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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Kotwica (Anchor), symbol of the Home Army

The Home Army (Armia Krajowa) was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was loyal to the Polish government-in-exile and constituted the armed wing of what became known as the Polish Underground State. Most common estimates of its membership in 1944 are around 400,000; that figure would make it not only the largest Polish underground resistance movement but one of the two largest in Europe during World War II. The AK's primary resistance operations were the sabotage of German activities; it also fought several full-scale battles against the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944 during Operation Tempest. The most widely known AK operation was the failed Warsaw Uprising. (Full article...)

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Olsztyn, Silesian Voivodeship

Credit: Marcin Szala

Ruins of old fortifications blend with natural limestone outcrops in what remains of the Olsztyn Castle near Częstochowa. Located in the Polish Jura Chain, which stretches from Częstochowa in the north to Kraków in the south, Olsztyn is part of a system of medieval castles known as the Eagle Nests Trail. Like many other strongholds along that trail, the Olsztyn Castle was built by King Casimir the Great in the 14th century and destroyed during the Swedish occupation in the 17th.

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... that Polish merchant Jan Dekert (pictured) was a vocal advocate for the enfranchisement of burghers during the Great Sejm in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that former Polish president, Lech Wałęsa, only won 1 percent of the vote in the 2000 presidential election?
... that the Lipka Rebellion of 1672 was the only time that the Muslim Lipka Tatars mutinied against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Polish Jesuit missionary Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki introduced the knowledge of logarithms to China in the mid-17th century?

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Józef Piłsudski

Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) was a Polish military and political leader who was largely responsible for Poland's reëmergence as an independent nation in 1918 and later exercised dictatorial powers during much of the existence of the Second Polish Republic. He was a leader of the Polish Socialist Party early in his political career and later created the Polish Legions which fought alongside the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires against Russia during World War I. In 1917, with Russia faring badly in the war, he withdrew his support from the Central Powers. Piłsudski was named renascent Poland's chief of state in 1918 and marshal of Poland in 1920. In 1919–1921, he led Polish forces to victory in the Polish–Soviet War. He withdrew from political life in 1923, but came back three years later in the coup d'état of May 1926, becoming a virtual dictator of Poland with a firm grip on military and foreign affairs until his death. Though a number of his political acts remain controversial, Piłsudski is held in high esteem by his compatriots. (Full article...)

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Old Town Hall of Toruń by night

Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in northern Poland. Known in German as Thorn, it was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1233 and ceded to the Kingdom of Poland under the terms of a treaty signed here in 1466. Seven years later, it became the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus. Today, Toruń is the seat of the legislature (sejmik) of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, forming with the city of Bydgoszcz, its western neighbor, the Bydgoszcz-Toruń metropolitan area. With its medieval spatial layout preserved almost intact and with many brick Gothic buildings, including the town hall, churches and burgher houses, Toruń is a popular tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also famous for its traditional gingerbread flavored with honey and spices. (Full article...)

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