The capital of Poland in the first third of the 16th century. Poland in the 16th century

How many capitals did Poland have?

We all know that the modern capital of Poland is Warsaw. But has it always been like this? How many capitals did Poland have and why did they change? After all, the Commonwealth can boast that in its entire history it had about a dozen capital cities!

How many capitals were there in Poland?

Getch (Giecz)

Getch is the first official capital of the Polish Principality from 860 to 1038 (with minor interruptions). The capital city of Sack I and his son Bolesław the Brave. The city is located in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, 25 kilometers from Gniezno and 30 from Poznan. One of the largest and main political and commercial centers of early medieval Poland, identified primarily with the Piast dynasty. After the Bohemian prince Bretislav I attacked Getch in 10038 and practically destroyed the city, he was never able to restore his former significance. Today, Goch is a tiny, calm village, on the territory of which there is a wonderful archaeological reserve.


Getch. First capital of Poland

Poznań

Poznań was the capital of the Polish Crown from 940 to 1039. Most likely, it was in Poznan that Mieszko converted to Christianity and this city became the spiritual capital of the Commonwealth for many years. Since 968, the residence of the first bishop of Poland, St. Jordan, was located in Poznań. The capital career stopped in 1039, after the destruction of the city by the same Bzhetislav.


Poznań (medieval miniature)

Gniezno

Gniezno was on the list of "acting" Polish capitals from 940 to 1039. This city was founded by the glades at the end of the 8th century, and during the years of Sack I, it significantly expanded and strengthened. There is nothing surprising in the fact that three cities at once performed the functions of the capital. The fact is that medieval princes rarely sat in one place, and the location of their residences was thought out in such a way that the entire principality was “in the palm of your hand”. It was in Gniezno, in the year 1000, that the landmark meeting of Bolesław I the Brave and Emperor Otto III took place, and a quarter of a century later, the coronation of Bolesław. But in 1939 Gniezno repeated the fate of his brothers (of course - with the assistance of Bzhetislav already known to us) and the royal throne urgently moved to the next capital.


Gniezno - Piast city

Krakow

Destroyed, torn apart Greater Poland. Getch, Poznań and Gniezno lie in ruins. Casimir I the Restorer, who collected the Polish Crown in fragments, appoints the city of Krakow as his capital city. Krakow has been performing the functions of the capital since 1040, and in 1079 it loses the proud title of the Polish capital. This fact is associated with the execution of Bishop Stanislav and the rebellion of the gentry against the policies of Boleslav II the Bold - the son of Casimir I, who later fled to Hungary.


Krakow (medieval miniature)

Płock

After the flight of Boleslav II (1079), the Polish Crown went to Vladislav I Herman, and the city of Plock became the capital of Poland. After the death of Vladislav, the throne passes to Boleslav III Krivousty, who was born in Plock. According to the will of Krivousty, in 1138 (after the death of the king), the Kingdom of Poland was divided into separate county principalities, and Plock was renamed the capital of the principality of Mazovia.


Plock. Tumskoye Vzgorye

Krakow

And now the title of capital city returns to Krakow. But - now this city is the capital of the Lesser Poland Principality and performs this function from 1138 to 1290. During this time, Krakow had to go through a lot. The first shock was the decrease in the influence of the Krakow princes on other principalities, the second was the destruction of the city during the Tatar-Mongol invasion in 1241.


Medieval Krakow

Poznań

In 1290, the capital again "moved" to Poznań by decree of Przemysl II. Lacking proper support among the gentry, Przemysl is forced to give Lesser Poland to Przemyslida, but later, having established close relations with Vladislav Loketok and in accordance with the Kempin agreements, he still defends his right to the coronation. In 1296, Przemysl II was killed, and Poland had to change its capital again.

Poznan, Central Square

Krakow

The assassination of King Przemysl II of Poland in 1296 greatly pleased Wenceslas II of Bohemia, who in one fell swoop got rid of his main competitor and was able to present his claims to the Polish Crown. Well, Krakow, by the way, was suitable for the role of the new capital. This time the city was lucky - it performed the functions of the capital from 1290 to 1609. And only Sigismund III Vasa, known for his love of luxury, became crowded in Krakow and he ordered to transfer the capital to elegant Renaissance Warsaw. However, the capital title was never officially withdrawn from Krakow, and for a long time it remained a symbol of the Crown - it was worn on the heads of Polish kings in the Wawel Cathedral.


Wawel Castle of the City of Kings

Warsaw

To be honest, Warsaw has served as the capital city since 1413, being the capital of the Principality of Mazovia. In 1611, Sigismund III Vasa makes Warsaw the main and only capital of the Kingdom of Poland. This title will belong to Warsaw until ... 1939, having survived the era of the Napoleonic Principality of Warsaw, and the times of the Congress, and Tsarist Russia, and Austria-Hungary, and the first Independence. He was not destined to survive only the Second World War. German troops practically wiped Warsaw off the face of the earth.


Warsaw

Lublin

On July 22, 1944, radio "Moskva" announced the creation in the "liberated" Chelm of the Polish Committee for the People's Liberation, and already on July 27 that same committee was solemnly brought to Lublin. In fact, it was a temporary body of power approved by Comrade Stalin himself. On the same day, a document was signed in Moscow on the USSR's renunciation of claims on the territory of Eastern Kresy in favor of Poland. During the year, Lublin was officially the only state capital of Poland.


Lublin. First socialist capital

And the final touch to our story about the Polish capitals: in 1952, according to the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland, the state for the first time received a legally confirmed capital city - Warsaw.

For the first time about Poland, as a state, it became known back in the tenth century. At that time, Poland was already a fairly large state, which was created by the Piast dynasty, uniting the tribal principalities. The very first ruler of Poland was Mieszko the first, he ruled from 960 for 32 years. Mieszko was from the Psyatov dynasty, he ruled on the lands located between the Vistula River and the Horde River, this is the so-called Greater Poland. Mieszko was the first to fight German pressure to the east; in 966, the Polish people adhered to Christianity of the Latin rite. In 988, Mieszko was the first to annex Silesia and Pomerania to Poland, and two years later Moravia. Then, after Mieszko the first ruler, his eldest son, Boleslav I the Brave, became the ruler, he led the country from 992 for 33 years and was the most prominent ruler of Poland at that time. Boleslav I the Brave ruled the lands from the Horde to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. Bolesław acquired the title of king in 1025, after he had greatly strengthened the independence of Poland. When Boleslav passed away, the power of the feudal lords, who were directed against the central government, increased significantly, this led to the fact that Mazovia, as well as Pomerania, seceded from Poland.

Feudal fragmentation

From 1102 to 1138 Boleslav III ruled the state. During the years of his reign, Boleslav returned Pomerania, and after he passed away, Poland was divided by his sons. Over Krakow, Greater Poland and Pomerania, the eldest son of Boleslav Vladislav II ruled. But by the end of the twelfth century, Poland was divided. This collapse led to the fact that there was political chaos, the vassals refused to recognize the power of the king and, taking support from the church, significantly limited his power.

In the XII century, most of Poland was devastated by the Mongol-Tatars, who came from the east. Also, the country was often raided by pagan Lithuanians, as well as Prussians from the north. In 1226, the prince of Mazovia, who ruled at that time, Konrad, in order to somehow protect and protect his possessions, invited the Teutonic knights from the military-religious order of the crusaders to help. A little time passed and the Teutonic Knights managed to conquer part of the territory of the Baltic lands, which were later called East Prussia. German colonists settled on this land. Already in 1308, the state, which was created by the Teutonic Knights, cut off Poland's access to the Baltic Sea.

Decline of the central government

For the reason that Poland became fragmented, the country became even more dependent on the highest aristocracy and the petty nobility, the state needed them in order to gain protection from external enemies. There were many German settlers on the territory of the Polish lands, for the reason that the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuanian tribes exterminated the population. These settlers themselves created cities that existed according to the laws of Magdeburg Law. They could also sweep the land like free peasants. Polish peasants at that time began to fall into serfdom.

Vladislav Loketok, during his reign, was involved in the reunification of most of Poland. Already in 1320 he was crowned as Vladislav I. But the country was completely revived after his son, whose name was Casimir III the Great, began to rule, he ruled from 1333 for 37 years. Casimir managed to strengthen the power of the kings, he also carried out management reforms, changed the monetary and legal system, in 1347, he established new laws, which were called the Wislice Statutes. He made life easier for the peasants, and also allowed Jews to live in Poland who were victims of religious persecution in Western Europe. He did a lot to return access to the Baltic Sea, but he failed to achieve this. Also during his reign, Silesia was ceded to Bohemia. But he managed to capture Volhynia, Podolia, and also Galicia. Casimir III the Great in 1364, in Krakow, formed the first university in Poland by the Sami, now it is considered one of the oldest ancient universities in Europe. Casimir did not have a son, so he gave the kingdom to his nephew, whose name was Louis I the Great. At that time, Ludwig was the most influential monarch in Europe. He ruled from 1370 to 1382. In 1374, the Polish nobles received the right to ensure that the amount for paying taxes did not exceed a certain amount. In turn, the nobles promised that the throne in the future would be with the daughter of Ludwig.

Jagiellonian dynasty

When Ludwig passed away, the Poles wanted his daughter Jadwiga to be their new queen. She was the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who ruled in Poland from 1386 to 1434, his name was Vladislav II. Vladislav the second, who at one time converted to Christianity, taught the Lithuanian people to Christianity. He formed one of the most powerful dynasties in all of Europe by uniting Lithuania and Poland. Lithuania was the last state in Europe to adopt Christianity, for this reason the presence of the Teutonic Order of the Crusaders in this territory did not make sense. But the crusaders did not want to leave these lands. In 1410, in Grunwald, a battle took place between the Poles and Lithuanians, with the Teutonic Order, as a result of which the Teutonic Order was defeated. In 1413, the Polish-Lithuanian Union was approved in Horodlo, at that time institutions of the Polish standard began to appear in Lithuania.

When Casimir the fourth ruled, this is from 1447 to 1492, he wanted to impose restrictions on the rights of the church and the nobles, but still he had to confirm their privileges and the rights of the diet. Poland's war with the Teutonic Order lasted for thirteen years from 1454 to 1466. Poland gained victory in that struggle, and on October 19, 1466, an agreement was concluded in Torun, according to which Pomerania, as well as Gdansk, returned to Poland.

Golden Age of Poland

In Poland, the so-called golden age fell on the sixteenth century. It was during this period that Poland was practically the largest state in Europe, and the culture in the country was in its prime. But also for the country there was no small threat from the Russian state, since it claimed the territory of the former Kievan Rus. In the city of Radom in 1505, King Alexander, who ruled the state from 1501 to 1506, adopted a constitution called "nihil novi" "nothing new". This constitution stated that parliament had the right to an equal vote with the monarch when state decisions were made, as well as the right to veto all matters that related to the nobility. Also in this constitution it was indicated that the parliament should consist of two chambers, this is the Sejm, it represented the petty nobility, and the Senate, it represented the highest aristocracy, as well as the highest clergy.

Poland had large and open borders, and there were frequent wars, so accordingly the army had to be constantly trained and updated in order to keep the kingdom safe. But the monarchs did not have enough finances to maintain a quality army. For this reason, they were given parliamentary sanctions, which were simply necessary for large expenses. For their loyalty, the petty nobility and aristocracy claimed all sorts of privileges. Later, a system was formed in Poland, which was called "small local noble democracy", which expanded more and more over time.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Albrecht of Brandenburg, who was Master of the Teutonic Knights in 1525, converted to Lutheranism. The Polish king who ruled at that time, Sigismund I from 1506 to 1548, gave Albrecht permission to transform the possession of the Teutonic Order into the hereditary Duchy of Prussia under Polish suzerainty.

The last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty was Sigismund II Augustus, who ruled from 1548 to 1572. During his reign, Poland gained the strongest power in all the past years. The city of Krakow is practically the largest European center of the humanities, architecture, Renaissance art, as well as Polish poetry and prose, and for many years the center of the Reformation. In 1561, Livonia was annexed to Poland, and in the summer of 1569, when there was a Livonian war with Russia, the personal royal Polish-Lithuanian union was replaced by the Union of Lublin. The Lithuanian-Polish state began to be called differently, namely the Commonwealth (Polish “common cause”). At that time, the aristocracy elected the same king, both in Lithuania and in Poland. They also had a common parliament (Seim), the same laws and even common money.

Elective Kings: The Decline of the Polish State

After Sigismund II, who had no children, passed away, the central power in the large Lithuanian-Polish state became much weaker. At a meeting of the Sejm, a new king, Henry (Henrik) Valois, was chosen, he ruled from 1573 to 1574.

After a while, they began to call him Henry III of France. Despite the fact that he was king, he was still pressured to accept the principle of "free election" (election of the king by the gentry), as well as the "consent pact" to which each new monarch had to take an oath. Since then, the right to choose a new king has been transferred to the Sejm. The king did not have the right to start a war, and also to increase the amount of tax payments without a formal agreement of parliament. The king had to adhere to a neutral side in matters of religion, and he also had to choose a wife on the recommendations of the senate. The council constantly made recommendations to the king, it included about sixteen senators, who were chosen by the Sejm. In the event that the King did not fulfill at least one article, the people could refuse obedience. In general, the Henryk articles changed the status of the state. Poland was a limited monarchy, but it became an aristocratic parliamentary republic, the head of the executive branch was elected for life, but he did not have all the powers to freely govern the state.

Istvan Bathory / Stefan Bathory (1533-1586)

Stefan Batory ruled the state for nine years from 1575. The supreme power in Poland had significantly weakened by this time, the borders were still poorly defended from aggressive neighbors, whose power was based on centralization and military force. Henry of Valois was in power for only a year, after which he went to France. There he became king after the death of his brother Charles IX. Further, for a long time, the Senate could not agree with the Sejm who to choose as the next king of the state. But already in 1575, the gentry made their choice, in favor of the prince of Transylvania, whose name was Stefan Batory. His wife was a princess from the Jagiellonian dynasty. During his reign, the king managed to strengthen his power over the city of Gdansk, oust Ivan the Terrible from the Baltic states, and also return Livonia. In the country itself, he obtained help in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. Stefan Batory introduced privileges to Jewish residents, they were since then allowed to have their own parliament. The king also carried out reforms in the judicial system and in 1579 opened the famous University of Vilna (Vilnius).

Sigismund III Vasa ruled from 1587 to 1632. He was a Catholic, his father was Johan III of Sweden, and his mother was Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I. Sigismund III Vasa set out to create a Polish-Swedish coalition to fight Russia, as well as return Sweden to Catholicism. Already in 1592 he became the Swedish king.

Zealous Catholic, Sigismund III Vasa (r. 1587–1632)

In order to spread Catholicism among the Orthodox believers in Brest in 1596, a Uniate church was founded. In this church, everyone recognized the Pope, but still continued to use Orthodox rites. Since at that time there was a possibility of seizing the Moscow throne, after the Rurik dynasty crossed, the Commonwealth was involved in the war with Russia. Already in 1610, Polish troops managed to capture Moscow. The Moscow boyars offered the Vatican throne to Sigismund's son, Vladislav. But some time later, the Muscovites, together with the people's militia, rebelled, and the Poles had to leave the territory of Moscow. Sigismund tried for a long time to introduce absolutism into Poland, since at that time he was already all over Europe, but because of these attempts there was a rebellion of the gentry and the king lost prestige.

After the death of Albrecht II of Prussia in 1618, the Elector of Brandenburg begins to rule the Duchy of Prussia. At this time, near the Baltic Sea, Polish possessions became a corridor connecting two provinces of one German state.

decline

While the state was ruled by the son of Sigismund Vladislav IV, from 1632 to 1648, the Ukrainian Cossacks rebelled against the Polish state. Numerous Polish wars with Turkey and Russia adversely affected the state of the country. The gentry, on the other hand, had multiple privileges, they had political rights, and were also exempted from income taxes. And since 1648, when Vladislav Jan Casimir became the ruler, who ruled for 20 years, the Cossack freemen generally began to behave militantly. The Swedes captured almost all of Poland, and this part included the capital of the state, the city of Warsaw. The king, in order to save his life, was forced to hide in Silesia . Poland gave up its sovereign rights to East Prussia in 1657. For the reason that Poland was defeated in the war with Russia, in 1667, the Andrusovo truce was drawn up, according to which the state lost Kyiv, as well as all areas near the Dnieper. The country began to separate a little. The magnates, pursuing their interests, united with the states that were in the neighborhood. The gentry also continued to defend their own freedom, which could not but adversely affect the situation in the country. In 1652, the gentry acted on the principle of "liberum veto", which meant that any deputy could block a decision that he did not like. Also, deputies were free to dissolve the Sejm, and propose any ideas that the new composition had already considered. Some of the neighboring powers shamelessly used these privileges. They either bribed or used some other means in order to frustrate those decisions of the Sejm that did not suit them. For many reasons, King Jan Casimir simply could not stand it, and in 1688, at the peak of internal anarchy and discord, he abdicated the Polish throne.

External intervention: prelude to partition

From 1669 to 1673, Mikhail Vishnevsky was the ruler. He was an unprincipled person, as he played along with the Habsburgs and simply gave Podolia to the Turks. Jan III Sobieski, who was his nephew and ruled from 1674 to 1969, waged a war with the Ottoman Empire that was successful. He also liberated Vienna from the Turks in 1683. But, based on the agreement, which was called "Eternal Peace", Jan had to cede some lands to Russia, in exchange for these lands he received a promise that Russia would help them in the fight against the Crimean Tatars, as well as the Turks.

After Jan III Sobieski passed away, the state was ruled by foreigners for seventy years. From 1697 to 1704, the Elector of Saxony, August II, ruled, then from 1734 to 1763, the son of August II, August III, ruled. He created an alliance with Peter I, and he managed to return Volhynia, as well as Podolia. August II stopped the exhausting Polish-Turkish wars by signing the Peace of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire in 1699. He also tried for a long time to win back the Baltic coast from Charles XII (King of Sweden), but all his attempts were not successful. But already in 1704, August II had to leave the throne in 1704, giving way to Stanislav Leshchinsky, as he was supported by Sweden. But then he returned to the throne again, after the battle of Poltava took place in 1709, in which Peter I defeated Charles XII. In 1733, the Poles were supported by the French, and they again chose Stanislav as king, but some time later, Russian troops removed him from the throne. Stanislav II was the last Polish king. August III, in turn, acted on the instructions of Russia. Only politically inclined patriots did their best to save the state. Opinions were enormously divided, in one faction of the Sejm, headed by Prince Czartoryski, they did everything to cancel the destructive “liberum veto”, while in the other faction of the Sejm, which was headed by Potocki, they were categorically against the fact that freedoms were limited. The Czartorykiogo party began to seek support from the Russians, and already in 1764, the Russian Empress Catherine II, ensured that Stanislaw Augusta Poniatowski became the king of Poland. Poland became even more controlled by Russia when N.V. Repnin was the prince, when he was ambassador to Poland in 1767, putting pressure on the Sejm, retained the equality of confessions and retained the “liberum veto”. These actions led to the fact that in 1768, there was an uprising of Catholics, as well as a war between Turkey and Russia.

Partitions of Poland

First section

In 1768-1774, when there was a Russian-Turkish war, Russia, Austria and Prussia divided Poland for the first time. This happened in 1772, and already in 1773, the section was ratified by the Sejm, under pressure from the occupiers. Part of Pomerania, as well as Kuyavia, with the exception of the two cities of Gdansk and Torun, went to Austria. Galicia, and Western Podolia and a small territory of Lesser Poland went to Prussia. Lands from the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper were transferred to Russia. In the country after the Radel, a new constitution was introduced, in which the "liberum veto" was preserved, as well as an elective monarchy. The State Council was formed, which included 36 members of the Sejm. After the partition, social movements for reforms, as well as national revival, began to appear more and more often. The Jesuit order was dissolved in 1773, and instead a commission for public education was created, its goal was to reorganize the system of educational institutions. On May 3, 1791, a new constitution was adopted by a four-year Sejm, which was headed by Stanislav Malakhovsky, Ignaz Potocki and Hugo Kollontai. From this constitution it followed that Poland becomes a hereditary monarchy with a ministerial system of executive power and a parliament that must be elected every two years. The pernicious orders were abolished, including the principle of "liberum veto". Cities became administratively as well as judicially autonomous. Preparatory measures were carried out in full force aimed at the further abolition of serfdom, as well as the organization of a regular army. The parliament at that time had the opportunity to work normally and carry out any reforms, only for the reason that Russia was at war with Sweden, and Turkey supported Poland. But a little time passed and the magnates, who formed the Targowice Confederation, opposed the constitution, and at its call, troops from Prussia and Russia were brought into Poland.

Second and third sections

The second partition of Poland took place on January 23, 1793, the state was divided by Russia and Prussia. Prussia managed to capture Greater Poland, Gdansk, Torun, and also Mazovia. Russia, on the other hand, got most of Lithuania and Belarus, almost all of Volhynia, as well as Podolia. The Polish army fought for its state, but was defeated. All the reforms carried out by the Four-Year Diet were simply canceled, and the country began to look more and more like a puppet state. Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1794, led a massive popular uprising, which did not end in anything good. On October 24, 1795, the third partition of Poland took place, this time with the participation of Austria. After this partition, Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.

foreign rule. Grand Duchy of Warsaw

Even though Poland ceased to exist as a state, the Poles still hoped to restore the independence of their country. Almost every new generation has tried to do something about it. They either sought support from the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or raised large-scale uprisings. At the time when Napoleon I began his military campaigns against monarchical Europe, Polish legions were formed in France. In 1807, when Prussia was defeated by Napoleon, he created the Grand Duchy of Warsaw from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions. Two years later, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw included the lands that were part of Austria after the third partition. The size of miniature Poland, which was independent of France, was 160,000 square meters, and the population in the country at that time was 4,350,000 inhabitants. The Poles believed that with the creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, their complete liberation would come.

After Napoleon was defeated, in 1815 the Congress of Vienna approved the division of Poland. The city of Krakow was declared a free city-republic. In 1815, the western territory of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and began to bear a different name, the Grand Duchy of Poznań. The rest of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw joined the Russian Empire. In 1830, there was an uprising of the Poles against Russia, but this uprising did not give any positive results. Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, and he also began to carry out repressions. The Poles fought as best they could and in 1846 and in 1848 they staged large-scale uprisings, but failed over and over again. In 1863, there was again an uprising against Russia, they fought for two years, but Russia again won the fight. While capital began to develop in Russia, the Russification of Polish society is gaining momentum. But already in 1905, after the revolution took place in Russia, the situation improved slightly. From 1905 to 1917, Polish deputies held numerous meetings about the autonomy of Poland.

In those territories controlled by Prussia, active Germanization of the former regions of Poland was carried out. They closed Polish educational institutions, expropriated the farms of Polish peasants. In 1848, Russia assisted Prussia in putting down the Poznan uprising. And in 1863, Prussia and Russia signed an agreement called the Alvensleben Convention, which stipulated that they would help each other in the fight against the Polish national movement. Even despite such pressure from the authorities, in the nineteenth century the Poles of Prussia still represented a powerful organized national community.

Polish lands within Austria

In those lands that were under Austria, the situation was much better. In 1846, the Krakow uprising took place, after which the regime was liberalized, and Galicia acquired local administrative control. Education in schools was again conducted in Polish. Lviv and Jagiellonian universities, all-Polish cultural centers. In the 20th century, new Polish political parties began to emerge. Polish society acted against assimilation, and this was observed in all parts of the divided Poland. The Poles began to focus on the fight against the preservation of the Polish language and Polish culture.

World War I

It so happened that the First World War divided the countries that took Poland's independence. Russia was at war with Austria-Hungary and Germany. This whole situation was twofold for the Poles, on the one hand they had fateful opportunities, and on the other hand, new difficulties. The first is that they had to fight in opposing armies. The second is that Poland has become an arena for hostilities. And the third thing is that the relations between the Polish parties have escalated significantly. The Party of Conservative National Democrats, headed by Roman Domovsky, was of the opinion that Germany was their main enemy, and naturally they wanted to see the Entente as the winner. Their goal was to unite the Polish lands and gain autonomy. The radicals, in turn, led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), were of the opinion that in order to gain independence it is necessary that Russia be defeated in this war. They also believed that they should create their own armed forces. Some time before the First World War began, Jozef Pilsudski, who was the leader of this party, conducted military exercises for Polish youth in Galicia. When the fighting took place, Pilsudski formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.

Polish question

On August 14, 1914, Nicholas was the first to officially promise, at the end of the war, to unite the three parts of Poland into one autonomous state, which would be within the Russian Empire. But in the fall, a year after the promise, part of Poland, which was under Russia, was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and already on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of these two states announced a manifesto that an independent Polish Kingdom was being created in the Russian part of Poland. After the February Revolution took place in Russia, on March 30, 1917, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. Jozef Pilsudski, who in 1917 fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and because he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany, his legions were simply disbanded. In the summer of 1917, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was formed in France with the help of the Entente. This committee was headed by Roman Dmowski and Ignaz Paderewski. In the same year, the Polish army was formed, led by Jozef Haller. On November 8, 1918, the President of the United States of America, Wilson put forward his demands for the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. Already in the summer of 1918, Poland was officially recognized as a country that was fighting on the side of the Entente. While the Central Powers were experiencing decay and collapse, it was decided by the Regency Council to create an independent Polish state. On November 14, all power in the country was transferred to Pilsudski. At that time, Germany had already been defeated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and a civil war had begun in Russia.

State formation

Of course, the new state had no small difficulties. And the villages and cities were in a state of ruin, there was practically no connection in the economy, it has been developing for a long time within the framework of the three states. Poland had neither its own currency, nor state institutions, nor did they discuss clear borders with neighboring countries. But, even despite all these problems, the state was rebuilt at a fast pace, and they also tried to restore the economic situation in the country in full force. On January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and the head of the Polish delegation, Dmowski, was also elected. On January 26, 1919, the Sejm appointed Piłsudski as head of state.

The Question of Borders

At the Versailles Conference, the northern and western borders were determined. It was also decided that part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea was transferred to Poland, and the city of Gdansk began to be considered a "free city". On July 28, 1920, a conference of ambassadors agreed on the southern border. Between the two states of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the city of Cieszyn and its suburb of Cesky Teszyn were divided. On February 10, 1922, the regional assembly decided to annex the city of Wilno (Vilnius) to Poland. On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski concluded an agreement with Petliura, and launched an offensive in order to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. The Poles took Kyiv on May 7, but already in July the Red Army drove them out of there. Already at the end of July, the Bolsheviks were approaching Warsaw, but the Poles were able to withstand and the enemy was defeated. Then on March 18, 1921, there was the Treaty of Riga, which spoke of a territorial compromise for both sides.

Foreign policy

The leaders of the new Polish Republic adhered to the policy of non-alignment in order to somehow secure their state. The country did not join the Little Entente, consisting of Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. On January 25, 1932, Poland signed a non-aggression pact against the USSR.

In 1993, when Adolf Hitler began to rule in Germany, Poland was unable to conclude an alliance with France, at that time France concluded a “consent and cooperation pact” with Italy and Germany. In 1934, Poland concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany for ten years. Poland also extended the term of the same treaty with the USSR. In 1936, Poland again tried to negotiate the support of France and Belgium, in case hostilities broke out with Germany. In 1938, Poland captured the Czechoslovak part of the Teszyn region. But already in 1939, Hitler captured Czechoslovakia and began to put forward territorial claims to Poland. France and Great Britain at that time gave guarantees for the preservation of Polish territorial integrity.

In 1939, negotiations were held in Moscow between France, England and the USSR. The Soviet Union at these negotiations put forward demands for the occupation of the eastern part of Poland, and the USSR also participated in secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, the German-Soviet non-aggression pact was signed. It followed from the secret protocols that Poland would be divided between Germany and the USSR. This treaty, one might say, untied Hitler's hands. And already on September 1, 1939, German troops came to the Polish lands and the Second World War broke out.

The first reliable information about Poland dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Poland was even then a relatively large state, created by the Piast dynasty by combining several tribal principalities. The first historically reliable ruler of Poland was Mieszko I (reigned 960-992) from the Piast dynasty, whose possessions - Greater Poland - were located between the Odra and Vistula rivers. Under the reign of Mieszko I, who fought against German expansion to the east, the Poles in 966 were converted to Christianity of the Latin rite. In 988 Mieszko annexed Silesia and Pomerania to his principality, and in 990 Moravia. His eldest son Bolesław I the Brave (r. 992–1025) became one of Poland's most prominent rulers. He established his power in the territory from the Odra and Nysa to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. Having strengthened the independence of Poland in the wars with the Holy Roman Empire, Bolesław took the title of king (1025). After the death of Boleslav, the growing feudal nobility opposed the central government, which led to the separation of Mazovia and Pomerania from Poland.

Feudal fragmentation

Bolesław III (r. 1102–1138) regained Pomerania, but after his death the territory of Poland was divided among his sons. The eldest - Vladislav II - received power over the capital Krakow, Greater Poland and Pomerania. In the second half of the 12th c. Poland, like its neighbors Germany and Kievan Rus, fell apart. The collapse led to political chaos; the vassals soon refused to recognize the sovereignty of the king and, with the help of the church, significantly limited his power.

Teutonic Knights

In the middle of the 13th c. Mongol-Tatar invasion from the east devastated most of Poland. No less dangerous for the country were the incessant raids of pagan Lithuanians and Prussians from the north. To protect his possessions, the prince of Mazovia Konrad in 1226 invited the Teutonic knights from the military-religious order of the Crusaders to the country. Within a short time, the Teutonic Knights conquered part of the Baltic lands, which later became known as East Prussia. This land was settled by German colonists. In 1308, the state created by the Teutonic Knights cut off Poland's access to the Baltic Sea.

Decline of the central government

As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, the dependence of the state on the highest aristocracy and the petty nobility began to grow, whose support it needed to protect itself from external enemies. The extermination of the population by the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuanian tribes led to an influx of German settlers into the Polish lands, who either created cities themselves, governed by the laws of Magdeburg law, or received land as free peasants. In contrast, the Polish peasants, like the peasants of almost all of Europe at that time, began to gradually fall into serfdom.

The reunification of most of Poland was carried out by Vladislav Loketok (Ladislav the Short) from Kuyavia, a principality in the north-central part of the country. In 1320 he was crowned as Vladislav I. However, the national revival is more connected with the successful rule of his son, Casimir III the Great (r. 1333–1370). Casimir strengthened the royal power, reformed the administration, legal and monetary systems according to the Western model, promulgated a set of laws called the Wislice Statutes (1347), eased the situation of the peasants and allowed Jews to settle in Poland - victims of religious persecution in Western Europe. He failed to regain access to the Baltic Sea; he also lost Silesia (withdrawn to the Czech Republic), but captured in the east Galicia, Volhynia and Podolia. In 1364 Casimir founded the first Polish university in Krakow, one of the oldest in Europe. Having no son, Casimir bequeathed the kingdom to his nephew Louis I the Great (Louis of Hungary), at that time one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe. Under Louis (r. 1370–1382), Polish nobles (gentry) received the so-called. Kosice privileges (1374), according to which they were exempted from almost all taxes, having received the right not to pay taxes above a certain amount. In return, the nobles promised to transfer the throne to one of the daughters of King Louis.

Jagiellonian dynasty

After the death of Louis, the Poles turned to his youngest daughter Jadwiga with a request to become their queen. Jadwiga married Jagiello (Jogaila, or Jagiello), the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who ruled in Poland under the name Vladislav II (r. 1386–1434). Vladislav II accepted Christianity himself and converted the Lithuanian people to it, founding one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. The vast territories of Poland and Lithuania were united in a powerful state union. Lithuania became the last pagan people in Europe to adopt Christianity, so the presence of the Teutonic Order of the Crusaders here lost its meaning. However, the crusaders were no longer going to leave. In 1410, the Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald. In 1413 they approved the Polish-Lithuanian Union in Horodlo, and public institutions of the Polish type appeared in Lithuania. Casimir IV (r. 1447–1492) tried to limit the power of the nobles and the church, but was forced to confirm their privileges and the rights of the Sejm, which included the higher clergy, the aristocracy, and the petty nobility. In 1454, he granted the noblemen the Neshav Statutes, similar to the English Magna Carta. The thirteen-year war with the Teutonic Order (1454-1466) ended with the victory of Poland, and under the agreement in Torun on October 19, 1466, Pomerania and Gdansk were returned to Poland. The order recognized itself as a vassal of Poland.

Golden Age of Poland

16th century became the golden age of Polish history. At this time, Poland was one of the largest countries in Europe, it dominated Eastern Europe, and its culture reached its peak. However, the emergence of a centralized Russian state that claimed the lands of the former Kievan Rus, the unification and strengthening of Brandenburg and Prussia in the west and north, and the threat of the militant Ottoman Empire in the south posed a great danger to the country. In 1505, in Radom, King Alexander (reigned 1501–1506) was forced to adopt a constitution “nothing new” (Latin nihil novi), according to which the parliament received the right to an equal vote with the monarch in making state decisions and the right to veto all issues, concerning the nobility. According to this constitution, the parliament consisted of two chambers - the Sejm, in which the petty nobility was represented, and the Senate, which represented the highest aristocracy and the highest clergy. The long and open borders of Poland, as well as frequent wars, made it necessary to have a powerful trained army in order to ensure the security of the kingdom. The monarchs lacked the funds needed to maintain such an army. Therefore, they were forced to obtain the sanction of Parliament for any large expenditures. The aristocracy (monarchy) and the petty nobility (gentry) demanded privileges for their loyalty. As a result, a system of "small local noble democracy" was formed in Poland, with the gradual expansion of the influence of the richest and most powerful magnates.

Rzeczpospolita

In 1525, Albrecht of Brandenburg, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, converted to Lutheranism, and the Polish king Sigismund I (r. 1506–1548) allowed him to transform the possessions of the Teutonic Order into the hereditary Duchy of Prussia under Polish suzerainty. During the reign of Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1572), the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Poland reached its greatest power. Krakow became one of the largest European centers of the humanities, architecture and art of the Renaissance, Polish poetry and prose, and for a number of years - the center of the reformation. In 1561, Poland annexed Livonia, and on July 1, 1569, at the height of the Livonian War with Russia, the personal royal Polish-Lithuanian union was replaced by the Union of Lublin. The united Polish-Lithuanian state began to be called the Commonwealth (Polish "common cause"). From that time on, the same king was to be elected by the aristocracy in Lithuania and Poland; there was one parliament (Seim) and common laws; common money was put into circulation; religious tolerance became common in both parts of the country. The last question was of particular importance, since large territories conquered in the past by the Lithuanian princes were inhabited by Orthodox Christians.

Elective Kings: The Decline of the Polish State.

After the death of the childless Sigismund II, the central power in the vast Polish-Lithuanian state began to weaken. At a stormy meeting of the Diet, a new king, Henry (Henrik) Valois (r. 1573–1574; he later became Henry III of France), was elected. At the same time, he was forced to accept the principle of "free election" (election of the king by the nobility), as well as the "consent pact", which each new monarch had to swear. The right of the king to choose his heir was transferred to the Sejm. The king was also prohibited from declaring war or raising taxes without the consent of Parliament. He had to be neutral in religious matters, he had to marry on the recommendation of the senate. The council, which consisted of 16 senators appointed by the Sejm, constantly advised him. If the king did not fulfill any of the articles, the people could refuse him obedience. Thus, the Henryk Articles changed the status of the state - Poland moved from a limited monarchy to an aristocratic parliamentary republic; the head of the executive branch, elected for life, did not have sufficient powers to govern the state.

Stefan Batory (r. 1575–1586). The weakening of the supreme power in Poland, which had long and poorly protected borders, but aggressive neighbors, whose power was based on centralization and military force, largely predetermined the future collapse of the Polish state. Henry of Valois ruled for only 13 months, and then left for France, where he received the throne, vacated after the death of his brother Charles IX. The Senate and the Sejm could not agree on the candidacy of the next king, and the gentry finally elected Stefan Batory, Prince of Transylvania (r. 1575–1586), giving him a princess from the Jagiellonian dynasty as his wife. Batory strengthened Polish power over Gdansk, ousted Ivan the Terrible from the Baltic states and returned Livonia. At home, he won the loyalty and help in the fight against the Ottoman Empire from the Cossacks - runaway serfs who organized a military republic on the vast plains of Ukraine - a kind of "border strip" stretching from southeast Poland to the Black Sea along the Dnieper. Bathory gave privileges to the Jews, who were allowed to have their own parliament. He reformed the judiciary, and in 1579 founded a university in Vilna (Vilnius), which became an outpost of Catholicism and European culture in the east.

Sigismund III Vase. A zealous Catholic, Sigismund III Vasa (r. 1587–1632), the son of Johan III of Sweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I, decided to create a Polish-Swedish coalition to fight Russia and return Sweden to the bosom of Catholicism. In 1592 he became the Swedish king.

In order to spread Catholicism among the Orthodox population at the Cathedral in Brest in 1596, the Uniate Church was established, which recognized the supremacy of the Pope, but continued to use Orthodox rituals. The opportunity to seize the throne of Moscow after the suppression of the Rurik dynasty involved the Commonwealth in the war with Russia. In 1610, Polish troops occupied Moscow. The vacant royal throne was offered by the Moscow boyars to Sigismund's son, Vladislav. However, the Muscovites rebelled, and with the help of the people's militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, the Poles were expelled from Moscow. Sigismund's attempts to introduce absolutism in Poland, which at that time already dominated the rest of Europe, led to a revolt of the gentry and the loss of the king's prestige.

After the death of Albrecht II of Prussia in 1618, the Elector of Brandenburg became the ruler of the Duchy of Prussia. Since that time, the possessions of Poland on the coast of the Baltic Sea have become a corridor between two provinces of the same German state.

decline

During the reign of Sigismund's son, Vladislav IV (1632–1648), the Ukrainian Cossacks revolted against Poland, the wars with Russia and Turkey weakened the country, and the gentry received new privileges in the form of political rights and exemption from income taxes. Under the rule of Vladislav's brother Jan Casimir (1648–1668), the Cossack freemen began to behave even more militantly, the Swedes occupied most of Poland, including the capital, Warsaw, and the king, abandoned by his subjects, was forced to flee to Silesia. In 1657 Poland renounced sovereign rights to East Prussia. As a result of unsuccessful wars with Russia, Poland lost Kyiv and all areas east of the Dnieper under the Andrusovo truce (1667). The process of disintegration began in the country. The magnates, creating alliances with neighboring states, pursued their own goals; the rebellion of Prince Jerzy Lubomirski shook the foundations of the monarchy; the gentry continued to defend their own “freedoms”, which was suicidal for the state. Since 1652, she began to abuse the pernicious practice of "liberum veto", which allowed any deputy to block a decision that he did not like, demand the dissolution of the Sejm and put forward any proposals that should have been considered by its next composition. Taking advantage of this, the neighboring powers, through bribery and other means, repeatedly frustrated the implementation of decisions of the Sejm that were objectionable to them. King Jan Casimir was broken and abdicated the Polish throne in 1668, in the midst of internal anarchy and strife.

External intervention: prelude to partition

Mikhail Vyshnevetsky (r. 1669–1673) turned out to be an unprincipled and inactive monarch who played along with the Habsburgs and ceded Podolia to the Turks. His successor, Jan III Sobieski (r. 1674–1696), waged successful wars with the Ottoman Empire, saved Vienna from the Turks (1683), but was forced to cede some lands to Russia under an "Eternal Peace" treaty in exchange for her promises of assistance in struggle against the Crimean Tatars and Turks. After the death of Sobieski, the Polish throne in the new capital of the country, Warsaw, was occupied for 70 years by foreigners: the Elector of Saxony August II (r. 1697–1704, 1709–1733) and his son August III (1734–1763). August II actually bribed the electors. Having united in an alliance with Peter I, he returned Podolia and Volhynia and stopped the exhausting Polish-Turkish wars, concluding the Karlovitsky Peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1699. The Polish king unsuccessfully tried to recapture the Baltic coast from the King of Sweden, Charles XII, who invaded Poland in 1701, and in 1703 he took Warsaw and Krakow. August II was forced to yield the throne in 1704-1709 to Stanislav Leshchinsky, who was supported by Sweden, but returned to the throne again when Peter I defeated Charles XII at the Battle of Poltava (1709). In 1733, the Poles, supported by the French, elected Stanislav king for the second time, but the Russian troops again removed him from power.

Stanisław II: the last Polish king. Augustus III was nothing more than a puppet of Russia; patriotic Poles tried with all their might to save the state. One of the factions of the Sejm, led by Prince Czartoryski, tried to cancel the pernicious "liberum veto", while the other, led by the powerful Potocki family, opposed any restriction of "freedoms". Desperate, Czartoryski's party began to cooperate with the Russians, and in 1764 Catherine II, Empress of Russia, succeeded in electing her favorite Stanisław August Poniatowski as King of Poland (1764–1795). Poniatowski was the last king of Poland. Russian control became especially evident under Prince N.V. Repnin, who, being ambassador to Poland, in 1767 forced the Sejm of Poland to accept his demands for equality of confessions and the preservation of the “liberum veto”. This led in 1768 to an uprising of Catholics (the Bar Confederation) and even to a war between Russia and Turkey.

Partitions of Poland. First section

In the midst of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Prussia, Russia and Austria carried out the first partition of Poland. It was produced in 1772 and ratified by the Sejm under pressure from the occupiers in 1773. Poland ceded to Austria part of Pomerania and Kuyavia (excluding Gdansk and Torun) to Prussia; Galicia, Western Podolia and part of Lesser Poland; eastern Belarus and all lands north of the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper went to Russia. The victors established a new constitution for Poland, which retained the "liberum veto" and elective monarchy, and created a State Council of 36 elected members of the Sejm. The division of the country awakened a social movement for reform and national revival. In 1773, the Jesuit Order was dissolved and a commission for public education was created, the purpose of which was to reorganize the system of schools and colleges. The four-year Sejm (1788–1792), headed by enlightened patriots Stanislav Malachovsky, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontai, adopted a new constitution on May 3, 1791. Under this constitution, Poland became a hereditary monarchy with a ministerial system of executive power and a parliament elected every two years. The principle of "liberum veto" and other pernicious practices were abolished; cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, as well as representation in parliament; peasants, over whom the power of the gentry was maintained, were considered as an estate under state protection; measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization of a regular army. The normal work of the parliament and the reforms became possible only because Russia was involved in a protracted war with Sweden, and Turkey supported Poland. However, the magnates opposed the constitution and formed the Targowice Confederation, at the call of which the troops of Russia and Prussia entered Poland.

Second and third sections

January 23, 1793 Prussia and Russia carried out the second partition of Poland. Prussia captured Gdansk, Torun, Greater Poland and Mazovia, and Russia captured most of Lithuania and Belarus, almost all of Volhynia and Podolia. The Poles fought but were defeated, the reforms of the Four Years Sejm were reversed, and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794, Tadeusz Kosciuszko led a massive popular uprising, which ended in defeat. The third partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, took place on October 24, 1795; after that, Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.

foreign rule. Grand Duchy of Warsaw

Although the Polish state ceased to exist, the Poles did not give up hope for the restoration of their independence. Each new generation fought, either by joining the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or by raising uprisings. As soon as Napoleon I began his military campaigns against monarchical Europe, Polish legions were formed in France. Having defeated Prussia, Napoleon created in 1807 from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815). Two years later, territories that became part of Austria after the third partition were added to it. Miniature Poland, politically dependent on France, had a territory of 160 thousand square meters. km and 4350 thousand inhabitants. The creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was considered by the Poles as the beginning of their complete liberation.

Territory that was part of Russia. After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna (1815) approved the partitions of Poland with the following changes: Krakow was declared a free city-republic under the auspices of the three powers that divided Poland (1815–1848); the western part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and became known as the Grand Duchy of Poznań (1815–1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and annexed to the Russian Empire. In November 1830, the Poles raised an uprising against Russia, but were defeated. Emperor Nicholas I canceled the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland and began repressions. In 1846 and 1848 the Poles tried to organize uprisings, but failed. In 1863, a second uprising broke out against Russia, and after two years of partisan warfare, the Poles were again defeated. With the development of capitalism in Russia, the Russification of Polish society also intensified. The situation improved somewhat after the 1905 revolution in Russia. Polish deputies sat in all four Russian Dumas (1905–1917), seeking Polish autonomy.

Territories controlled by Prussia. On the territory under the rule of Prussia, an intensive Germanization of the former Polish regions was carried out, the farms of Polish peasants were expropriated, and Polish schools were closed. Russia helped Prussia put down the Poznan uprising of 1848. In 1863, both powers signed the Alvensleben Convention on Mutual Assistance in Combating the Polish National Movement. Despite all the efforts of the authorities, at the end of the 19th century. The Poles of Prussia still represented a strong, organized national community.

Polish lands within Austria

On the Austrian Polish lands, the situation was somewhat better. After the Krakow uprising of 1846, the regime was liberalized, and Galicia received local administrative control; schools, institutions and courts used Polish; Jagiellonian (in Krakow) and Lviv universities became all-Polish cultural centers; by the beginning of the 20th century. Polish political parties emerged (National Democratic, Polish Socialist and Peasant). In all three parts of the divided Poland, Polish society actively opposed assimilation. The preservation of the Polish language and Polish culture became the main task of the struggle waged by the intelligentsia, primarily poets and writers, as well as the clergy of the Catholic Church.

World War I

New opportunities for achieving independence. The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia was at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up fateful opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the scene of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups escalated. The conservative national democrats, led by Roman Dmovsky (1864–1939), considered Germany the main enemy and desired the victory of the Entente. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain the status of autonomy. The radical elements, led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, considered the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Poland's independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. A few years before the outbreak of World War I, Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), the radical leader of this group, began military training for Polish youth in Galicia. During the war, he formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.

Polish question

August 14, 1914 Nicholas I in an official declaration promised after the war to unite the three parts of Poland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. However, in the fall of 1915, most of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of the two powers announced a manifesto on the creation of an independent Polish Kingdom in the Russian part of Poland. On March 30, 1917, after the February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. July 22, 1917 Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the powers of the Entente, in August 1917 the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created, headed by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; the Polish army was also formed with the commander-in-chief Józef Haller. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson demanded the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. In June 1918 Poland was officially recognized as a country fighting on the side of the Entente. On October 6, during the period of the collapse and collapse of the Central Powers, the Regency Council of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 Piłsudski transferred full power in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and a civil war was going on in Russia.

State formation

The new country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which for a long time developed within the framework of three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government institutions; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed with the neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After a transitional period, when the socialist cabinet was in power, on January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and Dmowski was appointed head of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. On January 26, 1919, elections were held to the Sejm, the new composition of which approved Piłsudski as head of state.

The Question of Borders

The western and northern borders of the country were determined at the Versailles Conference, according to which part of the Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea were transferred to Poland; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a "free city". At a conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Teszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bitter disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilna (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; accession to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.

April 21, 1920 Pilsudski made an alliance with the Ukrainian leader Petliura and launched an offensive to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. On May 7, the Poles took Kyiv, but on June 8, pressed by the Red Army, they began to retreat. At the end of July, the Bolsheviks were on the outskirts of Warsaw. However, the Poles managed to defend the capital and repel the enemy; this ended the war. The treaty of Riga that followed (March 18, 1921) was a territorial compromise for both sides and was officially recognized by a conference of ambassadors on March 15, 1923.

Foreign policy

The leaders of the new Polish Republic tried to secure their state by pursuing a policy of non-alignment. Poland did not join the Little Entente, which included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. On January 25, 1932, a non-aggression pact was signed with the USSR.

After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Poland failed to establish allied relations with France, while Great Britain and France concluded a "pact of consent and cooperation" with Germany and Italy. After that, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany signed a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the duration of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after the military occupation of the Rhineland by Germany, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of a war with Germany. In October 1938, simultaneously with the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland occupied the Czechoslovak part of the Teszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and put forward territorial claims to Poland. On March 31, Great Britain, and on April 13, France guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland; in the summer of 1939, Franco-Anglo-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at curbing German expansion. The Soviet Union in these negotiations demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of Poland and at the same time entered into secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a German-Soviet non-aggression pact was concluded, the secret protocols of which provided for the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR. Having ensured Soviet neutrality, Hitler untied his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.

StoryPoland is an incredible tale. Forever sandwiched between two powerful and aggressive neighbors, Poland has defended its freedom and sovereignty countless times over the past millennium. She went from the largest country in Europe to a country completely disappearing from the map of the world, and saw her population defeated in two world wars. However, it testifies to the amazing resilience of the Polish people, and that Poland not only recovered from every crushing blow, but also retained the energy to maintain its own culture.

History of Poland in ancient times

The lands of present-day Poland have been inhabited since the Stone Age by numerous tribes from east and west who have called its fertile plains home. Archaeological finds from the Stone and Bronze Ages can be seen in many Polish museums, but the greatest example of pre-Slavic peoples is in Biskupin. This fortified city was built by the Lusatian tribe about 2700 years ago. The Celts, the Germanic tribes, and then the Baltic people, they all established themselves on the territory of Poland. But all this was before the arrival of the Slavs, who began to form the country into a nation.

Although the exact date of the arrival of the first Slavic tribes is unknown, historians believe that the Slavs began to settle in Poland between the 5th and 8th centuries. Starting from the 8th century, smaller tribes began to unite, creating large conglomerates, thus asserting themselves more fully on the lands of the future Polish state. The name of the country comes from one of these tribes - Polanie(“people of the fields”) - settled on the banks of the Warta River near the modern city of Poznan. The leader of this tribe, the legendary Piast, in the 10th century managed to unite disparate groups from the surrounding regions into a single political bloc, and gave it the name Polska, later Wielkopolska, that is, Greater Poland. This was the case until the arrival of the great-great-grandson of Piast, Duke Mieszko I, who united a significant part of Poland under one dynasty.

First state of Poland

After Mieszko I converted to Christianity, he did what the previous Christian rulers did and began to conquer his neighbors. Soon, the entire coastal region of Pomerania (Pomerania) came under its sovereignty, along with Szlensk (Silesia) and Lesser Poland Voivodeship. By the time of his death in 992, the Polish state had approximately the same borders as modern Poland, and the city of Gniezno was appointed its first capital. By that time, such cities as Gdansk, Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw and Krakow already existed. Mieszko's son, Bolesław I the Brave, continued his father's work, pushing the borders of Poland to the east, all the way to Kyiv. His son, Mieszko II, was less successful in his conquests, and during his reign the country experienced wars in the north and a period of internal strife within the royal family. The administrative center of the country was moved from Greater Poland to the less vulnerable Lesser Poland Voivodeship, where by the middle of the 11th century Krakow was appointed as the center of royal rule.

When the pagan Prussians attacked the central province of Mazovia in 1226, the Duke of Mazovia Konrad called for help from the Teutonic Knights and German troops, who were marked in history during the time of the Crusades. Soon, the knights subjugated the pagan tribes, but then "bit the hand that fed them", starting massive castle building on Polish territory, conquering the port city of Gdansk, and effectively occupying the north of Poland, proclaiming it their territory. They ruled from their largest castle in Malbork and, within a few decades, became the main military power in Europe.

Casimir III and reunification

Only in 1320 the Polish crown was restored and the state was reunited. This happened during the reign Casimir III the Great(1333-1370), when Poland gradually became a prosperous and strong state. Casimir the Great restored suzerainty over Mazovia, then captured the vast territories of Little Russia (today Ukraine) and Podolia, thereby significantly expanding the boundaries of the monarchy to the southeast.

Casimir the Great was also an enlightened and energetic ruler on the home front. By developing and reforming, he laid a solid legal, economic, commercial and educational foundation. He also passed a law providing benefits for Jews, thereby making Poland a safe home for the Jewish community for centuries to come. More than 70 new cities were created. In 1364, one of the first universities in Europe was established in Krakow, and castles and fortifications were erected to improve the country's defenses. There is a saying that Casimir the Great "found Poland built of wood, and left it built up with stones."

Jagiellonian dynasty (1382-1572)

The end of the 14th century was remembered by Poland for the dynastic union with Lithuania, the so-called political marriage, which increased the territory of Poland fivefold in one night and lasted for the next four centuries. The unification benefited both sides - Poland received a partner in the fight against the Tatars and Mongols, and Lithuania received help in the fight against the Teutonic Order. under power Vladislav II Jagiello(1386-1434), the alliance defeated the knights and restored eastern Pomerania, part of Prussia and the port of Gdansk, and for the next 30 years the Polish empire was the largest state in Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Eastern Progress and Poland's Golden Age

But it didn't last long. The threat of invasion became apparent towards the end of the 15th century - this time the main instigators were the Turks from the south, the Crimean Tatars from the east and the Muscovite tsars from the north and east. Together or separately, they repeatedly invaded and raided the eastern and southern parts of the Polish territories, and, on one occasion, penetrated so far that they reached Krakow.

Despite this, the power of the Polish kingdom was firmly established and the country advanced both culturally and spiritually. The beginning of the 16th century brought the Renaissance to Poland, and during the reign Sigismund I the Old and his son Sigismund II Augustus art and science flourished. This was the Golden Age of Poland, which gave birth to such great men as Nicolaus Copernicus.

The bulk of Poland's population at this time was made up of Poles and Lithuanians, but included significant minorities from neighboring countries. Jews were an important and growing part of society, and by the end of the 16th century Poland had a larger Jewish population than the rest of united Europe.

On the political front, Poland evolved in the 16th century into a parliamentary monarchy with most of the privileges of the nobility (nobility, feudal nobility), who made up about 10% of the population. At the same time, the status of the peasants decreased, and they gradually fell into a state of virtual slavery.

Hoping to strengthen the monarchy, the Sejm, convened in Lublin in 1569, united Poland and Lithuania into a single state, and made Warsaw the site of future meetings. Since there was no direct heir to the throne, the Sejm also established a system of succession based on voting by nobles in a general election, who must come to Warsaw to vote. In the absence of serious Polish applicants, foreign candidates could also be considered.

Royal Republic (1573-1795)

From the very beginning, the experiment led to disastrous consequences. For each royal election, foreign powers promoted their candidates by making deals and bribing voters. During this period, no less than 11 kings ruled over Poland, and only four of them were Poles by birth.

First elected king Henri de Valois, retreated to his homeland to take the French throne after only a year on the Polish throne. his successor, Stefan Batory(1576-1586), Prince of Transylvania, was a much wiser choice. Batory, along with his gifted commander and chancellor Jan Zamoyski, fought a series of successful battles against Tsar Ivan the Terrible and came close to forging an alliance with Russia against the Ottoman Empire.

After Batory's premature death, the crown was offered to the Swede, Sigismund III Vase(1587-1632), and during his reign Poland reached its maximum expansion (three times the size of modern Poland). Despite this, Sigismund is best remembered for the relocation of the Polish capital from Krakow to Warsaw between 1596 and 1609.

The beginning of the 17th century was a turning point in the fate of Poland. The increasing political power of the Polish gentry undermined the authority of the Sejm. The country was divided into several huge private estates, and the nobles, frustrated by the ineffective government, resorted to armed rebellion.

Meanwhile, foreign invaders were systematically dividing the land. Jan II Casimir Vase(1648-68), the last of the Vaza dynasty on the Polish throne, was unable to resist the aggressors - Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Cossacks, Turks and Swedes - who were approaching on all fronts. Swedish invasion in the years 1655-1660, known as the Deluge, was especially pernicious.

The last shining moment in the fall of the Royal Republic was the reign of Jan III Sobieski(1674-96), a brilliant commander who fought several victorious battles against the Ottoman Empire. The most famous of these was the Battle of Vienna in 1683, in which he defeated the Turks.

Rise of Russia

By the early 18th century, Poland was in decline and Russia had grown into a powerful, expansive empire. The kings systematically increased their power over the spinning country, and the rulers of Poland actually became puppets of the Russian regime. This became quite clear during the reign Stanisław August Poniatowski(1764-95), when Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, intervened directly in the affairs of Poland. The collapse of the Polish empire was not far off.

Three sections

While Poland languished Russia, Prussia and Austria were gaining strength. The end of the 18th century was a disastrous period for the country, with neighboring powers agreeing to partition Poland on no less than three separate occasions in a span of 23 years. The First Partition led to immediate reforms and a new, liberal constitution, and Poland remained relatively stable. Catherine the Great could no longer tolerate this dangerous democracy and sent Russian troops to Poland. Despite fierce resistance, the reforms were reversed by force and the country was divided for the second time.

Input Tadeusz Kosciuszko hero of the American Revolutionary War. With the help of patriotic forces, he launched an armed uprising in 1794. The campaign soon gained public support and the rebels scored some early victories, but the Russian troops, stronger and better armed, defeated the Polish forces within a year. Resistance and unrest remained within the Polish borders, which brought the three occupying powers to a third and final partition. Poland disappeared from the map for the next 123 years.

Fight for independence

Despite partitions, Poland continued to exist as a spiritual and cultural community, and many secret nationalist societies were formed. Since revolutionary France was perceived as the main ally in the struggle, some leaders fled to Paris and established their headquarters there.

In 1815 the Congress of Vienna created the Congress of the Kingdom of Poland, but Russian oppression continued. In response, armed uprisings broke out, the most significant of which took place in 1830 and 1863. There was also an uprising against the Austrians in 1846.

In the 1870s, Russia dramatically increased its efforts to eradicate Polish culture, suppressing the Polish language in education, government, and commerce, and replacing it with Russian. However, it was also a time of great industrialization in Poland: cities like Łódź are experiencing an economic boom. With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the fate of Poland changed once again.

First World War (1914-18)

World War I brought Poland's three occupying powers into the war. On the one hand, there were the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary and Germany (including Prussia), on the other hand, Russia and its Western allies. Most of the hostilities were organized on Polish lands, resulting in huge loss of life and livelihood. Because no official Polish state existed, there was no Polish army to fight for the national cause. Worse, about two million Poles were drafted into the Russian, German or Austrian armies and were required to fight each other.

Paradoxically, the war ultimately led to Polish independence. After October revolution in 1917, Russia plunged into civil war and no longer had the power to oversee Polish affairs. The final disintegration of the Austrian Empire in October 1918 and the withdrawal of the German army from Warsaw in November brought an opportune moment. Marshal Józef Piłsudski assumed control of Warsaw on November 11, 1918, declared Polish sovereignty and usurped power as head of state.

Rise and fall of the Second Republic

Poland began its new incarnation in a hopeless situation - the country and its economy were in ruins, and about a million Poles died in the First World War. All state institutions - including the army, which had not existed for over a century - had to be built from scratch.

Treaty of Versailles in 1919 he awarded Poland the western part of Prussia, providing access to the Baltic Sea. The city of Gdansk, however, became the free city of Danzig. The rest of Poland's western frontier was drawn up through a series of plebiscites that led Poland to acquire some significant industrial areas of Upper Silesia. The eastern borders were established when Polish forces defeated the Red Army during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20.

When Poland's territorial struggle ended, the Second Republic covered nearly 400,000 sq. km and had a population of 26 million. One third of the population was of non-Polish ethnic origin, mainly Jews, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Germans.

After Piłsudski retired from politics in 1922, the country experienced four years of unstable government until the great general seized power in a military coup in May 1926. Parliament was gradually reduced, but despite the dictatorial regime, political repression had little effect on ordinary people. The economic situation was relatively stable, and cultural and intellectual life flourished.

On the international front, Poland's position in the 1930s was unenviable. In an attempt to patch things up with its two staunchly hostile neighbors, Poland has signed non-aggression pacts both with the Soviet Union and Germany. However, it soon became clear that the treaties provided no real security guarantees.

August 23, 1939, in Moscow, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union by Foreign Ministers Ribbentrop and Molotov. This treaty contained a secret protocol defining the proposed division of Eastern Europe between these two great powers.

World War II (1939-45)

World War II started at dawn September 1, 1939 years since the massive German invasion of Poland. Fighting began in Gdańsk (then the free city of Danzig) when German forces clashed with a stubborn handful of Polish partisans at Westerplatte. The battle lasted a week. Simultaneously, another German line stormed Warsaw, which finally surrendered on 28 September. Despite the valiant resistance, there was simply no hope of facing the overwhelming and well-armed German forces numerically; the last resistance groups were put down by early October. Hitler's policy was to destroy the Polish nation and Germanize the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Poles were sent to forced labor camps in Germany, while others, primarily the intelligentsia, were executed in an attempt to exterminate the spiritual and intellectual leadership.

The Jews were to be completely liquidated. First they were separated and imprisoned in ghettos, and then sent to concentration camps scattered throughout the country. Almost the entire Jewish population of Poland (three million) and approximately one million Poles perished in the camps. Resistance broke out in numerous ghettos and camps, the most famous of which was in Warsaw.

Within weeks of the Nazi invasion, the Soviet Union moved into Poland and took over the eastern half of the country. Thus, Poland was again divided. Mass arrests, exiles and executions followed, and it is believed that between one and two million Poles were sent to Siberia, the Soviet Arctic and Kazakhstan in 1939-40. Just like the Nazis, the Soviet army set in motion the process of intellectual genocide.

Shortly after the start of the war, a Polish government-in-exile was formed in France under General Władysław Sikorski and later Stanisław Mikolajczyk. As the front line moved west, this formed government, in June 1940, was moved to London.

The course of the war changed dramatically when Hitler unexpectedly attacked the Soviet Union. June 22, 1941. Soviet troops were pushed out of Eastern Poland and all of Poland came under Nazi control. The Führer set up camp in the depths of Polish territory, and remained there for more than three years.

nationwide movement Resistance, concentrated in the cities, was put in place shortly after the end of the war in order to manage the Polish educational, judicial and communications systems. Armed detachments were created by the government-in-exile in 1940 and became the Home Army (AK; Home Army), which figured prominently in the Warsaw Uprising.

Surprisingly, given the Soviet treatment of the Poles, Stalin turned to Poland for help in the war against the German forces advancing east towards Moscow. The official Polish Army was reorganized at the end of 1941, but was largely under Soviet control.

Hitler's defeat at Stalingrad in 1943 was the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front, and the Red Army successfully advanced westward. After the Soviet troops liberated the Polish city of Lublin, on July 22, 1944, the Polish Pro-Communist Committee for National Liberation (PKNO) was established, which took over the functions of the interim government. A week later, the Red Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw.

Warsaw at that time remained under Nazi occupation. In a last-ditch effort to create an independent Polish administration, AK tried to gain control of the city before the arrival of Soviet troops, with disastrous results. The Red Army continued its movement west through Poland, reaching Berlin a few months later. On May 8, 1945, the Nazi Reich capitulated.

At the end of World War II, Poland lay in ruins. Over six million people, about 20% of the pre-war population, lost their lives, and out of three million Polish Jews in 1939, only 80-90 thousand survived the war. Her cities were little more than rubble, and only 15% of Warsaw's buildings survived. Many Poles who had seen the war in foreign countries chose not to return to the new political order.

On the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin decided to leave Poland under Soviet control. They agreed that Poland's eastern border would roughly follow the 1939 Nazi-Soviet demarcation line. Six months later, Allied leaders established Poland's western frontier along the rivers: Odra (Oder) and Nysa (Neisse); in reality the country has returned to its medieval borders.

Radical border changes were accompanied by population movements: Poles were moved to the newly defined Poland, while Germans, Ukrainians and Belarusians were resettled outside of it. Eventually, 98% of Poland's population became ethnically Polish.

Once Poland formally came under Soviet control, Stalin launched an intense campaign of Sovietisation. The military leaders of the resistance were accused of collaborating with the Nazis, and were shot or sentenced to arbitrary prison terms. The provisional Polish government was established in Moscow in June 1945 and then moved to Warsaw. The general election was postponed until 1947 to allow time for the secret police to arrest prominent Polish political figures. After the rigged election results, the new Sejm elected Bolesław Bierut as president; Stanisław Mikolajczyk, accused of espionage, fled back to England.

In 1948, the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP) was formed to monopolize power, and in 1952 a Soviet-style constitution was adopted. The post of president was abolished and power passed to the first secretary of the Party Central Committee. Poland became part of the Warsaw Pact.

Stalinist fanaticism never gained as much influence in Poland as in neighboring countries, and shortly after Stalin's death in 1953 it all disappeared. The powers of the secret police were reduced. The pressure was reduced and Polish cultural property was reanimated.

In June 1956, a massive industrial strike broke out in Poznań, demanding ‘bread and freedom’. The action was suppressed by force, and soon Vladislav Gomulka, a former political prisoner of the Stalin era, was appointed the first secretary of the Party. At first he commanded public support, but later he showed a tougher and more authoritarian attitude, putting pressure on the church and intensifying the persecution of the intelligentsia. Eventually there was an economic crisis that caused his downfall; when he announced an official price increase in 1970, a wave of mass strikes broke out in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin. Again, the protests were violently crushed, resulting in 44 deaths. The party, to save face, removed Gomułk from office and replaced him with Edvard Gierek.

Another attempt to raise prices in 1976 incited labor protests, and again workers left work, this time in Radom and Warsaw. Caught in a downward spiral, Gierek borrowed more from abroad, but in order to earn hard currency on which to pay interest, he was forced to divert domestic consumer goods and sell them abroad. By 1980, external debt reached US$21 billion and the economy collapsed.

By then, the opposition had become a significant force, backed by numerous intellectual advisors. When the government again announced increases in food prices in July 1980, the result was predictable: hot and well-organized strikes and riots spread like wildfire throughout the country. In August, they paralyzed the largest ports, the Silesian coal mines and the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk.

Unlike most previous popular protests, the 1980 strikes were non-violent; the strikers did not take to the streets, but remained in their factories.

Solidarity

August 31, 1980, after long, protracted negotiations in the shipyard named after Lenin, the government signed the Gdansk agreement. This forced the ruling party to accept most of the strikers' demands, including the right of workers to organize independent trade unions and go on strike. In turn, the workers agreed to uphold the constitution and accept the Party's authority as supreme.

Delegations of workers from all over the country convened and founded Solidarity(Solidarność), a nationwide independent and self-governing trade union. Lech Walesa, who led the strike in Gdansk, was elected chairman.

The ripple effect was not long in coming, causing fluctuations in the government. Zhirek was replaced by Stanisław Kanya, who in turn lost in October 1981 to General Wojciech Jaruzelski. However, the trade union's greatest influence was on Polish society. After 35 years of restraint, the Poles have embroiled themselves in a spontaneous and chaotic kind of democracy. A wide-ranging debate on the reform process was spearheaded by Solidarity and an independent press flourished. Forbidden historical topics such as the Stalin-Hitler pact and the Katyn massacres could, for the first time, be discussed openly.

Not surprisingly, Solidarity's 10 million participants represented a wide range of views, from confrontational to conciliatory. By and large, it was the charismatic authority of Walesa, who kept the union on a moderate and balanced course.

The government, however, under pressure from Soviet and local hardliners, was reluctant to make any significant reforms and systematically rejected Solidarity's proposals. This led to further discontent and, in the absence of other legal options, more strikes. Amid the fruitless debate, the economic crisis has become more serious. After unsuccessful negotiations in November 1981 between the government, Solidarity and the church, social tensions increased and led to a political stalemate.

Martial law and the collapse of communism

When General Jaruzelski appeared unexpectedly on television in the early hours of the morning December 13, 1981 to declare martial law, tanks were already on the streets, army checkpoints set up on every corner, and paramilitaries were stationed at possible flashpoints. Power was placed in the hands of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), a group of officers commanded by Jaruzelski himself.

Solidarity activities were suspended and all public gatherings, demonstrations and strikes were banned. Several thousand people, including most of the Solidarity and Walesa leaders, were interned. The spontaneous demonstrations and strikes that followed were crushed, military rule effectively took effect on Polish territory within two weeks of its declaration, and life returned to the times before the founding of Solidarity.

In October 1982, the government officially dissolved Solidarity and released Wales from custody. In July 1984, a limited amnesty was announced and some members of the political opposition were released from prison. But, after every public outcry, arrests continued, and it was not until 1986 that all political prisoners were released.

Election Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in 1985 and its glasnost and perestroika programs provided an important impetus for democratic reform throughout Eastern Europe. By early 1989, Jaruzelski softened his position and allowed the opposition to fight for seats in parliament.

Non-free elections were held in June 1989, in which Solidarity succeeded in winning an overwhelming majority of its supporters' votes and being elected to the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The Communists, however, secured for themselves 65% of the seats in the Sejm. Jaruzelski was placed in the presidency as a stabilizing guarantor of political change for both Moscow and local communists, but a non-communist prime minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, was installed as a result of Walesa's personal pressure. This power-sharing agreement with the first non-communist prime minister in Eastern Europe since World War II paved the way for a domino-like collapse of communism throughout the Soviet bloc. In 1990 the Party historically disbanded itself.

The free market and the times of Lech Walesa

In January 1990, Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz introduced a package of reforms to replace the centrally planned communist system with a market economy. His economic shock therapy allowed prices to move freely, subsidies were removed, money was tightened, and the currency depreciated sharply, making it fully convertible with Western currencies.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Within a few months, the economy seemed to stabilize, food shortages were clearly non-existent, and stores filled with goods. On the other hand, prices have skyrocketed and the unemployment rate has risen. An initial wave of optimism and patience turned into uncertainty and discontent, and austerity measures caused a decline in the government's popularity.

In November 1990, Walesa won the first completely free presidential election, and was born Third Polish Republic. During his statutory five-year tenure, Poland witnessed no less than five governments and five prime ministers, all of whom struggled to put the newborn democracy back on track.

After his election, Walesa appointed Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, an economist and former adviser, to the post of prime minister. His cabinet tried to continue the strict principles of economic policy introduced by the previous government, but was unable to maintain parliamentary support and resigned a year later. At least 70 parties contested the country's first free parliamentary elections in October 1991, which resulted in the appointment of Prime Minister Jan Olszewski at the head of a centre-right coalition. Olszewski lasted only five months, and was replaced by Hanna Suchocka in June 1992. Suchocka was, in Poland, the first female prime minister, and she was called the Polish Margaret Thatcher. Under her coalition rule, she was able to command a parliamentary majority, but divisions on many issues grew, and she lost in the June 1993 elections.

Return of the communist regime

An impatient Walesa stepped in, dissolving parliament and calling for a general election. His decision was a gross miscalculation. The pendulum swung and the elections resulted in a coalition of the Democratic Left (SLD) and the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL).

The new government, led by PSL leader Waldemar Pawlak, continued the overall market reform, but the economy began to slow down. Continuous tensions within the coalition led to a decline in her popularity, and her battles with the president brought further changes in February 1995 when Walesa threatened to dissolve Parliament unless Pawlak was replaced. The fifth and last prime minister of Walesa's presidential term was Józef Oleksy: another former official of the Communist Party.

Walesa's presidential style and achievements have been repeatedly questioned by virtually all political parties and the majority of the electorate. His bizarre behavior and capricious use of power caused the decline in success he enjoyed in 1990 and led to the lowest level of public support ever in 1995, when polls indicated that only 8% of the country would have him as president for another term. . Despite this, Walesa maneuvered vigorously and came pretty close to getting a second term.

The November 1995 elections were essentially a difficult duel between the anti-communist popular figure, Lech Walesa, and the young, former communist technocrat and leader of the SLD, Aleksander Kwasniewski. Kwaśniewski was ahead of Wales, but by a narrow margin of just 3.5%.

Włodzimierz Cymoszewicz, another former party official of the Communist Party, took over as prime minister. In reality, the post-communists have taken power in a stranglehold, running the president, government and parliament - the 'red triangle' - as Walesa warned. The central and right - almost half of the political nation - have effectively lost control of the decision-making process. The church endorsed by Walesa during his reign also failed and warned believers against the dangers of "neopaganism" under the new regime.

Striking a balance

By 1997, the electorate clearly understood that things had gone too far. The parliamentary elections in September were won by an alliance of some 40 small Solidarity offshoot parties, collectively called the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS). The union formed a coalition with the centrist liberal Union for Freedom (UW), pushing ex-communists into opposition. Jerzy Buzek of AWS became prime minister, and the new government accelerated the country's privatization.

President Kwasniewski's political style contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor Walesa. Kwasniewski brought political calm during his reign and was able to cooperate successfully with the left and right wings of the political establishment. This brought him a significant degree of popular support, and paved the way for another five-year term.

At least 13 people contested the October 2000 presidential election, but no one came close to Kwasniewski, who won with 54% of the popular vote. Centrist businessman Andrzej Olechowski came in second with 17% support, while Walesa, after trying his luck for the third time, was defeated with just 1% of the vote.

On the way to Europe

On the international front, Poland was granted full NATO membership in March 1999, while at home parliamentary elections in September 2001 changed the political axis once again. The Union of the Democratic Left (SLD) organized its second comeback, holding 216 seats in the Sejm. The party formed a coalition with the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), echoing the shaky alliance of 1993, and a former senior Communist Party official, Leszek Miller, took over as prime minister.

Poland's biggest movement in the 21st century was accession to the European Union May 1, 2004. The next day, Miller resigned due to a string of corruption scandals and unrest over high unemployment and low living standards. His replacement, respected economist Marek Belka, lasted until the September 2005 elections, when the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) party came to power. Together, they won 288 seats in the Seimas out of 460. PiS member Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was appointed prime minister, and a month later, another PiS member, Lech Kaczynski took the presidency.

History of Poland today

Unsurprisingly, Martsinkevich didn't last long and resigned in July 2006 over an alleged rift with PiS leader Yaroslav Kaczynski. Yaroslav, the president's twin brother, was quickly appointed to the position. However, his reign was short-lived - in early elections in October 2007, Yaroslav lost to the more liberal and EU-friendly Donald Task and his Civic Platform party.

President Kaczynski, his wife and dozens of senior officials died April 10, 2010 when their plane crashed in the Katyn forest near Smolensk. A total of 96 people died in the crash, including the Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland, 12 members of parliament, leaders of the army and navy, and the president of the national bank. Bronisław Komorowski, leader of the lower house of parliament, took on the role of acting president.

Kaczynski's twin brother and former Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczynski ran for president against the candidacy of Bronisław Komorowski, head of the Civic Platform party. Komorowski won the first and second rounds of the election and was recognized as president in July.

Despite countless reforms and coalitions, Poland still wavers in political and economic interests. But given its turbulent past, the country has found some stability and is enjoying self-rule and peace.

In the west - with Germany. In the north, Poland has access to the Baltic Sea.

The population is about 38.6 million people. The most densely populated southern part of the country, the fewest inhabitants - in the northwestern and northeastern parts. In addition to the Poles, who make up the ethnic majority, Kashubians, Germans (1.3%), Ukrainians (0.6%), Belarusians (0.5%), Slovaks, Czechs, Lithuanians, Gypsies, Jews live in Poland.

The official language is Polish.

Poland is currently a republic. The state is headed by a president.

The capital is Warsaw.

Brief outline of history

Probably, the Slavs were the first peoples who settled in the territory now occupied by the Poles. This is evidenced by the data of archaeological cultures found in these lands. Archaeological evidence also indicates that the Slavs until the 8th century had practically no social and cultural contacts with other peoples. This explains the fact that the first reliable information about the Western Slavs, in particular about the ancestors of the Poles, dates back to the 8th century. At this time, the Vikings begin to penetrate their territory, to protect against which the Slavs create small state associations. West Slavic tribes, which later formed the Polish nationality ( Polans, Wislans, Lubushans, Slenzans (Silesians), Polons, Dzyadoshans, Lendzitsi, Mazovshans and others), occupied the territory from the Lower Elbe and the Oder in the west to the middle reaches of the Narva, the Western Bug, the Veps and the San (the right tributaries of the Vistula) in the east. In the south, the territories of the Polish tribes extended to the sources of the Oder, Danube, Wisłoka and Vistula, and in the north to the Baltic Sea. In general, this territory corresponds to the modern borders of Poland. One of the most active tribes - the Polans, who settled along the rivers of the Warta and the lower Oder and created their own state - the Poles owe their ethnic name.

For the first time, the name of the glade appears at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century in one of the Latin hagiographies, where the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave (992 - 1025) called dux Palanorum, that is, "leader of the glades." Ancient chronicles report that around 840 the first Polish state was formed by the legendary Piast king, but this is the only evidence that is not confirmed by any other documents. The first historically reliable ruler of Poland was the father of Bolesław the Brave - Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty (960–992), who in 966 entered into a dynastic marriage with the Czech princess Dubravka and converted to Christianity. Accepts Christianity according to the Roman Catholic model and the Polish nobility, and then, for some time, and the entire Polish people. From the beginning of the 11th century, like many medieval rulers, Mieszko I, and then Boleslav the Brave, pursued a policy of expansion, trying to expand the boundaries of the state in all directions. Poland is trying to extend its power both in Bohemia and in Germany, but the northeast and east are becoming the main direction of the increase in territories. Silesia and Pomerania joined Greater Poland in 988, Moravia in 990, and in the first quarter of the 11th century, Poland's power was established in the territory from the Odra and Nysa to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. In 1025, Bolesław took the title of king, but after his death, the intensified feudal nobility opposed the central government, which led to the separation of Mazovia and Pomerania from Poland.

From the 30s of the 12th century, the weakening of the Polish state began, which entered a period of feudal fragmentation, and in the second half of the 12th century Poland fell apart, a number of western and northwestern regions came under the rule of the German state.

In the middle of the XIII century, the eastern territories of Poland were devastated by the Tatar-Mongols, the northern territories suffered from the raids of the Lithuanians and Prussians. To protect the country, the prince of Mazovia Konrad in 1226 invited the Teutonic knights to the country, who very quickly took a privileged position in the state, conquered the territory of East Prussia. In the urban environment, the German language has become widely spread, and in the west (near the middle Odra) and south-west (in Silesia) the process of complete Germanization of the Polish population is taking place. At the beginning of the 14th century, a new state created by German colonists cut off Poland's access to the Baltic Sea.

The reunification of most of Poland under the rule of one king takes place at the beginning of the 14th century. In 1320 he was crowned on the throne Vladislav Lokotek from Kuyavia, and from that time begins a national revival, which reaches its greatest success during the reign of his son, Casimir III the Great(1333-1370). One of the most significant steps in the development of Polish culture was the establishment in 1364 of the University of Krakow, one of the oldest universities in Europe. This activated Polish scientific thought, contributed to the development of the exact, natural and human sciences.

After the death of Louis I the Great (Louis of Hungary, 1370-1382), his youngest daughter Jadwiga becomes queen, who married the great Prince of Lithuania Jagello (Jogaila, or Jagiello). Jagiello converted to Christianity under the name Vladislav (Vladislav II, 1386-1434) and converted the Lithuanian people into it, founding the Jagiellonian dynasty, one of the most powerful in Europe. The territories of Poland and Lithuania are united in a strong state union, and after the defeat of the crusaders of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald (1410) (1), this union is gaining strength very quickly. In the second half of the 15th century, Pomerania and Gdansk were returned to Poland.

Battle of Grunwald. 16th century engraving

The golden age of Polish culture and statehood is the 16th century. Poland, continuing the policy of expansion and gradually moving to the northeast and east, becomes one of the largest states in Europe. Poland captures the Baltic Pomerania, Livonia, Warmia, vast areas and Lithuania.

Royal power in Poland has never been strong. Already in the 11th century, a powerful layer of local nobility formed here, which chose the king, a tradition that lasted until the 18th century. The ruler was largely dependent on his environment and, in fact, could become a puppet in his hands. In 1505 king alexander adopts a constitution, according to which the parliament, consisting of two chambers: the Sejm and the Senate (2), receives equal rights with the monarch in resolving issues relating to the nobility. In 1569, the Union of Lublin was adopted, according to which Lithuania and Poland were united into a single state - the Commonwealth (3). In the Commonwealth there is one parliament (Seim) and one laws, one king is elected by the aristocracy. The power of the petty nobility is being strengthened, while the royal power, on the contrary, is weakening even more. Heinrich of Valois (1573-1574, later to become Henry III of France), elected King of the Commonwealth after the death of Sigismund II, had to be completely subordinate to the Sejm in his decisions. Without the recommendation of parliament, he could not marry, declare war, increase taxes, elect an heir to the throne; in addition, he was obliged to fulfill all the articles of parliament. During his reign, the Commonwealth from a state with a limited monarchy became an aristocratic parliamentary republic.

If under Sigismund II, Henry of Valois and Stefan Batory in the Commonwealth religious tolerance dominated, and Poland at some stage becomes one of the centers of the Reformation, then under Sigismund III Vasa(1587-1632), a zealous supporter of Catholicism, the situation is changing. In 1596, in order to spread Catholicism among the Orthodox population, the Union of Brest established the Uniate Church, which, recognizing the primacy of the Pope, continued to use Orthodox rituals.

The greatness of the Commonwealth is replaced by the weakening of the state, which was weakened by the wars with and Turkey, the uprising against Poland of the Ukrainian Cossacks, the military actions of the Swedes, who occupied most of Poland, including Warsaw, in the second half of the 17th century. As a result of unsuccessful wars with Poland, under the Andrusovo truce (1667), Kyiv and all areas east of the Dnieper were lost. The collapse is also influenced by the position in the Sejm. Since 1652, there has been a provision (liberum veto) in it, according to which any deputy could block a decision he did not like, demand the dissolution of the Sejm and put forward any demands that should have been considered by the new government. This policy is also used by the neighboring powers, which repeatedly frustrate the implementation of decisions of the Diet that are objectionable to them. In the 17th - 18th centuries, Poland concluded a number of peace treaties with, pursuing the goal of reaching the Baltic coast, and sided with the Russians in the Northern War against Sweden. In 1764, the Russian Empress Catherine II sought the election of her favorite as the King of Poland. Stanisław August Poniatowski(1764-1795), who turned out to be the last king of Poland. Control over Poland became obvious.

In 1772 Prussia and Austria carried out first partition of Poland, which was ratified by the Sejm in 1773. Poland ceded to Austria part of Pomerania and Kuyavia (excluding Gdansk and Torun); Prussia - Galicia, Western Podolia and part of Lesser Poland; Eastern Belorussia and all the lands north of the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper withdrew. Poland established a new constitution that retained an elective monarchy and created a State Council of 36 elected members of the Sejm. The division of the country awakened a social movement for reform and national revival. In 1791, the Four-Year Sejm, headed by Stanisław Malachowski, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontai, adopted a new constitution, according to which a hereditary monarchy was established in Poland, the principle of liberum veto was abolished, cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization regular army. This constitution was opposed by the magnates, who formed the Targowice Confederation, at the call of which the troops of Prussia also entered Poland.

At the beginning of 1793, Prussia carried out second partition of Poland, according to which Gdansk, Torun, Greater Poland and Mazovia went to Prussia, and to Russia - most of Lithuania and almost all of Volhynia and Podolia. The reforms of the Four-Year Sejm were canceled and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794, Tadeusz Kosciuszko led a popular uprising that ended in defeat. Third Partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, was produced in October 1795. Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.

The hope for the revival of the state appeared among the Poles after the creation by Napoleon I on the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807 - 1815). The principality was politically dependent on France. After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna (1815) approved the partitions of Poland. At the same time, Krakow was declared a free city-republic under the auspices of the three powers that divided Poland (1815-1848); the western part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and became known as the Grand Duchy of Poznań (1815–1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and attached to. The uprisings of 1830, 1846, 1848, 1863 were unsuccessful. Emperor Nicholas I canceled the Polish constitution, and the Poles - participants in the uprisings were repressed.

The First World War led to the restoration of Poland as an independent state with access to the Baltic Sea. Austria-Hungary collapsed, and internal political changes took place in Germany, which now did not allow control of Poland. On January 26, 1919, elections were held for the Sejm, the new composition of which approved Jozef Pilsudski head of state. By March 1923, as a result of fierce disputes with the Czech Republic, as well as military operations directed against Lithuania and Poland, the new borders of Poland were finally established. In the newly created state, a constitution was adopted that approved the republican system, a bicameral parliament (Seim and Senate) was established, and the equality of citizens before the law was proclaimed. However, this public education proved unsustainable. On May 12, 1926, Jozef Pilsudski carried out a military coup and established a "sanation" reactionary regime in the country, which allowed him to completely control the country. This regime was maintained in Poland until the outbreak of World War II.

Even before it began, the fate of Poland was a foregone conclusion: Germany and the USSR claimed its territory, which signed a non-aggression pact on August 23, 1939, providing for the division of Poland between them; even earlier, Franco-Anglo-Soviet negotiations took place in Moscow, during which the Soviet Union demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of the country. On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland from the west, and on September 17, the USSR attacked from the east. Very soon the country was completely occupied. The Polish government with the remnants of the armed forces fled to Romania. The government-in-exile was headed by General Vladislav Sikorsky.

During World War II, perhaps the largest number of concentration camps were located on the territory of Poland, in which there were not only prisoners of war, but also Polish Jews. In the occupied territory, the Home Army provided strong military resistance to the German troops.

At the Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945), Churchill (Great Britain) and Roosevelt (USA) gave official consent to the inclusion of the eastern part of Poland into the USSR. In August 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, it was decided to transfer to Poland the southern part of East Prussia and German territory east of the Oder and Neisse rivers.

Since in fact the territory of Poland was under the control of the USSR, the power of the Communist Party was very quickly established in the country. In 1947, the Sejm elected the communist Bolesław Bierut as president of Poland. The process of Stalinization of the state begins, which is associated with repressions directed against objectionable political and religious figures. In accordance with the new Polish constitution, adopted on July 22, 1952, the post of president was abolished. The state was headed by the prime minister. Initially, this post was occupied by the same B. Bierut, and since 1954 - Józef Cyrankiewicz.

The events that followed in the USSR after the exposure of the personality cult of I.V. Stalin at the 20th Congress of the CPSU by N.S. Khrushchev had an impact on the political and economic life of Poland. Vladislav Gomulka becomes the political leader, who achieves a certain independence from the USSR. However, his reforms were soon reversed.

By the mid-1970s, an economic crisis began, which was accompanied by massive popular unrest. The workers create strike committees that put forward not only economic but also political demands, leave the old state trade unions and join the independent federation of trade unions "Solidarity" created by the strikers, which was headed by Lech Walesa. Workers' strikes and unrest continued until 1981, when, in response to Solidarity's demand for a referendum on the leadership role of the Communist Party and relations between Poland and the Soviet Union, the head of state Wojciech Jaruzelski introduces martial law in the country (December 13, 1981). The leaders of Solidarity were arrested, and the strikes that had begun were suppressed. The economic recession continues until 1983, and then industrial and agricultural production in the country begins to recover.

A new rise in the political activity of the people falls on the end of the 80s - the beginning of the 90s of the twentieth century. The union of trade unions "Solidarity" is being legalized. In December 1989, the institution of presidential power was restored in Poland. As a result of the elections, Lech Walesa becomes the President of Poland.

The end of the 20th - the beginning of the 21st centuries for Poland, as well as for other Slavic states, is becoming a very difficult period, both politically and economically. The process of decommunization is accompanied by a change in political priorities, liberation from the influence of Russia, strengthening of economic ties with the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, and orientation towards the policies of the United States and NATO countries.

A Brief Outline of Culture

On the territory of Poland, archaeologists find ceramic vessels with "ribbon" and "string" ornaments dating back to the Neolithic; fortified settlements (Biskupin, about 550-400 BC); clay and bronze vessels belonging to the Lusatian culture, the remains of Slavic settlements with wooden and earthen fortifications (Gdansk, Gniezno, Wroclaw, etc.). However, one can speak about the beginning of the formation of Polish culture proper from the time of the emergence of the Polish state, which, apparently, falls on the second half of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century. The activation of external contacts leads to the realization by the rulers of the need to change paganism to one of the influential religions at that time. The Christianization of the country could not completely destroy the former beliefs of the Poles, but still had a much greater impact on their culture than on the culture of the Eastern Slavs.

In Poland, the Roman-Latin cultural tradition spreads, but the cults of Saints Cyril and Methodius, as well as their successor Gorazd, also penetrate here through the Czech lands. The first national cult is the cult of St. Wojciech, a Czech priest, a supporter of the coexistence of the Latin and Church Slavonic liturgies among the Slavs, who was killed by pagan Prussians around 997.

Together with the adoption of Christianity (966), the construction of stone religious buildings began in Poland (the earliest of them is the rotunda chapel of the Virgin Mary on the Wawel in Krakow - the second half of the 10th century), in which the Romanesque that dominated at that time in Western Europe is very clearly seen. style. The churches built in the 10th-13th centuries are distinguished by their severe majesty. They represent a three-nave basilica, traditional for the Roman tradition, with monumental towers and perspective portals covered with carved ornaments (the Church of St. Andrew in Krakow, the Church in Tum, the Church of Mary Magdalene in Wroclaw). The capitals of the internave pillars of the interior in Romanesque buildings are decorated with rich carvings. Builders usually use braid, floral patterns, images of saints, fantastic animals and birds. A few Romanesque crypts (4) have survived in Poland (the crypt of St. Leonard in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, circa 1100) that did not take root in ancient Polish architecture. Unlike East Slavic architecture, in the decoration of Polish Christian cathedrals of the 10th-13th centuries one can occasionally see sculptures that are characterized by a soft generalization of forms (the portal of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Wroclaw with relief images of the Mother of God and donors, the second half of the 12th century). The bronze doors of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Gniezno are a masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture. Cast in bronze in 1175, they are decorated with numerous bas-reliefs - scenes from the life of St. Wojciech.

In the 14th-15th centuries, the Romanesque style was replaced by the gothic style, directed to the sky. In the buildings of this time, the architectural forms found in Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands are refracted in a peculiar way. In southern Poland, under the influence of Czech art, three-nave basilica churches made of stone and brick were built (the Cathedral on Wawel and the Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow, cathedrals in Wroclaw and Poznan); in the north, under the influence of the Dutch school, hall brick churches were erected (the Church of the Virgin Mary in Gdansk), which are distinguished by a strict restraint of appearance; in the east of Poland, the influence of ancient Russian art can be traced (murals in the chapel of the castle in Lublin, 1418). The monumental towers of the western facades are usually divided into tiers and topped with tents. However, numerous reconstructions of structures have led to the fact that the architecture of some cathedrals combines different styles. So the northern tower of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow is crowned with a high Gothic spire, growing out of a gilded crown, the southern tower is crowned with a low Renaissance helmet. The Gothic architecture of Poland is not limited to places of worship. Wars with the Teutonic Order stimulated fortification, and thanks to the development of cities, secular architecture also flourished (city fortifications in Krakow and Warsaw, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the town hall in Torun).

The folk craft is also getting new development. The Franciscan monks brought from Italy the custom of building on Christmas Eve from paper, cardboard and wood shopkas - models of the Bethlehem barn, where Christ was born. Against the background of the rock, a manger with a figurine of a newborn is placed, next to it are the figures of the Mother of God, St. Joseph, shepherds and three kings who came to worship Jesus. Each master tried to embody the traditional plot in his own way, later other characters began to be included in it, and shops with a secular plot also became widespread. The new art form became very popular in Poland and has survived to this day.

The reign of Sigismund I (1506-1548) and Sigismund II (1548-1572) is called the "Golden Age of Poland". The country at this time reaches its greatest power, and Krakow becomes one of the largest European centers of the humanities, architecture and Renaissance art. The strong Italian influence, being refracted, receives a new life in Poland, develops here in a new way. The main center for the formation of a new Renaissance culture was the royal court and the houses of the local nobility; new humanistic ideas partially penetrate the culture of the middle gentry, the petty gentry and the peasantry remain the bearers of the old cultural traditions. In art, the ideas of humanism with a strong realistic beginning are more and more clearly traced. Latin is gradually but rather slowly replaced by the Polish language, as a result of which the Polish literary language begins to develop. Many scientific discoveries are being made. In particular, in 1543 Nicholas Copernicus publishes a treatise "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres", in which the foundations of the heliocentric theory were laid, which had a significant impact on the development of some natural and human sciences. Jan Długosz writes "History of Poland". In twelve books in Latin, the author, based on ancient legends, as well as materials from state and church archives, Polish, Czech and Hungarian chronicles, Russian and Lithuanian chronicles tells about the history of the Poles until 1480. A feature of this scientific treatise is the most thorough analysis of written sources and the assertion in Polish society of a sense of pride in their historical past. Historical science also develops in the works of Maciej from Mechow (“On the Two Sarmatians”, 1517), Martin Kromer (“On the Origin and Deeds of the Poles”, 1555), Maciej Stryjkowski(“Chronicles”, 1582), S. Ilovsky (“On the Possibilities of Historical Science”, 1557). These works force contemporaries to take a fresh look at the history of the Slavs and at historical science in general.

In the 15th-16th centuries, philosophy also received significant development in Poland. Problems of logic are developed by Polish humanists Grzegorz from Sanok, J. Gursky, A. Bursky.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Baroque style entered the architecture (the Church of St. Peter and Paul and Krakow, 1605 - 1619; the Jesuit Church in Poznań, the Bernardine Church in Krakow - the 18th century). Traditionally for this style, the buildings are richly decorated with molding, elegant wooden sculpture, and altars are richly decorated with carvings. From the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 18th century, the influence of French architecture with a combination of baroque and classicist features (Lazienki in Warsaw) has been affecting the palace and park architecture. In the 19th century, in cities and villages, residential and outbuildings were erected in the style of classicism, splendor and scope are clearly visible in the design of Warsaw squares. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Art Nouveau style came into fashion. It manifests itself not only in architecture, but also in painting and sculpture.

After the formation of the bourgeois Polish state (1918), the development of art proceeded in a contradictory way. The desire to master the latest achievements of European culture, attempts to create a modern national style and the search for new forms of realism coexisted with formal experimentation.

The Poles have made a great contribution to the development of world art, natural sciences and the humanities. Many of them have gained worldwide fame: in music they are Frederic Chopin, Ignacy Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Wanda Landowska, Arthur Rubinstein and contemporary composers Krzysztof Penderecki and Witold Lutosławski; in literature - Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Slowacki, Joseph Konrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Kozheniowski), Bolesław Prus, Stanisław Wyspianski, Jan Kasprowicz, Stanisław Lem and Nobel Prize winners Wiesława Szymborska, Czesław Milosz, Władysław Reymont, Henryk Sienkiewicz; in science - astronomer Nikolai Copernicus, logician Jan Lukasiewicz, Alfred Kozhybsky (founder of general semantics), economists Oscar Lange and Mikhail Kalecki, and Nobel Prize winner Maria Sklodowska-Curie. Polish politicians who influenced the course of European history were Bolesław I, Casimir the Great, Władysław Jagiellon, Jan Sobieski, Adam Czartoryski, Józef Piłsudski and Lech Walesa.

Notes:
1. Battle of Grunwald - July 15, 1410, the encirclement and defeat of the troops of the German Teutonic Order by the Polish-Lithuanian-Russian army under the command of the Polish king Vladislav II Jagello (Jagiello) near the villages of Grunwald and Tannenberg. The Battle of Grunwald put a limit to the advancement of the Teutonic Order to the East.
2. In the Sejm, the nobility was represented, in the Senate - the higher clergy and aristocracy.
3. Polish Rzecz Pospolita is a tracing paper of the Latin expression Res Publica, which literally means “common cause”. Over time, the two words merged into one - Rzeczpospolita with the meaning of "republic". This designation is also preserved in the modern name of the state - Rzeczpospolita Polska.
4. Crypt - (from Greek kryptē - covered underground passage, cache). In medieval Western European architecture - a chapel under the temple (usually under the altar), used as a place for honorary burials.

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