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

King Vladislaus IV at the Smolensk Fortress

The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia over the border city of Smolensk (now in Russia). Following King Sigismund III's death in 1632, Russia invaded Poland with the aim of liberating the city it had lost during the Time of Troubles 14 years earlier. Initially, small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides. A year-long siege with heavy artillery laid to Smolensk by Mikhail Shein was broken by Polish relief forces, including the Winged Hussars, led by Hetman Krzysztof Radziwiłł in 1633. The war ended with the Treaty of Polyanovka in 1634 which left Smolensk in Polish hands for the next 20 years. By the terms of the treaty, Russia paid Poland 20,000 rubles in gold as war indemnity, but Polish King Vladislaus IV had to renounce his claim to the Russian throne. Shein, the hapless Russian commander, was executed for treason. (Full article...)

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Polish cavalry in Sochaczew photograph

Credit: Unknown

Long thought to depict an actual Polish cavalry charge in Sochaczew during the Battle of the Bzura in 1939, one of the last major military actions conducted on horseback, this photograph is now believed to have been taken during the filming of Hans Bertram's German propaganda movie Kampfgeschwader Lützow in 1940.

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Did you know – show different entries

... that Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (pictured) taught at Warsaw's Flying University before becoming a Polish senator?
... that during the uprising of 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko's army successfully defended Warsaw from forces led by King Frederick William II of Prussia?
... that, in the 1970s, the propaganda in the People's Republic of Poland exploited the technique of exaggerating political and economic successes?
... that the Central Committee of Polish Jews, formed in 1944, was instrumental in organizing and implementing the aliyah, or Jewish migration to the new State of Israel?

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George Chapman, born Seweryn Antonowicz Kłosowski, one of many Jack the Ripper suspects

"Jack the Ripper" is the best known pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished districts in and around the Whitechapel district of London's East End in 1888. Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved women prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. Among more than one hundred Jack the Ripper suspects suggested since 1888, there have been several Poles and Polish Jews. These include Seweryn Antonowicz Kłosowski (pictured), also known as George Chapman, a serial killer executed in 1903; Aaron Kosminski, an insane Jew from Kłodawa; and John Pizer, another Polish Jew, also known as "Leather Apron". In 1987, Martin Fido, a ripperologist, speculated that the crimes may have been committed by Nathan Kaminsky, a Polish Jew who went by a generic Jewish name, David Cohen. The civil parish of Whitechapel around the time of the murders was experiencing an influx of immigrants from Ireland and Eastern Europe; its population was transient, impoverished and often used aliases. The Ripper's true identity will almost certainly never be known. (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 21 May, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (pictured), a composer best known for writing film scores, died at the age of 71.
On 10 May, an unusually spectacular aurora borealis was observed in large parts of Poland due to an intense solar storm.
On 8 April, local elections 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 23 January, they were both were pardoned by the President Andrzej Duda.