The first reliable information about Poland dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Poland was already relatively big state, created by the Piast dynasty by uniting 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 were converted to Latin rite Christianity in 966. 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 Odra and Nysa to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. Having strengthened Poland's independence in the wars with the Holy Roman Empire, Bolesław took the title of king (1025). After the death of Bolesław, the strengthened 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 - Władysław II - received power over the capital Krakow, Greater Poland and Pomerania. In the second half of the 12th century. Poland, like its neighbors Germany and Kievan Rus, fell apart. The collapse led to political chaos; The vassals soon refused to recognize the king's sovereignty and, with the help of the church, significantly limited his power.
Teutonic Knights
In the middle of the 13th century. The Mongol-Tatar invasion from the east devastated most of Poland. No less dangerous for the country were the continuous raids of pagan Lithuanians and Prussians from the north. To protect his possessions, Prince Konrad of Mazovia in 1226 invited 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 central government
As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, the state's dependence on the highest aristocracy and the small landed nobility began to increase, whose support it needed to protect against external enemies. The extermination of the population by the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuanian tribes led to an influx of German settlers to the Polish lands, who either themselves created cities governed by the laws of Magdeburg Law, or received land as free peasants. In contrast, Polish peasants, like the peasants of almost all of Europe at that time, gradually began to fall into serfdom.
The reunification of most of Poland was carried out by Władysław Lokietok (Ladisław the Short) from Kuyavia, a principality in the north-central part of the country. In 1320 he was crowned Vladislav I. However, the national revival in to a greater extent associated with the successful reign of his son, Casimir III the Great (r. 1333–1370). Casimir strengthened royal power, reformed the administration, legal and monetary systems according to Western models, promulgated a set of laws called the Wislica Statutes (1347), eased the situation of the peasants and allowed Jews - victims of religious persecution in Western Europe - to settle in Poland. He failed to regain access to the Baltic Sea; he also lost Silesia (which went to the Czech Republic), but captured Galicia, Volhynia and Podolia in the east. 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 influential monarchs in Europe. Under Louis (reigned 1370–1382), the Polish nobles (gentry) received the so-called. Koshitsky privilege (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 him youngest daughter Jadwiga with a request to become their queen. Jadwiga married Jagiello (Jogaila, or Jagiello), Grand Duke of Lithuania, who reigned in Poland as Władysław II (r. 1386–1434). Vladislav II converted to Christianity himself and converted the Lithuanian people to it, founding one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Vast territories of Poland and Lithuania were united into a powerful state union. Lithuania became the last pagan people in Europe to convert to Christianity, so the presence of the Teutonic Order of 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 Gorodlo, and public institutions of the Polish model 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 Diet, which included the higher clergy, aristocracy, and lesser nobility. In 1454 he granted the nobles the Neshawian Statutes, similar to the English Charter of Liberty. The Thirteen Years' War with the Teutonic Order (1454–1466) ended in victory for Poland, and according to the Treaty of Toruń 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 flourished. However, the emergence of a centralized Russian state that laid claim to 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 warlike 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 government decisions and the right of veto on all issues, concerning the nobility. The parliament, according to this constitution, consisted of two chambers - the Sejm, in which the small nobility was represented, and the Senate, which represented the highest aristocracy and the highest clergy. Extended and open borders Poland, as well as frequent wars, forced it to have a powerful, trained army in order to ensure the security of the kingdom. The monarchs lacked the funds necessary to maintain such an army. Therefore, they were forced to obtain parliamentary approval for any major expenditures. The aristocracy (mozhnovladstvo) and the small nobility (szlachta) demanded privileges for their loyalty. As a result, a system of “small-scale noble democracy” was formed in Poland, with a 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 domains 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 unified Polish-Lithuanian state began to be called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish for “common cause”). From this time on, the same king was to be elected by the aristocracy in Lithuania and Poland; there was one parliament (Sejm) and general laws; general money was introduced into circulation; Religious tolerance became common in both parts of the country. Last question was of particular importance, since significant territories conquered in the past by the Lithuanian princes were inhabited by Orthodox Christians.
Elected kings: the decline of the Polish state.
After the death of the childless Sigismund II, central power in the huge Polish-Lithuanian state began to weaken. At a stormy meeting of the Diet, a new king, Henry (Henrik) Valois (reigned 1573–1574; later became Henry III French). At the same time, he was forced to accept the principle of “free election” (election of the king by the gentry), as well as the “pact of consent” to which each new monarch had to swear. The king's right to choose his heir was transferred to the Diet. The king was also prohibited from declaring war or increasing taxes without the consent of Parliament. He should have been neutral in religious matters, he should have married on the recommendation of the Senate. The council, consisting of 16 senators appointed by the Sejm, constantly gave him recommendations. If the king did not fulfill any of the articles, the people could refuse to obey him. Thus, Henryk's 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 (ruled 1575–1586). Weakening supreme power in Poland, which had long and poorly defended 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 by 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 Prince Stefan Batory of Transylvania (reigned 1575–1586) as king, 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. Domestically, he gained the loyalty and assistance in the fight against the Ottoman Empire from the Cossacks, fugitive serfs who established a military republic on the vast plains of Ukraine - a kind of "border strip" stretching from southeastern Poland to the Black Sea along the Dnieper. Batory gave privileges to the Jews, who were allowed to have their own parliament. He reformed the judicial system, 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 (reigned 1587–1632), 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 fold of Catholicism. In 1592 he became king of Sweden.
To spread Catholicism among the Orthodox population, the Uniate Church was established at the Brest Council in 1596, which recognized the supremacy of the Pope, but continued to use Orthodox rituals. The opportunity to seize the Moscow throne after the suppression of the Rurik dynasty involved the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into a 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, 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 the rebellion of the gentry and the loss of prestige of the king.
After the death of Albrecht II of Prussia in 1618, the Elector of Brandenburg became the ruler of the Duchy of Prussia. From that time on, Poland's possessions on the Baltic Sea coast turned into a corridor between two provinces of the same German state.
Decline
During the reign of Sigismund's son, Vladislav IV (1632–1648), Ukrainian Cossacks rebelled against Poland, wars with Russia and Turkey weakened the country, and the gentry received new privileges in the form political rights and exemptions from income taxes. Under the reign of Władysław'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 its 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 Truce of Andrusovo (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 engage in defense of their own “freedoms,” which was suicidal for the state. From 1652, she began to abuse the harmful practice of the “liberum veto,” which allowed any deputy to block a decision he did not like, demand the dissolution of the Sejm and put forward any proposals that were to be considered by its next composition. Taking advantage of this, neighboring powers, through bribery and other means, repeatedly disrupted the implementation of decisions of the Sejm that were unfavorable to them. King Jan Casimir was broken and abdicated the Polish throne in 1668, at the height of internal anarchy and discord.
External intervention: prelude to partition
Mikhail Vishnevetsky (reigned 1669–1673) turned out to be an unprincipled and inactive monarch who played along with the Habsburgs and lost Podolia to the Turks. His successor, John III Sobieski (r. 1674–1696), fought successful wars with the Ottoman Empire, saved Vienna from the Turks (1683), but was forced to cede some lands to Russia under the Treaty of " Eternal peace” in exchange for her promises of assistance in the fight against the Crimean Tatars and Turks. After Sobieski's death, the Polish throne in the new capital of Warsaw was occupied for 70 years by foreigners: Elector of Saxony Augustus II (reigned 1697–1704, 1709–1733) and his son Augustus III (1734–1763). Augustus II actually bribed the electors. Having united in an alliance with Peter I, he returned Podolia and Volhynia and stopped the grueling Polish-Turkish wars by concluding the Peace of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire in 1699. The Polish king unsuccessfully tried to recapture the Baltic coast from King Charles XII of Sweden, who invaded Poland in 1701. and in 1703 he took Warsaw and Krakow. Augustus II was forced to cede the throne in 1704–1709 to Stanislav Leszczynski, 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 Russian troops again removed him from power.
Stanisław II: the last Polish king. Augustus III was nothing more than a Russian puppet; patriotic Poles tried with all their might to save the state. One of the factions of the Sejm, led by Prince Czartoryski, tried to abolish the harmful “liberum veto”, while the other, led by the powerful Potocki family, opposed any restriction of “freedoms”. In desperation, Czartoryski's party began to cooperate with the Russians, and in 1764 Catherine II, Empress of Russia, achieved the election of her favorite Stanisław August Poniatowski as King of Poland (1764–1795). Poniatowski turned out to be the last king of Poland. Russian control became especially obvious under Prince N.V. Repnin, who, as ambassador to Poland, in 1767 forced the Polish Sejm to accept his demands for equality of faiths and the preservation of the “liberum veto”. This led in 1768 to a Catholic uprising (Bar Confederation) and even to a war between Russia and Turkey.
Partitions of Poland. First section
At the height 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 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 1773, the Jesuit Order was dissolved and a commission on public education was created, the purpose of which was to reorganize the system of schools and colleges. The four-year Sejm (1788–1792), led 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 executive system and a parliament elected every two years. The principle of “liberum veto” and other harmful practices were abolished; cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, as well as representation in parliament; peasants, the power of the gentry over whom remained, were considered as a class under state protection; measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization regular army. The normal work of parliament and reforms became possible only because Russia was involved in a protracted war with Sweden, and Turkey supported Poland. However, the magnates who formed the Targowitz Confederation opposed the constitution, at the call of which Russian and Prussian troops entered Poland.
Second and third sections
On 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 Volyn and Podolia. The Poles fought but were defeated, the reforms of the Four Year Diet were repealed, and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko led a massive popular uprising that ended in defeat. The third partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, was carried out 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 of restoring their independence. Each new generation fought, either by joining the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or by starting 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 the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815) from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions. Two years later, the 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 Napoleon's defeat 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 Poznan (1815–1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and annexed to Russian Empire. In November 1830, the Poles rebelled against Russia, but were defeated. Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland and began repression. 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 intensified. The situation improved somewhat after the 1905 revolution in Russia. Polish deputies sat in all four Russian Dumas (1905–1917), seeking autonomy for Poland.
Territories controlled by Prussia. In the territory under Prussian rule, 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 suppress the Poznan Uprising of 1848. In 1863, both powers concluded the Alvensleben Convention on mutual assistance in the fight against 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
In the Austrian Polish lands the situation was somewhat better. After the Krakow Uprising of 1846, the regime was liberalized, and Galicia received administrative local government; 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 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 to achieve independence. The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up life-changing opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the arena of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups. Conservative national democrats led by Roman Dmowski (1864–1939) considered Germany the main enemy and wanted the Entente to win. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain autonomy status. Radical elements led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, viewed the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Polish independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. Several 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
On 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 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. March 30, 1917, after February Revolution In Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. On July 22, 1917, Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the Entente powers, the Polish national committee(PNK) led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish army was also formed with 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 disintegration and collapse of the Central Powers, the Council of Regency of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 transferred full power to Pilsudski in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and there was a civil war in Russia.
State formation
The new country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which long time developed within three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government institutions; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed upon with its neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After transition 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 to the Sejm took place, new line-up whom Piłsudski approved as head of state.
The question of boundaries
Western and northern borders the countries were determined at the Versailles Conference, by which Poland was given part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a “free city”. At the conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Cieszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Fierce disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilno (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; annexation to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.
On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski entered into 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 push back the enemy; this ended the war. The subsequent Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921) represented 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 concluded 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 agreement and cooperation” with Germany and Italy. After this, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany concluded a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the validity of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after Germany's military occupation of the Rhineland, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of 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 Cieszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and made 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-British-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at containing German expansion. Soviet Union in these negotiations he 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 freed his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.
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brief information
Poland is of great interest to tourists, because this country has a large number of architectural and historical monuments, beautiful nature with lakes and ancient forests, the Baltic Sea, numerous balneological and ski resorts. This is why tens of millions of tourists come to Poland every year...
Geography of Poland
Poland is located in Eastern Europe. In the west, Poland borders with Germany, in the south with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in the east with Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, and in the north with Russia (Kaliningrad region). In the north, Poland is washed by the Baltic Sea. The total area of this country is 312,679 square meters. km
Poland is dominated by low-lying landscapes. Hills and plateaus are located in the south of the country.
In the south-eastern part of Poland there are the Sudeten Mountains, in which the highest peak is Mount Snezka (1,602 m). Southern Poland is occupied by the Carpathian Mountains and the Tatras, which are divided into the High and Western Tatras. The highest peak in Poland is Rysy in the Tatras, its height reaches almost 2,500 meters. In the east of the country there are the Pieniny and Bieszczady mountains.
The main Polish rivers are the Vistula, Odra, Watra and Bug, flowing across the plain from south to north.
An important element of the Polish landscape are lakes, of which there are more than 9,300 in this country. The largest number of lakes in Poland are located in the Masurian Lake District. This area also has beautiful, majestic ancient forests with many rare animals and unique plants.
Capital
The capital of Poland since 1791 is Warsaw, which is now home to more than 1.82 million people. Historians believe that human settlements on the territory of modern Warsaw appeared at the beginning of the 10th century.
Official language
The official language in Poland is Polish, which belongs to the West Slavic languages of the Indo-European language family. Now the Polish language has 4 dialects (Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Masovian, and Silesian).
Religion
About 90% of Polish residents are Catholics belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Poles have always been considered the most zealous (ie, devoted) Catholics. In addition, many Orthodox Christians and Protestants live in Poland.
Government structure of Poland
Poland is a parliamentary republic. According to the 1997 Constitution, executive power belongs to the head of state - the President, and legislative power - to the bicameral parliament National Assembly, consisting of the Senate (100 people) and the Seimas (460 people).
The main Polish political parties are the liberal-conservative Civic Platform, the conservative Law and Justice, the social liberal Palikot Movement, the social democratic Union of Democratic Left Forces and the centrist Polish Peasant Party.
Climate and weather
The climate in Poland is mostly temperate. The average annual temperature in Poland is +8C and varies depending on the region and distance from the Baltic Sea. The average temperature in summer is +18C, and in winter in January -4C.
Sea in Poland
In the north, Poland is washed by the Baltic Sea. The length of the coastline is 788 kilometers. The largest Polish port is Gdansk. Poland includes several islands. The largest of them are Volin and Usnam.
Rivers and lakes
Four large rivers flow through Poland from south to north: the Vistula (1,047 km), the Odra (854 km), the Warta (808 km) and the Western Bug (772 km).
Poland also has more than 9,300 lakes. The largest number of Polish lakes are located in the Masurian Lake District. This lake district includes lakes such as Śniardwy, Mamry and Niegocin.
In Polish rivers and lakes there are trout, salmon, pike, pike perch, whitefish, tench, bleak, carp, roach, bream, crucian carp, catfish, etc. In the Baltic Sea, Poles catch herring, sprats, salmon, cod and flounder.
History of Poland
Greater Poland was founded in 966 BC. The first Polish king was Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty. The tribes of southern Poland then form Lesser Poland. In the middle of the 11th century, the Polish king Casimir I the Restorer managed to unite Greater and Lesser Poland.
In 1386, Poland entered into a union with Lithuania (Polish-Lithuanian Union). Thus, the Polish-Lithuanian state was formed, which became the strongest in Eastern Europe for several centuries.
In the 15th century, Poland waged wars with the Teutonic Order, the Moscow State and the Ottoman Empire. Famous Battle of Grunwald 1410 ended with the defeat of the troops of the Teutonic Order.
In 1569, according to the Union of Lublin, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed - a union state of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Throughout the 17th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth waged wars with its neighbors - the Turks, Ukrainians and Russians. Suffice it to recall the campaigns of the Cossacks and Poles against Moscow and the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnitsky.
Ultimately, Poland suffered a series of defeats, and in 1772 the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place between Russia, Prussia and Austria. The second partition of Poland took place in 1792, and the third in 1795.
After this, the Polish state did not exist for more than 100 years, although the Poles made several attempts to restore it (uprisings of 1830-31 and 1861).
Only in October 1918 was the independent state of Poland restored. Marshal Józef Pilsudski became the head of Poland, and the famous pianist Ignacy Paderewski was elected prime minister.
In 1926, as a result of a coup d'etat, power in Poland was seized by Józef Pilsudski, who ruled the country until his death in 1935.
In 1934, Poland and Germany signed a non-aggression pact. However, despite this, on September 1, 1939, a war broke out between these states, which led to World War II.
After the end of World War II, the Polish Republic was proclaimed, and in 1952 - the Polish People's Republic.
In December 1989, under the influence economic factors(Poland took out too many loans that it could not repay) and due to the interference in the internal affairs of the Polish People's Republic of some Western states, the Polish Republic was formed, and the Communist Party was outlawed after some time.
In 1999, Poland became a member of the NATO military bloc, and in 2004 it was admitted to the European Union.
Culture
The unique character of Polish culture comes from Poland's location at the crossroads of East and West. Poland's rich culture is manifested primarily in its local architecture. Many polish palaces, fortresses and churches are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The most famous Polish painters are Jacek Malczewski (1854-1929), Stanislaw Wyspiański (1869-1907), Josef Mehoffe (1869-1946), and Josef Czelmonski (1849-1914).
The most famous Polish writers and poets are Adam Mickiewicz, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Lem, and Andrzej Sapkowski.
As for traditions, they differ in Poland depending on the region. In the mountainous regions of the country, many ancient traditions are still preserved.
Some Polish traditions originate from Catholicism, while others have their origins in paganism. The most important religious holidays in Poland are Christmas and Easter.
Poles, like other peoples, have their own legends and myths. The oldest and most popular of them are “The Legend of Boleslaw and his Knights” (it turns out that Poland had its own King Arthur), “The Dragon of Krakow”, “The Polish Eagle” and “Janusik” (the Polish Robin Hood).
Polish cuisine
Polish cuisine has been influenced by several cuisines. First of all, Polish cuisine was influenced by Hungarians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Tatars, Armenians, Italians, and the French.
In northern Poland, the favorite dish is fish. In addition, traditional Polish dishes include duck, soup sauerkraut, and also cheese. Traditional Polish dishes are bigos made from sauerkraut and meat, pork cutlet “kotlet schabowy”, dumplings, and cabbage rolls.
Sights of Poland
Poland has always treated its history with care. Therefore, there are a lot of different attractions here, and it is difficult to select the best of them. In our opinion, the top ten most interesting Polish attractions include the following:
Lancut Castle
Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw
Czartoryski Museum in Krakow
Malbork Castle
Lazienki Park in Warsaw
Pauline Monastery
Słowinski National Park
Wilanow Palace in Warsaw
Warsaw Uprising Museum
Masurian lakes
Cities and resorts
The largest cities in Poland are Warsaw (more than 1.82 million people), Lodz (790 thousand people), Krakow (780 thousand people), Wroclaw (640 thousand people), Poznan (620 thousand people). ), Gdansk (630 thousand people), and Szczecin (420 thousand people).
Ski resorts in Poland are, of course, less popular than, for example, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, but they are more affordable. In addition, Polish ski resorts are distinguished by their beauty. Therefore, every year hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists come to Poland to ski at local ski resorts.
The most popular Polish ski resorts are Swieradow-Zdroj, Zakopane, Kotelnica, Uston, Szczyrk, and Szklarska Poreba.
Poland is also famous for its health resorts with mineral water and healing mud. The most popular of them are Połczyn-Zdrój, Bysko-3drój, Kołobrzeg, Świnoujście, Uston, Szczawno-Zdrój, and Krynica.
Useful information for tourists about Poland, cities and resorts of the country. As well as information about the population, currency of Poland, cuisine, features of visa and customs restrictions in Poland.
Geography of Poland
Poland is a state in Eastern Europe. In the north it is washed by the Baltic Sea, borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, as well as Russia.
The north of the country is occupied by the long uplands of the Baltic ridge and vast coastal lowlands with a large number of glacial lakes, the southwest by the Sudeten Mountains, the southern part of the country is surrounded by the Carpathians with the Tatras, Beskids and Bieszczady Mountains. The highest point is Rysy (2499 m) in the Tatras. The central part of Poland is flat, dissected by many rivers and reservoirs, and abundantly covered with forest. The Baltic coast is lined with dune-covered beaches, numerous bays and lakes.
State
State structure
Democratic parliamentary republic. The head of state is the president. The head of government is the prime minister. The highest legislative body is the bicameral People's Assembly.
Language
Official language: Polish
German, English, Russian and ethnic languages are also used.
Religion
Catholics - 98%.
Currency
International name: PLN
A zloty is divided into 100 groschen. In circulation there are coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 groschen, 1, 2 and 5 zlotys, as well as banknotes in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 zlotys.
Currency can be exchanged at specialized exchange offices ("Kantor"), no commission is charged. Exchange offices in banks are rare and the exchange rate in them is usually less favorable, exchange with hands is prohibited. The circulation of foreign currencies in the country is officially prohibited.
Credit cards are accepted in many hotels and restaurants, car rental companies, etc. ATMs are widely available in bank branches and large retail outlets. In some banks, ATMs are open 24 hours a day, but the entrance to the bank is usually locked with an electronic lock, to open which you need to insert a credit card into the lock slot and swipe it from top to bottom. Traveler's checks are accepted almost everywhere.
History of Poland
The Polish state emerged in the 10th century, and for many centuries Poland was one of the most powerful countries Central Europe. But to XVIII century perennial heavy wars led to the decline of the country, it lost its independence and was subject to several divisions between Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary. The Polish state was recreated only in 1918, and Poland existed within its modern borders after the Second World War.
Popular attractions
Tourism in Poland
Where to stay
Today in Poland you can find a great variety of comfortable hotels - from inexpensive to luxurious, there are also hotels from global chains.
The most luxurious and, accordingly, expensive hotels are located in buildings from the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Here you will find not only high-quality service, but also elegant antique interiors, restored to the smallest detail. If you are a fan of a homely atmosphere and comfort, small modern hotels, of which there are quite a few in Poland, will fully satisfy your needs. In addition, prices for accommodation here are quite affordable.
Rural tourism or, as it is also called, agrotourism, has become very popular lately. The features of this type of accommodation will appeal to those who are fed up with city life. Cozy rooms in rural estates, environmentally clean products, the opportunity to take part in agricultural work is attracting more and more city residents. The cost of living depends on the region, as well as the level of services provided.
If you want to relax with children, then in Poland many hotels have a special pricing policy for such accommodation. So, some hotels allow free accommodation children under 3 years old, in some hotels up to 14. However, this information should be clarified in advance. In addition, in restaurants, as a rule, you can find a special children's menu.
Hostels are very popular among young people and can be found throughout Poland. Since such hostels are completely full in the spring-autumn period and especially during the holidays, it is worth booking a place in advance.
Campsites of various ranks can be found throughout Poland. As a rule, this is a fenced area, on its territory there is electricity, water supply, sewerage, service staff. Most campsites are open from May to September, but there are also year-round ones.
Hiking in Poland has been very popular for many years now, so finding so-called “mountain shelters” can be found without problems. Such a shelter can offer both ascetic rooms for overnight stays and quite comfortable rooms.
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Popular hotels
Excursions and attractions in Poland
Poland is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Central Europe. Amazing natural landscapes, wonderful resorts and protected areas, an abundance of architectural attractions, a huge cultural and historical heritage Every year they attract many tourists from all over the world.
The capital of Poland is the city of Warsaw - an important economic and cultural center of the country. Unfortunately, during the Second World War the city was almost completely destroyed. Thanks to the surviving drawings and plans, the Poles were able to restore the historical center, or the so-called “Old Town,” with extraordinary accuracy and return Warsaw to the title of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Among the most interesting sights of the capital, it is worth highlighting the Royal Palace, Lazienki Palace (Lazienki), Presidential palace(Radziwill Palace), St. John's Cathedral, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Jesuit Church of the Virgin Mary, Dominican Church of St. Jacek, Carmelite Church, Peter and Paul Church, Royal Arsenal, Sigismund's Column and Market Square. No less interesting are the Uzyadovsky Castle, the Ostrogsky Palace, the Branicki Palace, the Church of St. Anne, the Church of the Visiting Cards, National Museum, Warsaw History Museum, Saxon Gardens, Defilade Square and Moliere Street. In the vicinity of Warsaw in Wilanow there is a magnificent palace and park complex of John III Sobieski.
Krakow is one of the most colorful and most visited cities in Poland. It is rightfully considered the cultural capital of the country. The historic city center is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Krakow is famous for its abundance of stunning architectural monuments, among which the most impressive are Wawel Castle, the Cathedral of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslas, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary's Church), the Dominican Church of St. Wojciech, the Church of St. Andrew, the Jagiellonian University, etc. It is definitely worth visiting the Krakow National Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the Czartoryski Museum, the House of Jan Matejka, the Kościuszko Mound, Kazimierz, the famous Cloth Row and Rynok Square. Walking through the unusually beautiful Volsky Forest, which is located right within the city, will also bring special pleasure. Not far from Krakow are the famous Wieliczka salt mines, known since ancient times.
The port city of Gdansk is also very popular among tourists. It is interesting for its centuries-old history, beautiful architectural structures, museums, various cultural events and, of course, the beautiful Baltic beaches. The most visited resorts in Poland also include Sopot, Gdynia, Kolobrzeg, Krynica Morska, Ustka and Swinoujscie. Among Polish resorts, the ski resorts of Zakopane, Zielenets and Karpacz, a popular health resort and ski resort Krynica-Zdrój, as well as the mineral springs of Kudowa-Zdrój. You will find a lot of interesting sights and opportunities for pleasant leisure activities in Lublin, Lodz, Szczecin and Poznan. No less interesting for travelers are such Polish cities like Katowice, Torun, Zamosc, Malbork, Kielce, Czestochowa, and also sadly famous Auschwitz(Auschwitz).
Among the natural attractions of Poland, it is worth highlighting the stunningly beautiful Tatra Mountains, the majestic Sudeten Mountains and the famous Beskydy Mountains, on the territory of which there are a huge number of resorts and various health resorts. The famous Masurian Lakes with their magnificent parks and protected areas are also worth a visit.
Polish cuisine
Many dishes of Polish cuisine are similar in preparation technology and set of products to dishes of Ukrainian and Russian cuisines.
Among appetizers and cold dishes in Polish cuisine, all kinds of salads from fresh, pickled and salted vegetables, seasoned with mayonnaise, sour cream or curdled milk, meat, fish products and poultry, served with various vegetables as a side dish, are popular. They prepare stuffed eggs, eggs with mayonnaise, as well as a spicy snack made from cottage cheese, to which chopped parsley, dill, green onions, pepper, and salt are added.
Kefir and yogurt are often served for breakfast, and hot boiled potatoes are usually served with yogurt. First courses are most often represented by borscht, cabbage soup, pickles, beetroot soup, solyanka, and mashed potato soups. In Poland, it is customary to serve borscht and cabbage soup with hot boiled potatoes instead of bread. Favorite dishes in Polish cuisine are tripe dishes (Warsaw-style flaki, flaki in sauce, tripe soup).
Polish cuisine offers a variety of fruit and berry sweet dishes (fruit salads, ice cream, sweet pancakes), confectionery and bakery products.
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| Republic of Poland | |||
| Polish Rzeczpospolita Polska | |||
|
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| Hymn: "Dombrovsky's Mazurka" | |||
 Location Poland(dark green): - in (light green and dark gray) - in the European Union (light green) |
|||
| Independence date | November 11, 1918 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Official language | Polish | ||
| Capital | |||
| Largest cities | , | ||
| Form of government | parliamentary republic | ||
| The president | Andrzej Duda | ||
| Prime Minister | Mateusz Morawiecki | ||
| Marshal of the Sejm | Marek Kuchcinski | ||
| Marshal of the Senate | Stanislav Karchevsky | ||
| Territory | 69th in the world | ||
| Total | 312,679 km² | ||
| % water surface | 3,07 | ||
| Population | |||
| Score (2017) | 38,422,346 people (35th) | ||
| Census (2014) | 38,483,957 people | ||
| Density | 123 people/km² | ||
| GDP (PPP) | |||
| Total (2018) | $1193 billion (21st) | ||
| Per capita | $31,430 (46th) | ||
| GDP (nominal) | |||
| Total (2018) | $614.190 billion (23rd) | ||
| Per capita | $16,179 | ||
| HDI (2015) | ▲ 0.855 (very high; 36th place) | ||
| Names of residents | Pole, Polka, Poles | ||
| Currency | Polish zloty (PLN) | ||
| Internet domain | .pl | ||
| ISO code | P.L. | ||
| IOC code | POL | ||
| Telephone code | +48 | ||
| Time Zones | CET (UTC+1, summer UTC+2) | ||
Poland(Polish Polska), official name - Republic of Poland(Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska) - a state in Central Europe. The population, according to the results of 2015, is 38,623,221 people, the territory is 312,679 km². It ranks thirty-sixth in the world in terms of population and sixty-ninth in territory.
The majority of believers (about 87% of the population) profess Catholicism, making Poland the country with the largest Catholic population in Central Europe.
An industrial country with a developed economy. GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) is $22,162 per year (2012). In 2012, Poland's GDP at PPP amounted to $854.2 billion. Currency unit- Polish zloty (average rate for 2016 - 3.8 zlotys per 1 US dollar).
General information
Poland covers an area of 312,679 km², according to this indicator the country is in 69th place in the world and tenth in Europe. Population: 38 million people (33rd in the world). The country is divided into 16 voivodeships, which in turn are divided into powiats (districts) and communes (parishes).
The date of creation of the first Polish state is considered to be 966, when Mieszko I converted to Christianity. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1st Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). In 1795 in the result of three partitions, when the territory was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia, the Polish state ceased to exist. During the Napoleonic wars in the period 1807-1813. there was the Duchy of Warsaw, most of which became part of Russia in 1815 as the so-called Kingdom of Poland. Poland regained independence in 1918 after the First World War (II Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), but in 1939 it was divided between Germany and the USSR. After war Poland within new borders (without Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, but with significant territorial gains at the expense of Germany) became a “country of people's democracy”, dependent on the USSR (Polish People's Republic). In 1989, changes took place in political system, transition to a market economy (III Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).
Since March 12, 1999, it has been a member of NATO, and since May 1, 2004, a member of the European Union. On December 21, 2007, it entered the Schengen zone.
Etymology
After the introduction of the official name - “Rzeczpospolita Polska” it was translated into Russian for some time, as Polish Republic because the word Polska simultaneously means “Poland” and Polish. This was followed by an explanation from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the adequate translation was “Republic of Poland”. The official name of the country does not use the modern Polish word “republika” (republic), but the obsolete one - “rzeczpospolita”, which is a literal translation into Polish Latin term“rēs rūblica” (public matter). The Russian name "Poland" goes back to the local singular case w Polszcze(modern Polish w Polsce) from Polish. Polska - substantivized adjective "Polish" from ziemia polska- “Polish land”, that is, “land of glades” (the name of the tribe, in turn, comes from the word "field").
Geography
Territory of Poland. Satellite image
Baltic Sea
Mountain landscape of Podhale
The total area of Poland is 312,658 (312,683) km² (in terms of area it ranks 69th in the world, and 9th in the world). Land - 304,459 km², water - 8220 km². About 2/3 of the territory in the north and center of the country is occupied by the Polish Lowland. In the north - the Baltic ridge, in the south and southeast - the Lesser Poland and Lublin Uplands, along the southern border - the Carpathians (highest point 2499 m, Mount Rysy in the Tatras) and the Sudetes. Large rivers - Vistula, Odra; dense river network. The lakes are mainly in the north. 28% of the territory is under forest.
Borders
In the north it is washed by the Baltic Sea; borders:
- In the west from - 467 (456) km,
- In the southwest from - 790 (615) km,
- In the south - 539 (420) km,
- In the southeast from - 529 (428) km,
- In the east from - 416 (605) km,
- In the northeast, s - 103 (91) km and () - 206 (210) km.
- In addition, Poland, through the economic zone in the Baltic Sea, borders the zones and.
The total length of the borders is 3582 km, of which 3054 (2888) km are land and 528 (491) sea.
Climate
The climate is temperate, transitional from maritime to continental, with mild (cold in the mountains) winters and warm (cool in the mountains) summers. The continental climate is lower than in and on, which is expressed primarily in milder winters. Average January temperatures are from −1 to −5 °C (in the mountains up to −8 °C), July from +17 to +19 °C (in the mountains up to +10 °C); precipitation 500-800 mm on the plains; in the mountains in some places over 1000 mm per year.
Story
Background
At the beginning of our era, the fact of residence of the Germanic tribes of the Sciri and Lugians was known on the territory of Poland. Then they were replaced by the Goths of the Wielbar culture. In the middle of the 1st millennium, southern Poland was controlled by Alans and Turkic tribal associations. The Baltic Wielbark culture is unprovenly associated with the Crimean Goths. At the end of the 1st millennium, such tribes were known on the territory of Poland as the Western Glades (from them the name of the country), Lendzians (from them the name of the Poles among their neighbors: “Poles”), Kuyawians, Pomeranians, Mazovshans, Vistulas, Ślęzyans (v), etc. e. Gradually, proto-state associations arise on the basis of large tribal principalities; Of these principalities, the main ones were the principality of the Vistula in what is now Lesser Poland (region) and the Polans in Greater Poland (district).
Gniezno Poland (877-1320)
Poland 992-1025
In 877 after the conquest of Lesser Poland Great Moravia Greater Poland remained the center of formation of the Polish state, the capital of which was the city. The first known ruler of Poland was the Greater Poland prince Mieszko I from the Piast family (960-992); in 966 he converted to Christianity according to the Western rite. Under his son - Boleslav the Brave - the Polish Principality reached the pinnacle of power. In 999, Boleslav took away the future Lesser Poland from the Czech Republic with; he was a Czech prince from 1003 to 1004, after a long war with the Holy Roman Empire he annexed Lusatia and Milsko. Boleslav became related to the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk the Accursed and, supporting him against his brother Yaroslav the Wise, occupied Kyiv in 1018; in 1025 he takes the title of king. His son Mieszko II Vyaly, forced to fight both Germany and Russia, lost almost all of his father's conquests, including the royal title, which he renounced in 1033. After his death, a period of chaos and anarchy began, and his son Casimir I the Restorer, expelled from Poland by rebels, regained his power with difficulty and losses. But the latter’s son, Boleslav II the Bold (1058-1079), completely revived the former power of Poland and again (1076) assumed the royal title; in 1068, supporting his relative Izyaslav Yaroslavich, he also took possession. He was overthrown by a conspiracy; but under Boleslav III Wrymouth (1102-1138) the Old Polish state reached last heyday. Boleslav repelled the invasion of the German emperor in 1109, and annexed almost everything to Poland in 1122. However, after his death, as in the same years in Rus' - after the death of Vladimir Monomakh, feudal fragmentation began in Poland. According to the “Statute of Bolesław Wrymouth” (1138), Poland was divided between four sons with the title of Grand Duke and a grand ducal appanage (part of Greater Poland with and Lesser Poland with Krakow) for the eldest. A number of principalities were formed: Kuyavia, Mazovia, Silesia, etc.
Just at this time the German “Onslaught to the East” began. In 1181, the prince recognized himself as a vassal of the German emperor; in 1226, the Masovian prince Konrad called upon the Teutonic Order to fight the Prussians. In 1241, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Poland and defeated the Poles and Germans near Liegnitz, but then retreated to Hungary. IN end of XIII century, centripetal tendencies began to appear again. Duke Přemysl II of Greater Poland (1290-1296) took the title of king in 1295. Przemysl was soon killed by the people of the Elector of Brandenburg and the Greater Poland magnates.
Kingdom of Poland in 1333-1370
Krakow Poland (1320-1569)
Jagiellonian states in 1490
The battle of the Polish-Lithuanian army with the Moscow army in 1514
In 1320, the Kuyavian prince Władysław Łokietek (1305-1333), having annexed Greater Poland to his possessions, was crowned king of Poland. From now on it becomes the new capital of Poland. Under his successor, Casimir III the Great (1333-1370), Poland flourished. In 1349, Galicia was annexed to Poland. In 1370, Casimir's nephew, King Louis (Lajos) I of Hungary, from the Angevin dynasty (1370-1382) became the king of Poland - the first foreign king on the Polish throne. Lacking a strong foothold in the country, he published in 1374 Koshitsky privileges, according to which magnates and gentry were exempted from all duties, except for military service and an insignificant tax of 2 groschen per lan of land.
In 1384, the Queen of Poland (according to Polish law - king) became Jadwiga. The magnates began to look for a husband for Jadwiga who could be a full-fledged Polish monarch, and found one in the person of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello (in Polish pronunciation Jagiello). In 1385, the Polish-Lithuanian union was concluded, according to which Jogaila was baptized according to the Catholic rite, introduced Catholicism as the state religion in Lithuania, married Jadwiga and ascended the Polish throne under the name of Vladislav II. Thus, a Polish-Lithuanian state arose in the East of Europe. Under Jogaila, the infringement of the Orthodox population of the Russian lands captured by the Poles began. Jagiello handed over to the Catholics orthodox cathedral in, built under the Russian prince Volodar Rostislavovich, marking the beginning of the Catholicization and Polonization of this city. All of his land holdings were taken away from the Orthodox Metropolitan of Galicia in favor of the Catholic Archbishop.
In 1410, the Battle of Grunwald took place - the defeat of the Teutonic Order.
Jagiello's son Vladislav III (reign 1434-1444) became simultaneously the king of Hungary and Poland, but died in the battle with the Turks near Varna. After this, the Polish-Hungarian union ceased, but the Polish-Lithuanian union (which had ceased) was restored, thanks to the election of Vladislav's brother, the Lithuanian prince Casimir Jagiellonczyk (Cazimir IV, 1447-1492), to the Polish throne.
In 1454, according to the Nieszawa Statutes, Poland became a republic, where the highest power belonged to the Sejm.
Wars with the Teutonic Order resumed. In 1466, according to the Second Peace of Torun, Poland annexed the city and gained access to the Baltic Sea. The king's son Vladislav became the king of the Czech Republic in 1471, and from 1490 - the king of Hungary.
In 1505, the Nihil novi law was passed, limiting the power of the king in favor of the gentry. From now on, commonly used in relation to the Polish system government structure became the term Rzeczpospolita.
After the Battle of Mohacs with the Turks, when the Czech-Hungarian king Louis (Lajos) Jagiellon died, the geopolitical situation changed dramatically in 1526: not a trace remained of the predominance of the Jagiellon dynasty, the territories south of Poland were divided between Turkey and Austria. During the reign of the last Jagiellon, Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish-Lithuanian alliance again had to face the strengthening of the Moscow state, where Ivan IV the Terrible reigned. Since 1562, Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian alliance found themselves embroiled in the fierce, lengthy and devastating Livonian War for both sides.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795)
Sigismund Augustus was childless, and as he grew older the question arose about future fate the Polish-Lithuanian state, held together only by the unity of the dynasty. The need to build it on new principles led to the conclusion of the Union of Lublin (1569), according to which Poland formed a united confederal state with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, headed by the Sejm and the king chosen by it. The state went down in history as the “Rzeczpospolita” (Polish: Rzeczpospolita, a translation from the Latin res publica (“”), “common cause”; first used in relation to the Polish state in the 13th century by Vincent Kadlubek).
After the death of Sigismund, in accordance with the new constitution, the era of elective kings began. The Frenchman Henry Valois (1572-1574) appeared on the throne and soon fled back to France, while Ivan the Terrible again went on the offensive in . The election in 1576 of the Transylvanian prince Stefan Batory turned the situation in favor of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: he returned what was lost (1579), then, in turn, he himself invaded Russia and besieged. Peace in Yama-Zapolsky (1582) restored the old border.
After Batory's death in 1586, the Poles elected the Swedish king Sigismund III Vasa; however, he soon lost the Swedish throne because of his Catholic fanaticism. Three important events are associated with his reign: the transfer of the capital from Krakow to Krakow in 1596 (coronations were still held in Krakow); Union of Brest Orthodox and catholic churches(1596), which put an end to traditional Polish religious tolerance and created the preconditions for the Khmelnytsky uprising and Polish intervention in Russia during the Time of Troubles.
Polish intervention in Russia
The Poles surrender the Kremlin to the militia led by Dmitry Pozharsky
The Polish magnates Mnishek supported the impostor False Dmitry and equipped him with an army consisting of Zaporozhye Cossacks and Polish volunteers. In 1604, the impostor’s army invaded Russia; the cities and armies sent to meet him swore allegiance to the new tsar. In 1605, the impostor entered Moscow and was crowned, but was soon killed.
The impostor promised to return it to the Polish king Sigismund III in payment for his help. Under the pretext of these promises, Sigismund began the siege of Smolensk in 1610. The army sent to the rescue by the new Tsar Vasily Shuisky was defeated by Hetman Zholkiewski at the Battle of Klushin, after which the Poles approached Moscow, while the troops of the new impostor False Dmitry II besieged it from the other side. Shuisky was overthrown and subsequently extradited to Zholkiewsky. The Moscow boyars swore allegiance to Sigismund's young son Vladislav, and then allowed the Polish garrison into Moscow. Sigismund did not want to let his son go to Moscow and baptize him into Orthodoxy (as was supposed under the terms of the agreement), but tried to rule Moscow personally through Alexander Gonsevsky, who headed the Polish garrison in Moscow after Zolkiewsky's departure. The result was the unification of the former " Tushino thieves“- Cossacks with Shuisky’s nobles against the Poles (beginning of 1611) and their joint campaign against Moscow, supported by an uprising in Moscow itself, which the Poles were able to suppress only by setting the city on fire. The siege of Moscow by the first militia was unsuccessful due to contradictions in its ranks. The campaign of the second militia, led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, put the Poles in a critical situation. Sigismund, who took Smolensk, disbanded his army, unable to support it. On November 1, 1612 (new style), the militia took Kitai-gorod, the Poles took refuge in the Kremlin. On November 5, the Poles signed a capitulation, releasing the Moscow boyars and other nobles from the Kremlin, and surrendered the next day.
In 1617, Vladislav, who continued to bear the title of Grand Duke of Moscow, invaded Russia, trying to seize the “legitimate” throne, reached Moscow, but could not take it. According to the Deulin truce, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth received Smolensk and Seversk land. Vladislav retained the title of Grand Duke of Moscow. After the truce expired, Russia unsuccessfully tried to return Smolensk, but after the defeat under its walls in 1633, according to the Treaty of Polyanovsky, Smolensk was recognized as Poland, and Vladislav renounced the Moscow title.
The beginning of the state's disasters
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635
Wladyslaw IV, as king, did not allow the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to take part in the Thirty Years' War, adhered to religious tolerance and carried out military reform. He unsuccessfully sought to strengthen royal power by opposing the magnates. The reign of Władysław IV turned out to be the last stable era in the history of royal Poland.
At the same time, in the 16th century, rapid polonization took place, followed by the transition to Catholicism of the Western Russian gentry; for a long time the transition was spontaneous and voluntary, caused by status superiority. By the end of the 16th century, the Ukrainian-Belarusian Orthodox peasantry found itself under the rule of the Catholic Polonized nobility. This situation, along with the strengthening of the Counter-Reformation and the influence of the Jesuits, gave rise to the desire to convert “slaves” to Catholicism. The result of the oppression of the Orthodox is an increase in tension and, ultimately, a catastrophic uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which began in 1648. In 1654, Russian troops invaded Poland; the following year - the Swedes, who occupied Warsaw, King John II Casimir fled to Silesia - anarchy began, which in Poland was called the “Flood”. In 1657, Poland renounced its sovereign rights over East Prussia. The Swedes were never able to stay in Poland due to the outbreak of partisan warfare. On the other hand, some of the Cossack elders, frightened by the influence of the Moscow governors, recoiled from Moscow and tried to re-establish relations with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, thanks to which the Poles returned Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine. According to the Truce of Andrusovo (1667), Poland also lost all areas east of the Dnieper.
Decline
Battle of Vienna, 1683 Great Turkish War
The short reign of the young Vishnevetsky was not very successful; Poland lost the war against the Ottoman Empire, which occupied Podolia and forced surrender. Jan III Sobieski carried out a radical reform in the armament and organization of the army. Under his command, a coalition of Christian powers inflicted a crushing defeat on the Turks at the Battle of Vienna on September 12, 1683 and stopped the Ottoman Empire's advance into Europe.
The reign of Jan Sobieski was the last brilliant episode in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then a steady decline began. In 1697, the Saxon Elector Augustus II the Strong was elected king of Poland, ushering in the era of Saxon kings. His plans to return Livonia ended Northern War, during which Charles XII of Sweden invaded Poland, defeated Augustus II, occupied Warsaw and established his creature Stanislaw Leszczynski on the Polish throne. In 1709, Peter I expelled the Swedes and their protege from Poland and restored Augustus the Strong to the throne. A country deprived internal resources, which had neither a tax service, nor customs, nor a regular army, nor any kind of capable central government, was henceforth doomed to serve as a toy for powerful neighbors. After the death of Augustus the Strong in 1733, the “War of the Polish Succession” broke out, during which the Saxons and Russians expelled Stanislav Leszczynski, supported by the French, from the country and installed a new Saxon Elector, Augustus III (1734-1763), on the Polish throne.
The end of the reign of Augustus III saw the era of the Seven Years' War, when Poland turned into a battlefield between Prussia and its opponents. Frederick II of Prussia was already the bearer of the idea of dividing Poland, but his defeat in the war pushed back this project. In 1764, under Russian pressure, the little-known and uninfluential Stanislav August Poniatowski was elected king of Poland. In fact, a Russian protectorate was established over Poland. Poniatowski was an educated and intelligent man, but he lacked the political will sufficient to act in such a difficult situation.
The actual protectorate of Russia was expressed, in particular, in the fact that Russia, with the support of Prussia, forced Stanislav to resolve the “dissident issue” - to equalize the rights of Orthodox and Protestants with Catholics. The king was also forced to cancel the reforms he had begun; Catherine proclaimed herself the guarantor of the “liberum veto”. The gentry’s response was the “Bar Confederation” (1768), which launched a guerrilla war against Russian troops. Soon the uprising was suppressed and the rebels were exiled to Siberia; for their part, Austria and Prussia, jealously watching Russia's assertion in Poland and taking advantage of its difficulties in the war with Turkey, demanded their share.
Sections
Three divisions of Poland on one map
In 1772, the first division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place between Prussia, Austria and Russia, according to which Galicia went to Austria, West Prussia to Prussia, and the eastern part of Belarus to Russia (,).
The position of the Kingdom of Poland in 1773: three monarchs point on the map of Poland the part of the country they claim, diplomat Panin points to an angel proclaiming the will of the monarchs
The dark years that followed the first partition gave way to a new social upsurge in the late 1780s. In 1787, a new Russian-Turkish war began, Russian occupation troops were withdrawn from Poland. In 1788, the Four-Year Sejm began its work, which set itself the task of implementing fundamental reforms that could renew the country. A constitution was developed that was supposed to eliminate the harmful principle of the “liberum veto”, curb the anarchy of the gentry, mitigate serf-like social inequality, introduce the foundations of civil society and establish a strong and capable centralized government. The Constitution of May 3 (1791) became one of the first constitutions in the world.
Dissatisfied with the abolition of the “golden liberties,” the magnates went to St. Petersburg in search of support and agreed on Russian intervention. To justify the intervention, they drew up an act of confederation, actually in St. Petersburg, but falsely labeled Targovitsa - the estate of one of the confederates, as a result of which the confederation received the name Targovitsa.
Empress Catherine II moved troops to Poland. A fierce struggle began between adherents of the new constitution against the Confederates and the Russian army. After the victory of the Russian troops, the constitution was abolished and the dictatorship of the Targowitz confederates was established; At the same time, Prussian troops entered Poland, and the Second Division between Prussia and Russia (1793) of the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carried out. The Sejm was convened, at which the restoration of the previous constitution was proclaimed; Warsaw and several other cities were occupied by Russian garrisons; The Polish army was sharply reduced.
In March 1794, the national liberation uprising of Kościuszko began. Kosciuszko, proclaimed in Krakow “the leader of the uprising,” defeated the Russian detachment at Raclawice and moved to Warsaw, where the rebel population destroyed the Russian garrison; I was busy . In the summer, the rebels withstood the siege of Warsaw by Russian-Prussian troops. However, in the fall the rebels suffered a number of crushing defeats. The lack of support for the uprising by the Belarusian and Ukrainian populations was revealed. Kosciuszko was defeated at Maciejowice and captured; the Warsaw suburb of Prague was taken by storm by Suvorov; Warsaw capitulated. After this, the third partition occurred (according to an agreement concluded between Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1795) and Poland as a state ceased to exist.
Period of absence of statehood (1795-1918)
For more than a century, Poland did not have its own statehood; Polish lands were part of other states: Prussia (and subsequently the German Empire) and (later Austria-Hungary).
Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1813)
Napoleon, having defeated Prussia, created a vassal Duchy of Warsaw from part of its Polish lands. recognized this principality led by the Saxon king Frederick Augustus, loyal to Napoleon, and received the Bialystok region. In 1809, after victorious war c (in which the Poles also participated), Lesser Poland with Krakow was annexed to the Duchy of Warsaw.
The 5th Corps of the Great Army consisted of 3 Polish divisions and light cavalry: 16th Division (Zajonczek), 17th Division (Dąbrowski), 18th Division (Kniazhevich).
The next division of Poland took place in 1814-1815 at the Congress of Vienna between, Prussia and. Most of the former Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Russia, Poznan went to Prussia, Krakow was declared a “free city”. The Congress of Vienna declared the granting of autonomy to the Polish lands in all three parts, but in fact this was implemented only in Russia, where, largely on the initiative of Emperor Alexander I, known for his liberal aspirations, the constitutional Kingdom of Poland was formed.
Kingdom of Poland (1815-1915)
On November 27, 1815, Poland, as part of Russia, received its own constitution, which linked Poland and Russia in a personal union and allowed Poland to choose a diet, its own government and have own army. First, Kosciuszko's old ally, General Joseph Zajonchek, was appointed governor of Poland, then the tsar's brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The constitution, relatively liberal at first, was later limited. A legal opposition appeared in the Polish Sejm, and secret political societies arose.
Polish uprising of 1830-1831
In November 1830, the “November” Uprising broke out in Warsaw, after which was suppressed in 1831, Nicholas I revoked the constitution granted to Poland in 1815. National liberation uprisings took place in 1846 in Poznan (they were suppressed by Prussia). In the same year, there was an uprising in, as a result of which (with the consent of Nicholas I) the city went to Austria.
After the death of Nicholas I new strength A liberation movement arose, which was now divided into two hostile camps: the “reds” (democrats and socialists) and the “whites” (aristocrats). General requirement was the restoration of the constitution of 1815. In the fall of 1861, martial law was introduced in Poland to stop the unrest. The liberal Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, appointed governor, was unable to cope with the situation. It was decided to announce a recruitment drive and send pre-designated “unreliable” young people to serve as soldiers on special lists. The recruitment, in turn, served as the signal for the massive "January Uprising" of 1863. The uprising was suppressed, and a military regime of government was established in the Kingdom of Poland. The January uprising led Alexander II to the idea of depriving the rebellious gentry of social support and in order to carry out peasant reform- in 1864, a Decree was adopted on the organization of the peasants of the Kingdom of Poland, which eliminated the remnants of serfdom, and the peasants were allocated land. The suppression of the January Uprising gave impetus to the development of a policy of eliminating the autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland and closer integration of Poland within the Russian Empire.
Introduction to Russian throne Nicholas II revived hopes for the liberalization of Russia's policy towards Poland. In 1897, the emperor visited Warsaw, where he agreed to the establishment of the Polytechnic University and the installation of a monument to Mickiewicz.
In 1897, on the basis of the National League, the National Democratic Party of Poland was created, which, although its strategic goal was to restore the independence of Poland, fought primarily against Russification laws and for the restoration of Poland's autonomy. The National Democratic Party soon became the leading political force in the Kingdom of Poland and took part in the activities of the Russian State Duma (Polish Kolo faction).
Jozef Piłsudski
During the Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia, revolutionary uprisings also took place in the Kingdom of Poland. The Polish Socialist Party of Józef Pilsudski gained great influence, organizing a number of strikes in industrial enterprises Kingdom of Poland. During Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 Pilsudski visited, where he tried to obtain funding for the uprising in Poland and the organization of Polish legions to participate in the war against Russia. The national democrats of Roman Dmovsky opposed this. Nevertheless, Pilsudski managed to enlist Japanese support in the purchase of weapons, and in 1904 he created the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party, which throughout next years carried out several dozen terrorist acts and attacks on Russian institutions and organizations, of which the most famous is the Bezdan robbery of 1908. In 1906 alone, Pilsudski's militants killed 336 Russian officials and military personnel.
Polish lands within Prussia and Austria
Intensive Germanization was carried out on the Polish lands as part of Prussia, and Polish schools were closed. In 1848, Russia helped Prussia suppress the Poznan Uprising. In 1863, both powers concluded the Alvensleben Convention to help each other in the fight against the Polish national movement.
The position of the Poles in the lands within Austria was somewhat better. In 1861, the Regional Sejm of Galicia was created to resolve issues of local life in the province, which was dominated by Poles; schools, institutions and courts used Polish; and the Jagiellonian (in Krakow) and Lviv universities became all-Polish cultural centers.
World War I
After the outbreak of the First World War on August 14, 1914, Nicholas II promised, after victory in the war, to unite the Kingdom of Poland with Polish lands, which will be taken away from Germany and Austria-Hungary, into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire.
Siege of Przemysl
The war created a situation in which Poles, Russian subjects, fought against Poles serving in the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The pro-Russian National Democratic Party of Poland, led by Roman Dmowski, considered Germany the main enemy of Poland; its supporters considered it necessary to unite all Polish lands under Russian control with the status of autonomy within the Russian Empire. Anti-Russian supporters of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) believed that the path to Polish independence lay through Russia's defeat in the war. Several years before the outbreak of World War I, the leader of the PPS, Józef Pilsudski, began military training of Polish youth in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. After the outbreak of war, he formed the Polish legions as part of the Austro-Hungarian army.
In 1915, the territory of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary. On November 5, 1916, the German and Austro-Hungarian emperors published a manifesto on the creation of an independent Kingdom of Poland in the Russian part of Poland. Due to the absence of the king, his powers were exercised by the Regency Council.
After the February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Russia announced on March 16 (29), 1917 that it would promote the creation of a Polish state on all lands populated mostly by Poles, subject to the conclusion of a “free military alliance” with Russia.
In France, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created in August 1917, led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish “Blue Army” was formed there, led by Józef Haller.
On October 6, 1918, the Polish Regency Council announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and the Provisional People's Government of the Polish Republic was created ( Tymczasowy Rząd Ludowy Republiki Polskiej), and on November 14, after the surrender of Germany and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, he transferred full power in the country to Józef Pilsudski.
At this time there arose armed conflict between Polish formations and the forces of another newly formed state - the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (WUNR) on the territory of Galicia, which resulted in large-scale hostilities that lasted from November 1, 1918 to July 17, 1919 and ended with the defeat of the WUNR.
On December 27, 1918, the Poles of the German province of Posen raised the Greater Poland Uprising, after which until mid-1919 the province became independent state with its own currency and army.
Polish Republic (1918-1939)
Poland in 1921-1939
Ethnic map of Poland in 1931
On January 26, 1919, elections were held to the Legislative Sejm, which confirmed Józef Piłsudski as head of state.
The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 gave Poland most of the German province of Posen, as well as part of it, giving the country access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a “free city”.
In the presidential elections of 2000, Kwasniewski was re-elected president; in the parliamentary elections of 2001, the SDLS also won, and SDLS member Leszek Miller became the head of the government, who was replaced in 2004 by Marek Belka. In 2004, Poland joined the European Union.
In the fall of 2005, right-wing forces returned to power in Poland. At this time, two parties, originating from the anti-communist opposition and Solidarity, competed for influence on the political scene: Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) of the Kaczynski brothers - a conservative party with strong elements of populism and nationalism - and a liberal party -conservative orientation “Civic Platform” (Polish: Platforma Obywatelska), led by Donald Tusk and Jan Rokita. On September 25, 2005, the Law and Justice party won the parliamentary elections with a result of 26.99% (155 seats out of 460), the Civic Platform was in second place - 24.14% (133 seats), then the populist Self-Defense ( Polish Samoobrona Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) Andrzej Lepper - 11.41%. The Kaczynski brothers' party, together with two other small parties - Self-Defense and the right-wing nationalist Catholic League of Polish Families - formed the ruling coalition. First, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz became Prime Minister, and from July 2006, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
On October 9, 2005, Lech Kaczynski and Donald Tusk advanced to the second round of the presidential elections. On October 23, Lech Kaczynski won and became President of Poland. 54.04% of voters voted for him. His opponent received 45.96% of the votes.
Early parliamentary elections in October 2007 brought victory to the Civic Platform, while the Law and Justice party and its allies suffered defeat. The leader of the Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, became Prime Minister.
On April 10, 2010, the president's plane, en route to Smolensk to participate in events dedicated to the anniversary of the Katyn tragedy, crashed. All passengers and crew members were killed, including the president and his wife. Marshal of the Sejm Bronislaw Komorowski became the acting head of state. On July 4, 2010, the 2nd round of presidential elections in Poland took place, in which Bronislaw Komorowski received the most votes, while the gap with Jaroslaw Kaczynski was 6%. On August 6, 2010, Bronislaw Komorowski took office as President of the Republic of Poland.
On October 9, 2011, the next parliamentary elections were held, in which the ruling coalition of the Civic Platform and the Polish Peasant Party retained a majority in the Sejm and Senate. The third largest party in the Sejm was the new liberal anti-clerical party Palikot Movement (since 2013 - Your Movement). In 2014, many deputies moved from it to the Union of Democratic Left Forces and the Security and Economics parliamentary group.
Political structure
Poland is a member of the European Union and NATO. On May 1, 2004, the country joined the European Union, and on December 21, 2007 - into the Schengen zone.
Legislative body - Senate and Seimas.
Political parties
Parliamentary
- Law and Justice
- Civic platform
- Cookies"15
- Nowoczesna
- Polish Peasant Party
Non-parliamentary
- KORWiN
- Union of Democratic Left Forces
- Your movement
- Union of Labor
- Razem ("Together")
Legal system
- Constitutional oversight body - Constitutional Tribunal ( Trybunał Konstytucyjny),
- highest court - Supreme Court ( Sąd Najwyższy),
- appellate courts - appellate courts ( Sąd apelacyjny),
- courts of first instance - district courts ( Sąd okręgowy),
- the lowest level of the judicial system - district courts (Sąd rejonowy),
- the highest court of administrative justice - the Supreme Administrative Court ( Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny),
- courts of appeal of administrative justice - voivodeship administrative courts ( Wojewódzki sąd administracyjny),
- body for the trial of senior officials - the State Tribunal ( Trybunał Stanu),
- courts of appeal of military justice - district military courts ( Wojskowe sądy okręgowe),
- courts of first instance of military justice - garrison military courts ( Wojskowe sądy garnizonowe),
- Prosecutor's Office - General Prosecutor's Office ( Procurator General),
- appellate prosecutor's office ( Prokuratury apelacyjne),
- District Attorney's Offices ( Prosecutor's Office okręgowe),
- district prosecutor's offices ( Prosecutor General's Office),
- Main Military Prosecutor's Office ( Naczelna Prokuratura Wojskowa),
- district military prosecutor's office ( Wojskowe prosecutor's office okręgowe),
- garrison military prosecutor's offices ( Wojskowe prosecutor's office garnizonowe).
Administrative division
Voivodeships of Poland.
Poland is divided into 16 voivodeships, voivodeships in turn are divided into powiats, and powiats into communes.
Economy
Poland is a former socialist country, so its economy was seriously affected by the political changes that occurred in the early 90s. So, at this time a wave of privatization began, during which the main part state property passed into private hands. Wide unfilled niches of developing economic system Many Western investors are seriously interested in this, which makes the Polish economy significant and important for the entire European market. Developed market economy promotes competition.
The Polish economy also has its own weak sides. Agriculture suffers from a lack of investment, an abundance of small farms and redundant staff. The amount of compensation for expropriations during communist rule has not been determined.
Poland is an industrial-agrarian country. Gross national product at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita is $22,162 per year (2012). In 2012, Poland's GDP at PPP amounted to $854.2 billion. Poland's external debt at the end of the third quarter of 2007 amounted to $204 billion 967 million.
Industry
As of 2016, the share of industrial production in the GDP structure was 38.5%. At the same time, the number of people employed in industry is 30.4% of the working population. The growth rate is higher than for the economy as a whole - about 4.2% for 2016.
In Poland they mine: hard and brown coal, natural gas, sulfur and saltpeter, table, rock and potassium salts, asbestos, iron, silver, nickel ores, gold, zinc, shale gas.
Leading manufacturing industries
- mechanical engineering (Poland is one of the leading places in the world in the production of fishing vessels, electric trains, freight and passenger cars, road and construction machines, machine tools, engines, electronics, industrial equipment, etc.),
- ferrous and non-ferrous (large-scale zinc production) metallurgy,
- chemical (sulfuric acid, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, perfumes and cosmetics, photographic products),
- textile (cotton, linen, wool),
- sewing,
- cement,
- production of porcelain and earthenware,
- production of sporting goods (kayaks, yachts, tents, etc.).
- furniture manufacture
Agriculture
Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Poland has a highly developed agriculture. agriculture crop production predominates. The main grain crops are rye, wheat, barley, oats.
Poland is a large producer of sugar beets (over 14 million tons per year), potatoes, and cabbage. Important exports apples, strawberries, raspberries, currants, garlic, and onions.
The leading branch of livestock farming is pig farming; dairy and beef cattle breeding, poultry farming (Poland is one of the largest suppliers of eggs); beekeeping. Sea fishing and reindeer husbandry (deer and red deer in the Lublin Voivodeship).
Tourism
Poland has a number of resorts:
Export
- machinery and equipment (about 40% of the cost),
- cars,
- aviation equipment,
- chemical products (over 10%),
- metals, trams, tractors,
- fuel,
- Food,
- textile,
- cloth,
- building materials,
- electronics
The main seaports of the country are and.
Population
Population density cartogram of Poland
The population of Poland in 2008 was 38,116,000 people. Thus, it is the eighth most populous country in Europe, and the sixth in the European Union. The average population density is 122 people per km².
Modern Poland is one of the most mononational states in the world. According to the 2002 census, 96.74% of the Polish population identified themselves as ethnic Poles. 97.8% of the census stated that they speak Polish at home. 1.23% of the country's population classified themselves as other nationalities, of which the largest ethnic groups are Silesians (0.45%), Germans (0.4%), Belarusians (0.1%), Ukrainians (0.1%). ), Gypsies, Jews, Polish-Lithuanian Tatars. More than 2% of the population refused to answer the question about nationality.
The exceptionally high mono-ethnicity of Poland is a consequence of historical events of the mid-20th century, which radically changed the national structure of the country, namely, the Second World War (Holocaust) and post-war changes in European borders and the associated mass movements of the German, Polish and Ukrainian populations, as well as ethnic politics states. As official statistics show, over the past two decades there has been no significant influx of immigrants to Poland, with the exception of the admission of several thousand refugees from Chechnya. According to Polish laws, refugee status gives the right to stay in the country, but does not allow either to work for the purpose of earning money or to receive social benefits from the state; provision of refugees is undertaken by international and local humanitarian and charitable organizations. For this reason, Poland is usually a transit country for refugees.
Polish-Lithuanian Tatars - Mosque in Poland
In recent years, Poland's population has been gradually decreasing due to increased emigration and falling birth rates. After the country joined the European Union, a large number of Poles emigrated to the country in search of work.
Polish diasporas are represented in neighboring states: Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, as well as in other countries (see Poles). Total number Poles living abroad are estimated at 20 million. The largest Polish diaspora lives in. The centers of Polish immigration are the USA and Germany. According to the All-Russian Population Census conducted in 2002, 73,001 (0.05%) residents of the Russian Federation considered themselves Poles (see Poles in Russia).
|
Ethnic composition of the population of Poland according to the 2011 census, which allowed one or two answers about nationality |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Number all answers (thousand people) |
including those who indicated first nationality (thousand people) |
including those who indicated as the only one nationality (thousand people) |
Share all answers % |
Share indicated first nationality % |
Share indicated as the only one nationality % |
Difference from 2002. (thousand people) |
| Poles | 36 085 | 36 007 | 35 251 | 93,72 % | 93,52 % | 91,56 % | ▼ 899 |
| Silesians | 809 | 418 | 362 | 2,10 % | 1,09 % | 0,94 % | ▲ 636 |
| Kashubians | 228 | 17 | 16 | 0,59 % | 0,04 % | 0,04 % | ▲ 223 |
| Germans | 109 | 49 | 26 | 0,28 % | 0,13 % | 0,07 % | ▼ 44 |
| Ukrainians | 48 | 36 | 26 | 0,12 % | 0,09 % | 0,07 % | ▲ 17 |
| Belarusians | 47 | 37 | 31 | 0,12 % | 0,10 % | 0,08 % | ▼ 2 |
| gypsies | 16 | 12 | 9 | 0,04 % | 0,03 % | 0,02 % | ▲ 3 |
| Russians | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0,03 % | 0,02 % | 0,01 % | ▲ 7 |
| Americans | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0,03 % | 0,003 % | 0,003 % | ▲ 9 |
| Lemki | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0,03 % | 0,02 % | 0,02 % | ▲ 4 |
| English | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0,03 % | 0,01 % | 0,003 % | ▲ 9 |
| other | 87 | 45 | 34 | 0,23 % | 0,12 % | 0,09 % | |
| not determined | 1 862 | 1 862 | - | 4,84 % | 4,84 % | - | ▲ 1,087 |
| Total | 38 501 | 38 501 | 38 501 | 100,00 % | 100,00 % | 100,00 % | ▲ 271 |
Armed forces
Polish F 16
- Poland is a country with a professional army
- Minimum military age for recruitment: 18 years
- Available military resources: 9,681,703
- Total military personnel: 120,000
- Annual military expenditure: $9,650,000,000
- Full work force: 17 100 000
Poland is a nuclear-free country.
Armament
- Airplanes and helicopters: 318
- Naval forces (warships): 87
- Navy ( transport ships): 11
Humanitarian organizations
Polish Red Cross(Polish: Polski Czerwony Krzyż) founded on April 27, 1919. Pavel Sapega became the Chairman ( Paweł Sapieha), after his resignation - Helena Paderewska ( Helena Paderewska). On July 24, 1919, the Polish Red Cross Society was registered ( Polskie Towarzystwo Czerwonego Krzyża) - the only Red Cross organization operating throughout Poland. In 1927, the Polish Red Cross Society changed its name to the Polish Red Cross.
Culture
Frederic Chopin
Literature
World-famous representatives of Polish literature are:
- Stanislav Lem,
- Andrzej Sapkowski,
- Ioanna Khmelevskaya,
- Boleslav Prus,
- Henryk Sienkiewicz,
- Janusz Leon Wisniewski,
- Maria Konopnitskaya,
- Czeslaw Milosz,
- Adam Mickiewicz,
- Eliza Ozheshko,
- Tadeusz Ruzewicz,
- Wislawa Szymborska,
- Arkady Fidler,
- Stanislav Jerzy Lec.
Architecture
(Marienburg, Polish Malbork, German Marienburg) is a city in northern Poland in the Vistula delta (on the Nogat channel), located 80 kilometers from the border with Kaliningrad region Russia. Founded in 1276 as the Order Castle Marienburg. Population - 40,135 inhabitants (2005). Marienburg Castle- the largest brick castle in the world, which served as the residence of the masters of the Teutonic Order. Occupies an area of over 20 hectares. In 1997 the castle was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Music
The central figure of Polish (and one of the key figures of world) musical culture is Frederic Chopin.
Holidays
Holiday weekends
National Independence Day of Poland
- January 1 - New Year - Nowy Rok
- January 6 - Epiphany - Trzech Króli - holiday until 1960 and again since 2011
- Easter (2 days: Sunday and Monday) - Wielkanoc
- May 1 - Labor Day - Święto Pracy
- May 3 - Constitution Day May 3 - Święto Konstytucji 3 Maja
- Green holidays or The Descent of the Holy Spirit (49 days after Easter is always on Sunday) - Zielone Świątki / Zesłanie Ducha Świętego
- Body of God (60 days after Easter is always on Thursday) - Boże Ciało
- August 15 - Ascension of Our Lady - Wniebowzięcie NMP
- November 1 - All Saints - Wszystkich Świętych
- November 11 - National Day of Independence of Poland - Święto Niepodległości
- December 25 and 26 - Christmas - Boże Narodzenie
Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - Body of God
Holidays on days other than weekends
- January 21 - Grandmother's Day - Dzień Babci
- January 22 - Grandfather's Day - Dzień Dziadka
- March 1 - Day of the “Cursed Soldiers” - Narodowy Dzień Pamięci “Żołnierzy Wyklętych”
- March 8 - Women's Day - Dzień Kobiet
- May 2 - Flag Day of the Polish Republic - Dzień Flagi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Day of Polonia and Poles Abroad - Dzień Polonii i Polaków za Granicą
- May 8 - Victory Day - Dzień Zwycięstwa
- May 26 - Mother's Day - Dzień Matki
- June 1 - Children's Day - Dzień Dziecka
- June 23 - Father's Day - Dzień Ojca
- August 1 - Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Warsaw Uprising - Narodowy Dzień Pamięci Powstania Warszawskiego
- August 31 - Day of Solidarity and Freedom - Dzień Solidarności i Wolności
- October 14 - National Education Day - Dzień Edukacji Narodowej , until 1982 - Teacher's Day
- October 16 - Day of Pope John Paul II - Dzień Papieża Jana Pawła II, established by the Diet after the death of the pope in memory of his choice (October 16, 1978)
- November 2 - Day of the Dead - Dzień Zaduszny
- December 6 - St. Nicholas Day - Dzień Świętego Mikołaja
Religion
Catholic Church in Poland
Religion in Poland occupies a fairly significant place in public life. The most influential religion in the country is Christianity (primarily Roman Catholicism), whose adherents, according to various estimates, range from 86.7 to 95.5 percent of the population.
Representatives of several other faiths are also present: Orthodox, Lutherans, Calvinists and Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses.
One of the most important places of pilgrimage in Poland is the Catholic monastery of Jasna Gora in Częstochowa, belonging to the Pauline Order.
Frombork
see also
- Telecommunications in Poland
- Transport in Poland
- Sports in Poland
- Polish State Railways
- Polish Armed Forces
- Warsaw Uprising (1944)
- Foreign policy of Poland
- Institute of National Memory of Poland
- Polish gentry
- Confederate
- Confederation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Legal system of the Republic of Poland
- Poland Awards
- Higher education in Poland
Notes
- National Independence Day; a symbolic date for the restoration of Polish statehood in the 20th century on the lands of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and German empires that had already collapsed. See History of Poland.
- According to the law adopted on January 6, 2005, in communes where at least 20% of the population are represented by national minorities (there are 41 such communes in Poland), local municipalities have the right to government institutions introduce a second language. This law also applies to place names. The law applies to Belarusian, Lithuanian, Kashubian and German languages.
- World Atlas: Maximum detailed information / Project leaders: A. N. Bushnev, A. P. Pritvorov. - Moscow: AST, 2017. - P. 8. - 96 p. - ISBN 978-5-17-10261-4.
- olsztyn.stat.gov.pl/ Wyniki badań bieżących - Baza Demografia - Główny Urząd Statystyczny. demografia.stat.gov.pl.
- Główny Urząd Statystyczny. Ludność. Stan i struktura ludności oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2014 r. January 30, 2014
- 5. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- 2015 Human Development Report. United Nations Development Program (2015). Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- see also Poles#Ethnonyms
- Also.eu, as a member of the European Union.
- According to other classifications, in Eastern or Central and Eastern Europe
- http://countrymeters.info/ru/Poland.
- Veeke, Justin van der Developing Countries - isi-web.org. www.isi-web.org. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- Footnote error: Invalid tag ; no text specified for GDP footnotes
- Poland // Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language = Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch: in 4 volumes / author.-comp. M. Vasmer; lane with him. and additional member-corr. USSR Academy of Sciences O. N. Trubacheva. - Ed. 2nd, erased - M.: Progress, 1987. - T. III: Muse - Syat. - P. 321.
- Boryś W. Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego. - Wydawnictwo Literackie. - Kraków, 2005. - P. 459. - ISBN 978-83-08-04191-8.
- Rusina O. V. Ukraine under the Tatars and Lithuania. - Kiev: Vidavnichy house “Alternatives”, 1998. P. 229.
- Op. A. Petrushevsky Suvorov. Polish War: Prague; 1794.
- S. A. Sklyarov Polish-Ukrainian territorial dispute and great powers in 1918-1919.
- Raisky N. S. The Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920 and the fate of prisoners of war, internees, hostages and refugees
- Mikhutina I.V. So how many Soviet prisoners of war died in Poland in 1919-1921? // New and recent history. - 1995. - No. 3. - pp. 64-69.
- Mikhutina I.V. So was there a “mistake”? // Independent newspaper. - 2001. - No. January 13.
- About the tragic fates of the Red Army soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. "Military Historical Journal", 5/95.
- The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Volume 1. William Shirer. Edited by O. A. Rzheshevsky. Moscow. Voenizdat. 1991 Part 13. Next up is Poland.
- Secret protocol to the agreement (Archive of the President of the Russian Federation, Special folder, package No. 34)
- Department of State. Nazi–Soviet Relations, 1939–1941: Documents from the Archives of The German Foreign Office. - 1948.
- G.N. Sevostyanova, B.L. Khavkin. Soviet-German documents 1939–1941. from the archives of the CPSU Central Committee// New documents on modern history. - M.: Education, 1996. - P. 151-156. - 348 p. - ISBN 5090067406. - ISBN 9785090067409.
- Telegram No. 442 dated September 25 from Schulenburg to the German Foreign Ministry //
- Richard C. Lukas, Norman Davies Forgotten Holocaust. - 2nd Rev. edition. - Hippocrene Books, 2001. - P. 358. ISBN 0-7818-0901-0
- The numbers are controversial, since in 1939 a significant part of pre-war Poland went to the USSR and Lithuania.
- Zygmunt Berling (1896-1980)
- Jan M. Ciechanowski. Powstanie Warszawskie. Pułtusk-Warszawa, Akademia Humanistyczna im. Aleksandra Gieysztora, 2009.
- Boris Sokolov Stop order. Why do the ashes of Warsaw knock in our hearts? "Political Journal"
- Irina Pakhomova Warsaw tragedy - trial of the winners weekly "First Crimean"
- Winston Churchill World War II The suffering of Warsaw M. Voenizdat, 1991 Book 1 ISBN 5-203-00705-5 Book 2 ISBN 5-203-00706-3 Book 3 ISBN 5-203-00707-1
- Internal troops of the NKVD against the Polish underground
- Poland- article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
- Alexander Smolyar. Polish radicals are in power. “Pro et Contra” // Carnegie Moscow Center, No. 5-6, 2006.
- Bukharin N. Internal factors of the Polish revolution of 1989 // International Historical Journal No. 7, 2000.
- Kuklinski A. Economic transformation in Poland: experience and prospects (1990-2010)
- Wieczor_wyborczy
- Gazeta.ru
- Economic Information Agency PRIME
- Poland (English) . CIA. - Information on Poland on the official website of the CIA.
- Concise statistical yearbook of Poland (Polish). Central Statistical Office. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- Polish diaspora in the world
- Polish diaspora in the USA
- Polish immigration centers in the USA and Germany
- Wyniki Narodowego Spisu Powszechnego Ludności i Mieszkań 2011 Podstawowe informacje o sytuacji demograficzno-społecznej ludności Polski oraz zasobach mieszkaniowych (Stan w dniu 31 March 2011): Wyniki Narodowego Spisu Powszechnego Ludno ści i Mieszkań 2011.pdf
- The first and second days, and December 26 is also the day of remembrance of the Christian first martyr St. Stefan (Polish: św. Szczepan). The holiday of the Nativity of Christ begins on the evening of December 24 with a gala dinner (Polish: Wigilia), but this day is not a day off. At midnight on December 24-25, a solemn mass (Polish: Pasterka) begins in all Polish Catholic churches.
Links
- Poland Awards
- Russian emigration in Poland (1917-1945)
- Castles of Poland
- Official advertising and information portal of the Republic of Poland BNF: 11880842g GND: 4046496-9 ISNI: 0000 0004 0471 0018, 0000 0001 2293 278X LCCN: n79131071 NDL: 00569130 SUDOC: 02658994X VIAF: 14181 0140