- If every nation has a trauma, that it cannot forget, then the trauma for Poland is the three partitions, that it went through in the 18th century. The decline of the once great nation of Poland, began already in the early part of the 18th century, when Poland was allied with Russia, against Sweden, in a war to control the Baltic States. Poland became a battlefield for this war and the result from that was, along with the many different political confusions resulting from the war, that Poland was weakened for good. After the war, the surrounding great powers, Russia, Austro-Hungary and Prussia also entered into a secret alliance, which was meant to keep Poland a weak country for ever. From here on, Russia practically controlled and ruled Poland, despite it's independent status.

- In 1772, Poland was so weak that it didn't have anymore the means to resists any foreign powers and so Prussia, Russia and Austro-Hungary concluded the first partition of Poland, annexing 733,000 square kilometers of Polish land to themselves and closing some 4,5 million Polish people inside of their new borders.

- Due to the Russian involvement in a war against Turkey, the Poles tried to revive their country, by issuing a new constitution, which guaranteed personal freedoms for all people. This constitution was hailed with enthusiasm in the United States, France and England, but to the Russian, Prussian and Austro-Hungarian plans this kind of constitution didn't suit and the Russian troops crossed the Polish border in 1792. At first it looked like the Polish troops could resist the Russian invasion, but when the Prussian troops attacked from other direction, all hope was lost and Poland went through the second partition in 1793, forced upon it by the Prussia and Russia, which took more than half of the country and nearly four million people.

- The second partition led to a popular unrest in Poland, led by a veteran of the American War of Independence, Tadeusz Kosciuszko who in 24th of March 1794, proclaimed insurrection from the market place of Krakow. The insurrection however didn't last for long and in October, Kosciuszko's forces were defeated and the Russians marched to Warsaw, slaughtering the population in a Warsaw suburb of Praga. After the third partition in 1795, the nation called Poland, ceased to exist for over hundred years. 

- However, the area of Krakow remained a free city, where the three great powers were "protecting" the rights of the free city. This situation didn't last long either and in 1846, the Austro-Hungary annexed the whole free city, into it's empire. These forts in Krakow, reminds from that time, in which Austro-Hungary gained the area and build several forts to Krakow, to strengthen it's border area.

- However, this fort differs from the three other forts that you most likely have already browsed through? The difference here is, that inside the Austro-Hungary fort, is the mound for Polish and American hero, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.

- American hero? I hear someone asking. Yes it was a surprise thing to to me also. A thing that I couldn't figure out while being in Krakow, but after getting to home and reading about this, the history of Tadeusz Kosciuszko goes like this:

- Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born in 1746, in East-Poland. He came from a family belonging to a gentry, that owned a small piece of land. He attended to Cadet School and in 1770 he left to Paris to continue he's studies. In Paris, the winds of freedom were blowing and Tadeusz Kosciuszko came quite interested about these, especially since Poland was going through the first partition of it's soil. The natural continuation for these freedom ideas was the American War of Independence, to which he left in 1776. Kosciuszko was nominated as a colonel for the American army after his arrival and after that he took part of the great battles fought against the British colonial rule.

- After the American war of Independence, Kosciuszko returned to Poland where he helped to organize the Polish army and took part to the war in 1792 and to the insurrection in 1794.

- The insurrection was however short and Kosciuszko and his forces were defeated in October 1794 and Kosciuszko himself was captured by the Russians. He was released in 1796 and moved to live in West.

- Kosciuszko died in Switzerland in 1817 and his body was brought back to Krakow and laid to rest in the crypt at Wawel Castle. The debate of which kind of memorial should be build for Kosciuszko lasted several years, until it was finally decided to build a simple monument, which would last for centuries. A mound, a similar to the two other mounds that can be found from Krakow, was agreed upon. 

- The construction work was started in 1820 and after five years, the mound was finally finished. The end of the Free City of Krakow in 1846, however meant that the Austro-Hungarian army started to build forts into Krakow, including also the area of  Kopiec Kosciuszki (Kopiec = Mound). The area was also mostly closed from civilians, although as time passed, the permission to visit the mound was hardly ever refused. 

- The mound however had suffered damage during the years and the following history of Poland didn't help the issue at all. Just in the recent years, the renovation work of the mound has began and it's not completely finished yet.