A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLAND

 

Copyright 1994 - AngloPol Corporation -- Distributed by the Polonia Media Network

Part 14

 

OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSION

 

Poland was first unified as a nation in the 11th century. It subsequently was divided into principalities again, and reunified in the 14th century.

 

The country reached the height of its grandeur in the 16th century, when it was one of the most important powers in Europe, with territories stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

 

When the Jagiellonian dynasty came to an end, the Poles took the unique step of introducing an elected monarchy of kings chosen from the royal families of Europe. They also introduced a parliamentary voting system called the liberum veto, by which any member of parliament could veto a law with a single vote.

 

In the 17th century Poland came under attack from all sides; it was invaded by the Swedes, fought with the Turks, and there was a Cossack rebellion in the southeastern territories. The country's power was whittled away until at the end of the 18th century Russia, Austria and Prussia together divided Poland up in a series of three partitions.

 

Throughout the 19th century Poland continued to be occupied, despite two uprisings in 1830 and 1863. Independence finally came with the end of World War I.

 

A 20-year period of social and political troubles were abruptly interrupted by the German invasion and the outbreak of World War II. Poland suffered terribly under the occupation, though Poles offered heroic resistance.

 

The communists seized power immediately after the war. There followed a harsh Stalinist period of repressions; from the late 50s on things were a little easier, though Poland continued to suffer from the dual burden of political oppression and economic hardship.

 

In 1980-81, the latest in a series of popular protests led to concessions that included the establishment of Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the Communist bloc's first independent trade union. These freedoms were taken away when martial law was declared, but the precedent had been set. The opposition continued, legally and illegally, to chip away at the monolith of communism, and in the late 1980s and early 1990s the seemingly impossible came to pass: the Communist party was disbanded and democratic elections were held.

 

The country has completed its conversion to a free market economy.

 

Important Dates in Polish History

 

966

Prince Mieszko baptized into Christianity; Poland becomes a Christian nation.

 

1025

Boleslaw the Brave becomes the first King of a unified Poland.

 

1364

King Kazimierz the Great founds the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

 

1410

Poles defeat the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald.

 

1517

First book published in Polish.

 

1569

Union of Lublin: Poland and Lithuania join under a single crown.

 

1572

King Zygmunt August, the last Jagiellonian king, dies without an heir; Poland adopts an elected monarchy

 

1596

King Zygmunt III Waza moves the capital from Krakow to Warsaw.

 

1621

Poles defeat the Turks at the Battle of Chocim.

 

1652

The Liberum Veto is instituted.

 

1655

Czestochowa besieged by the Swedes.

 

1683

Relief of Vienna: Polish King Jan Sobieski defeats the Turkish army besieging the city.

 

1772

The first partition of Poland.

 

1791

The Third of May Constitution.

 

1793

The second partition of Poland.

 

1794

Kosciuszko leads an insurrection against the Russians.

 

1795

The third partition of Poland, after which Poland ceases to exist as a state.

 

1830

The November Uprising against the Russians breaks out in Warsaw.

 

1863

January Uprising against the Russians.

 

1867

Austrian parliament allows greater autonomy for Galicia (the part of Poland under the Austrian partition.)

 

1918

As part of the settlement after World War I, an independent Poland is reborn.

 

1920-21

Poland fights a successful war with the Bolsheviks.

 

1926

Pilsudski takes power in a coup d'etat.

 

Sept. 1, 1939

Nazi Germany attacks Poland; World War II begins.

 

1939-1945

World War II: 6 million Poles, including 3 million Polish Christians, lose their lives.

 

1945

The Communists take control in Poland, backed by the Soviet Union; the country is renamed "Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa," or "People's Republic of Poland."

1953

Death of Stalin.

 

1956

Workers' protests in Poznan; Stalinist leader Bierut replaced by Wladyslaw Gomulka.

 

1968

Student protests, which the Communists blame on "Zionism."

 

1970

Workers' protests in Gdansk; Gomulka forced to step down, succeeded by Edward Gierek.

 

1970s

Relative prosperity in Poland, mostly paid for by foreign credit.

 

1978

Karol Wojtyla elected Pope; assumes the name John Paul II.

 

1980

Workers' protests lead to the formation of Solidarnosc, a nationwide independent trade union, with Lech Walesa as president. Gierek is brought down; later, General Jaruzelski becomes First Secretary of the Communist Party.

 

December 13, 1981

The Jaruzelski regime declares martial law; Solidarnosc is outlawed.

 

1983

Martial law is lifted; Lech Walesa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

1984

Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a priest associated with Solidarnosc, is kidnapped and murdered by the Polish secret police.

 

February, 1989

Industrial unrest and economic problems lead to Round Table Talks between the government and the opposition.

 

June, 1989

In partly democratic elections, Solidarity wins a landslide victory; Tadeusz Mazowiecki becomes the first non-Communist Prime Minister.

 

January, 1990

The name of the country is changed back to "Rzeczpospolita Polska" or "The Republic of Poland"

 

January, 1990

Polish Communist Party ceases to exist.

December, 1990

First democratic presidential elections; Lech Walesa elected President.

 

October, 1991

First fully democratic parliamentary elections since before World War II.

 

September, 1993

A coalition of leftist parties gains control of the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

 

November, 1995

Aleksander Kwasniewski, a leader of the leftist coalition and former Communist, is elected President. He promises to continue reforms and integration with free Europe.

 

December, 2005

Lech Kaczynski, a co-founder of the conservative Law and Justice Party, is elected President. His brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski becomes Prime Minister, followed in 2007 by Donald Tusk, whom Kaczynski had defeated in the presidential elections.

 

April, 2010

President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, together with 94 other prominent Poles, die in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russsia, as they travel to a commemoration of the Katyn Massacre, in which over 20,000 Polish elite were murdered at the hands of Stalin's NKVD during World War II.

 

August, 2010

Bronislaw Komorowski of the Civic Platform (PO) party was elected President in a struggle with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who was aided in his campaign by sympathy for his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. Donald Tusk, a member of the ruling PO party, remains Prime Minister.

 

November, 2011

Komorowski is reelected President and Tusk remains Prime Minister. As the strength of the opposition Law and Justice Party diminishes, the youth vote elects Poland's first gay and transexual Members of Parliament.

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