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

German soldiers dismantling a Polish border checkpoint

The Polish September Campaign was the conquest of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and a small contingent of Slovak forces during World War II. The campaign began on 1 September 1939 following a German-staged attack in Gleiwitz (Gliwice). This military operation, which saw the first use of Blitzkrieg tactics, marked the start of World War II in Europe as the invasion led Poland's allies, including the United Kingdom and France, to declare war on Germany on 3 September. On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded the eastern regions of Poland. The Soviets were acting in coöperation with Germany, realizing the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact which envisaged division of Central Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence. The campaign ended on 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. (Full article...)

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Adam Mickiewicz

Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist and translator. A principal figure of Polish Romanticism, he is counted one of Poland's "Three Bards" and widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet. Born in the Russian territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he was sentenced to a five-year exile to central Russia for his political activism. He left Russia in 1829 and, like many of his compatriots, lived out the rest of his life abroad. He settled first in Rome, then in Paris, where for a little over three years he lectured on Slavic literature at Collège de France. Mickiewicz died, probably of cholera, in Istanbul, where he had gone to help organize Polish and Jewish forces to fight Russia in the Crimean War. He is known chiefly for the poetic drama Dziady ("Forefathers' Eve") and the national epic poem Pan Tadeusz. His other influential works include Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna. (Full article...)

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Słupsk town hall

Słupsk is a city on the Słupia River, 18 km away from the Baltic Sea coast. It dates back to a medieval Slavic settlement on a ford along a trade route connecting eastern and western parts of Pomerania. Incorporated in 1265, the town gradually fell under Brandenburgian rule, becoming a German town known as Stolp. In Polish hands since the end of World War II, Słupsk is developing thanks to local footwear industry and a bus factory owned by Scania. With the election of Robert Biedroń in 2014, it became the first town in Poland with an openly gay mayor. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that St. Francis' Church (pictured) in the Old Town of Kraków displays an exact replica of the Shroud of Turin, blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2003?
... that the Thorn Castle (now in Toruń), one of the first castles of the Teutonic Knights, was demolished by rebellious burghers a century or so after its construction, at the beginning of the Thirteen Years' War?
... that one of the unofficial mottos of Poland, "God, Honor, Fatherland", likely originated from the Napoleonic motto of the Order of the Legion of Honor ?
... that the National Rifle Factory, a major firearms producer in interwar Poland, also designed its own weaponry, including an anti-tank rifle?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 6 December, Stanisław Tym (pictured), a prominent comedian and satirist, died at the age of 87.
On 27 October, the discovery of a previously unknown waltz in A minor attributed to Frédéric Chopin, found at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, was announced.
On 14 September, southwestern Poland was hit by severe floods caused by heavy rains brought by Storm Boris.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • Polish presidency of the Council of the EU

Upcoming

Presidential election on 18 May 2025

Holidays and observances in January 2025
(statutory public holidays in bold)

New Year, 1 January
Three Kings' Day (carolers pictured), 6 January

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Trzaska coat of arms

Credit: WarX

The coat of arms of the Trzaska nobility clan shows a golden crescent between two broken silver swords in a blue field. According to a legend, the arms were granted by the 11th-century King Boleslaus the Brave to one of his knights who had fought so valiantly that he broke two swords during a single battle. In fact, Polish heraldry developed long after Boleslaus's reign. The earliest historical sources to mention the Trzaska coat of arms date back to the 14th century.