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Portal:Poland/Selected article/1
Solidarity flag
The
history of Solidarity, a Polish
non-governmental trade union, began in August 1980 at the
Lenin Shipyard in
Gdańsk where it was started by
Lech Wałęsa and his co-workers. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a
Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the
fall of communism.
Poland's communist government attempted to destroy it by imposing
martial law in 1981, followed by several years of political repression, but it was ultimately forced to begin negotiating with the union.
Round Table Talks between the weakened government and the Solidarity-led opposition resulted in a
semi-free parliamentary election in 1989. By the end of August 1989, a Solidarity-led coalition government had been formed and, in December 1990, Wałęsa
was elected president. This was soon followed by the dismantling of the communist governmental system and by Poland's transformation into a modern democratic state. Solidarity's example led to the spread of anti-communist ideas and movements throughout the countries of the Eastern Bloc, weakening their communist governments; a process known as the
Revolutions of 1989, or the Autumn of Nations. (
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A statue at the Palace of Culture and Science (1955) in Warsaw, holding a book of works by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin
The
history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 was shaped by the influence of
Soviet Communism and opposition to it from the
Roman Catholic Church,
trade unions and other groups. In the aftermath of
World War II, forces of
Nazi Germany were driven from
Poland by the advancing
Red Army of the
Soviet Union. A liberalizing thaw in
Eastern Europe followed the death of
Stalin in early 1953, sparking the desire for further reform.
De-Stalinization, however, left Poland's communist party in a difficult position. In the 1970s,
Edward Gierek's economic program brought a rise in living standards and expectations, but it faltered unexpectedly because of worldwide recession and increased oil prices following the
1973 world oil crisis. The election of the Polish-born
John Paul II to papacy in 1978 triggered radical changes in the political atmosphere of the country. In 1980, electrician
Lech Wałęsa and his independent
Solidarity trade union led a wave of strikes at the
Lenin Shipyard in
Gdańsk. The 1989
Round Table talks resulted in a
semi-free parliamentary election and a Solidarity-led coalition government, sparking off
a succession of mostly peaceful transitions from Communist rule across
Central and
Eastern Europe. (
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Katyn memorial
The
Katyn massacre was a mass execution of Polish citizens by the order of
Soviet authorities in 1940. About 8,000 of those killed were
reserve officers taken prisoner during the 1939
Soviet invasion of Poland, but the dead also included many civilians who had been arrested for being "intelligence agents and gendarmes, spies and saboteurs, former landowners, factory owners and officials". Since Poland's conscription system required every unexempted university graduate to become a reserve officer, the Soviets were thus able to round up much of the ethnic
Polish,
Jewish,
Ukrainian,
Georgian and
Belarusian intelligentsia of Polish citizenship. The 1943 discovery of mass graves at Katyn Forest by
Nazi German forces precipitated a rupture of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the
Polish government-in-exile in
London. The Soviet Union continued to deny responsibility for the massacres until 1990. Although the
Russian government acknowledged that the
NKVD had in fact committed the massacres, it does not consider them a
war crime or an act of
genocide, as this would have necessitated the prosecution of surviving perpetrators. (
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Swiderian tanged points
The
Stone Age in what is now Poland lasted about 500,000 years and involved three different
human species:
Homo erectus,
Homo neanderthalensis and
Homo sapiens. Stone Age cultures ranged from early human groups with primitive tools to advanced
agricultural societies, which used sophisticated
stone tools, built fortified settlements and developed
copper metallurgy. As elsewhere in
Europe, the Stone Age human cultures went through the stages known as the
Paleolithic,
Mesolithic and
Neolithic, each bringing new refinements of the stone tool making techniques. The Paleolithic human activities were intermittent because of the recurring periods of
glaciation. A general climate warming and the resulting increase in ecologic diversity was characteristic of the Mesolithic (9,000-8,000 BCE). The Neolithic brought the first settled agricultural communities whose founders migrated from the
Danube River area starting ca. 5,500 BCE. Later the native post-Mesolithic populations also adopted and further developed the agricultural way of life (4,400–2,000 BCE). (
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Life cycle of the Polish cochineal in Johann Philipp Breyne's Historia naturalis Cocci Radicum... (1731)
Ancient
Slavs developed a method of obtaining
crimson dye from
Polish cochineal, a
scale insect, whose
larvae are dark red
sessile parasites living on the roots of various
herbs growing on the sandy soils of
Central Europe. Despite the labor-intensive process of harvesting the larvae and a relatively modest yield, the dye continued to be a highly sought-after commodity and a popular alternative to
kermes throughout the Middle Ages until it was superseded by
Mexican cochineal in the 16th century. The insects were killed with boiling water or
vinegar and dried in the sun or in an oven, ground, and dissolved in
sourdough or in light rye beer called
kvass in order to remove fat. The extract could then be used for dyeing
silk,
wool,
cotton or
linen. In the 15th–16th centuries, along with grain, timber and salt, it was one of Poland's and
Lithuania's chief exports, mainly to southern Germany and northern Italy as well as to France, England, the
Ottoman Empire and Armenia. Its historical importance is still reflected in most modern
Slavic languages where the words for the color red and for June – the month of Polish cochineal harvest – both derive from the
Proto-Slavic *
čьrvь, meaning "a worm" or "larva". (
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Fighting in Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw, by Juliusz Kossak
The
Warsaw Uprising of 1794 was an armed Polish insurrection by the
Warsaw's populace early in the
Kościuszko Uprising. Supported by the Polish Army, it aimed to throw off Russian control of the
Polish capital. It began on 17 April 1794, soon after
Tadeusz Kościuszko's victory at
Racławice. A National Militia led by shoemaker
Jan Kiliński, armed with rifles and sabers from the
Warsaw Arsenal, inflicted heavy losses on the more numerous and better equipped, but surprised enemy garrison. Apart from the militia, the most famous units to take part in the liberation of Warsaw were formed of Poles who had been conscripted into the Russian service. Within hours, the fighting had spread from a single street on the western outskirts of
Warsaw's Old Town to the entire city. Part of the Russian garrison was able to retreat under the cover of
Prussian cavalry, but most were trapped inside the city. Isolated Russian forces resisted in several areas for two more days. (
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Grand Standard-Bearer of the Crown, Stanisław Sobieski, as painted anonymously on the Stockholm Roll (ca. 1605)
Throughout most of Poland's history, the
banner of Poland was one of the main symbols of the Polish State, normally reserved for use by the head of state. Although its design changed with time, it was generally a
heraldic banner, i.e., one based directly on the
national coat of arms: a crowned White Eagle in a red field. Derived from early
Slavic flag-like objects, a royal banner of arms dates as far back as the 11th century CE. A symbol of royal authority, it was used at coronations and in battles. The banner of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was initially plain white emblazoned with the
arms of the Commonwealth which consisted of the heraldic charges of Poland (White Eagle) and
Lithuania (
Pursuer). Since both Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms consist of white
charges in a red
field, these two colors started to be used for the entire banner
(example pictured). In the
interwar period, the royal banner was replaced with the Banner of the Republic of Poland, which was part of the presidential insignia. A national banner is not mentioned in the current regulations on Polish national symbols, although today's
presidential jack is based directly on the pre-war design for the Banner of the Republic. The banner should not be confused with the
flag of Poland, a white and red horizontal bicolor, officially adopted in 1919. (
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Krakus Mound, an 8th-century burial mound in Kraków
The main event that took place within the lands of
Poland in the Early Middle Ages was the arrival and permanent settlement of the
Slavic peoples. The Slavic
migrations in the area of contemporary Poland started in the second half of the 5th century CE, some half century after these territories were vacated by
Germanic tribes, their previous inhabitants. The Slavs lived from cultivation of crops, but also engaged in hunting and gathering. They formed small tribal organizations, some of which coalesced later into larger, state-like ones. Beginning in the 7th century, these tribal units built fortified structures with earth and wood walls and embankments, called
gords. By the 9th century, the Slavs had settled the
Baltic coast in
Pomerania, which
subsequently developed into a commercial and military power trading with the
Old Prussians and the
Vikings. During the same time, the tribe of the
Vistulans, based in
Kraków and the surrounding region, controlled a large area in the south. But it was the
Polans who turned out to be of decisive historic importance. They went through a period of accelerated building of fortified settlements and territorial expansion beginning in the first half of the 10th century. Under
Mieszko I, the expanded Polan territory was converted to
Latin Christianity in 966, which is commonly regarded the birth of the Polish state. (
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A gathering of Holocaust survivors and their Polish rescuers in Łódź, Poland
Polish citizens have the world's highest count of individuals awarded medals of "
Righteous among the Nations", given by the
State of Israel to
Gentiles who saved
Jews from extermination during the
Holocaust. There are 7,232 (as of 1 January 2022
[update])
Polish men and women recognized as "Righteous", amounting to over 25 per cent of the total number of 28,217 honorary titles awarded already. It is estimated that in fact hundreds of thousands of Poles concealed and aided hundreds of thousands of their
Polish-Jewish neighbors. Many of these initiatives were carried out by individuals, but there also existed organized networks dedicated to aiding Jews—most notably, the
Żegota organization. In
German-occupied Poland the task of rescuing Jews was especially difficult and dangerous. All household members were punished by death if a Jew was found concealed in their home or on their property. Estimates of the number of Poles who were killed by the
Nazis for aiding Jews, among them 704 posthumously honored with medals, go as high as tens of thousands. Notable individuals among the Polish Righteous include
Władysław Bartoszewski,
Tadeusz Pankiewicz,
Irena Sendlerowa and
Maria Kotarba. (
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An ethnic Polish military band in Karviná welcoming Poland's annexation of Zaolzie in 1938. The banner reads, "We have awaited you for 600 years."
Zaolzie (Czech:
Zaolší) is a historical region on the left bank of the
Olza River on the Czech–Polish border. Historically part of the
Duchy of Teschen (
Cieszyn,
Těšín), it belonged to
Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918. Afterwards, it became a bone of contention between the nascent republics of
Poland and
Czechoslovakia. The region, inhabited by ethnic Poles, Czechs and Jews, was rich in
coal and crossed by a strategic railway linking
Czech Silesia with
Slovakia. Agreements between local authorities, armed fighting and an ettempted plebiscite proved inconclusive and in 1920 the
Council of Ambassadors settled the matter at the
Spa Conference by awarding Zaolzie to Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Poland issued an ultimatum to its southern neighbor to withdraw from Zaolzie within 24 hours, and the following day Czechoslovakia complied. Poland annexed the region and became seen as an accomplice in the partition of Czechoslovakia resulting from the
Munich Agreement. Zaolzie was annexed by
Nazi Germany after the
German invasion of Poland a year later and returned to Czechoslovak hands with the end of
World War II. Today the area is part of the
Czech Republic and home to about
37,000 ethnic Poles. After 2001, several villages in the region have erected bilingual signs in
Czech and
Polish. (
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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. (
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Polish infantry forces moving for cover on Hill 262
Operation Tractable was the final
Canadian–
Polish offensive to take place during the
Battle of Normandy. Its aim was to capture the strategically important town of
Falaise and subsequently the towns of
Trun and
Chambois. The operation was undertaken against Germany's
Army Group B, and was part of the largest encirclement on the
Western Front during
World War II. Despite a slow start to the offensive, marked by limited gains north of Falaise, innovative tactics by
Gen. Stanisław Maczek's Polish First Armoured Division during the drive for Chambois allowed for the Falaise Gap to be partly closed by August 19, 1944, trapping close to 300,000 German soldiers in the
Falaise Pocket. Although the gap had been narrowed to a distance of several hundred meters, a protracted series of fierce engagements between two battlegroups of the 1st Armoured Division and the
Second SS Panzer Corps on
Mont Ormel prevented it from being completely closed. During two days of nearly continuous fighting, Polish forces, using artillery barrages and close-quarter fighting, managed to hold off counterattacks by elements of seven German divisions. On August 21, elements of the
First Canadian Army relieved Polish survivors of the battle and were able to finally close the Falaise Pocket, leading to the capture of the remaining soldiers of the
German Seventh Army. (
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A stone circle in Węsiory, northern Poland
Peoples belonging to numerous
archaeological cultures identified with
Celtic,
Germanic and
Baltic tribes, lived in various parts of what is now
Poland in Antiquity – an era that dates from about 400 BC to AD 450–500. Many of them developed relatively advanced material culture and social organization, as evidenced by the archaeological record, such as the richly furnished dynastic princely graves. Some preserved written remarks by Roman authors that are relevant to the developments on Polish lands provide additional insight. Celtic peoples established a number of settlement centers, beginning in the early 4th century BC, mostly in southern Poland, which was at the outer edge of their expansion. Through their highly developed economy and crafts, they exerted lasting cultural influence (
La Tène culture) disproportional to their small numbers in the region. Germanic peoples lived in today's Poland for several centuries (
Wielbark culture). With the expansion of the
Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes came under Roman cultural influence. As nomadic peoples
invaded from the east, the Germanic people left for the safer and wealthier lands in southern and western Europe. The northeast corner of contemporary Poland's territory remained populated by Baltic tribes. (
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Raphael, Portrait of a Young Man; looted from Poland by the Germans, fate unknown
Polish culture during World War II was brutally suppressed by the
occupying powers of
Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union, both of whom were hostile to Poland's people and
culture. Policies aimed at
cultural genocide resulted in the deaths of thousands of scholars and artists, and the theft or destruction of innumerable cultural artifacts
(example of a lost painting, by Raphael, pictured). British historian
Niall Ferguson writes that "the maltreatment of the Poles was one of many ways in which the Nazi and Soviet regimes had grown to resemble one another". The occupiers looted or destroyed much of Poland's cultural heritage while persecuting and killing members of the Polish cultural elite. Most
Polish schools were closed and those that remained open saw their curricula altered significantly. Nevertheless, underground organizations and individuals—in particular the
Polish Underground State—saved much of Poland's most valuable cultural heritage and worked to salvage as many cultural institutions and artifacts as possible. The
Roman Catholic Church and wealthy individuals contributed to the survival of some artists and their works. Despite severe retribution by the Nazis and Soviets, Polish underground cultural activities, including publications, concerts, live theater, education and academic research, continued throughout the war. (
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A historically inaccurate depiction of Boleslaus and Svyatopolk entering Kiev through the Golden Gate, by Jan Matejko, 1883
The
intervention in the Kievan succession crisis by Duke
Boleslaus the Brave of Poland in 1015–1019 was an episode in the struggle between
Svyatopolk Vladimirovich the Accursed and his brother,
Yaroslav the Wise, for the rulership of
Kiev and
Kievan Rus'. It occurred when Boleslaus, Svyatopolk's father-in-law, intervened on the latter's behalf. The intervention was initially successful as Boleslaus defeated Yaroslav's armies and temporarily secured the throne for Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk, however, was unable to retain his position after Boleslaus withdrew from Kiev and was defeated by Yaroslav in the following year. Chronicles of the expedition include legendary accounts as well as factual history and have been subject to varied interpretations. (
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Polish-made replica of the German Enigma
The
Cipher Bureau (
Biuro Szyfrów) was the
interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both
cryptography (the use of
ciphers and
codes) and
cryptology (the study of ciphers and codes, particularly for the purpose of "breaking" them). It was formed in 1931 by the merger of pre-existing agencies. In December 1932, the Bureau began breaking Germany's
Enigma ciphers. Over the next seven years, Polish cryptologists overcame the growing structural and operating complexities of the
plugboard-equipped Enigma. The Bureau also broke
Soviet cryptography. Five weeks before the outbreak of
World War II, on 25 July 1939, in
Warsaw, the Polish Cipher Bureau revealed its Enigma-decryption techniques and equipment
(example pictured) to representatives of French and British
military intelligence, which had been unable to make any headway against Enigma. This Polish intelligence and technology transfer would give the
Allies an unprecedented advantage (see
Ultra) in their ultimately victorious prosecution of the war. (
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The Battle of Grunwald as depicted by Diebold Schilling ca. 1515
The
Battle of Grunwald, fought on 15 July 1410, was one of the largest battles of
Medieval Europe and is regarded as the most important victory in the history of Poland and Lithuania. The alliance of the
Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King
Vladislaus II (Jogaila, Jagiełło) and Grand Duke
Vytautas, decisively defeated the
Teutonic Knights, led by Grand Master
Ulrich von Jungingen. Although the defeated Teutonic Knights
withstood the siege on their fortress in Marienburg (
Malbork) and suffered only minimal territorial losses at the
Peace of Thorn (
Toruń), they never recovered their former power, and the financial burden of
war reparations caused internal conflicts and an economic downturn in their lands. The battle shifted the balance of power in Eastern Europe and marked the rise of the
Polish–Lithuanian union as the dominant political and military force in the region. Surrounded by
romantic legends and
nationalist propaganda, Grunwald became a symbol of struggle against invaders and a source of national pride, also used in
Nazi and
Soviet propaganda campaigns. Only in recent decades have historians made progress towards a dispassionate, scholarly assessment of the battle reconciling the previous narratives, which differed widely by nation. (
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King Stephen Báthory receiving homage from Russians at Pskov in 1582, as painted by Jan Matejko in 1872
The
Livonian War was fought between 1558 and 1583 for control of
Old Livonia, the territory of present-day
Estonia and
Latvia. The
Tsardom of Russia faced a variable coalition of
Denmark–Norway,
Sweden and
Poland–Lithuania. The years 1558–1578 were a period of Russian dominance in the region, marked by early successes at
Dorpat (Tartu) and
Narva, and the dissolution of the
Livonian Confederation. The Confederation's collapse brought Poland–Lithuania into conflict with Russia.
Stephen Báthory, after becoming king of Poland, eventually turned the tide of the war, with successes between 1578 and 1581, including the joint Polish–Swedish offensive at the
Battle of Wenden. This was followed by a long
campaign through Russia, before a prolonged and difficult
siege of Pskov. The war between Poland-Lithuania and Russia was concluded favourably for the former with the
Truce of Yam-Zapolsky in 1582, with Russia losing
Polotsk and all its holdings in Livonia to Poland–Lithuania. Sweden gained most of
Ingria and northern Livonia, while Russia was left in humiliating defeat and became increasingly isolated from western politics and influence. (
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The Renaissance courtyard of the Royal Wawel Castle in Kraków
The
history of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty spanned the late
Middle Ages and
Early Modern Era. Beginning with
Grand Duke Jogaila of
Lithuania, the
House of Jagiellon formed the
Polish-Lithuanian dynastic union. The partnership brought vast Lithuanian-controlled
Rus' areas into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for the
Poles and the
Lithuanians, who coöperated in one of Europe's largest political entities for the next four centuries. In the
Baltic Sea region, Poland's struggle with the
Teutonic Knights included the
Battle of Grunwald, and the milestone
Peace of Thorn under King
Casimir IV. In the south, Poland confronted the
Ottoman Empire and the
Crimean Tatars, while in the east, it helped Lithuania fight the
Grand Duchy of Moscow. Poland was developing as a
feudal state, with predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly dominant
landed nobility component. The
Nihil novi act adopted in 1505, transferred most of the
legislative power from the monarch to the
Sejm (parliament), beginning a period of "
Golden Liberty", when the state was ruled by the "free and equal"
Polish nobility.
Protestant Reformation resulted in policies of religious
toleration that were unique in Europe at that time, while
Renaissance currents evoked an immense
cultural flowering under kings
Sigismund I and
Sigismund Augustus. (
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The Renaissance town hall of Zamość
The
history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1648 covers a period of Poland's rise and expansion, before it was subjected to devastating wars in the middle of the 17th century. The
Union of Lublin of 1569 established the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a federal state replacing the previous
dynastic union of the two nations. The Commonwealth was run by the
nobility, through a system of a
central parliament and
local assemblies, under
elected kings. It was a period of Poland's great power, civilizational advancement and prosperity. The Commonwealth had become an influential player in Europe, spreading the
Western culture eastward. The
Warsaw Confederation of 1573 was the culmination of
religious toleration that was unique in Europe, but the
Catholic Church soon embarked on
an ideological counter-offensive, while the
Union of Brest split the
Eastern Christians within the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth fought mostly successful wars with
Russia,
Sweden and the
Ottoman Empire, but it gradually became a playground of internal conflicts, in which kings, powerful
magnates and factions of nobility were the main actors. (
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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. (
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Constitution of 3 May 1791 by Jan Matejko
Constitution of 3 May 1791 is a large
Romantic oil painting by
Jan Matejko. It was painted in 1891 to commemorate the centenary of the Polish
Constitution of 1791, a milestone in the history of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the high point of the
Polish Enlightenment. Set in the late afternoon of 3 May 1791, the canvas shows a procession from
Warsaw's
Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted by the
Great Sejm, to
St. John's Collegiate Church. While the procession was a historical event, Matejko took many artistic liberties, such as including persons who were not in fact present or had died earlier, because he intended the painting to be a synthesis of the final years of the Commonwealth. Like many works by the same artist, the picture presents a grand scene populated with numerous historic figures, including King
Stanislaus Augustus;
Marshals of the Great Sejm,
Stanisław Małachowski and
Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha; and co-authors of the Constitution such as
Hugo Kołłątaj and
Ignacy Potocki. Altogether, some twenty individuals have been identified by modern historians. Originally displayed in
Lviv, the work now hangs at the Royal Castle of Warsaw. (
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Cover of 1791 printed edition of the Constitution of 3 May
The
Polish Constitution of 1791, the world's second oldest written constitution after
that of the United States, was adopted by the
Great Sejm on 3 May 1791. The document was designed to redress political defects of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, such as the system of "
Golden Liberty", which had corrupted the country's politics. It sought to supplant the prevailing anarchy, fostered by some of the country's
magnates, with a more democratic
constitutional monarchy. It introduced elements of political equality between townspeople and nobility, and placed the
peasants under the protection of the government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of
serfdom. It also banned pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the
liberum veto, which allowed any single deputy to undo all the legislation that had been passed during a given session of the Sejm. The constitution remained in force for less than 15 months and was abolished following the
Constitution War against Russia and the Russian-supported
Targowica Confederation, a coalition of Polish magnates and landless nobility who opposed reforms that might have weakened their influence. In the words of two of the document's co-authors,
Ignacy Potocki and
Hugo Kołłątaj, it was "the last will and testament of the expiring Country." (
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Soldiers of the Polish Legions' Vistula Regiment
The
Polish Legions were Polish military units that served with the
French Army, mainly from 1797 to 1803, although some units continued to serve until 1815. The legionaries were recruited from among soldiers, officers and volunteers who had emigrated to Italy and France after the
Third Partition of Poland in 1795. Many Poles at that time believed that
Revolutionary France and her allies would come to Poland's aid, as France's enemies included Poland's partitioners:
Prussia,
Austria and
Russia. With
Napoleon Bonaparte's support, Polish military units were formed, bearing Polish military ranks and commanded by Polish officers, such as
Jan Henryk Dąbrowski,
Karol Kniaziewicz, and
Józef Wybicki. Serving alongside the French Army, Polish Legions saw combat in most of
Napoleon's campaigns, from the
West Indies, to Italy, to Egypt. When the
Duchy of Warsaw was created in 1807, many veterans of the Legions formed a core around which the Duchy's army was raised under Prince
Józef Poniatowski, which went on to fight alongside the French army in several campaigns, culminating in the disastrous
invasion of Russia in 1812. (
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Polish–Lithuanian military men, 1588-1632, as painted by Jan Matejko
The
military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, commanded by
Crown and Lithuanian hetmans, was a successful force during the first century of the Commonwealth's existence (beginning with the
Union of Lublin in 1569). Its most unique formation was the
heavy cavalry in the form of the
Polish winged hussars. Polish forces were engaged in numerous conflicts in the south (against the
Ottoman Empire), the east (against the
Russian Empire), and the north (against Sweden), as well as in internal conflicts, such as
Cossack uprisings. Around the middle of the 17th century, the Commonwealth army became plagued by insufficient funds and found itself increasingly hard-pressed to defend the country from the growing armies of its neighbors. The
Commonwealth Navy, on the other hand, never played a major role in the military structure, and ceased to exist in the 17th century. (
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Portal:Poland/Selected article/36
Polish general diet in session in 1622
The
General Diet or
Sejm (
sejm walny) was the
parliament of Poland from the 15th until the late 18th century. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic government of the
Kingdom of Poland and, later, the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the early 16th century, Polish kings could not pass laws without the Sejm's approval. Duration and frequency of Sejm sessions changed over time, with six-week sessions convened every two years being most common. Locations changed too, but eventually
Warsaw emerged as the primary venue. The number of senators and deputies (members) grew over time, from about 70 senators and 50 deputies in the 15th century to about 150 senators and 200 deputies in the 18th. Early diets used
majority voting, but beginning in the 17th century,
unanimous voting became more common, with the
liberum veto procedure significantly paralyzing the country's governance. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793, 240 general diets were held. (
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Portal:Poland/Selected article/38
Map of the truncated territory of Poland (pink) after the Second Partition, published in London in 1794
The
Second Partition of Poland in 1793 was the second of
three partial annexations that ended the existence of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the end of the 18th century. It was a result of the
Polish–Russian War of 1792, in which the
Targowica Confederation overturned the progressive
Constitution of 1791. The
Russian Empire took 250,000 km
2 (97,000 sq mi) of the Commonwealth's eastern territories, now belonging to Belarus and Ukraine, while the
Kingdom of Prussia gained Danzig (
Gdańsk) and 58,000 km
2 (22,000 sq mi) of western Poland, which it renamed
South Prussia. Poland was left as a
rump state of 215,000 km
2 (83,000 sq mi). Under Russian pressure, the partition was ratified by Poland at the
Grodno Sejm in a short-lived attempt to prevent a complete annexation of Poland, which eventually did happen in the
Third Partition in 1795. (
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Portal:Poland/Selected article/39
King Charles X Gustav of Sweden in a skirmish with Polish Tartars at the battle of Warsaw, 1656
The
Second Northern War was fought between 1655 and 1660 by
Sweden against the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
Russia,
Brandenburg-Prussia, the
Habsburg Monarchy, and
Denmark–Norway. In 1655,
Charles X Gustav of Sweden invaded and occupied western Poland, the eastern part of which was
already in Russian hands. The rapid Swedish advance became known in Poland as the
Swedish Deluge. The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania became a Swedish fief, Polish-Lithuanian regular armies surrendered, and King
John Casimir of Poland fled to
Silesia. Charles Gustav found allies in
Frederick William of Brandenburg, whom he granted full sovereignty in the Polish fief of
Ducal Prussia, and in
George II of
Transylvania, whom he promised the Polish throne. With the help of Polish Catholic guerillas of the
Tyszowce Confederation, as well as
Leopold I Habsburg, and Frederick William, who changed sides in return for the Polish recognition of his claim to Prussia, John Casimir was able to regain ground in 1656 and by the following year much of the fighting had moved to the
Danish theater. Polish losses from the Swedish occupation, including a 40-percent drop in population, complete destruction of
Warsaw and scores of other Polish towns, as well as plunder of the nation's riches and cultural artefacts, remained unmatched until
World War II. (
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Portal:Poland/Selected article/40
Polish soldiers of the 3rd Lithuanian Infantry Regiment in 1792
The
Polish–Russian War of 1792 was fought between the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the
Russian Empire, which ostensibly came to the aid of the
Targowica Confederation, a group of conservative Polish nobles opposed to the
Constitution of 3 May 1791. The war took place in two theaters: northern, in
Lithuania, and southern, in
Ukraine. In both, the Polish forces retreated before the numerically superior Russian forces, though they offered significantly more resistance in the south, thanks to the effective leadership of Polish commanders – Prince
Józef Poniatowski and General
Tadeusz Kościuszko. During the three-month-long struggle several battles were fought, but neither side scored a decisive victory. The largest success of the Polish forces was the defeat of one of the Russian formations at the
Battle of Zieleńce on 18 June. The Order of
Virtuti Militari ("For Military Valour"), Poland's highest military award to this day, was established to celebrate this victory. The war ended when King
Stanislaus Augustus of Poland, seeking a diplomatic solution, asked for a ceasefire with the Russians and joined the Targowica Confederation, as demanded by Russia. The war resulted in the abrogation of the constitution and in the
Second Partition of Poland. (
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Portal:Poland/Selected article/42
Polish clear beetroot borscht with uszka
Borscht (
barszcz) is a
sour soup common to various
Eastern European cuisines. It derives from a soup originally made by the
Slavs from
common hogweed, a herbaceous plant growing in damp meadows, which lent the dish its
Slavic name. Its stems, leaves and
umbels were chopped, covered with water and left in a warm place to ferment. After a few days,
lactic and
alcoholic fermentation produced a mixture described as "something between
beer and
sauerkraut". It was then used for cooking a soup with a mouth-puckering sour taste and pungent smell. As the Polish
ethnographer Łukasz Gołębiowski wrote in 1830, "Poles have been always partial to tart dishes, which are somewhat peculiar to their homeland and vital to their health." With time, other ingredients were added to the soup, eventually replacing hogweed altogether. In modern Polish cuisine, borscht usually comes in one of two varieties: clear
beetroot-based red borscht, typically served with mushroom-filled
uszka dumplings
(pictured), or
white borscht made from fermented
rye flour and served over boiled sausage, potatoes and eggs. They are traditionally associated with
Christmas and
Easter, respectively. (
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