The Lisbon Treaty has introduced numerous changes to the shape and role of the Council Presidency. However, it seems that the actual effect of those changes is not so big as might appear from the text of the Treaty. While a legal and institu¬tional analysis of the Presidency on the basis of the Treaty of Lisbon gives a clear picture of the significantly changed role, quantitative and qualitative empirical research conducted by the author among officials involved in the Presidencies of Spain and Belgium do not fully confirm this picture. This article aims at analysing the reasons and manifestations of certain discrepancies between the planned shape and powers of the Council Presidency in the Treaty of Lisbon and its actual role in practice.
The material deals with the organization and composition of the 1st Panzer Division, which in the second half of World War 2 belonged to the best armed SS divisions, with the staff characterized by a high combat morale until the end of the war. Considering its unique position within the Waffen SS, the Division belonged to the strongest Nazi divisions during the war. The author describes the division organization, the planned and chart number of staff, equipment and material in the period before and during the operational deployment in the Ardennes, the last German offensive on the Western frontline in the World War 2. Based on the data obtained through studying relevant documents of the period archived in MA-KA Freiburg, comparing the data presented in the domestic and foreign literature, with the battle photographs and personal observations and knowledge from the field, the author describes the preparation of the troops for the operation in the Ardennes as well as the operational deployment of the groups belonging under the 1st Panzer Division of the SS Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
The return of Poles from France and Belgium was one of the most significant migratory movements in the post-war history of Poland. From the end of military operations in 1945, the communist authorities of Poland began to appeal to Poles residing in France and Belgium to return to their homeland. The aim of this article is to show, from the perspective of the Dąbek, Pawlik and Szotek families, how those returning from France and Belgium met with the realities of communist Poland. A common denominator among these three families is not only the longing for their home country, but also their decision to return under the influence of propaganda, and then a very perceptible feeling of “otherness” on their return to their home country. The feelings of “otherness” and “strangeness” through their stay on French and Belgian soil turned out to be strong enough upon their return to prevent their integration into the culture of their native country. In coming to Belgium or northern France they were called “Poles,” but upon their return, they were called “Frenchmen” by their compatriots.
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