Whirlwinds of Danger (original Polish title: Warszawianka) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

revolutionary song written some time between 1879 and 1883. The Polish title, a deliberate reference to the earlier song by the same title, could be translated as either The Varsovian, The Song of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

(as in the

Leon Lishner Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

version) or "the lady of Warsaw". To distinguish between the two, it is often called "Warszawianka 1905 roku" ("Warszawianka of 1905"), after the song became the anthem of worker protests during the

Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–1907) A major part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 took place in the Russian Partition of Poland and lasted until 1907 (see Congress Poland and Privislinsky Krai). It was the largest wave of strikes and widest emancipatory movement that Poland had e ...

, when 30 workers were shot during the May Day demonstrations in

in 1905. According to one version, Wacław Święcicki wrote the song in 1879 while serving a sentence in the

Tenth Pavilion Warsaw Citadel (Polish: Cytadela Warszawska) is a 19th-century fortress in Warsaw, Poland. It was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I after the suppression of the 1830 November Uprising in order to bolster imperial Russian control of the city. ...

of the

Warsaw Citadel Warsaw Citadel (Polish: Cytadela Warszawska) is a 19th-century fortress in Warsaw, Poland. It was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I after the suppression of the 1830 November Uprising in order to bolster imperial Russian control of the city. I ...

for socialist activity. Another popular version has it written in 1883, immediately upon Święcicki's return from exile in Siberia. By the beginning of the next decade the song became one of the most popular revolutionary anthems in Russian-held Poland. The music was written by composer Józef Pławiński, who was imprisoned together with Święcicki, inspired partially by the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

song "Marsz Żuawów".

Lyrics and variants

Its Russian version with altered lyrics, which removed any mention of Warsaw from the song, the "Varshavianka" (''Варшавянка''), once experienced considerable popularity. Gleb Krzhizhanovsky is usually reported as the author of the Russian version and the moment of writing the text is thought to be 1897, when Krzhizhanovsky was imprisoned. The Spanish song "

To The Barricades "A las Barricadas" ("To the Barricades") was one of the most popular songs of the Anarchism in Spain, Spanish anarchists during the Spanish Civil War. "A las Barricadas" is sung to the tune of "Whirlwinds of Danger" ("Warszawianka"), composed ...

" is set to the same tune. In

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, a German translation was created and used as a common piece of marching music by the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

; whilst France's

1st Parachute Hussar Regiment The 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (french: List of French paratrooper units, 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, List of French paratrooper units, 1er RHP) is an List of French paratrooper units, airborne cavalry unit in the French Army, fou ...

adopted the same music using different lyrics. In 1924, Isadora Duncan composed a dance routine called ''Varshavianka'' to the tune of the song. An English version of the lyrics, originally titled "March Song of the Workers", but known more widely as "Whirlwinds of Danger", was written by Douglas Robson, a member of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

March Song of the Workers – Protest Song Lyrics
/ref> in the 1920s. A London recording of this version by "Rufus John" Goss, made ca. 1925, is available online. It was notably sung by Paul Robeson (only the first stanza)Paul Robeson's performance of the Warszawianka
/ref> and

(full version, but with modified lyrics).Leon Lishner – Varshavianka
/ref> A different version, which kept Robson's first stanza, but with the second and third completely rewritten by

Randall Swingler Randall Carline Swingler MM (28 May 1909 – 19 June 1967) was an English poet, writing extensively in the 1930s in the communist interest. Early life and education His was a prosperous upper middle class Anglican family in Aldershot, with an ...

, was published in 1938. Alan Bush and

, ''The Left Song Book''.

Gollancz Gollancz may refer to: * Gollancz (surname), a Polish-Jewish surname * Victor Gollancz Ltd, a former British publishing house, now used as an imprint by the Orion Publishing Group See also * Gołańcz Gołańcz (german: Gollantsch) is a town ...

1938. However, this version never achieved major popularity. In 1936,

Valeriano Orobón Fernández Valeriano Orobón Fernández (1901–1936) was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist theoretician, trade-union activist, translator and poet, who wrote the lyrics of the revolutionary song ''A Las Barricadas''. Born in Cistérniga, Valladolid (province) ...

adapted "Warszawianka" in Spanish as " A las Barricadas", which became one of the most popular songs of the Spanish anarchists during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In the early 2010s, Zin Lin, a Burmese student activist, wrote a Burmese version of the song based on the Spanish version.

Polish versions

English translations

Other versions

In films

*The first words of the Russian version served as a name for 1953 film ''

Hostile Whirlwinds ''Hostile Whirlwinds'' (russian: Вихри враждебные, Vikhri vrazhdebnye) is a 1953 Soviet historical film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov based on a screenplay by Nikolai Pogodin. Plot summary Film portrays the first years of Soviet ...

''. *In ''

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

'', an instrumental version of the song is played by the peaceful demonstrators in Moscow. *The song, in version performed by The Red Army Choir, featured in the opening credits of '' The Jackal'' (credited as "Warsovienne"), as well as in the submarine scene of ''

Hail, Caesar! ''Hail, Caesar!'' is a 2016 period mystery musical black comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. An American-British-Japanese co-production, the film stars Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenr ...

'' (credited as "Varchavianka"). *The song, with altered lyrics, is used in the second episode of the 2018 Polish Netflix Series ''

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Citations

References

;Books * * * ;Journals *

External links

The English version, performed by Rufus John

The English version, performed by

Whirlwinds of Danger (Douglas Robson) – annotated lyrics
at Genius.com
Whirlwinds of Danger (Randall Swingler) – annotated lyrics
at Genius.com
Warszawianka (Whirlwinds of Danger) (Vii-Pii) – annoted lyrics
at Genius.com
The Russian version

The German version

The French Version

"The Jackal" opening scene
from

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{Authority control 1879 songs Polish songs Polish-language songs Protest songs Polish military marches Communist songs