Poland - Pol. Polska, officially Republic of Poland, republic (1995 est. pop. 38,792,000), 120,725 sq mi (312,677 sq km), central Europe. It borders on Germany in the west, on the Baltic Sea and the Kaliningrad region of Russia in the north, on Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine in the east, and on the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the south.
Warsaw is the capital and largest city.
Land and People The country is largely low-lying, except in the south, which includes the Carpathians, the Sudeten Mts., and the Malopolska Hills. The highest point is Rysy Mt. (c.8,200 ft/2,500 m), located in the High Tatra Mts. near the Slovakian border. Poland's main rivers (including the Vistula, the Oder, the Warta, and the Western Bug) are connected to the Baltic Sea and are important traffic lanes. The country has three important Baltic ports (
Gdańsk,
Gdynia, and
Szczecin) and a dense rail network. There are many lakes, especially in the north. About 50% of Poland's land area is arable (with the best soil in the south), and about 30% is forested. Poland is divided into 16 provinces. In addition to the capital and major ports, the country's major cities include
Bialystok,
Bydgoszcz,
Bytom,
Częstochowa,
Gdańsk,
Gliwice,
Katowice,
Kraków,
Lódź,
Lublin,
Poznań,
Radom,
Tarnowskie Góry, and
Wroclaw. As a result of World War II, of the 1945 boundary treaty with the USSR, and of the emigration of most of the German-speaking population, the country has considerable ethnic homogeneity. Nearly the entire population is Polish-speaking and the vast majority of those affiliated with any creed are Roman Catholic. There are universities at Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Lódź, Lublin, Poznań, Toruń, Warsaw, and Wroclaw. Economy Agriculture is mostly privately run and was so even during the Communist years. It accounts for 15% of the gross national product and occupies more than 25% of the workforce. Poland is generally self-sufficient in food; the main crops are rye, potatoes, beets, wheat, and dairy products. Pigs and sheep are the main livestock. Poland is relatively rich in natural resources; the chief minerals produced are coal, sulfur, copper, lead, and zinc. The country's leading manufactures include machinery, iron and steel products, chemicals, ships, food processing, and textiles. Industry, which had been state controlled, began to be privatized in the early 1990s, although restructuring and privatization of the country's large coal, steel, and chemical industries has moved forward slowly, when it has progressed at all. Prices were freed, subsidies were reduced, and Poland's currency (the zloty) was made convertible as the country began the difficult transition to a free-market economy. Reforms initially resulted in high unemployment, hyperinflation, shortages of consumer goods, a large external debt, and a general drop in the standard of living. The situation later stabilized, however, and during the 1990s Poland's economy was the fastest growing in E Europe. Growth slowed significantly in 2001. Germany, Russia, Italy, France, and the Netherlands are important trading partners. Government Poland is governed under the 1997 constitution. The bicameral parliament consists of a 460-seat Sejm (lower house) and a 100-seat Senate (upper house). Members of both bodies are elected for four-year terms. The president is popularly elected for a five-year term and has the power to nominate a member of parliament as prime minister. The cabinet is appointed by the president, on the advice of the prime minister. The main political parties are the Democratic Left Alliance, Civic Platform, Polish Peasants' party, and Self-Defense party. History Beginnings The territorial dimensions of Poland have varied considerably during its history. In the 9th and 10th cent., the Polians [dwellers in the field] gained hegemony over the other Slavic groups that occupied what is roughly present-day Poland. Under Duke
Mieszko I (reigned 960–92) of the
Piast dynasty began (966) the conversion of Poland to Christianity. Gniezno was the first capital of Poland and Poznań the first episcopal see. The Piasts expanded their domains in wars against the German emperors, Hungary, Bohemia, Pomerania, Denmark, and Kiev, and in 1025
Boleslaus I (reigned 992–1025) took the title of king. At the death (1138) of
Boleslaus III the kingdom was broken up; its reunification was begun by
Ladislaus I, who was king from 1320 to 1333. During the period of disunity, the
Teutonic Knights gained a foothold in the then pagan N Poland. Their power was only broken by their defeat at the hands of Polish-Lithuanian forces at
Tannenberg (1410); by the second treaty of Toruń (1466) they became vassals of the Polish kings. The main line of the Piast dynasty ended with the death (1370) of
Casimir III, whose enlightened economic, administrative, and social policies included the protection of the Jews. He also completed the reunification of the kingdom. After Casimir, the crown passed to his nephew,
Louis I of Hungary (reigned 1370–82) and then to Louis' daughter,
Jadwiga (reigned 1384–99). The Age of Greatness Jadwiga married Ladislaus Jagiello, grand duke of Lithuania, who became king of Poland as
Ladislaus II (reigned 1386–1434). The Jagiello dynasty ruled Poland until 1572; this period—especially the 16th cent.—is considered the golden age of Poland. Although involved in frequent wars with Hungary, Moscow, Moldavia, the Tatars, and the Ottoman Turks, the closely allied Polish and Lithuanian states maintained an empire that reached from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Ladislaus III (reigned 1434–44; after 1440 also king of Hungary), although routed and killed by the Ottoman Turks at the battle of Varna (1444), gave Poland the prestige of championing the Christian cause against the Muslim invaders. Casimir V (1447–92) placed Poland and Lithuania on equal terms and decisively defeated (1462) the Teutonic Knights. Under
Sigismund I (reigned 1506–48) internal power was consolidated, the economy developed, and the culture of the Renaissance was introduced. During the reign of
Sigismund II (reigned 1548–72) a unified Polish-Lithuanian state was created by the Union of Lublin (1569). The arts and sciences flourished during the Jagiello dynasty; a towering figure of the age was the astronomer
Copernicus. At the same time, however, the Jagiellos were forced to contend with the growing power of the gentry, who by the 15th cent. began to acquire considerable political influence. In 1505 the gentry forced King Alexander (reigned 1501–6) to recognize the legislative power of the Sejm, or diet, which comprised a senate (made up of representatives of the landed magnates and of the high clergy) and a chamber (consisting of the deputies of the nobility and of the gentry). The liberum veto, which allowed any representative to dissolve the Sejm and even to annul its previous decisions, was applied with growing recklessness in the 17th and 18th cent. Class Divisions and Foreign Conflicts The Polish kings had always been elective in theory, but in practice the choice had usually fallen on the incumbent representatives of the ruling dynasty. After the death (1572) of Sigismund II, last of the Jagiellos, the theory that the entire nobility could take part in the royal elections was newly guaranteed. In practice, this meant that internal factional rivalry prevented the establishment of any great Polish dynasty; contested elections and insurrections by the gentry were frequent. Although the state was weakened, the constitution of the royal republic created a certain democratic egalitarianism among the gentry and noble classes. The peasantry, however, had been reduced to serfdom, and its condition tended to worsen rather than improve. The middle class was largely Jewish or German. There was considerable religious toleration in 16th-century Poland and the progress of Protestantism was arrested without coercion by the Jesuits, who introduced the Counter Reformation in 1565. Relations between the Roman Catholic ruling class and the followers of the Greek Orthodox Church in Belarus and Ukraine (then parts of Lithuania) were less harmonious and helped to involve Poland in several wars with Russia. Much of the reigns of
Stephen Báthory (1575–86) and
Sigismund III (1587–1632) was occupied by attempts to conquer Russia. The outstanding figure of their reigns was Jan
Zamojski (1542–1605). Sigismund III, a prince of the Swedish ruling house of
Vasa, also became king of Sweden; after his deposition (1598) by his Swedish subjects he continued to advance his claims and started a long series of Polish-Swedish wars. In addition, Sigismund defeated an armed revolt (1606–7) by the gentry and fought the Ottoman Turks. He was succeeded by his sons
Ladislaus IV (1632–48) and
John II (1648–68). John's reign came to be known in Polish history as the "Deluge." During his rule discontent in Ukraine flared in the rebellion of the Cossacks under Bohdan
Chmielnicki. In 1655,
Charles X of Sweden overran Poland, while Czar
Alexis of Russia attacked from the east. Inspired by their heroic defense of the monastery at
Częstochowa, the Poles managed to regroup and to save the country from complete dismemberment. The Peace of
Oliva (1660) cost Poland considerable territory (including N Livonia), and by the Treaty of
Andrusov (1667) E Ukraine passed to Russia. The Vasa dynasty ended with the death of John II. John III (John Sobieski; reigned 1674–96), who defended (1683) Vienna from the Ottoman Turk invaders, temporarily restored the prestige of Poland, but with his death Poland virtually ceased to be an independent country. Partition and Regeneration After |
