Told in flashback as Mieszko lies feverish in his bed just before the Battle of Cedynia, Gniazdo recounts how the revered leader extended Poland's borders, formed an alliance with Emperor Otto I, and ultimately strengthened his country's autonomy by achieving victory during that crucial battle in the year 972.

Dr Raduski returns from abroad to his hometown. He starts a profitable business there and revives the town's cultural life. However, the tsarist government and local nobles don't take kindly to his presence and try to sabotage him.

Fall 1925. Six hundred officers demonstrate in front of Józef Piłsudski’s country house in Sulejówek, demanding the Marshal’s return to active political life. May 1926—a government crisis; Wincenty Witos forms a new government. Piłsudski’s move sparks clashes between supporters and opponents of the ousted government. Piłsudski appoints Kazimierz Bartel as prime minister. The beginning of the “moral reform.” Ignacy Mościcki becomes president. Summer 1930. A joint platform of opponents to the Sanacja government is formed. “Centrolew” is established.

Soon after the end of the war, a former officer moves to a small seaside town in the Recovered Lands. The situation in this post-German territory is still unsettled.

A captain and lieutenant of the Russian army are buried in the basement of the Przemysl Fortress during the First World War.

Unconventional pedagogical methods of a new teacher raise concerns of the provincial school's principal.

The Republic of Poland of the 16th century. During the period of religious tolerance, the Sieniawski and Bielecki families compete with each other.