Portal:Poland

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Welcome to the Poland Portal — Witaj w Portalu o Polsce

Cityscape of Kraków, Poland's former capital

Poland is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic to the southwest, Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, Lithuania to the northeast, and the Baltic Sea and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north. It is an ancient nation whose history as a state began near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century when it united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements in the late 18th century, Russia, Prussia and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. It regained independence as the Second Polish Republic in the aftermath of World War I only to lose it again when it was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. The nation lost over six million citizens in the war, following which it emerged as the communist Polish People's Republic under strong Soviet influence within the Eastern Bloc. A westward border shift followed by forced population transfers after the war turned a once multiethnic country into a mostly homogeneous nation state. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union called Solidarity (Solidarność) that over time became a political force which by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country completed, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, but has experienced a constitutional crisis and democratic backsliding since 2015.

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From Polish history – show another

Władysław Gomułka addressing a crowd in 1956

The deaths of Joseph Stalin in 1953 and Poland's hardline communist President Bolesław Bierut in 1956, as well as Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech to the 20th Party Congress, paved the way to a period of de-Stalinization in the People's Republic of Poland, known as the Polish October or Gomułka Thaw. Workers' protests against poor standards of living that started in June 1956 in Poznań were violently suppressed by the army and secret police, but forced the government to increase wages and promise economic and political reforms. Władysław Gomułka, who had been expelled from the Polish United Workers' Party and imprisoned in 1951, was rehabilitated and elected the party's First Secretary in October 1956. With much popular support, he led the country along a "Polish road to socialism" and won a degree of autonomy from the Soviet Union. Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky was sacked from his post as Polish defense minister, farm collecitivization was halted, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński was released from internment, and the following year's parliamentary election, though not entirely free, was freer than previous ones. These events inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which – unlike the one in Poland – was crushed by the Soviet Army. (Full article...)

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Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970

Credit: Jan Mehlich

The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 outside the Gdańsk Shipyard consists of three anchors, each hanging from a concrete cross 42 meters tall. It commemorates 42 workers killed during the 1970 protests against price hikes. The monument, marking the spot where the first three men fell, was erected thanks to the 1980 Gdańsk Agreement between Solidarity and communist authorities.

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... that the Casimir Pulaski Monument (pictured) in Savannah, Georgia, the first monument to the Polish–American hero in the United States, was built over 70 years after a U.S. Congress resolution calling for it?
... that Tygodnik Ilustrowany ("Illustrated Weekly") was a major Polish magazine published from 1859 until World War II?
... that the Majdanek State Museum, with its permanent collection of evidence and rare artefacts from the Holocaut in German-occupied Poland, was the first museum of its kind in the world?
... that Poland has over 2,000 nature reserves, the first of which were created in the 19th century?

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Władysław Sikorski

Władysław Sikorski (1881–1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, he became a founder and member of several underground organizations that promoted the aim of Polish independence. He fought with distinction during the Polish–Soviet War, in which he played a prominent role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw. During World War II he became prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and a staunch advocate of the Polish cause on the diplomatic scene. He supported the reëstablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union, which had been severed after the Soviet alliance with Germany in the 1939 invasion of Poland. In April 1943, however, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin broke off Polish–Soviet diplomatic relations following Sikorski's request that the International Red Cross investigate the Katyn massacre. In July 1943, Sikorski was killed in a plane crash into the sea immediately on takeoff from Gibraltar. The exact circumstances of his death remain in dispute, which has given rise to ongoing conspiracy theories. (Full article...)

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Wrocław town hall

Wrocław, situated on the Oder River in Lower Silesia, is the fourth largest city in Poland. Dating back to the 11th century, the city has changed its allegiance and name several times in history, and has been known as Vratislav in Czech and Breslau in German. An important economic and cultural hub of eastern Germany until World War II, it can boast eleven Nobel prize winners who were born or lived in Breslau. The picturesque historic center was destroyed during the Siege of Breslau at the end of the war, but then meticulously rebuilt and is now a popular tourist attraction, along with the Centennial Hall and the Racławice Panorama. Modern Wrocław is a growing high-tech and financial center of Poland. (Full article...)

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Poland now

Recent events

On 8 April, local elections (map of voivodeship-level results shown) were held throughout Poland, with run-off votes in some municipalities held on 21 April.
On 9 January, police entered the Presidential Palace in Warsaw to arrest former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński (Law and Justice party) and his former deputy, both of whom had been sentenced to two year's jail for abuse of power.
On 9 January, Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, an Armenian and Roman Catholic priest, and former anti-Communist dissident, died at the age of 67.
On 13 December, Donald Tusk of the Civic Coalition was sworn in for his third nonconsecutive term as Prime Minister of Poland.