Battle of Grunwald: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Grunwald - Influences of the Battle of Grunwald on modern culture

Battle of Grunwald - Influences of the Battle of Grunwald on modern culture

Battle of Grunwald - Poland

The battle of Grunwald is regarded as one of the most important battles in the Polish history. It is often depicted by an ideogram of two swords, which were supposedly given to king Jagiello before the battle by the Teutonic envoys to "raise Polish desire for battle".

In 1914, on the eve of World War I, during the celebrations marking the 500-year anniversary of the battle a monument was erected in Kraków. The ceremony spawned demonstrations of outrage within Polish society against the aggressive politics of the German Empire, including the forcible germanisation of Poles after the partitions of Poland. Polish poet Maria Konopnicka wrote the fiercely Polish-patriotic and anti-German poem Rota. About the same time, Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote his book The Teutonic Knights (Polish: Krzyżacy) , one of his series of books designed to increase the patriotic spirit among the Poles. The book was eventually depicted in the film The Teutonic Knights by Aleksander Ford. These days, a festival is held every year to commemorate this medieval battle. Thousands of medieval reenactors, many of them in knight's armor, from all across Europe gather every year in July at the Grunwald fields to reconstruct the battle again. Great care is put to the historical details of the armour, weapons and the conduct of the battle.

Order Krzyża Grunwaldu (The Grunwald Cross Medal) was a Polish military award created in 1943 by commander of Gwardia Ludowa (in 1944 confirmed by Krajowa Rada Narodowa) and was given for heroism in World War II.

In Poland there are sport teams named "Grunwald"' like Grunwald Poznań. Moreover, one of administrative districts of Poznań (Poznań-Grunwald) was named after this village.

Battle of Grunwald - Lithuania

The victory at the Battle of Grunwald or Žalgirio mūšis in 1410 is synonymous to the peak of the political and military power of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The demise of the Teutonic order ended the period of German expansion and created preconditions for the political stability, economic growth and relative cultural prosperity that lasted until the rise of Muscovy in the late XVI century. In the Lithuanian historical discourse regarding the battle there is a lasting debate and controversy over the role played by the Lithuanian-born king of Poland Jogaila and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, the latter usually being favoured as a national hero.

Leading Lithuanian basketball and football teams are both called "Žalgiris" to commemorate the victorious battle BC Žalgiris and FK Žalgiris.

The term Žalgiris became a symbol of the resistence to the foreign domination over Lithuania. The victories of the basketball club BC Žalgiris Kaunas against the Soviet Army sports club CSKA Moscow (in the late 1980s) served as a major emotional inspiration for the Lithuanian national revival, and the consequent emergence of Sąjūdis movement that led to the collapse of USSR.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Influences of the Battle of Grunwald on modern culture", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki