in 1965. In 1948, the Ignacy Paderewski Foundation was established in New York City, on the initiative of the local Polish community , with the goal of promoting Polish culture in the United States. Two other Polish-American organizations are named in his honour and are dedicated to promoting the legacy of the maestro: the Paderewski Association in Chicago and the Paderewski Music Society in Southern California . In

15250-572: Was temporarily laid in repose in the crypt of the USS Maine Mast Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery , in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, DC, despite anecdotal accounts that he wished to be buried in France, near his second wife and son. In 1992, after the end of communist rule in Poland, his remains were transferred to Warsaw and placed in St. John's Archcathedral . His heart is encased in

15375-634: Was the Chief of State , appointed Paderewski as the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (January 1919 – December 1919). Paderewski and Roman Dmowski represented Poland at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and dealt with issues regarding territorial claims and minority rights. Paderewski signed the Treaty of Versailles , which recognized Polish independence won after World War I. There were some achievements during Paderewski's ten-month period in government: democratic elections to Parliament,

15500-457: Was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Treaty of Versailles , which ended World War I . A favorite of concert audiences around the world, his musical fame gave him access to diplomacy and the media, as well as, possibly, his status as a freemason , and the charitable work of his second wife, Helena Paderewska . During World War I, Paderewski advocated for an independent Poland, including by touring

15625-473: Was to help to install) and Lithuania , thus forming a Central and East European federation called " Intermarium " (Polish: "Międzymorze", literally "area between seas"). Lenin , leader of the new communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge over which communism would pass into the labor class of a disorganized postwar Germany. And the issue was further complicated as some of the disputed regions had assumed various economic and political identities since

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