Black Mirror: A Comparative History of Polish and American Failures

Even though they occurred around the same time, the Polish January Uprising of 1863/64 and the American Civil War (1861–5) have seldom been considered in the same context by historians, while comparative historical studies of the events are scarce. The present article explores the historiography relating to both countries to, firstly, outline the most interesting attempts in existing Polish and US-American research to find shared aspects in the two events. Secondly, my study establishes and analyses phenomena and themes in these parallel histories that could prove most fruitful for comparative investigation. In conclusion, I assess the potential that comparative approaches could generate for the historiography of the American Civil War and the January Uprising.