HISTORY

Given its tumultuous history, the territory of Poland has undergone significant evolution over the centuries (see: Brilliant Maps). Post World War II Poland is about the size of the U.S. state of New Mexico. In 1990, when we visited, Poland was bordered to the West by Germany, which was in the process of reunifying, to the South by Czechoslovakia, and to the East by the Soviet Union, which, led by Mikhael Gorbachev, was undergoing a period of new openness and restructuring. Ukraine, in the East, was still one of the Soviet Socialist Republics. To the North, the situation was evolving; Lithuania had declared its independence in March 1990, but the Soviets refused to recognize the claim. In many respects, Poland was at the center of things and at the leading edge of the transition sweeping Eastern Europe. The nation, sustained by it history, traditions, culture, and faith, had endured the devastion of World War II and decades of communist repression. Now the 38.1 million people of Poland were entering a new time of challenge and change.

POST-COMMUNISM

Gdansk Shipyard is home of the Solidarity movement which served as the catalyst for the fall of communism in Poland and across Eastern Europe. On Aug. 17, 1980 strikers presented a list of 21 demands, starting with "acceptance of free trade unions independent of parties and employers..." On Aug. 31, the government, headed by First Secretary Edward Gierek, agreed to all 21 demands. This led to the creation of the Solidarność (Solidarity) trade union. Change did not happen overnight. Poles endured Martial Law from Dec. 1981 to July 1983. Finally, in Feb. 1989 the Round Table talks began, resulting in an agreement, reached on Apr. 5, 1989 which led to elections.

COMMUNISM

a) The Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki), a 778-foot tall Stalinist building in Warsaw completed in 1955 (>).
b) An example of a socialist realism bas-relief at an unidentified location in Warsaw.

Kraków Train Station mural: "Main Connections, Directorate of District State Railways, Kraków." The text states, "Extensive and efficient transport is one of the basics for implementing the economic plan."

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		In Kraków someone posted a copy of the "MANIFESTO and first decrees of the Polish Committee of National Liberation" issued on July 21 and 22, 1944. The PKWN was the Soviet-backed group, later re-branded the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, that outmaneuvered the Polish government-in-exile after World War II. The Manifesto states, "[T]he National Council appoints the Polish Committee of National Liberation as a temporary executive authority to lead the nation's liberation struggle, achieve independence and rebuild Polish statehood." It declares, "United for the glory of the homeland in one Polish Army under a common command, all Polish soldiers will join the victorious Red Army in further fights for the liberation of the country." Further it states, "The exile "government" in London and its delegation in Poland is a self-appointed, illegal power, based on the illegal fascist constitution of April 1935." Among its provisions the manifesto sets out many policies. For example, it states, "The reconstruction and expansion of the institutions of Social Insurance in the event of illness, disability, unemployment and old-age insurance will begin immediately," and "One of the most urgent tasks of the Polish Committee of National Liberation will be to rebuild education in the liberated areas and provide free education at all levels." The document devotes significant attention to "a broad agrarian reform in the liberated areas." Eventually, in Jan. 1947, rigged parliamentary elections were held (1, 2, 3), which led to 50-plus years of communist rule. See: George H. Janczewski. "The Origin of the Lublin Government." The Slavonic and East European Review Vol. 50, No. 120 (Jul., 1972), pp. 410-433. "PKWN Manifesto." Wikipedia.

WORLD WAR II

Poland suffered huge losses at the hands of the Nazis during World War II (1, 2).

Warsaw Uprising Monument on Krasiński Square in Warsaw. After the Warsaw Uprising in Summer 1944, 85% of Old Town Warsaw was destroyed (>). In the years following World War II, the area was carefully reconstructed (>).

At right...

A place sanctified by the blood of Poles who died for the freedom of their homeland

Here on January 28, 1944 the Nazis shot 102 Poles

Auschwitz.

MONARCHY

Poland was ruled by dukes and monarchs going back to legendary times (>), but there was also an influential Sejm (parliament) dating to the late 14th century (>). In 1569, the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania or Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth formed; the union reached its zenith in the 17th century. In the late 18th century the Commonwealth underwent three partitions and "vanished from the map of Europe." The last monarch, King Stanisław August, abdicated in 1795. Poland did not reappear as an independent state until the establishment of the Republic of Poland in 1918.

Łazienki Palace (Palace on the Isle) in Warsaw was the summer residence of King Stanisław August.

Kraków was the capital of Poland for more than five centuries until 1596 when the king transferred the capital to Warsaw. Wawel Royal Castle served as home of Polish kings starting in the early 14th century. Among highlights in Wawel Cathedral are the huge Sigismund Bell.

Additional Resources:
Polish History Museum / Muzeum Historii Polski

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage / Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego

Fotopolska.EU

Warsaw Rising Museum / Museum Powstania Warszawakiego

Museum of Life Under Communism / Muzeum Życia w PRL

European Solidarity Center / Europejskie Centrum Solidarności (Gdańsk)

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