[kearnyirish2]

I had a coin from around 1910 that was in 2 denominations and alphabets/languages; a Polish friend said it was from the “Russian part” of Poland. Another coin, from 1917 with one denomination (”fenigow”), he said was from the “German part” of Poland.

Fascinating history there; thanks!

[Cronos]

you should read Adam Zamoyski's book, 1920 Battle of Warsaw

the interesting part of the partitions is that it still reflects in the infrastructure layout

Those are railway lines -- can you make out the German part? :)

I think after they got their independence in 1918 it must have been crazy -- 3 different regions that had not been one nation for 120 years, different currency, different language of bureaucracy, different levels of bureaucracy, different development levels etc.

Even in the military it is interesting the way Zamoyski describes them: the German hussars had tons of equipment, all very precise. The Austro-hungarians had very shiny uniforms and slightly less discipline and the Russians had no constant uniforms and had sheer panache -- and yet all were Poles. And then in adition there were the irregular militia and the Blue Army - Poles from France and England

Talk of a right mess :)