Polish past in a nutshell

POLISH past IN PIGULCE

Poland has had an amazing past – there were moments of large victories and glory, but besides hard and tragic times. The past of Poland is not easy or simple, but all Pole should know at least its basis, to be aware of how intricate the destiny of its inhabitants was.
History of Poland in a pill.

MEDIUM - THE Birth of the Polish State

The past of Polish statehood begins with the acceptance of the baptism by Mieszko I in 966. The adoption of Christianity strengthened Poland internally and strengthened its global importance.

The work of the home continued by his boy Bolesław Chrobry, who met with Emperor Otto III in Gniezno in 1000. In 1025 Chrobry was crowned the first king of Poland. Due to the raids on Gniezno of the Czech prince Brzetysław, Kazimierz Renovator moved the royal court to Krakow in 1038. In 1109 due to many victories over German troops, Silesia and Pomerania are joined to Poland. In 1226 Konrad Mazowiecki brought the Teutonic Order to Poland. The Teutonic Knights were to aid conquer the Prusai, but shortly began to endanger the safety of Poland.

In 1333 Casimir the large became king, to whom we owe among others Wawel or the establishment of Krakow Academy (later Jagiellonian University). The period of his reign is called the golden period of the Polish mediate Ages. Under his rule, the cities expanded, developed agriculture, mining, trade and crafts and distributed brick brick construction. Hence, the saying "Kazimierz Wielki found Poland wooden and left brick". He was the last ruler of the hub dynasty.

In 1385 Poland entered into a union with Lithuania in Blood against the Teutonic Order, and thanks to the matrimony of Jadwiga Andegawenska with Władysław Jagiellola, the king of the Jagiellonian dynasty became the leader of both states. In 1410 1 of the top battles in medieval past – the conflict of Grunwald – was fought by Polish-Lithuanian troops against the Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Knights were defeated, but the final peace between the states was concluded in Toruń only in 1466 (after the thirteen-year war fought by Kazimierz IV). Under the peace treaty Poland gained Prussia and Gdańsk.

Golden Age

The 16th century is called the golden age. There are inactive many works of Renaissance architecture. The most outstanding man of this era was Mikołaj Copernicus, who in his work “About the rotation of the celestial spheres” presented a heliocentric explanation that the Earth revolves around the Sun. During this time, the printing of books spread, and the nobles could survey throughout Europe. Sigismund II Augustus was the last king of the Jagiillon family. In 1567 he led to the conclusion with Lithuania of the Lublin Union. The resulting state was called the Republic of Both Nations.

The Republic against the background of another European countries at that time distinguished the democratic strategy established in the 16th century. He provided for participation in the exercise of power to the full noble state. The monarch was chosen at the electoral reunions. Another phenomenon was freedom of religion dedicated in the Polish state. The strategy of noble democracy has functioned smoothly for about a 100 years. In the 17th century Poland was 1 of the largest countries in Europe.

During the reign of Sigismund III Vase capital of Poland was moved to Warsaw . During his reign, there were besides many years of wars with Sweden.

In 1648 the Cossack uprising in the areas of present-day Ukraine began. shortly there was a fresh war with Russia and then a Swedish invasion. The end of the wars with Russia brought the Treaty of 1667. In 1683, the conflict of Vienna, called the Vienna rescue, was declared 1 of the most crucial in Europe, due to the fact that under the leadership of Jan III Sobieski the Turkish expansion was halted.

DEVELOPMENTS

In the late 17th century, the Republic of Poland was weakened by many wars and epidemics. The interior situation was besides in crisis. There was a disintegration of power structures, and semy was torn (thanks to the rule of liberal veto). During this time Russia began to exploit the weakness of the power of the Republic. She started interfering with her interior affairs. In 1764 Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of the Republic, ascends the throne. He tried to improvement a state in turmoil. In 1772, the first partition of Poland took place, in which Russia, Prussia and Austria took part. In 1791, the Grand Sejm passed the first in Europe, and the second after the planet (after the Constitution of the United States) the primary law—the Constitution on 3 May, which established the inheritance of the throne and abolished the liberal veto. Unfortunately, the Constitution and the full work of the large Sejm were overthrown by an armed Russian intervention. After the second partition in 1793, the conflict for independency was started and a year later the uprising under Tadeusz Kościuszko with the participation of peasants broke out. As a consequence of his defeat, there was a 3rd dissection and Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for 123 years.

Struggle for Freedom

The turn of the 18th and 19th centuries brought hopes of regaining independency related to Napoleon Bonaparte's military successes, whose actions were supported by Poles. Under the authority of the French emperor, the Duchy of Warsaw was proclaimed as the basis for the reconstruction of Poland, but Napoleon's defeat crossed the hopes of independence. During the Vienna legislature in 1815 the uprising of the Polish Kingdom dependent on Russia was established. In consequence to the violation of the constitution, censorship and oppression by the authorities, patriotic movements began to develop. In 1830 a November uprising began, suppressed in September 1831. As a consequence of repression, soldiers and people of culture fled the country – this phenomenon is known in past as the large Emigration. In 1863 a January uprising broke out, the fall of which brought another wave of repression – exiles to Siberia, confiscation of assets, capital punishment, increased germanization and rusification in partitions and removal of Polish language from schools.

A DEPENDENT INDEPENDENCE

The hope of improving the situation of Poland was brought by the outbreak of planet War I, erstwhile the possessor states were on various sides of the conflict. The full revival of Poland took place only after the end of the large War – on 11 November 1918 independency was declared and Józef Piłsudski became the Chief of State. Poles created the state, conducting fierce struggles for its borders during the Wielkopolska Uprising (1918-1919), the Silesian uprisings (1919–1921) and the Warsaw conflict besides called “The Miracle on the Vistula” (1920). During the interwar period, the Polish state tried to structure the economic, educational and legal situation. many reforms have been made. The March Constitution of 1921 established a parliamentary-office system, the improvement of the treasury allowed the introduction of the Polish currency, measures were taken to make the basis for the improvement of the Polish economy (in 1922 the first modern port in Gdynia is created, mining in advanced Silesia is developing, construction of the Central Industrial territory is ongoing). In the 1920s and 1930s, the country was rapidly rebuilt from war damage.

Explosion of planet War II and German Repatriation

As a consequence of the conclusion of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact on September 1, 1939, Nazi The Germans attacked Poland from the west side, and the Red Army attacked from the east on 17 September. After the September defeat, Poland's business began. Years of terror, mass arrests, exports to concentration camps, mass executions, extermination of Polish intelligence, demolition of Polish property and cultural monuments – this was what the war reality looked like.

Poles undertook a fight for the liberation of their country. In exile, the state authorities and the military were rebuilt, the Polish underground state was operating in the country. many armor organizations were formed – including the National Army (AK), which took intensive insurgent action. In 1944 Hitler attacked the russian Union, his erstwhile ally. This changed the attitude of Western states towards the russian Union, which declared their willingness to aid the invaded country. The Soviet-British Agreement, agreements with Czechoslovakia, as well as with Poland (the Sikorski-Majski Agreement) was signed.

The last act of fighting for the rights of the Republic of Poland to independency was the Warsaw Uprising, which broke out on 1 August 1944. The uprising was bloodyly suppressed and Warsaw was completely destroyed. In 1945, the Red Army entered Poland.

Wehrmacht crosses the Polish border – breaking the border barrier (German propaganda photograph posed, taken on 14 September).

POLAND

At a conference in Yalta in February 1945, the U.S. and the United Kingdom yet sealed the incarnation of the east half of Poland with Vilnius and Lviv to the USSR. The government began to make communists dependent on the russian Union, and the Polish state was enslaved by a Moscow-dependent communist dictatorship. The communists controlled all areas of social, economical and administrative life. They based their power on panic and the exploitation of propaganda. Since 1952 the authoritative name of our country was the Polish People's Republic.

Most of the society resisted the imposed communist power and claimed its rights. The consequences of opposition action were arrests, prison sentences, and even the death penalty. In time Poles began mass protests against slavery and totalitarianism – in 1956, in Poznań, workers' strikes began against authorities – the population demanded improved surviving conditions, political and spiritual freedoms. The protest was bloodyly suppressed. Another manifestations of rebellion against dictatorship and restrictions on freedom were student protests in 1968, street demonstrations against price increases in 1970 and 1976. All these manifestations of opposition were suppressed, and their participants were severely punished. This led to the formation of opposition organizations that supported the persecuted, released underground work and organized independent teaching (the most crucial of them were the Committee for the defence of Workers and the Human Rights and Citizens' Movement).

On October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła was elected Pope and adopted the names John Paul II. Through his preaching ideas of protecting the life, dignity of the human individual and the proximity of man to the church, he awakened hope in his fellow countrymen. An crucial and highly crucial event which decisively affected the spiritual renewal of Poles was his first pilgrimage to his homeland. In the area of social life, there has been a reassessment, the sense of national self-divisiveness has been strengthened and the ruling communist authorities have been increasingly criticized.

BIRTH OF ‘SOLIDARITY’

In 1980, with the establishment of the Independent Professional Union "Solidarity" and a wave of strikes against deteriorating economical situation, the last period of the fight for democratic Poland began. It was headed by the leader of the August strike at Gdańsk Shipyard, Lech Wałęsa. “Solidarity” rapidly gained supporters, and its activities aroused enthusiasm and hope in Poles – the organization referred to values specified as freedom, justice, common good and human dignity. The culminating minute was the 1st National gathering of NSZZ Delegates "Solidarity", which was called the Free Poland Convention.

Communist authorities planned to destruct “Solidarity” from the very beginning. The russian Union authorities besides pressed for this solution. On 13 December 1981, Wojciech Jaruzelski introduced martial law. A curfew was ordered, civilian rights were restricted, phones were turned off and tanks appeared on the streets. Under internment and death penalty, all organizations were suspended but for the Communist Party. Despite this, strikes continued throughout the country, which were brutally suppressed. However, underground structures of "Solidarity" continued to operate, and conspiracy student organizations and underground political parties were formed, as well as underground press, radio broadcasting, and independent culture flourished. Many of these activities were sheltered by the Church. In 1983, Lech Walesa's actions were honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Due to the worsening economical and social situation in the country, the authorities proposed opposition talks at the circular table and allowed free elections. Tadeusz Mazowiecki is elected the first non-communist Prime Minister of Poland. In 1990, the presidential election was won by Lech Wałęsa and Poland returned to the free and democratic states.

COHESION

Events in Poland started the process of the collapse of the communist strategy throughout Central and east Europe. In the following months, dictatorial governments in Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania collapsed. In 1991 the russian Union yet broke up.

In 1999 Poland joined NATO and in 2004 became a associate of the European Union – both events became a symbol of the return of the Polish state to the Western world.

https://www.polonia.org/see-polske/history-Polish-in-pigulce