Inductive method of Feliks Koneczny in the study of civilizations and historical laws

The article presents an inductive research method used by Cracow historian Felix Koneczny, used in the study of civilization and historical laws, which according to the scientist proved, that history is on par with the natural sciences.

Against the background of modern nation-building the article looks at the work of two eminent 19th century historians, the Pole Joachim Lelewel and the Russian Mikhail Pogodin. The text investigates how they tried to shape a modern Slavic Idea by means of historical and political writing.

The paper focuses on history and historicism in the poetry book by Ján Kollár Slávy dcera. It casts light on the historiography of the first half of the nineteenth century and its connection to nationalism, Romanticism and the formation of a modern nation.

The paper presents the relations of Jaroslav Valenta (1930-2004), a prominent Czech researcher of the most recent Polish history, with a number of Polish historians. The picture of these complex relations in the years 1965-1996 has been built up the basis on archival sources.