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

Soviet military parade in Lviv, 1939

The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II, sixteen days after the beginning of the Nazi German attack on Poland. It ended in a decisive victory for the Soviet Union's Red Army. The Soviets acted on the basis of their alliance with Nazi Germany; on 1 September, the Germans invaded Poland from the west and, on 17 September, the Soviet Army invaded from the east. The Red Army quickly achieved its targets, vastly outnumbering Polish resistance, already reeling from the German blows. The Soviet government annexed half of the Polish territory now under its control and in November declared that the 13.5 million Polish citizens who lived there were now Soviet citizens. The Soviets quelled opposition by arrests, deportations and executions. (Full article...)

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Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski

Stanislaus Augustus (Stanisław August Poniatowski; 1732–1798) was the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Recognized as a great patron of the arts and sciences of the Polish Enlightenment and a supporter of progressive reforms, he is also remembered as the king who failed to prevent the destruction of the Commonwealth. He was elected king of Poland in 1764, with the help of his former lover, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. Against expectations, he attempted to amend and strengthen the ailing state. His efforts met with external opposition from Russia and Austria, as well as internal from conservative magnates, who sought to preserve their traditional liberties and prerogatives. The defining crisis of his early reign was the War of the Bar Confederation, which led to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The latter part of his reign saw reforms wrought by the Great Sejm and the Constitution of 1791. These were overthrown by the Targowica Confederation and Russian intervention, leading to the Second and Third Partitions of Poland. Poniatowski abdicated in 1795 and spent the final years of his life under house arrest in Saint Petersburg. (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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Did you know – show different entries

... that two-year-old Ruth Schwarz was rescued from the Sambor Ghetto by Alojzy Plewa, one of many Poles recognized as Righteous Among the Nations (both pictured)?
... that the Majdanek concentration camp trial was the longest Nazi war crimes trial in history, spanning over 30 years?
... that the unsolved shooting death of Henryk Siwiak, a Polish immigrant, is officially the only homicide that occurred in New York on the day of the September 11 attacks?
... that in a Polish study, the silver stretch spider ate an average of 3.7 mosquitoes per day in early June?

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Poland now

Recent events

Poland at the 2024 Summer Paralympics:
- On 7 September, Karolina Pęk won a gold medal in table tennis, while Renata Śliwińska won a silver medal in shot put.
- On 6 September, Barbara Bieganowska-Zając (pictured) and Karolina Kucharczyk won gold medals in 1500-metre run and long jump, respectively, while Maciej Lepiato and Michał Dąbrowski won bronze medals in high jump and wheelchair fencing.
- On 5 September, Rafał Czuper and Dorota Bucław won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in table tennis, while Rafał Wilk won a bronze medal in cycling.
On 18 August, Polish cyclist Katarzyna Niewiadoma won the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
Poland won 10 medals, including one gold, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, ranking 42nd in the medal table.

Ongoing
Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis

Holidays and observances in September 2024
(statutory public holidays in bold)

Harvest festivals (wreath pictured)
Polish Underground State Day, 27 September

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Churches of Peace

Credit: Wisniowy

Detail of a half-timbered wall of the Holy Trinity Church in Świdnica. It is one of the Churches of Peace constructed after the Peace of Westphalia allowed Lutherans to build three churches in the Catholic parts of Silesia. They were to be built outside city walls, without steeples and church bells, and made only of wood, loam and straw. The three churches were erected in Glogau (Głogów), Jauer (Jawor) and Schweidnitz (Świdnica), the latter of which two have survived to this day.