Talk:First Partition of Poland

Title

Gosh: Not a, or The Poland - just ol' Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (hence First Partion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Should we stick to the established historic and legal name?--Lokyz (talk) 23:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

P.S. I do know that the state name beginning of L does drive some people insane.--Lokyz (talk) 23:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

The name First Partition is rather ridiculous, as per Disk partitioning. In popular language First partiton is more common referring to partitions of HDD. Should we move it to a longer but more relevant name?--Lokyz (talk) 09:44, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin

Seen the hook "... that Frederick II of Prussia was elated by the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?" on DYK, and knew exactly who wrote that. I guess some day, this article will be split into three, so that all three partitioners can get their fair share of blame on DYK. Never mind the Polish Sejm playing along nicely. Besides, no before&after maps illustrate the partition. And the source, Dr. Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin as Google Books author was, as I found out while editing Globus Jagellonicus, a New York based public health expert who wrote the amateur history book "The Political History of Poland, 1917" during WW1 to promote NPoV among the Entente (and on Wikipeda). According to TIME, he was in 1930 the "Stoutly Acting Chairman" of a "Committee of Twenty on Street and Outdoor Cleanliness, a group of New York City medicos disgusted with the condition of their city's streets": "The appellation 'Ash Can Beauty Contest' " said he severely, "is not only facetious but fallacious insomuch as the contest is for a litter basket and not an ash can. . . . The litter basket is to be the receptacle for paper wrappers, newspapers, and other small discarded articles. . . . The purpose of the ash can is well known." - Thanks for sharing this info, Ed. He made some career and became an Executive Secretary in NY who according to the NY Times in 1915 showed up in a fancy dress dance given by the Tuxedo Club. Not even the Pinkowski-Institute knows much about him, yet pronounces him poles.org: physician, historian, lecturer. Guess I have by now written enough Wiki articles to be a historian, and enough talk to be called a lecturer by somebody? He seems to have been born in 1885 [1], so would have retired by the 1950s. In fact, he died in 1953, so is not yet dead 70 years, so some the pics from his book, uploaded to commons, should be deleted, as I understand. Enough to write a stub by now. WP:RS? -- Matthead  Discuß   02:52, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Yikes, Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin is blacklisted on MediaWiki:Titleblacklist! Due to Monica L.? Error? Somebody read his book? Using Edward H. L. Corwin instead. -- Matthead  Discuß   03:05, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Had no problem to create an entry Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin as a redirect to Matt's article and then, moved over redirect. --Irpen 03:28, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems they had blacklisted the space sign by error. Ouch. -- Matthead  Discuß   03:49, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Style etc.

• "Frederick II of Prussia was elated with his success", says Mr. Corwin. "Prussia's shares might have been the smallest, but it was also significantly developed", says EB. "A high percentage of the Prussian population being German may be the cause of both", says me.
• "Frederick II making token gestures for the welfare of his new Polish subjects" His bio article says, "750 schools were built from 1772-1775." Maybe he should have build hundreds of token sand boxes and Kindergartens for his Polish subjects instead.
• "By seizing northwestern Poland, Prussia instantly cut off Poland from the sea, and gained control over 80% of the Commonwealth's total foreign trade.". Currently, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belarus are cut off from the sea, each a Landlocked country. One wonders which country controls how much of their foreign trade? And through which country could they instantly gain access to the Baltic via corridors?
• "Through levying enormous custom duties ...", like what, 700%? The EB article is given as reference. I can't find one, but rather "During the two decades that separated the First and Second Partitions, the country experienced a remarkable revival. ... Cut off from the Baltic, Poland reoriented its trade toward the Black Sea. Producing for the national market, early manufacturing concerns grew on both royal and magnate land. Many estates began to operate with tenant farmers rather than serfs. Banks and joint stock companies appeared, canals were built, and roads improved.". So that was the effect of Prussian customs and Prussian duties?
• "Austrian statesman Kaunitz of Austria" reminds of an assistant in a 1980s TV quiz show, checking for words mentioned twice. She was a female Austrian woman from Austria.
• "Catherine of Russia was also satisfied." At last. She had been a widow for 10 years.
• "the largest share of the spoils, as far as population and revenue were concerned, went to the party least interested in the partition, Austria". Poles were even less interested in a partition, one may assume, and they retained the by far largest share.

-- Matthead  Discuß   06:47, 3 May 2008 (UTC)