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Aus polnischer Sicht

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AbstractOccasionally, people characterise foreign military interventions as "undeclared wars". It is not entirely clear what is the meaning and value of such a qualification, but it seems that they want to add an extra weight to their condemnation. Still, does it have legal significance? At times, international law demanded that States issued a declaration of war before the commencement of hostilities but the obligation was mostly ignored for varied reasons. Notably, between two world wars, States avoided certain legal obligations (e.g. the prohibition to use war, the rules of warfare) by not declaring or otherwise recognising a state of war. After the Second World War, considering the earlier abuses, States redesigned the international legal regulations in a way that the declaration of war became practically irrelevant when it comes to the legality or illegality of the use of armed force, or to the application of law.

Leading Polish writers, academics, composers, film-makers and theatre directors met in Warsaw on 11 December for what was to be a three-day Congress of Polish Culture. Two days were spent in fruitful discussion, but then the proceedings came to an unexpected and abrupt end with the declaration of martial law in the early hours of 13 December. Boleslaw Taborski, a Polish poet and translator living in London, here gives a personal account of the Congress which was attended by some 800 people, many of whom are now among those detained by the military authorities.