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

Street Demonstration by Władysław Skoczylas (1905)

The Łódź Insurrection was an uprising by Polish workers in Łódź against the Russian Empire which took place between 21 and 25 June 1905. The Russian-controlled Congress Poland was one of the major centers of the Russian Revolution of 1905, and the Łódź Insurrection was a key incident in those events. For months prior to the uprising, workers in Łódź had been in a state of unrest, with several major strikes brutally quelled by the Russian police and military. Around 21–22 June, angry workers began building barricades and assaulting police and military patrols. The riots began spontaneously, without backing from any organized group; Polish revolutionary groups were taken by surprise and did not play a major role in the subsequent events. Authorities declared martial law and called in additional troops. No businesses operated in the city on 23 June as the police and military stormed dozens of workers' barricades. Eventually, by 25 June, the uprising was crushed, with estimates of several hundred dead and wounded. The events were reported in international press and recognized by socialist and communist activists worldwide. (Full article...)

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Daniel Mróz

Credit: Daniel Mróz

A 1957 illustration by Daniel Mróz for Sławomir Mrożek's short story collection entitled Słoń ("Elephant"). Mróz, with his surrealist or grotesque line art drawings, is best known as an illustrator for science fiction books by Stanisław Lem and works by Mrożek, who is famous for his satirical stories and absurdist dramas.

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... that Temerl Bergson (pictured), a wealthy businesswoman and benefactress of Hasidic Jews in 19th-century Poland, "distributed money like ashes"?
... that the Coexist symbol used on bumper stickers was first published as a 3 m × 5 m (9.8 ft × 16.4 ft) outdoor poster by a Polish artist in a juried exhibition in Jerusalem?
... that at the Valletta Summit on Migration, where European and African leaders discussed the European migrant crisis, Poland was only represented by an undersecretary of state due to a clash with the first sitting of the country's new parliament?
... that Russian victory at the Battle of Warsaw in 1831 ended the Polish November Uprising?

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Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa (born 1943) is a Polish trade-union and human-rights activist and politician. Soon after beginning to work as an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, he became involved in trade union movement. For this he was persecuted by the Polish communist government, fired, and arrested several times. In August 1980, he was instrumental in negotiating the Gdańsk Agreement between striking workers and the government, and co-founded Solidarity, the first trade union in the Soviet Bloc that was independent from the state. He was interned after martial law was imposed and Solidarity was outlawed in 1981, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. Upon release he participated in the 1989 Round Table talks that led to a semi-free parliamentary election and to a Solidarity-led government. He went on to become the first popularly elected president of Poland in 1990. As head of state, he presided over Poland's transformation from a communist to a democratic and market-oriented state, but his domestic popularity waned. His role in Polish politics diminished after he lost the 1995 presidential election. (Full article...)

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Poznań town hall

Poznań is the fifth largest city in Poland and one of the nation's oldest. In the early years of Poland's history, it was the seat of Polish rulers, some of whom are buried in the Poznań Cathedral. Located on the Warta river in west-central Poland, it is now the capital of Greater Poland and an important centre of education, industry, and trade, hosting regular international trade fairs. With high GDP per capita and low unemployment, it is Poland's most prosperous city after Warsaw. The city's most important cultural event is the annual Malta Theatre Festival. (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.