In the middle of the 19th Century Poland was a divided and occupied country. At the first division of Poland in 1772 Poland had been divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia. Prussia had taken the western and some northern Polish territory, Austria the southern area (including Cracow and Lemberg) and Russia the area east of the rivers Dnjepr and Düna. After that the proud Polish people tried to establish some political reforms. In 1792 the Russians again occupied the country, thereafter it came to the second Polish division. During the years 1830/31 the Polish people - led by the aristocrats - tried another revolt, which ended in disaster. 33 years later there was the next trial to expell the occupiers. Also this revolt was dejected and resulted in the banishment of many Polish, who were actively or passively involved in the revolt.

Under the large amount of exiled people was the father of Joseph Conrad, Apollo Korzeniowski (born February 21st, 1820 in Honoratka). Apollo Korzeniowski was a sensitive and scholarly man and an ardent patriot. He had studied orientalism, languages and literature in St. Petersburg. The family of the Korzeniowski's came from an old noble family. They belonged to the 'red' hawks.

The 'Reds' saw Poland's future in an open revolt. On the other end of the spectrum of Polish patriots were the 'white' pigeons. They stood for not risking any military confrontation, because they were sure of the military superiority of the Russian army. They believed in negotiating tactics and on the intensification of the relationship with Western Europe. The liberation of Poland was a holy thing to them as well as to the 'Reds' on the other side.

I was told it's much easier to feel comfortable with long text if you just have to turn pages (with a click) rather than scrolling long pages. Therefore I have created single pages (with a length that does not need much scrolling) which you can turn easily by clicking on next page → (supposing you'll find the way back by yourself !)

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