Europe Trip 2025 - Warsaw - Polish History Museum

This museum is new. It's not even finished yet, but it's open, hosts temporary exhibitions, has a cafeteria, cloakroom and restrooms. It is located next to the new home of the Polish Army Museum, in the historic Warsaw Citadel in the Żoliborz district. 

Army on the left, history on the right.

When I visited, it had two exhibitions. A small one in the entrance hall juxta-positioning the Netflix 1670 crude TV comedy series with historical commentary, and a big one about the Kościuszko Uprising. Both were well prepared - I learned a lot and I hope they will come back when the museum is fully open.

The entrance hall

The Kościuszko Uprising (or insurrection) exhibition was very detailed: the background, politics, campaign, forces, weapons, etc. Kościuszko himself apart from leading the 1794 uprising, took part in the earlier defensive war with Russia in 1792, and in the American Revolutionary War 1776-1783. He is a national hero of Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, and the US, and a honorary citizen of France. He was against slavery and discrimination.

One interesting thing that occurred to me was that Kościuszko was probably gay. While studying in Paris, he painted nude males from all angles and they look sexy, while the only nude female painting shown in the museum...well, see for yourself below. He never married. He travelled from America to Europe with his aide-de-camp and friend, Jean Lappiere (who was quite a looker), who accompanied him during the uprising and two years of imprisonment in Russia.

Portrait by Jan Józef Sikorski - not sure how accurate it is as it was painted in 1840.

The males he painted:

...versus a female:

He also painted an "Ideal Plan of Park and Garden Layout" for Czartorysk. The "Bel-Air" settlement caught my attention:

 

Portraits of Kościuszko himself, from little boy to an old man:

The physiognotrace of the 47 year old Kościuszko:

A portrait by Ramsay Richard Reinagle, at the age of 71, painted in 1817 - the year Kosciuszko died. His health deteriorated after a fall from a horse into a cold stream and subsequent pneumonia.

Drawn by Xavier Zeltner two months before Kościuszko's death in Switzerland.

 Another interesting/unexpected thing was the use of barrier troops:

Salute cannon

While we are talking about cannons, I learned the difference between a shell, round shot, and grapeshot:

For military enthusiasts, more cannons, (and tanks, and troops carriers...), can be seen outdoors:

The Kościuszko uprising was something new. It was influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution, but it did not resort to terror. Only 50 death sentences were carried out, while in France it was about 17,000. It was the first time that different classes of Polish society volunteered to help with the war effort: peasants, city dwellers, women, Jews. Earlier, the wars were a concern of the nobility. It was the first time when the soldiers shouted "Hail the nation! Hail liberty!", instead of "Long live the King!". 

Tatars took part too:

The fight for freedom started by Tadeusz Kościuszko on 24 March 1794 ended on 11 November 1918 when Józef Piłsudski proclaimed an independent Polish state.

33 year old Piłsudski

And the last interesting bit, at least from the point of view where I write this, is that the highest peak in Australia is named after him.