The Kosovo crisis: the evolution of post Cold War European security

This book looks at the legacy of the 1998-99 Kosovo crisis for European security affairs. It examines the debates about the nature and justification of intervention in the affairs of sovereign states. It also considers the impact of the crisis on NATO and on relations between western states and Russia both during and since Kosovo. Well-known 'facts' are critically assessed and challenged. The authors argue, for example, that the NATO attacks on Serbia were not a 'war', nor did the crisis directly lead to moves to endow the European Union with its own military dimension. The authors also look at key issues and debates that have, so far, often been neglected. They consider the difficulties of entrenching 'western' norms and values in areas where ethnic conceptions of national identity are dominant. They also place the Kosovo crisis in the context of the long-term evolution of a transatlantic 'community of values' between Europe and North America

European Union Approaches to Human Rights Violations in Kosovo before and after Independence

This article examines European Union (EU) approaches to the question of human rights violations in Kosovo before and after its proclamation of independence, in February 2008. While the 1999 NATO-led humanitarian intervention in the region was often justified as necessary due to the continuous abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Serbian forces against the ethic Kosovo Albanians, the post-interventionist period has witnessed a dramatic reversal of roles, with the rights of the remaining Serbian minority being regularly abused by the dominant Albanian population. However, in contrast to the former scenario, the Brussels administration has remained quite salient about the post-independence context – a grey zone of unviable political and social components, capable of generating new confrontations and human rights abuses within the borders of Kosovo. Aware of this dynamic and the existing EU official rhetoric, it is possible to conclude that the embedded human rights concerns in Kosovo are not likely to disappear, but even more importantly, their relevance has been significantly eroded

An effective operational maneuver by General Stanisław Maczek. Mastering the bridgehead in Jort, August 14-16, 1944

The article discusses the participation of the 1st Polish Armoured Division commanded by Brig. Gen. Stanisław Maczek in Operations “Totalize” and “Tractable” carried out in August 1944 as part of the allied “Overlord” operation in Normandy. The author presented the activities of the division from August 8 to 16, 1944 against the background of the concept of using large armored units in offensive activities developed by Gen. Maczek.W artykule omówiono udział 1 Dywizji Pancernej dowodzonej przez gen. bryg. Stanisława Maczka w operacjach „Totalize” oraz „Tractable” przeprowadzonych w sierpniu 1944 roku w ramach alianckiej operacji „Overlord” na terenie Normandii. Autor przedstawił działania dywizji od 8 do 16 sierpnia 1944 roku na tle opracowanej przez gen. Maczka koncepcji wykorzystania wielkich jednostek pancernych w działaniach zaczepnych

Relacje Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza z brytyjskim Ministerstwem Wojny w latach 1943-1945 w zakresie planowania rozbudowy powojennego Wojska Polskiego

This paper considers the creation of plans for the expansion and development of the Polish land forces in the post-World War II period, which were carried out between 1941 and 1944 at the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces. The future development of the Polish Army included both the use of units under Allied operational command and the recruitment of several hundred thousand Poles either interned or imprisoned in France, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and Romania. Finally, the so-called Plan ‘P’ anticipated the expansion of the ground forces to a level of more than 470,000 troops. The article also refers to the sceptical approach of the British authorities to the possibility of implementing the mentioned plan, until the final rejection of the Polish concept in the autumn of 1944. In addition, the article makes a brief comparison between the planned personnel development of the Polish Armed Forces in the West and the People’s Army of Poland (which consisted of 400,000 soldiers in 1945 and only 147,000 in 1947), pointing out that the personnel level of Plan ‘P’ would most probably be impossible to maintain in post-war conditions.Niniejszy artykuł omawia kwestie opracowywania w latach 1941-1944 w Sztabie Naczelnego Wodza Polskich Sił Zbrojnych planów rozbudowy i rozwoju wojsk lądowych w okresie po zakończeniu II wojny światowej. Przyszły rozwój Wojska Polskiego uwzględniał zarówno wykorzystanie jednostek znajdujących się pod operacyjnym dowództwem Aliantów, jak również wcielenie kilkuset tysięcy Polaków internowanych lub więzionych na terenie Francji, Szwajcarii, Niemiec, Węgier i Rumunii. Ostatecznie tzw. Plan „P” uwzględniał rozbudowę wojsk lądowych do poziomu ponad 470 tys. żołnierzy. W artykule poruszono także kwestię sceptycznego podejścia władz brytyjskich do możliwości realizacji ww. planu, aż do ostatecznego odrzucenia polskiej koncepcji jesienią 1944 roku. Dodatkowo w artykule dokonano pobieżnego porównania planowanego rozwoju osobowego Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie z ludowym Wojskiem Polskim (liczącego w 1945 roku 400 tys. żołnierzy, ale w 1947 roku już tylko 147 tys.), wskazując, że poziom sił Planu „P” byłby najprawdopodobniej nie do utrzymania w warunkach powojennych

Seed Corn of a Future Army: The Mobilisation of the Poles and the Creation of Polish Military Formations in the First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, the warring camps wished to cultivate Polish loyalty and mobilise Polish manpower to their respective causes. Mobilisation included the mobilisation of rank and file reservists of Polish nationality as an ongoing wartime process and the creation of Polish military formations driven by wartime requirements for military manpower. The mobilisation of Poles and the creation of Polish military formations during the First World War supplied over 2,000,000 soldiers to three armies of the partitioning powers and with the cessation of hostilities had a significant role in the post-war reconstruction of the Polish Army

The Kosovo crisis and the evolution of a post-Cold War European security

This book looks at the legacy of the 1998-99 Kosovo crisis for European security affairs. It examines the debates about the nature and justification of intervention in the affairs of sovereign states. It also considers the impact of the crisis on NATO and on relations between western states and Russia both during and since Kosovo. Well-known 'facts' are critically assessed and challenged. The authors argue, for example, that the NATO attacks on Serbia were not a 'war', nor did the crisis directly lead to moves to endow the European Union with its own military dimension. The authors also look at key issues and debates that have, so far, often been neglected. They consider the difficulties of entrenching 'western' norms and values in areas where ethnic conceptions of national identity are dominant. They also place the Kosovo crisis in the context of the long-term evolution of a transatlantic 'community of values' between Europe and North America

The Kosovo crisis and the evolution of a post-Cold War European security

This book looks at the legacy of the 1998-99 Kosovo crisis for European security affairs. It examines the debates about the nature and justification of intervention in the affairs of sovereign states. It also considers the impact of the crisis on NATO and on relations between western states and Russia both during and since Kosovo. Well-known 'facts' are critically assessed and challenged. The authors argue, for example, that the NATO attacks on Serbia were not a 'war', nor did the crisis directly lead to moves to endow the European Union with its own military dimension. The authors also look at key issues and debates that have, so far, often been neglected. They consider the difficulties of entrenching 'western' norms and values in areas where ethnic conceptions of national identity are dominant. They also place the Kosovo crisis in the context of the long-term evolution of a transatlantic 'community of values' between Europe and North America