[1][2][3] The original lyrics were written by Józef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, in Northern Italy, between 16 and 19 July 1797, two years after the Third Partition of Poland marked the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Its initial purpose was to raise the morale of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski's Polish Legions that served with Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars.

The song expressed the idea that the nation of Poland, despite lacking an independent state of their own, had not disappeared as long as the Polish people endured and fought in its name.

The chorus and subsequent stanzas include heart-lifting examples of military heroes, set as role models for Polish soldiers: Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, Napoleon, Stefan Czarniecki and Tadeusz Kościuszko.

Stefan Czarniecki was a 17th-century hetman, famous for his role in driving the Swedish Army out of Poland after an occupation that had left the country in ruins and is remembered by Poles as the Deluge.

Niemiec, Moskal nie osiędzie, Gdy jąwszy pałasza, Hasłem wszystkich zgoda będzie I ojczyzna nasza

Na to wszystkich jedne głosy Dosyć tej niewoli Mamy racławickie kosy Kościuszkę Bóg pozwoli.

Considered one of Poland's national dances in pre-partition times, it owes its popularity in 19th-century Western European ballrooms to the mazurkas of Frédéric Chopin.

[2] In 1908, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, later to become the first Prime Minister of independent Poland, quoted the anthem in a disguised way in his Symphony in B minor "Polonia".

[10] In 1795, after a prolonged decline and despite last-minute attempts at constitutional reforms and armed resistance, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was ultimately partitioned by its three neighbors: Russia, Prussia and Austria.

To this end, he convinced General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, a hero of the Greater Poland campaign of the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising, to come to Paris and present the plan to the French Directory.

Dąbrowski and his soldiers hoped to fight against Austria under Napoleon and, subsequently, march across the Austrian territory, "from Italy to Poland", where they would ignite a national uprising.

"[h] It appealed to both officers, usually émigré noblemen, and simple soldiers, most of whom were Galician peasants who had been drafted into the Austrian army and captured as POWs by the French.

It also added four new stanzas, now forgotten, written from the viewpoint of Polish patriots waiting for General Dąbrowski to bring freedom and human rights to Poland.

Rather than coming back to Poland, they were exploited by the French government to quell uprisings in Italy, Germany and, later, in Haiti where they were decimated by war and disease.

Napoleon called Dąbrowski and Wybicki to come back from Italy and help gather support for the French army in Polish-populated parts of Prussia.

[8] The ensuing Greater Poland Uprising and Napoleon's victory over Russian forces at Friedland led to the creation of a French-controlled Polish puppet state known as the Duchy of Warsaw.

The last stanza, referring to Kościuszko, who had grown suspicious of Napoleon and refused to lend his support to the emperor's war in Poland, met the same fate.

[8] The blow struck with such skill, with such force unsurpassed, That the strings rang out boldly, like trumpets of brass, And from them to the heavens that song wafted, cherished, That triumphal march: Poland has never yet perished!

The author makes the first reference to the song when Tadeusz, the main protagonist, returns home and, recalling childhood memories, pulls the string of a chiming clock to hear the "old Dąbrowski's Mazurka" once again.

The song appears in the epic poem again when Jankiel, a Jewish dulcimerist and ardent Polish patriot, plays the mazurka in the presence of General Dąbrowski himself.

Examples include the 16th-century Latin prayer Oratio pro Republica et Rege ('Prayer for the Commonwealth and the King') by a Calvinist poet, Andrzej Trzeciński, and "Hymn do miłości Ojczyzny" ('Hymn to the Love of the Fatherland') written in 1744 by Prince-Bishop Ignacy Krasicki.

The official anthem of the Russian-controlled Congress Kingdom of Poland was "Pieśń narodowa na pomyślność Króla" ('National Song to the King's Prosperity') written in 1816 by Alojzy Feliński and Jan Kaszewski.

A national song that was particularly popular during the November Uprising was "Warszawianka", originally written in French as "La Varsovienne" by Casimir Delavigne, with melody by Karol Kurpiński.

A peasant rebellion against Polish nobles, which took place in western Galicia in 1846 and was encouraged by Austrian authorities who wished to thwart a new uprising attempt, moved Kornel Ujejski to write a mournful chorale entitled "Z dymem pożarów" ('With the Smoke of Fires').

In 1908, Maria Konopnicka and Feliks Nowowiejski created "Rota" ('Oath'), a song protesting against the oppression of the Polish population of the German Empire, who were subject to eviction from their land and forced assimilation.

The UN idea dates back to 1943; to the meeting of the "Big Three" in Tehran; to the illusions that Roosevelt harboured about Stalin, benevolently nicknamed "Uncle Joe".

This time it was the orchestra that played the Dąbrowski Mazurka, and at that moment the memories of the great Artur Rubinstein and his performance came back with full force and it was very touching indeed for me.

However, after the 2006 split between the two, neither Serbia nor Montenegro kept the song as its national anthem, instead choosing "Bože pravde" and "Oj, svijetla majska zoro" respectively.

Additionally, the Italian anthem "Il Canto degli Italiani" contains a reference to the Partitions of Poland by Prussia, Austria and Russia, due to the two countries' close relations.