Polish

Traditional histories of Poland begin with the Polanian tribe ruled by Duke Mieszko I, who became duke of the Polanian tribes around 962 and adopted Christianity in 966 following his marriage to the Czech princess Dubrawka. His country would generations later become Poland, but there was no unified Polish nation at that time, only an assortment of Slavic tribes speaking different dialects such as the (Pomeranian) of the north.

Some historians even question whether Mieszko was Slavic and suggest that he was Scandinavian, and have seen evidence to support this claim in one of the earliest written documents about Mieszko (the Dagome Iudex), where he appears under the name Dagome, which they say could be the Scandinavian name Dago. Some military equipment found in Poland and dated to around Mieszko's time has been claimed to be of Scandinavian appearance, though archaeologists today are generally skeptical, and there is no trace of characteristically Scandinavian architecture among the remains of the Polanian structures, not even in the leaders' quarters. (See summary of arguments at Scandinavian connections to Mieszko I).

Mieszko's successor Boleslaus I extended the early state, and give it international recognition due meeting at the tomb of Saint Adalbert with the emperor of Holy Roman Empire. Given to him by the emperor, title of king was taken in 1025. But at the death of Boleslaus III (1138) the kingdom was divided among his sons, inaugurating the 192-year Fragmentation period (in Polish, Rozbicie dzielnicowe), during which Poland was divided into a number of principalities.

The restoration of royal power under Ladislaus I (1320) and dynastic union (1386) with the grand duchy of Lithuania to the north-east paved the way for the extension of Polish power far to the east and the creation (Lublin union, 1569) of a unified Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) stretching from the Baltic and the Carpathians to present-day Belarus and western Ukraine.

In the north-west, the Teutonic Knights, in control of Prussia since the 13th century, were forced after their defeats by a combined Polish-Lithuanian force in the Battle of Grunwald (1410) and in the later Thirteen Years War to surrender to the Polish crown the western half of the territory they had controlled (the areas known afterwards as Royal Prussia) and to accept Polish suzerainty over the remainder (the later Ducal Prussia) in the 1466 Second Treaty of Thorn.

Although most accounts of Polish history show the two centuries after the end of the Jagiellon dynasty as a time of decline leading to foreign domination, Poland-Lithuania remained an influential player in European politics and a vital cultural entity through most of the period.

Polish independence ended in a series of partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) undertaken by Russia, Prussia and Austria, with Russia gaining most of the Commonwealth's territory including nearly all of the former Lithuania. Austria gained the populous southern region henceforth named Galicia, as well as the area to its north-east, named Lodomeria by its new Habsburg rulers. Prussia acquired the western lands from the Baltic to Krakow, as well as Warsaw and territories to the north-east. The last heroic attempt to save Poland's independence was a national uprising (1794) led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko, however it was eventually quenched.

Following the French emperor Napoleon I's defeat of Prussia, a Polish state was again set up in 1807 under French tutelage as the Duchy of Warsaw. Upon Austria's defeat in 1809, Lodomeria was added, giving the new state a population of some 3.75 million, a quarter of that of the former commonwealth. Polish nationalists were to remain among the staunchest allies of the French as the tide of war turned against them, inaugurating a relationship that continued into the twentieth century.

The upcoming World War I and the political turbulence that was sweeping throughout Europe in 1914 offered the Polish nation hopes for regaining independence. By the end of World War I, Poland had seen the defeat or retreat of all three occupying powers. The new Polish state had had only 20 years of relative stability and peace before Poland's aggresive, totalitarian neigbours tried to wipe her from the map of Europe again.

On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact, which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in Paris and later in London, which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile.

In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at Katyn, in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the Red Cross investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" at Lublin.

Resistance against the Nazis in Warsaw, including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city.

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Treblinka, and Majdanek.

Following the Yalta Conference in February 1945, a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in June 1945; the U.S. recognized it the next month. Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections, those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Communist Party. The communists then established a regime entirely under their domination.

In October 1956, after the 20th ("de-Stalinization") Soviet Party Congress at Moscow and riots by workers in Poznan, there was a shakeup in the communist regime. While retaining most traditional communist economic and social aims, the regime of First Secretary Wladyslaw Gomulka liberalized Polish internal life.

In 1968, the trend reversed when student demonstrations were suppressed and an "anti-Zionist" campaign initially directed against Gomulka supporters within the party eventually led to the emigration of much of Poland's remaining Jewish population. In December 1970, disturbances and strikes in the port cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, triggered by a price increase for essential consumer goods, reflected deep dissatisfaction with living and working conditions in the country. Edward Gierek replaced Gomulka as First Secretary.

Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth rate was one of the worlds highest during the first half of the 1970s. But much of the borrowed capital was misspent, and the centrally planned economy was unable to use the new resources effectively. The growing debt burden became insupportable in the late 1970s, and economic growth had become negative by 1979.

In October 1978, the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, became Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church. Polish Catholics rejoiced at the elevation of a Pole to the papacy and greeted his June 1979 visit to Poland with an outpouring of emotion.

Onn July 1 1980, with the Polish foreign debt at more than $20 billion, the government made another attempt to increase meat prices. A chain reaction of strikes virtually paralyzed the Baltic coast by the end of August and, for the first time, closed most coal mines in Silesia. Poland was entering into an extended crisis that would change the course of its future development.

On 31 August 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, led by an electrician named Lech Walesa, signed a 21-point agreement with the government that ended their strike. Similar agreements were signed at Szczecin and in Silesia. The key provision of these agreements was the guarantee of the workers' right to form independent trade unions and the right to strike. After the Gdansk agreement was signed, a new national union movement "Solidarity" swept Poland.

The discontent underlying the strikes was intensified by revelations of widespread corruption and mismanagement within the Polish state and party leadership. In September 1980, Gierek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania as First Secretary.

Alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the PZPR's authority following the Gdansk agreement, the Soviet Union proceeded with a massive military buildup along Poland's border in December 1980. In February 1981, Defense Minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski assumed the position of Prime Minister as well, and in October 1981, he also was named party First Secretary. At the first Solidarity national congress in September-October 1981, Lech Walesa was elected national chairman of the union.

On December 12-13, the regime declared martial law, under which the army and special riot police were used to crush the union. Virtually all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. The United States and other Western countries responded to martial law by imposing economic sanctions against the Polish regime and against the Soviet Union. Unrest in Poland continued for several years thereafter.

In a series of slow, uneven steps, the Polish regime rescinded martial law. In December 1982, martial law was suspended, and a small number of political prisoners were released. Although martial law formally ended in July 1983 and a general amnesty was enacted, several hundred political prisoners remained in jail.

In July 1984, another general amnesty was declared, and 2 years later, the government had released nearly all political prisoners. The authorities continued, however, to harass dissidents and Solidarity activists. Solidarity remained proscribed and its publications banned. Independent publications were censored.

A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. Hopes for early admission to the EU were realized on April 16, 2003, when Poland and nine other countries signed a Treaty for EU membership from May 1, 2004. Poland joined NATO in March 1999.

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century when it was united with Lithuania in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The citizens of Poland were proud of their ancient freedoms and parliamentary system, though only privilaged one enjoyed them. Since that times Poles adhere to freedom, that is the value that is the most important for them. Poles often call themselves Nation of the free people. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation, leading to three partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795 that completely dissolved Poland. Poles resented their shrinking freedom and organised numerous attempt to rebel against tyrants.

During the 19th century most of Poland was ruled by the Russian tsar, but it regained its independence in November 1918 as the Second Polish Republic. The new threat was Soviet agression in 1919 (Polish-Soviet War) but Poland was able to defend its independence.

This state lasted until 1939 when it was overrun by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the start of World War II, during which Poland suffered greatly, see General Government. Among all nations in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of citizens. Towards the end of the war, the Soviet Union turned from liberators to occupiers and Poland became a Soviet satellite state after the war. Poland border were shifted westward, eastern border to the Curzon line and western border to Oder-Neisse line. After the shift Poland was smaller by 76 000 km sq or 20% of pre-war size. Millions of Polish people were dispossessed westwards into territory previously held by late Nazi Germany, from which similar number of Germans were expulsed.

The shifting of whole Poland was accompanied by shifting the entire population, so at the end of the process, populations fit to the borders.

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force, slowly ending the dominance of the Communist Party, and by 1989 had swept parliamentary elections and eventually the presidency. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust (according to the criteria of neoliberal economics) in Central Europe, with official unemployment rates at about 20% during the first decade of the 21st century. Despite the regression in levels of social and economic human rights standards, there were some improvements in other human rights standards, and following a massive advertising campaign by the government in favour of joining the European Union, Polish voters chose yes in a referendum in June 2003. Poland will officially join the European Union on 1 May 2004. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999.

Polish government structure consists of a Council of Ministers led by a prime minister. This cabinet is appointed by the president on a proposal by the prime minster, typically from a majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house. The president, elected by popular vote every 5 years, is head of state.

The parliament, the National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe, consisting of 460 members of the Sejm (lower house) and 100 members of the Senate (Senat), is elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms. The current constitution dates from 1997, and stipulates that with the exception of two guaranteed seats for small ethnic parties, only political parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote can enter parliament.

The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision making and its major institutions are the Supreme Court (Sad Najwyzszy) whose judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period, and the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunal Konstytucyjny), where judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms.

Poland is divided into 16 administrative regions known as voivodships (województwa, singular - województwo):

• Greater Poland Voivodship (Wielkopolskie)
• Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (Kujawsko-Pomorskie)
• Lesser Poland Voivodship (Malopolskie)
• Lodz Voivodship (Lodzkie)
• Lower Silesian Voivodship (Dolnoslaskie)
• Lublin Voivodship (Lubelskie)
• Lubusz Voivodship (Lubuskie)
• Masovian Voivodship (Mazowieckie)
• Opole Voivodship (Opolskie)
• Subcarpathian Voivodship (Podkarpackie)
• Podlasie Voivodship (Podlaskie)
• Pomeranian Voivodship (Pomorskie)
• Swietokrzyskie Voivodship (Swietokrzyskie)
• Silesian Voivodship (Slaskie)
• Warmian-Masurian Voivodship (Warminsko-Mazurskie)
• West Pomeranian Voivodship (Zachodniopomorskie)

Geography

The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain at an average height of 173 m, though the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains) and the Sudeten with its part Karkonosze form the southern border, where one also finds Poland's highest point, the Rysy, at 2,499 m. The plains are crossed by several large rivers, such as the Vistula (Wisla), the Oder (Odra), the Warta or the (Western) Bug. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country.

The Polish climate is temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation and mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers.

Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open transition from communism to market economy. However, slow progress in recent few years, combined with other factors, like birth peak 20 years ago, put recently economy at the edge of recession, with about 18% unemployment and increasing wealth disparities. GDP growth had been strong and steady in 1993-2000 but fell back in 2001 with slowdowns in domestic investment and consumption and the weakening in the global economy. Perspective of closer integration with European Union put economy back on the route of growth, that is currently 2003 over 3% yearly.

The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an aggressive private sector, but without any development of consumer rights organisations.

In contrast, from a neoliberal point of view, Poland's large agricultural sector remains handicapped by structural problems, surplus labour, inefficient small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy) has begun. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger than expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on privatisation of Poland's remaining state sector.

From popular point of view, reflecting the numerous and consistent street protests, is that while health care and the education system have suffered considerable damage from lack of successful conversion of institutions from state directed towards modern way of management. People are also afraid of the possible damage, that Polish agriculture may suffer, as integration into the European Union proceeds.

Apart from individuals like Jeffrey Sachs, many institutions such as the Research Triangle Institute have been involved in the shock therapy, which, for some people, has been positive, while for others, it has been a catastrophe.

The government's determination to enter the EU as soon as possible affected most aspects of its economic policies. Improving Poland's outsized current account deficit and reining in inflation are priorities. Warsaw leads the region in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow.

Poland used to be a country of many languages, cultulres and religious. However, the outcome World War II and follwing shift westward to the area between Curzon line and Oder-Neisse line made Poland appear to be homogenous. Some 98% of today's population considers itself Polish, though there are several minorities of Germanss, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and Belarussians.

The official language is Polish, a member of the Slavic languages. Most Poles (95%) adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, though only 75% are practising Catholics. The remaining 5% consists of Eastern Orthodox and Protestant religious minorities.

A separate article exists on modern day Religious freedom in Poland.

• List of famous Poles
• Polish literature
• Polish composers
• Polish painters
• Polish poets
• Polish theater
• Polish film history
• Music of Poland
• Media in Poland

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Poland
• Transportation in Poland
• Military of Poland
• Foreign relations of Poland
• Tourism in Poland
• Software development in Poland

External Links

Small numbers of people also speak Belarusian, Ukrainian, and German as well as several varieties of Romany.

Nouns, adjectives and verbs are inflected, and both noun declension and verb conjugation are highly irregular. Every verb is either perfective or imperfective.

Verbs often come in pairs, one of them imperfective and the other perfective (usually imperfective verb with a prefix), but often there are many perfective verbs with different prefixes for single imperfective words.

Tenses are:

construction	(for perfective verbs)	(for imperfective verbs)	example imperfective	example perfective
verb+ić	infinitive	infinitive	robić	zrobić
verb+suffix	future simple tense	present tense	robicie	zrobicie
past participle+suffix	past perfect tense	past imperfect tense	robiliście	zrobiliście
(this suffix can be moved)			coście robili	coście zrobili

Movable suffix is usually attached to verb or to the most accented of sentence, like question preposition.

Sometimes alone suffix with prefix że- appears.

So what have you done ? can be:

• co zrobiliście
• coście zrobili
• co żeście zrobili

• co wy zrobiliście
• coście zrobili (in fact, a Polish won't use subject here)
• co żeście zrobili (as above)
• co wyście zrobili (here the stress goes to "you" -- "wy"+ście)

• zrobił (he made/did)
• zrobiła (she made/did)
• zrobiło (it made/did)

Vocabulary

a, ą, b, c, ć, d, e, ę, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ł, m, n, ń, o, ó, p, q, r, s, ś, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ź, ż,
A, Ą, B, C, Ć, D, E, Ę, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, Ł, M, N, Ń, O, Ó, P, Q, R, S, Ś, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Ź, Ż

The letters q, v and x are used only in foreign words. It uses 9 special characters, and some character pairs to represent sounds not available in the Latin alphabet. Vowels are pronounced like in all European languages (and for that matter Japanese) other than English.

"a b d e f h k l m n o p r s t u z" are pronounced as you'd expect them to be.

• "c" is pronounced "ts", if you'll prononuce it "s" you will be understood
• "g" is always hard, like in "game" not like "gene".
• "i" is pronounced like "i" and before other vowel like "y". It softens the consonant before it.
• "j" is pronounced like "y".
• "w" is pronounced like "v".
• "y" is pronounced like "i", but it doesn't soften the consonant before it.

• "ą" - prononuced like "on" or "om".
• "ć" - pronounced like soft "ch".
• "ę" - prononuced like "e", "en" or "em". As the last vowel of the word almost always like "e".
• "ł" - pronounced like "w"
• "ń" - pronounced like soft "n"
• "ó" - pronounced like "u"
• "ś" - pronounced like soft "sh".
• "ź" - pronounced like soft "zh".
• "ż" - pronounced like hard "zh".

• "ch" - pronounced like "h"
• "cz" - pronounced like hard "ch"
• "rz" - pronounced like hard "zh"
• "sz" - pronounced like hard "sh"