Portal:Poland

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

Fighting in Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw, by Juliusz Kossak

The Warsaw Uprising of 1794 was an armed Polish insurrection by the Warsaw's populace early in the Kościuszko Uprising. Supported by the Polish Army, it aimed to throw off Russian control of the Polish capital. It began on 17 April 1794, soon after Tadeusz Kościuszko's victory at Racławice. A National Militia led by shoemaker Jan Kiliński, armed with rifles and sabers from the Warsaw Arsenal, inflicted heavy losses on the more numerous and better equipped, but surprised enemy garrison. Apart from the militia, the most famous units to take part in the liberation of Warsaw were formed of Poles who had been conscripted into the Russian service. Within hours, the fighting had spread from a single street on the western outskirts of Warsaw's Old Town to the entire city. Part of the Russian garrison was able to retreat under the cover of Prussian cavalry, but most were trapped inside the city. Isolated Russian forces resisted in several areas for two more days. (Full article...)

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Jan Henryk Dąbrowski

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (1755–1818) was a Polish military officer and a national hero. He served in the Royal Saxon Army before joining the Polish–Lithuanian army in 1792, not long before the Second Partition of Poland. He was promoted to the rank of general in the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. After the Third Partition of Poland he became actively involved in promoting the cause of Polish independence abroad. He founded the Polish Legions in Italy serving under Napoleon since 1797, and as a general in Italian and French service he contributed to the brief restoration of the Polish state in the form of the Duchy of Warsaw after the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806. He participated in subsequent Napoleonic Wars, including the Polish–Austrian War and the French invasion of Russia. After Napoleon's defeat, he accepted a senatorial position in the Russian-controlled "Congress" Kingdom of Poland, and helped organize the new kingdom's army. In 1797, Józef Wybicki wrote Poland Is Not Yet Lost, a mazurka to be sung by Polish legionnaires in Italy, with the chorus "March, march, Dąbrowski, from Italy to Poland!" The song later became Poland's national anthem. (Full article...)

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Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia in Płock

Płock is a town on the Vistula River in the western part of the Masovian Voivodeship. During the reigns of Vladislaus Herman and Boleslaus the Wrymouth in the 10th–11th centuries, Płock was briefly Poland's capital city, and later served as one of the seats of the dukes of Masovia. The town has two cathedrals: the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia (pictured) where Vladislaus and Boleslaus are buried, and the Temple of Mercy and Charity, the principal seat of the Mariavite Church, a native Polish branch of Christianity. Płock is home to Poland's largest oil refinery, owned by PKN Orlen and served by the Druzhba ("Friendship") pipeline linking Russia with Germany. (Full article...)

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Did you know – show different entries

... that, in order to disguise the V-2 missile launch site in Blizna (pictured), in what is now southeastern Poland, the Nazi Germans created a mock village with plywood cottages and barns, as well as plaster people and animals?
... that Polish Jewish writer Rokhl Auerbakh worked overtly as the director of a soup kitchen and covertly as a member of a secret group that chronicled daily life in the Warsaw Ghetto?
... that Emany Mata Likambe, Zaire's former ambassador to Poland, was discovered homeless and living in the streets of Warsaw in 1994, after his government had failed to pay him for over two years?
... that it was not illegal to possess or use cannabis in Poland until 1997?

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Poland now

Recent events

On 27 March, Poland suspended the right to claim asylum by people who cross the border from Belarus (border fence pictured).
On 18 February, Marian Turski, a historian, journalist and Holocaust survivor, died at the age of 98.
On 6 December, Stanisław Tym, 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.

Ongoing

Constitutional crisis • Belarus–EU border crisis • Ukrainian refugee crisis • Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Upcoming

Presidential election on 18 May 2025

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

April Fool's Day, 1 April
Easter (Easter eggs pictured), 20 April
Easter Monday, 21 April

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St. Alexander's Church, Warsaw

Credit: Detroit Publishing Co.

A photochrom, dated to ca. 1890–1900, of St. Alexander's Church in Warsaw. The church was destroyed during World War II and then rebuilt on a smaller scale.