Obliterated from the map
The story of how Europe's biggest state - the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - was sliced, diced and destroyed by three hungry neighbours in 1795.
Long before Putin tried it on, long before the Soviet Union as well, Ukraine was controlled by somebody else - the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the first of a new series, Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel to eastern Poland to find out more.
It's a tale of terrifying power politics, when an ancient European kingdom was sliced up like a cake. Beginning in Krakow, they travel by train and tiny bus in an arc around the south east to the Renaissance city of Zamosc, near the border with Ukraine.
With contributions from Norman Davies, Adam Zamoyski, Professor Natalia Nowakowska, Bartek Ziobro of Krakow Explorers and Olesya Khromeychuk of the Ukrainian Institute in London.
The image shows the Warsaw Uprising Monument which features in episode three.
This is the latest in the How to Invent a Country podcast series which has previously travelled to Germany, the USA, Scandinavia and Brazil.
Presenter Misha Glenny is a former 大象传媒 Central European correspondent and the author of McMafia.
Produced for 大象传媒 Audio in Bristol by Miles Warde
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- Mon 28 Mar 2022 11:00大象传媒 Radio 4
- Wed 30 Mar 2022 15:30大象传媒 Radio 4