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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Christmas in Poland

A szopka krakowska (example pictured left) is a nativity scene traditionally constructed in Kraków during the Christmas season. Its distinctive feature is the use of architectural details of Kraków's historical landmarks as a backdrop for the nativity of Jesus.

Christmas carol singing has long been a popular tradition in Poland. The oldest known Polish carols date back to the 15th century. Among the most beloved (recordings listed right) are the lulling "Lulajże, Jezuniu" ("Sleep, Little Jesus"), the joyful "Dzisiaj w Betlejem" ("Tonight in Bethlehem"), and the majestic "Bóg się rodzi" ("God is Born").

Media related to Polish Christmas carols at Wikimedia Commons

Lulajże, Jezuniu

Dzisiaj w Betlejem

Bóg się rodzi

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From Polish history – show another

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 km² (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 km² (22,000 sq mi) of western Poland, which it renamed South Prussia. Poland was left as a rump state of 215,000 km² (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. (Full article...)

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Władysław Sikorski

Władysław Sikorski (1881–1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, he became a founder and member of several underground organizations that promoted the aim of Polish independence. He fought with distinction during the Polish–Soviet War, in which he played a prominent role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw. During World War II he became prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and a staunch advocate of the Polish cause on the diplomatic scene. He supported the reëstablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union, which had been severed after the Soviet alliance with Germany in the 1939 invasion of Poland. In April 1943, however, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin broke off Polish–Soviet diplomatic relations following Sikorski's request that the International Red Cross investigate the Katyn massacre. In July 1943, Sikorski was killed in a plane crash into the sea immediately on takeoff from Gibraltar. The exact circumstances of his death remain in dispute, which has given rise to ongoing conspiracy theories. (Full article...)

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Bydgoszcz granaries

Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland, straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Brda. It is the eighth-largest city in Poland and the co-capital, with Toruń, of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Bydgoszcz is an architecturally rich city, with gothic, neo-gothic, neo-baroque, neoclassicist, modernist and Art Nouveau styles present, for which it has earned the nickname "Little Berlin". The notable granaries on Mill Island and along the riverside belong to one of the most recognized timber-framed landmarks in Poland. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that the UFO-like Kielce Bus Station (pictured) has been praised as "one of the most valuable" architectural designs of the last decades of the People's Republic of Poland?
... that, although Piotr Skarga's political treatise Kazania sejmowe ("Sermons to the Diet") was ignored during his lifetime, he was labeled a "patriotic seer" centuries after his death?
... that the creation of the Warsaw Gay Movement was a counter-reaction of Polish gays against Operation Hyacinth?
... that Leon Wasilewski of the Polish Socialist Party learned Yiddish in order to be able to edit the party's Yiddish-language newspaper Der arbeyter?

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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

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

Saint Nicholas Day, 6 December
Christmas (baubles pictured), 25–26 December

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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.