Epigraph:
“Poland has always been a bargaining chip for Western historians and politicians right up to our time - it was invented many times, declared great, divided, created again, it was inhabited either by very ancient Catholic crusaders or by semi-wild Orthodox fanatics Cossacks. The truth is that POLAND AND THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IS THE SAME THING.

(Alexander Kas “Building a consistent version of the history of the 16th-18th centuries” http://coollib.com/b/163125)

Like Poland itself, the same bargaining chip for historians is the Polish language. He either suddenly appears out of nowhere, or just as suddenly, disappears into nowhere.

Thus, there is no evidence of the existence of the Polish language before the 16th century. Apart from a couple of books of prayers of dubious origin and even more dubious date. This period is spoken of in academic circles only as “the period of the origins of the formation of the literary language.”

What language dominated the territory of what is now Poland in the early Middle Ages? It is generally accepted that it is Latin. However, there is an opinion that it is Church Slavonic. Let's take a look at the book of the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy Innocent (Borisov) “On the Beginning of Christianity in Poland,” published in Kyiv in 1886. The author proves that Poland (as well as its western part Lusatia, which is now in Germany) was originally baptized into Orthodoxy. True, a long time ago. Historians generally like to push inconvenient facts into ancient times. The author provides the following evidence:

(In the 14th-15th centuries, services in Poland were conducted in the Slavic (Church Slavonic) language. The Polish kings sought the same right from the Pope in the 16th century. Books of religious and, possibly, secular content were also printed in it.)

The Polish language suddenly appears in the 16th century, exactly after the merger of Poland with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And immediately its “golden age” begins. Moreover, that Polish is indistinguishable from the Russian language of the same time. The Poles even have the audacity to say:
"From the mid-sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century, Polish was the language of the court in Russia, and thus a number of Western European expressions previously acquired by the Polish language and Polish native words penetrated into the Russian language. At the end of the seventeenth century, Polish was also popular and fashionable among the upper classes of Moscow, and its knowledge was a measure of education and culture. Polish literature was extremely popular during this period, both in the original and in Cyrillic transcription and translation into Russian."
In the seventeenth century, Polish was also used at court in the Gospodarstvo of Moldova (here also used by the aristocracy) and Wallachia. "
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Język_polski

Although in another article http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Język_ruski they also write:

"The Russian language (also called Old Russian or Old Belarusian in the nineteenth century) is an East Slavic language that was used in Rus', in the Gospodarstvo of Moldova and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. (...)

Russian was the official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1696, when the supremacy of the Polish language was finally determined there, however, it remained the official language of the provinces of Bratslav, Kiev and Volyn, which after the Union of Lublin (1569) were included in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. (...)
The Russian language was used, in particular, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Gospodarstvo of Moldova, the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Republic of Novgorod"

Note that this clerical language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (aka Russian language, Russian language, “prosta mova”, Russian language, Western Russian literary-written language, Western Russian written language, Lithuanian-Russian language, Ruthenian language, Old Belarusian literary language, Old Ukrainian language , southern Russian language, Russian, Ruthenian, Slavic language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Belarusian Old Belarusian language, Ukrainian Old Ukrainian language) such researchers as Ivan (Johann) Schritter, Samuil Bogumil Linde, the Polish writer Vishnevsky were called Russian-Polish or simply “Polish” dialect."

Having suddenly appeared in the second half of the 16th century, the Polish language soon also suddenly began to fade away. The Brief Literary Encyclopedia reports:
"The 17th century - the beginning of the 18th century - a time of decline in the political and cultural life of Poland. The social significance of literature weakened, the importance of the Latin language increased. This also affects the language of fiction, into which not only individual words are woven, but entire sentences in Latin language. A pompous, macaronic style predominates. Even in everyday life, courtiers and gentry abuse the Latin language and other borrowings."

It is believed that Latin was the official language in Poland, according to some sources, until the end of the so-called “Saxon period” - 1783, and, according to other sources, until 1795.

Now move on from mythological fiction to reality. But the reality is that the only official language in the Kingdom of Poland (since 1875, officially called the Vistula region) until 1917 was Russian. The population of the region: Pomorians, Polans, Vistulas, Masurians, etc. spoke their own dialects with varying degrees of mutual understanding.

However, as the “Brief Literary Encyclopedia” also says: “... in the struggle for national independence, the literary language, common to all Poles and close to the living speech of the people, acquired special significance as a factor of national unification. Therefore, democratic linguistic trends are increasingly active made their way and finally won a decisive victory in the work of Adam Mickiewicz"

(Adam Mickiewicz)

With Mickiewicz, as well as his comrades Julius Słowacki, Sigismund Krasiński and others, we can begin the history of the modern Polish language. They created this language. Many literary works were written on it. They came up with an ancient Polish history, according to which the Poles trace their origins to the Sarmatians. And Poland is the oldest and only truly Christian state. Mickiewicz and his comrades were called nothing less than “Polish messiahs.”

True, all these gentlemen lived in Paris. Their ideas did not come home soon, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. They were already propagated by their followers.

The Polish language began to be implanted among the inhabitants of Poland after it gained independence. Back in the 30s of the 20th century, as reported by the Literary Encyclopedia, published under the editorship of A.V. Lunacharsky and M.V. Friche:
“The Polish language does not represent unity throughout the entire territory of its distribution and is divided into several dialects that have significant linguistic peculiarities. These dialects are Greater Poland, Kujawski, Chelm-Mazovia, Masovia, Silesian and Lesser Poland.”;
“Language policy in modern Poland is closely connected with the general nationalist policy of Polish imperialism. The most pressing is the so-called Kashubian question, which has been around for many years. Descendants of the once numerous Pomeranian Slavs, the Kashubians currently represent insignificant islands. Polish official science sees Kashubian as a language. "Only a dialect of the Polish language, supposedly separated from it only a little further than the dialects of Polish proper. For the Kashubians, Polish is recognized as the compulsory lithic language. The artificial planting of the Polish language also takes place among the large Ukrainian and Belarusian population of Poland."

Only after 1945, as a result of the spread of mass education and mass migration, the development of radio and television, the Polish language more or less spread throughout Poland. Although some dialects have survived to this day (for example, in the southern and southwestern mountainous parts of Poland bordering the Czech Republic and Slovakia). The rest of the dialects are spoken mainly by the elderly population in rural areas....

The first reliable information about Poland dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Poland was already a relatively large state, created by the Piast dynasty by uniting several tribal principalities. The first historically reliable ruler of Poland was Mieszko I (reigned 960–992) from the Piast dynasty, whose possessions, Greater Poland, were located between the Odra and Vistula rivers. Under the reign of Mieszko I, who fought against German expansion to the east, the Poles were converted to Latin rite Christianity in 966. In 988 Mieszko annexed Silesia and Pomerania to his principality, and in 990 – Moravia. His eldest son Bolesław I the Brave (r. 992–1025) became one of Poland's most prominent rulers. He established his power in the territory from Odra and Nysa to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians. Having strengthened Poland's independence in the wars with the Holy Roman Empire, Bolesław took the title of king (1025). After the death of Bolesław, the strengthened feudal nobility opposed the central government, which led to the separation of Mazovia and Pomerania from Poland.

Feudal fragmentation

Bolesław III (r. 1102–1138) regained Pomerania, but after his death the territory of Poland was divided among his sons. The eldest - Władysław II - received power over the capital Krakow, Greater Poland and Pomerania. In the second half of the 12th century. Poland, like its neighbors Germany and Kievan Rus, fell apart. The collapse led to political chaos; The vassals soon refused to recognize the king's sovereignty and, with the help of the church, significantly limited his power.

Teutonic Knights

In the middle of the 13th century. The Mongol-Tatar invasion from the east devastated most of Poland. No less dangerous for the country were the continuous raids of pagan Lithuanians and Prussians from the north. To protect his possessions, Prince Konrad of Mazovia in 1226 invited Teutonic knights from the military-religious order of the Crusaders to the country. Within a short time, the Teutonic Knights conquered part of the Baltic lands, which later became known as East Prussia. This land was settled by German colonists. In 1308, the state created by the Teutonic Knights cut off Poland's access to the Baltic Sea.

Decline of central government

As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, the state's dependence on the highest aristocracy and the small nobility began to increase, whose support it needed to protect itself from external enemies. The extermination of the population by the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuanian tribes led to an influx of German settlers to the Polish lands, who either themselves created cities governed by the laws of Magdeburg Law, or received land as free peasants. In contrast, Polish peasants, like the peasants of almost all of Europe at that time, gradually began to fall into serfdom.

The reunification of most of Poland was carried out by Władysław Lokietok (Ladisław the Short) from Kuyavia, a principality in the north-central part of the country. In 1320 he was crowned Ladislaus I. However, the national revival was largely due to the successful reign of his son, Casimir III the Great (r. 1333–1370). Casimir strengthened royal power, reformed the administration, legal and monetary systems according to Western models, promulgated a set of laws called the Wislica Statutes (1347), eased the situation of the peasants and allowed Jews - victims of religious persecution in Western Europe - to settle in Poland. He failed to regain access to the Baltic Sea; he also lost Silesia (which went to the Czech Republic), but captured Galicia, Volhynia and Podolia in the east. In 1364 Casimir founded the first Polish university in Krakow - one of the oldest in Europe. Having no son, Casimir bequeathed the kingdom to his nephew Louis I the Great (Louis of Hungary), at that time one of the most influential monarchs in Europe. Under Louis (reigned 1370–1382), the Polish nobles (gentry) received the so-called. Koshitsky privilege (1374), according to which they were exempted from almost all taxes, having received the right not to pay taxes above a certain amount. In return, the nobles promised to transfer the throne to one of the daughters of King Louis.

Jagiellonian Dynasty

After Louis's death, the Poles turned to his youngest daughter Jadwiga with a request to become their queen. Jadwiga married Jagiello (Jogaila, or Jagiello), Grand Duke of Lithuania, who reigned in Poland as Władysław II (r. 1386–1434). Vladislav II converted to Christianity himself and converted the Lithuanian people to it, founding one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Vast territories of Poland and Lithuania were united into a powerful state union. Lithuania became the last pagan people in Europe to convert to Christianity, so the presence of the Teutonic Order of Crusaders here lost its meaning. However, the crusaders were no longer going to leave. In 1410, the Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald. In 1413 they approved the Polish-Lithuanian union in Gorodlo, and public institutions of the Polish model appeared in Lithuania. Casimir IV (r. 1447–1492) tried to limit the power of the nobles and the church, but was forced to confirm their privileges and the rights of the Diet, which included the higher clergy, aristocracy, and lesser nobility. In 1454 he granted the nobles the Neshawian Statutes, similar to the English Charter of Liberty. The Thirteen Years' War with the Teutonic Order (1454–1466) ended in victory for Poland, and according to the Treaty of Toruń on October 19, 1466, Pomerania and Gdansk were returned to Poland. The Order recognized itself as a vassal of Poland.

Golden Age of Poland

16th century became the golden age of Polish history. At this time, Poland was one of the largest countries in Europe, it dominated Eastern Europe, and its culture flourished. However, the emergence of a centralized Russian state that laid claim to the lands of the former Kievan Rus, the unification and strengthening of Brandenburg and Prussia in the west and north, and the threat of the warlike Ottoman Empire in the south posed a great danger to the country. In 1505 in Radom, King Alexander (reigned 1501–1506) was forced to adopt a constitution “nothing new” (Latin nihil novi), according to which the parliament received the right to an equal vote with the monarch in making government decisions and the right of veto on all issues, concerning the nobility. The parliament, according to this constitution, consisted of two chambers - the Sejm, in which the small nobility was represented, and the Senate, which represented the highest aristocracy and the highest clergy. Poland's long and open borders, as well as frequent wars, forced it to have a powerful, trained army in order to ensure the security of the kingdom. The monarchs lacked the funds necessary to maintain such an army. Therefore, they were forced to obtain parliamentary approval for any major expenditures. The aristocracy (mozhnovladstvo) and the small nobility (szlachta) demanded privileges for their loyalty. As a result, a system of “small-scale noble democracy” was formed in Poland, with a gradual expansion of the influence of the richest and most powerful magnates.

Rzeczpospolita

In 1525, Albrecht of Brandenburg, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, converted to Lutheranism, and the Polish king Sigismund I (r. 1506–1548) allowed him to transform the domains of the Teutonic Order into the hereditary Duchy of Prussia under Polish suzerainty. During the reign of Sigismund II Augustus (1548–1572), the last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Poland reached its greatest power. Krakow became one of the largest European centers of the humanities, architecture and art of the Renaissance, Polish poetry and prose, and for a number of years - the center of the Reformation. In 1561 Poland annexed Livonia, and on July 1, 1569, at the height of the Livonian War with Russia, the personal royal Polish-Lithuanian union was replaced by the Union of Lublin. The unified Polish-Lithuanian state began to be called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish for “common cause”). From this time on, the same king was to be elected by the aristocracy in Lithuania and Poland; there was one parliament (Sejm) and general laws; general money was introduced into circulation; Religious tolerance became common in both parts of the country. The last question was of particular importance, since significant territories conquered in the past by the Lithuanian princes were inhabited by Orthodox Christians.

Elected kings: the decline of the Polish state.

After the death of the childless Sigismund II, central power in the huge Polish-Lithuanian state began to weaken. At a stormy meeting of the Diet, a new king, Henry (Henrik) Valois (reigned 1573–1574; later became Henry III of France), was elected. At the same time, he was forced to accept the principle of “free election” (election of the king by the gentry), as well as the “pact of consent” to which each new monarch had to swear. The king's right to choose his heir was transferred to the Diet. The king was also prohibited from declaring war or increasing taxes without the consent of Parliament. He should have been neutral in religious matters, he should have married on the recommendation of the Senate. The council, consisting of 16 senators appointed by the Sejm, constantly gave him recommendations. If the king did not fulfill any of the articles, the people could refuse to obey him. Thus, Henryk's Articles changed the status of the state - Poland moved from a limited monarchy to an aristocratic parliamentary republic; the head of the executive branch, elected for life, did not have sufficient powers to govern the state.

Stefan Batory (ruled 1575–1586). The weakening of the supreme power in Poland, which had long and poorly defended borders, but aggressive neighbors whose power was based on centralization and military force, largely predetermined the future collapse of the Polish state. Henry of Valois ruled for only 13 months and then left for France, where he received the throne vacated by the death of his brother Charles IX. The Senate and the Sejm could not agree on the candidacy of the next king, and the gentry finally elected Prince Stefan Batory of Transylvania (reigned 1575–1586) as king, giving him a princess from the Jagiellonian dynasty as his wife. Batory strengthened Polish power over Gdansk, ousted Ivan the Terrible from the Baltic states and returned Livonia. Domestically, he gained the loyalty and assistance in the fight against the Ottoman Empire from the Cossacks, fugitive serfs who established a military republic on the vast plains of Ukraine - a kind of "border strip" stretching from southeastern Poland to the Black Sea along the Dnieper. Batory gave privileges to the Jews, who were allowed to have their own parliament. He reformed the judicial system, and in 1579 founded a university in Vilna (Vilnius), which became an outpost of Catholicism and European culture in the east.

Sigismund III Vase. A zealous Catholic, Sigismund III Vasa (reigned 1587–1632), son of Johan III of Sweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I, decided to create a Polish-Swedish coalition to fight Russia and return Sweden to the fold of Catholicism. In 1592 he became king of Sweden.

To spread Catholicism among the Orthodox population, the Uniate Church was established at the Brest Council in 1596, which recognized the supremacy of the Pope, but continued to use Orthodox rituals. The opportunity to seize the Moscow throne after the suppression of the Rurik dynasty involved the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into a war with Russia. In 1610, Polish troops occupied Moscow. The vacant royal throne was offered by the Moscow boyars to Sigismund's son, Vladislav. However, Muscovites rebelled, and with the help of the people's militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, the Poles were expelled from Moscow. Sigismund's attempts to introduce absolutism in Poland, which at that time already dominated the rest of Europe, led to the rebellion of the gentry and the loss of prestige of the king.

After the death of Albrecht II of Prussia in 1618, the Elector of Brandenburg became the ruler of the Duchy of Prussia. From that time on, Poland's possessions on the Baltic Sea coast turned into a corridor between two provinces of the same German state.

Decline

During the reign of Sigismund's son, Vladislav IV (1632–1648), Ukrainian Cossacks rebelled against Poland, wars with Russia and Turkey weakened the country, and the gentry received new privileges in the form of political rights and exemption from income taxes. Under the reign of Władysław's brother Jan Casimir (1648–1668), the Cossack freemen began to behave even more militantly, the Swedes occupied most of Poland, including the capital Warsaw, and the king, abandoned by his subjects, was forced to flee to Silesia. In 1657 Poland renounced sovereign rights to East Prussia. As a result of unsuccessful wars with Russia, Poland lost Kyiv and all areas east of the Dnieper under the Truce of Andrusovo (1667). The process of disintegration began in the country. The magnates, creating alliances with neighboring states, pursued their own goals; the rebellion of Prince Jerzy Lubomirski shook the foundations of the monarchy; The gentry continued to engage in defense of their own “freedoms,” which was suicidal for the state. From 1652, she began to abuse the harmful practice of the “liberum veto,” which allowed any deputy to block a decision he did not like, demand the dissolution of the Sejm and put forward any proposals that were to be considered by its next composition. Taking advantage of this, neighboring powers, through bribery and other means, repeatedly disrupted the implementation of decisions of the Sejm that were unfavorable to them. King Jan Casimir was broken and abdicated the Polish throne in 1668, at the height of internal anarchy and discord.

External intervention: prelude to partition

Mikhail Vishnevetsky (reigned 1669–1673) turned out to be an unprincipled and inactive monarch who played along with the Habsburgs and lost Podolia to the Turks. His successor, John III Sobieski (r. 1674–1696), fought successful wars with the Ottoman Empire, saved Vienna from the Turks (1683), but was forced to cede some lands to Russia under the "Eternal Peace" treaty in exchange for its promises of assistance in fight against the Crimean Tatars and Turks. After Sobieski's death, the Polish throne in the new capital of Warsaw was occupied for 70 years by foreigners: Elector of Saxony Augustus II (reigned 1697–1704, 1709–1733) and his son Augustus III (1734–1763). Augustus II actually bribed the electors. Having united in an alliance with Peter I, he returned Podolia and Volhynia and stopped the grueling Polish-Turkish wars by concluding the Peace of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire in 1699. The Polish king unsuccessfully tried to recapture the Baltic coast from King Charles XII of Sweden, who invaded Poland in 1701. and in 1703 he took Warsaw and Krakow. Augustus II was forced to cede the throne in 1704–1709 to Stanislav Leszczynski, who was supported by Sweden, but returned to the throne again when Peter I defeated Charles XII at the Battle of Poltava (1709). In 1733, the Poles, supported by the French, elected Stanislav king for the second time, but Russian troops again removed him from power.

Stanisław II: the last Polish king. Augustus III was nothing more than a Russian puppet; patriotic Poles tried with all their might to save the state. One of the factions of the Sejm, led by Prince Czartoryski, tried to abolish the harmful “liberum veto”, while the other, led by the powerful Potocki family, opposed any restriction of “freedoms”. In desperation, Czartoryski's party began to cooperate with the Russians, and in 1764 Catherine II, Empress of Russia, achieved the election of her favorite Stanisław August Poniatowski as King of Poland (1764–1795). Poniatowski turned out to be the last king of Poland. Russian control became especially obvious under Prince N.V. Repnin, who, as ambassador to Poland, in 1767 forced the Polish Sejm to accept his demands for equality of faiths and the preservation of the “liberum veto”. This led in 1768 to a Catholic uprising (Bar Confederation) and even to a war between Russia and Turkey.

Partitions of Poland. First section

At the height of the Russian-Turkish War of 1768–1774, Prussia, Russia and Austria carried out the first partition of Poland. It was produced in 1772 and ratified by the Sejm under pressure from the occupiers in 1773. Poland ceded to Austria part of Pomerania and Kuyavia (excluding Gdansk and Torun) to Prussia; Galicia, Western Podolia and part of Lesser Poland; eastern Belarus and all lands north of the Western Dvina and east of the Dnieper went to Russia. The victors established a new constitution for Poland, which retained the "liberum veto" and an elective monarchy, and created a State Council of 36 elected members of the Sejm. The division of the country awakened a social movement for reform and national revival. In 1773, the Jesuit Order was dissolved and a commission on public education was created, the purpose of which was to reorganize the system of schools and colleges. The four-year Sejm (1788–1792), led by enlightened patriots Stanislav Malachovsky, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kollontai, adopted a new constitution on May 3, 1791. Under this constitution, Poland became a hereditary monarchy with a ministerial executive system and a parliament elected every two years. The principle of “liberum veto” and other harmful practices were abolished; cities received administrative and judicial autonomy, as well as representation in parliament; peasants, the power of the gentry over whom remained, were considered as a class under state protection; measures were taken to prepare for the abolition of serfdom and the organization of a regular army. The normal work of parliament and reforms became possible only because Russia was involved in a protracted war with Sweden, and Turkey supported Poland. However, the magnates who formed the Targowitz Confederation opposed the constitution, at the call of which Russian and Prussian troops entered Poland.

Second and third sections

On January 23, 1793, Prussia and Russia carried out the second partition of Poland. Prussia captured Gdansk, Torun, Greater Poland and Mazovia, and Russia captured most of Lithuania and Belarus, almost all of Volyn and Podolia. The Poles fought but were defeated, the reforms of the Four Year Diet were repealed, and the rest of Poland became a puppet state. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko led a massive popular uprising that ended in defeat. The third partition of Poland, in which Austria participated, was carried out on October 24, 1795; after that, Poland as an independent state disappeared from the map of Europe.

Foreign rule. Grand Duchy of Warsaw

Although the Polish state ceased to exist, the Poles did not give up hope of restoring their independence. Each new generation fought, either by joining the opponents of the powers that divided Poland, or by starting uprisings. As soon as Napoleon I began his military campaigns against monarchical Europe, Polish legions were formed in France. Having defeated Prussia, Napoleon created in 1807 the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815) from the territories captured by Prussia during the second and third partitions. Two years later, the territories that became part of Austria after the third partition were added to it. Miniature Poland, politically dependent on France, had a territory of 160 thousand square meters. km and 4350 thousand inhabitants. The creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was considered by the Poles as the beginning of their complete liberation.

Territory that was part of Russia. After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna (1815) approved the partitions of Poland with the following changes: Krakow was declared a free city-republic under the auspices of the three powers that divided Poland (1815–1848); the western part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Prussia and became known as the Grand Duchy of Poznan (1815–1846); its other part was declared a monarchy (the so-called Kingdom of Poland) and annexed to the Russian Empire. In November 1830, the Poles rebelled against Russia, but were defeated. Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland and began repression. In 1846 and 1848 the Poles tried to organize uprisings, but failed. In 1863, a second uprising broke out against Russia, and after two years of partisan warfare, the Poles were again defeated. With the development of capitalism in Russia, the Russification of Polish society intensified. The situation improved somewhat after the 1905 revolution in Russia. Polish deputies sat in all four Russian Dumas (1905–1917), seeking autonomy for Poland.

Territories controlled by Prussia. In the territory under Prussian rule, intensive Germanization of the former Polish regions was carried out, the farms of Polish peasants were expropriated, and Polish schools were closed. Russia helped Prussia suppress the Poznan Uprising of 1848. In 1863, both powers concluded the Alvensleben Convention on mutual assistance in the fight against the Polish national movement. Despite all the efforts of the authorities, at the end of the 19th century. the Poles of Prussia still represented a strong, organized national community.

Polish lands within Austria

In the Austrian Polish lands the situation was somewhat better. After the Krakow Uprising of 1846, the regime was liberalized and Galicia received administrative local control; schools, institutions and courts used Polish; Jagiellonian (in Krakow) and Lviv universities became all-Polish cultural centers; by the beginning of the 20th century. Polish political parties emerged (National Democratic, Polish Socialist and Peasant). In all three parts of divided Poland, Polish society actively opposed assimilation. The preservation of the Polish language and Polish culture became the main task of the struggle waged by the intelligentsia, primarily poets and writers, as well as the clergy of the Catholic Church.

World War I

New opportunities to achieve independence. The First World War divided the powers that liquidated Poland: Russia fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This situation opened up life-changing opportunities for the Poles, but also created new difficulties. First, the Poles had to fight in opposing armies; secondly, Poland became the arena of battles between the warring powers; thirdly, disagreements between Polish political groups intensified. Conservative national democrats led by Roman Dmowski (1864–1939) considered Germany the main enemy and wanted the Entente to win. Their goal was to unite all Polish lands under Russian control and obtain autonomy status. Radical elements led by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), on the contrary, viewed the defeat of Russia as the most important condition for achieving Polish independence. They believed that the Poles should create their own armed forces. Several years before the outbreak of World War I, Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), the radical leader of this group, began military training for Polish youth in Galicia. During the war he formed the Polish legions and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary.

Polish question

On August 14, 1914, Nicholas I, in an official declaration, promised after the war to unite the three parts of Poland into an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. However, in the fall of 1915, most of Russian Poland was occupied by Germany and Austria-Hungary, and on November 5, 1916, the monarchs of the two powers announced a manifesto on the creation of an independent Polish Kingdom in the Russian part of Poland. On March 30, 1917, after the February Revolution in Russia, the Provisional Government of Prince Lvov recognized Poland's right to self-determination. On July 22, 1917, Pilsudski, who fought on the side of the Central Powers, was interned, and his legions were disbanded for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the emperors of Austria-Hungary and Germany. In France, with the support of the Entente powers, the Polish National Committee (PNC) was created in August 1917, led by Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski; The Polish army was also formed with commander-in-chief Józef Haller. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson demanded the creation of an independent Polish state with access to the Baltic Sea. In June 1918, Poland was officially recognized as a country fighting on the side of the Entente. On October 6, during the period of disintegration and collapse of the Central Powers, the Council of Regency of Poland announced the creation of an independent Polish state, and on November 14 transferred full power to Pilsudski in the country. By this time, Germany had already capitulated, Austria-Hungary had collapsed, and there was a civil war in Russia.

State formation

The new country faced great difficulties. Cities and villages lay in ruins; there were no connections in the economy, which had been developing for a long time within three different states; Poland had neither its own currency nor government institutions; finally, its borders were not defined and agreed upon with its neighbors. Nevertheless, state building and economic recovery proceeded at a rapid pace. After the transition period, when the socialist cabinet was in power, on January 17, 1919, Paderewski was appointed prime minister, and Dmowski was appointed head of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. On January 26, 1919, elections to the Sejm were held, the new composition of which approved Pilsudski as head of state.

The question of boundaries

The western and northern borders of the country were determined at the Versailles Conference, by which Poland was given part of Pomerania and access to the Baltic Sea; Danzig (Gdansk) received the status of a “free city”. At the conference of ambassadors on July 28, 1920, the southern border was agreed upon. The city of Cieszyn and its suburb Cesky Cieszyn were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Fierce disputes between Poland and Lithuania over Vilno (Vilnius), an ethnically Polish but historically Lithuanian city, ended with its occupation by the Poles on October 9, 1920; annexation to Poland was approved on February 10, 1922 by a democratically elected regional assembly.

On April 21, 1920, Piłsudski entered into an alliance with the Ukrainian leader Petliura and launched an offensive to liberate Ukraine from the Bolsheviks. On May 7, the Poles took Kyiv, but on June 8, pressed by the Red Army, they began to retreat. At the end of July, the Bolsheviks were on the outskirts of Warsaw. However, the Poles managed to defend the capital and push back the enemy; this ended the war. The subsequent Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921) represented a territorial compromise for both sides and was officially recognized by a conference of ambassadors on March 15, 1923.

Foreign policy

The leaders of the new Polish Republic tried to secure their state by pursuing a policy of non-alignment. Poland did not join the Little Entente, which included Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. On January 25, 1932, a non-aggression pact was concluded with the USSR.

After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, Poland failed to establish allied relations with France, while Great Britain and France concluded a “pact of agreement and cooperation” with Germany and Italy. After this, on January 26, 1934, Poland and Germany concluded a non-aggression pact for a period of 10 years, and soon the validity of a similar agreement with the USSR was extended. In March 1936, after Germany's military occupation of the Rhineland, Poland again unsuccessfully tried to conclude an agreement with France and Belgium on Poland's support for them in the event of war with Germany. In October 1938, simultaneously with the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Poland occupied the Czechoslovak part of the Cieszyn region. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia and made territorial claims to Poland. On March 31, Great Britain and on April 13, France guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland; In the summer of 1939, Franco-British-Soviet negotiations began in Moscow aimed at containing German expansion. In these negotiations, the Soviet Union demanded the right to occupy the eastern part of Poland and at the same time entered into secret negotiations with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a German-Soviet non-aggression pact was concluded, the secret protocols of which provided for the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR. Having ensured Soviet neutrality, Hitler freed his hands. On September 1, 1939, World War II began with an attack on Poland.

How many capitals did Poland have?

We all know that the modern capital of Poland is Warsaw. But has it always been this way? How many capitals did Poland have and why did they change? After all, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth can boast that throughout its history it had about a dozen capital cities!

How many capitals were there in Poland?

Gecz

Gecz was the first official capital of the Polish Principality from 860 to 1038 (with minor interruptions). Capital city of Meshka I and his son Boleslav the Brave. The city is located in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, 25 kilometers from Gniezn and 30 kilometers from Poznan. One of the largest and main political and commercial centers of early medieval Poland, identified primarily with the Piast dynasty. After the Czech prince Břetislav I attacked Gec in 10038 and practically destroyed the city, it was never able to regain its former importance. Today Gech is a tiny, calm village, on the territory of which there is a wonderful archaeological reserve.


Gech. First capital of Poland

Poznań

Poznań was the capital of the Polish Crown from 940 to 1039. Most likely, it was in Poznań that Mieszko converted to Christianity and this city became the spiritual capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for many years. Since 968, the residence of the first bishop of Poland, St. Jordan, was located in Poznań. The capital's career ceased in 1039, after the destruction of the city by the same Bzhetislav.


Poznań (medieval miniature)

Gniezno

Gniezno was on the list of "active" Polish capitals from 940 to 1039. This city was founded by the Polans at the end of the 8th century, and during the years of Meshka I it expanded and strengthened significantly. It is not surprising that three cities simultaneously performed capital functions. The fact is that medieval princes rarely sat in one place, and the location of their residences was thought out in such a way that the entire principality was “in the palm of their hand.” It was in Gniezno, in the year 1000, that the landmark meeting of Boleslaw I the Brave and Emperor Otto III took place, and, a quarter of a century later, the coronation of Boleslaw. But in 1939, Gniezno repeated the fate of its brothers (naturally, with the assistance of Bzhetislav, already known to us) and the royal throne urgently moved to the next capital.


Gniezno - Piast city

Krakow

Destroyed, torn to pieces Wielkopolska. Gecz, Poznan and Gniezno lie in ruins. Casimir I the Restorer, who assembled the Polish Crown from fragments, designated the city of Krakow as his capital city. Krakow has served as the capital since 1040, and in 1079 it lost its proud title of the Polish capital. This fact is associated with the execution of Bishop Stanislav and the rebellion of the gentry against the policies of Boleslav II the Bold - the son of Casimir I, who subsequently fled to Hungary.


Krakow (medieval miniature)

Płock

After the flight of Bolesław II (1079), the Polish Crown went to Władysław I Herman, and the city of Płock became the capital of Poland. After the death of Władysław, the throne passed to Płock-born Bolesław III Wrymouth. According to Wrymouth's will, in 1138 (after the king's death) the Kingdom of Poland was divided into separate district principalities, and Płock was renamed the capital of the Principality of Mazowieckie.


Plock Tumskoye Vzgorye

Krakow

And now the title of capital city returns to Krakow. But - now this city is the capital of the Lesser Poland Principality and performs this function from 1138 to 1290. During this time, Krakow had to go through a lot. The first shock was the decrease in the influence of the Krakow princes on other principalities, the second was the destruction of the city during the Tatar-Mongol invasion in 1241.


Medieval Krakow

Poznań

In 1290, the capital again “moved” to Poznan by decree of Przemysl II. Not having adequate support among the gentry, Przemysl is forced to give Małopolska to Przemyslida, but later, having established close relations with Władysław Łokietko and in accordance with the Kempin agreements, he still defends his right to coronation. In 1296 Przemysl II was killed, and Poland had to change its capital again.

Poznan, Central Square

Krakow

The murder of King Przemysl II of Poland in 1296 greatly pleased Wenceslas II of Bohemia, who in one fell swoop got rid of his main competitor and was able to lay claim to the Polish Crown. Well, Krakow was perfectly suited to the role of the new capital. This time the city was lucky - it performed capital functions from 1290 to 1609. And only Sigismund III Vasa, known for his love of luxury, became cramped in Krakow and he ordered the capital to be moved to the elegant Renaissance Warsaw. However, the capital title was never officially withdrawn from Krakow, and for a long time it remained a symbol of the Crown - it was placed on the heads of Polish kings in Wawel Cathedral.


Wawel Castle City of Kings

Warsaw

To be honest, Warsaw has served as a capital city since 1413, being the capital of the Duchy of Mazovia. In 1611, Sigismund III Vasa makes Warsaw the main and only capital of the Kingdom of Poland. This title will belong to Warsaw until... 1939, having survived the era of Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw, and the times of the Congress, and Tsarist Russia, and Austria-Hungary, and the first Independence. He was not destined to survive only the Second World War. German troops practically wiped Warsaw off the face of the earth.


Warsaw

Lublin

On July 22, 1944, Radio Moscow announced the creation of the Polish Committee of People's Liberation in the “liberated” Chelm, and on July 27, that same committee was solemnly brought to Lublin. In fact, it was a temporary government body approved by Comrade Stalin himself. On the same day, a document was signed in Moscow on the USSR’s renunciation of claims on the territory of Eastern Kresy in favor of Poland. During the year, Lublin was officially the only state capital of Poland.


Lublin. First socialist capital

And the final touch to our story about Polish capitals: in 1952, according to the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland, the state for the first time received a legally confirmed capital city - Warsaw.

StoryPoland is an immense fairy tale. Forever caught between two powerful and aggressive neighbors, Poland has defended its freedom and sovereignty countless times over the past millennium. It has gone from being the largest country in Europe to disappearing completely from the world map, and has seen its population shattered in two world wars. However, it shows the amazing resilience of the Polish people, and that Poland not only recovered from each devastating blow, but also retained the energy to maintain its own culture.

History of Poland in ancient times

The lands of modern Poland have been inhabited since the Stone Age by numerous tribes from the east and west who called its fertile plains home. Archaeological finds from the Stone and Bronze Ages can be seen in many Polish museums, but the greatest example of the pre-Slavic peoples is presented in Biskupin. This fortified city was built by the Lusatian tribe about 2,700 years ago. The Celts, the Germanic tribes, and then the Baltic people, all of them established themselves in Poland. But this was all before the arrival of the Slavs, who began to shape the country into a nation.

Although the exact date of the arrival of the first Slavic tribes is unknown, historians believe that the Slavs began to settle in Poland between the 5th and 8th centuries. Beginning in the 8th century, smaller tribes began to unite, creating large conglomerates, thus establishing themselves more fully in the lands of the future Polish state. The name of the country comes from one of these tribes - Polanie(“people of the fields”) - settled on the banks of the Warta River near the modern city of Poznan. The leader of this tribe, the legendary Piast, in the 10th century managed to unite disparate groups from the surrounding areas into a single political bloc, and gave it the name Polska, later Wielkopolska, that is, Greater Poland. This was the case until the arrival of Piast's great-great-grandson, Duke Mieszko I, who united a large part of Poland under one dynasty.

First Polish state

After Mieszko I converted to Christianity, he did what previous Christian rulers did and began to conquer his neighbors. Soon, the entire coastal region of Pomerania (Pomerania) came under his sovereignty, along with Slask (Silesia) and the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. By the time of his death in 992, the Polish state had approximately the same borders as modern Poland, and the city of Gniezno was appointed its first capital. By that time, cities such as Gdansk, Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw and Krakow already existed. Mieszko's son, Boleslaw I the Brave, continued his father's work, expanding the borders of Poland east to Kyiv. His son, Mieszko II, was less successful in his conquests, and during his reign the country experienced wars in the north and a period of internal strife within the royal family. The administrative center of the country was moved from Greater Poland to the less vulnerable Lesser Poland Voivodeship, where by the mid-11th century Krakow was designated as the center of royal rule.

When the pagan Prussians attacked the central province of Masovia in 1226, the Masovian Duke Conrad called for help from the Teutonic Knights and the German troops who made their mark during the Crusades. Soon, the knights conquered the pagan tribes, but then “bit the hand that fed them,” beginning massive construction of castles on Polish territory, conquering the port city of Gdansk, and effectively occupying northern Poland, claiming it as their territory. They ruled from their largest castle of all on Malbork and, within a few decades, became the main military power of Europe.

Casimir III and reunification

Only in 1320 was the Polish crown restored and the state was reunified. This happened during the reign Casimir III the Great(1333-1370), when Poland gradually became a prosperous and strong state. Casimir the Great restored suzerainty over Mazovia, then captured vast territories of Ruthenia (today Ukraine) and Podolia, thereby significantly expanding the borders of the monarchy to the southeast.

Casimir the Great was also an enlightened and energetic ruler on the home front. By developing and implementing reforms, he laid strong legal, economic, commercial and educational foundations. He also passed a law providing benefits for Jews, thereby making Poland a safe home for the Jewish community for centuries to come. More than 70 new cities were created. In 1364, one of the first universities in Europe was established in Krakow, and castles and fortifications were erected to improve the country's defenses. There is a saying that Casimir the Great “found Poland built of wood, but left it built with stones.”

Jagiellonian Dynasty (1382-1572)

The end of the 14th century is remembered by Poland for the dynastic union with Lithuania, the so-called political marriage, which increased Poland's territory fivefold overnight and lasted for the next four centuries. The unification benefited both sides - Poland received a partner in the fight against the Tatars and Mongols, and Lithuania received help in the fight against the Teutonic Order. Under power Vladislav II Jagiello(1386-1434), the alliance defeated the knights and restored eastern Pomerania, part of Prussia and the port of Gdansk, and for the next 30 years the Polish Empire was the largest state in Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Eastern Progress and the Golden Age of Poland

But it didn't last long. The threat of invasion became obvious towards the end of the 15th century - this time the main instigators were the Turks from the south, the Crimean Tatars from the east and the Muscovite kings from the north and east. Together or separately, they repeatedly invaded and raided the eastern and southern parts of Polish territories, and at one point penetrated as far as Krakow.

Despite this, the power of the Polish kingdom was firmly established and the country advanced both culturally and spiritually. The beginning of the 16th century brought the Renaissance to Poland, and during the reign Sigismund I the Old and his son Sigismund II Augustus art and science flourished. This was Poland's Golden Age, which produced great men such as Nicolaus Copernicus.

Most of Poland's population at this time was made up of Poles and Lithuanians, but included significant minorities from neighboring countries. Jews formed an important and growing part of society, and by the end of the 16th century Poland had a larger Jewish population than the rest of united Europe.

On the political front, Poland developed in the 16th century into a parliamentary monarchy with most privileges held by the szlachta (nobility, feudal nobility), who made up approximately 10% of the population. At the same time, the status of the peasants decreased, and they gradually fell into a state of virtual slavery.

Hoping to strengthen the monarchy, the Diet, convened in Lublin in 1569, united Poland and Lithuania into a single state, and made Warsaw the place of future meetings. Since there was no direct heir to the throne, the Sejm also established a system of succession based on voting by nobles in general elections, who must travel to Warsaw to vote. In the absence of serious Polish applicants, foreign candidates could also be considered.

Royal Republic (1573-1795)

From the very beginning, the experiment led to disastrous consequences. For every royal election, foreign powers promoted their candidates by cutting deals and bribing voters. During this period, no less than 11 kings ruled Poland, and only four of them were Poles by birth.

The first chosen king, Henri de Valois, retreated to his homeland to ascend the French throne after only a year on the Polish throne. His successor Stefan Batory(1576-1586), Prince of Transylvania, was a much wiser choice. Batory, together with his gifted commander and chancellor Jan Zamoyski, fought a number of successful battles against Tsar Ivan the Terrible and came close to concluding an alliance with Russia against the Ottoman Empire.

After Batory's premature death, the crown was offered to the Swede, Sigismund III Vasa(1587-1632), and during his reign Poland reached its maximum expansion (three times the size of modern Poland). Despite this, Sigismund is best remembered for moving the Polish capital from Krakow to Warsaw between 1596 and 1609.

The beginning of the 17th century was a turning point in the fate of Poland. The increasing political power of the Polish gentry undermined the authority of the Sejm. The country was divided into several huge private estates, and the nobles, upset by the ineffective government, resorted to armed rebellion.

Meanwhile, foreign invaders systematically divided up the land. Jan II Casimir Vasa(1648-68), the last of the Waza dynasty on the Polish throne, was unable to resist the aggressors - Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Cossacks, Turks and Swedes - who were approaching on all fronts. Swedish invasion in 1655-1660, known as the Flood, was particularly disastrous.

The last bright spot in the fall of the Royal Republic was the dominance John III Sobieski(1674-96), a brilliant commander who led several victorious battles against the Ottoman Empire. The most famous of these was the Battle of Vienna in 1683, in which he defeated the Turks.

The Rise of Russia

By the beginning of the 18th century, Poland was in decline, and Russia had become a powerful, expansive empire. The tsars systematically strengthened their power throughout the revolving country, and the rulers of Poland actually became puppets of the Russian regime. This became quite clear during the reign Stanisław August Poniatowski(1764-95), when Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, intervened directly in Polish affairs. The collapse of the Polish Empire was just around the corner.

Three sections

While Poland was languishing, Russia, Prussia and Austria were gaining strength. The late 18th century was a disastrous period for the country, with neighboring powers agreeing to partition Poland on no fewer than three separate occasions within a span of 23 years. The First Partition led to immediate reforms and a new, liberal constitution, and Poland remained relatively stable. Catherine the Great could no longer tolerate this dangerous democracy, and sent Russian troops to Poland. Despite fierce resistance, the reforms were reversed by force and the country was divided a second time.

Enter Tadeusha Kosciuszko, hero of the American Revolutionary War. With the help of patriotic forces, he launched an armed uprising in 1794. The campaign soon gained public support and the rebels scored some early victories, but Russian troops, stronger and better armed, defeated the Polish forces within a year. Resistance and unrest remained within Polish borders, which led the three occupying powers to a third and final partition. Poland disappeared from the map for the next 123 years.

Struggle for independence

Despite the partitions, Poland continued to exist as a spiritual and cultural community, and many secret nationalist societies were created. Since revolutionary France was perceived as the main ally in the struggle, some leaders fled to Paris and established their headquarters there.

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna created the Congress of the Kingdom of Poland, but Russian oppression continued. In response, armed uprisings broke out, the most significant of which occurred in 1830 and 1863. There was also a rebellion against the Austrians in 1846.

In the 1870s, Russia dramatically increased its efforts to eradicate Polish culture, suppressing the Polish language in education, government and commerce, and replacing it with Russian. However, it was also a time of great industrialization in Poland, with cities such as Lodz experiencing an economic boom. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Poland's fortunes changed once again.

First World War (1914-18)

The First World War saw Poland's three occupying powers enter the war. On one side were the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary and Germany (including Prussia), on the other side were Russia and its Western allies. Most of the fighting was organized on Polish lands, resulting in huge losses of life and livelihood. Since no official Polish state existed, there was no Polish army to fight for the national cause. To make matters worse, some two million Poles were conscripted into the Russian, German or Austrian armies and were forced to fight each other.

Paradoxically, the war ultimately led to Polish independence. After October revolution in 1917, Russia plunged into civil war and no longer had the power to oversee Polish affairs. The final collapse of the Austrian Empire in October 1918 and the withdrawal of the German army from Warsaw in November brought an opportune moment. Marshal Józef Pilsudski took control of Warsaw on November 11, 1918, declared Polish sovereignty and usurped power as head of state.

The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic

Poland began its new incarnation in a hopeless situation - the country and its economy lay in ruins, and about a million Poles died in the First World War. All state institutions - including the army, which had not existed for more than a century - had to be built from scratch.

Treaty of Versailles in 1919 he awarded Poland the western part of Prussia, providing access to the Baltic Sea. The city of Gdansk, however, became the free city of Danzig. The rest of Poland's western border was drawn up through a series of plebiscites, which led Poland to acquire some significant industrial areas of Upper Silesia. The eastern borders were established when Polish forces defeated the Red Army during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20.

When Poland's territorial struggle ended, the Second Republic covered almost 400,000 square meters. km and had a population of 26 million. One third of the population was of non-Polish ethnic origin, mainly Jews, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Germans.

After Piłsudski retired from political life in 1922, the country experienced four years of unstable government until the great commander seized power in a military coup in May 1926. Parliament was gradually reduced in size, but despite the dictatorial regime, political repression had little effect on ordinary people. The economic situation was relatively stable, and cultural and intellectual life flourished.

On the international front, Poland's position in the 1930s was unenviable. In an attempt to normalize relations with its two inexorably hostile neighbors, Poland signed non-aggression pacts both with the Soviet Union and Germany. However, it soon became clear that the treaties did not provide any real security guarantees.

August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was signed in Moscow between Germany and the Soviet Union by foreign ministers Ribbentrop and Molotov. This treaty contained a secret protocol defining the proposed division of Eastern Europe between the two great powers.

World War II (1939-45)

World War II began at dawn September 1, 1939 years since the massive German invasion of Poland. The fighting began in Gdańsk (then the free city of Danzig) when German forces encountered a stubborn handful of Polish partisans at Westerplatte. The battle lasted a week. At the same time, another German line stormed Warsaw, which eventually surrendered on 28 September. Despite valiant resistance, there was simply no hope of countering the overwhelming and well-armed German forces numerically; the last resistance groups were suppressed by early October. Hitler's policy was to destroy the Polish nation and Germanize the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Poles were sent to forced labor camps in Germany, while others, most notably the intelligentsia, were executed in an attempt to exterminate spiritual and intellectual leadership.

The Jews were to be eliminated completely. They were first separated and imprisoned in ghettos, and then sent to concentration camps scattered throughout the country. Almost the entire Jewish population of Poland (three million) and approximately one million Poles died in the camps. Resistance broke out in numerous ghettos and camps, the most famous of which was in Warsaw.

Within weeks of the Nazi invasion, the Soviet Union moved into Poland and claimed the eastern half of the country. Thus, Poland was again divided. Mass arrests, exiles and executions followed, and it is believed that between one and two million Poles were sent to Siberia, the Soviet Arctic and Kazakhstan in 1939–40. Just like the Nazis, the Soviet army set in motion a process of intellectual genocide.

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, a Polish government in exile was formed in France under the command of General Władysław Sikorski and then Stanisław Mikołajczyk. As the front line moved west, this established government was moved to London in June 1940.

The course of the war changed dramatically when Hitler launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union June 22, 1941. Soviet troops were driven out of Eastern Poland and all of Poland came under Nazi control. The Führer set up camp deep in Polish territory and remained there for more than three years.

Nationwide movement Resistance, concentrated in the cities, was put in place shortly after the end of the war to manage Polish educational, judicial and communications systems. Armed units were created by the government-in-exile in 1940, and they became the Home Army (AK; Home Army), which figured prominently in the Warsaw Uprising.

Surprisingly, given Soviet treatment of the Poles, Stalin turned to Poland for help in the war against German forces advancing east towards Moscow. The official Polish army was reformed at the end of 1941, but was largely under Soviet control.

Hitler's defeat at Stalingrad in 1943 marked the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front, and the Red Army successfully advanced westward. After Soviet troops liberated the Polish city of Lublin, the Polish Pro-Communist Committee for National Liberation (PCNL) was established on July 22, 1944, and took over the functions of the provisional government. A week later, the Red Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw.

Warsaw remained under Nazi occupation at the time. In a last-ditch attempt to create an independent Polish administration, the AK attempted to gain control of the city before the arrival of Soviet troops, with disastrous results. The Red Army continued its march west through Poland, reaching Berlin a few months later. On May 8, 1945, the Nazi Reich capitulated.

At the end of World War II, Poland lay in ruins. More than six million people, about 20% of the pre-war population, lost their lives, and of the three million Polish Jews in 1939, only 80-90 thousand survived the war. Its cities were little more than rubble, and only 15% of Warsaw's buildings survived. Many Poles who had seen war in foreign countries decided not to return to the new political order.

On Yalta Conference in February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin decided to leave Poland under Soviet control. They agreed that Poland's eastern border would roughly follow the 1939 Nazi-Soviet demarcation line. Six months later, Allied leaders established Poland's western border along the rivers: Odra (Oder) and Nisa (Neisse); in effect the country has returned to its medieval borders.

Radical border changes were accompanied by population movements: Poles were moved into the newly defined Poland, while Germans, Ukrainians and Belarusians were resettled outside its borders. Eventually, 98% of Poland's population became ethnically Polish.

Once Poland formally came under Soviet control, Stalin began an intensive campaign of Sovietization. Military resistance leaders were accused of collaborating with the Nazis, and were shot or sentenced to arbitrary prison terms. A provisional Polish government was created in Moscow in June 1945 and then moved to Warsaw. General elections were postponed until 1947 to give the secret police time to arrest prominent Polish political figures. After falsified election results, the new Sejm elected Bolesław Bierut as president; Stanisław Mikolajczyk, accused of espionage, fled back to England.

In 1948, in order to monopolize power, the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP) was formed, and in 1952 a Soviet-style constitution was adopted. The post of president was abolished and power was transferred to the first secretary of the Party Central Committee. Poland became part of the Warsaw Pact.

Stalinist fanaticism never gained as much influence in Poland as in neighboring countries, and soon after Stalin's death in 1953 it all disappeared. The powers of the secret police were reduced. The pressure was relieved and Polish cultural assets were resuscitated.

In June 1956, a massive industrial strike broke out in Poznan, demanding ‘bread and freedom’. The action was suppressed by force, and soon Wladyslaw Gomulka, a former political prisoner of the Stalin era, was appointed first secretary of the Party. At first he commanded public support, but later he showed a harsher and more authoritarian attitude, putting pressure on the church and intensifying the persecution of the intelligentsia. Ultimately there was an economic crisis that caused its downfall; when he announced an official price increase in 1970, a wave of mass strikes broke out in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin. Again, protests were suppressed by force, resulting in 44 deaths. The party, in order to save its face, removed Gomulka from office and replaced him with Edward Gierek.

Another attempt to raise prices in 1976 incited labor protests, and again workers walked off the job, this time in Radom and Warsaw. Caught in a downward spiral, Gierek took out more foreign loans, but in order to earn the hard currency on which to pay interest, he was forced to divert consumer goods from the domestic market and sell them abroad. By 1980, foreign debt reached US$21 billion and the economy slumped.

By then, the opposition had become a significant force, supported by numerous advisors from intellectual circles. When the government again announced food price increases in July 1980, the result was predictable: heated and well-organized strikes and riots spread like wildfire throughout the country. In August they paralyzed the largest ports, the Silesian coal mines and the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk.

Unlike most previous popular protests, the 1980 strikes were nonviolent; The strikers did not take to the streets, but remained in their factories.

Solidarity

August 31, 1980, after long, protracted negotiations at the Lenin shipyard, the government signed the Gdansk Agreement. This forced the ruling party to accept most of the strikers' demands, including the right of workers to organize independent trade unions and go on strike. In turn, the workers agreed to adhere to the constitution and accept the power of the Party as supreme.

Delegations of workers from all over the country convened and founded Solidarity(Solidarność), a nationwide independent and self-governing trade union. Lech Walesa, who led the strike in Gdansk, was elected chairman.

The ripple effect was not long in coming, causing hesitation in the government. Zirek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania, who in turn lost in October 1981 to General Wojciech Jaruzelski. However, the trade union's greatest influence was on Polish society. After 35 years of restraint, the Poles have embroiled themselves in a spontaneous and chaotic form of democracy. Comprehensive debate on the reform process was spearheaded by Solidarity, and an independent press flourished. Such taboo historical topics as the Stalin-Hitler Pact and the Katyn massacres could, for the first time, be discussed openly.

Not surprisingly, Solidarity's 10 million participants represented a wide range of views, from confrontational to conciliatory. By and large, it was Walesa's charismatic authority that kept the union on a moderate and balanced course.

The government, however, under pressure from Soviet and local hard-liners, was reluctant to introduce any significant reforms and systematically rejected Solidarity's proposals. This led to further discontent and, in the absence of other legal options, more strikes. Amid the fruitless debate, the economic crisis became more serious. Following failed negotiations in November 1981 between the government, Solidarity and the church, social tensions increased and led to a political stalemate.

Martial law and the collapse of communism

When General Jaruzelski unexpectedly appeared on television in the early hours of the morning December 13, 1981 To declare martial law, tanks were already on the streets, army checkpoints were set up on every corner, and paramilitary troops were stationed at possible hotspots. Power was transferred to the hands of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), a group of officers under the command of Jaruzelski himself.

Solidarity activities were suspended and all public meetings, demonstrations and strikes were prohibited. Several thousand people, including most of the Solidarity and Walesa leaders, were interned. The spontaneous demonstrations and strikes that followed were crushed, military rule effectively took effect across Poland within two weeks of its declaration, and life returned to the days before the creation of Solidarity.

In October 1982, the government officially dissolved Solidarity and released Walesa. In July 1984, a limited amnesty was announced and some members of the political opposition were released from prison. But, after each public protest, arrests continued, and only in 1986, all political prisoners were released.

Election Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in 1985 and its glasnost and perestroika programs provided an important impetus for democratic reform throughout Eastern Europe. By early 1989, Jaruzelski had softened his position and allowed the opposition to compete for seats in parliament.

Unfree elections were held in June 1989, in which Solidarity succeeded in winning an overwhelming majority of the votes of its supporters and was elected to the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The Communists, however, won 65% of the seats in the Sejm. Jaruzelski was placed in the presidency as a stabilizing guarantor of political change for both Moscow and the local communists, but a non-communist prime minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, was installed as a result of Walesa's personal pressure. This power-sharing agreement with the first non-communist prime minister in Eastern Europe since World War II paved the way for the domino-like collapse of communism throughout the Soviet bloc. In 1990 the Party historically dissolved itself.

The Free Market and the Times of Lech Wales

In January 1990, Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz introduced a package of reforms to replace the centrally planned communist system with a market economy. His economic shock therapy allowed prices to float freely, subsidies were removed, money was tightened, and the currency was sharply devalued, making it fully convertible with Western currencies.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Within a few months, the economy seemed to have stabilized, food shortages were no longer in evidence, and stores were stocked with goods. On the other hand, prices have soared and unemployment rates have risen. An initial wave of optimism and patience turned to uncertainty and discontent, and austerity measures caused the government's popularity to decline.

In November 1990, Walesa won the first completely free presidential election, and Third Polish Republic. During his statutory five-year tenure, Poland witnessed no fewer than five governments and five prime ministers, each of whom struggled to get the newborn democracy on track.

Following his election, Walesa appointed Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, an economist and former adviser, as prime minister. His cabinet attempted to continue the strict economic policies introduced by the previous government, but was unable to maintain parliamentary support and resigned a year later. At least 70 parties contested the country's first free parliamentary elections in October 1991, which resulted in the installation of Prime Minister Jan Olszewski at the head of a centre-right coalition. Olszewski lasted only five months, and was replaced by Hannah Suchocka in June 1992. Suchocka was, in Poland, the first woman prime minister, and she was called the Polish Margaret Thatcher. Under her coalition rule, she was able to command a parliamentary majority, but divisions grew on many issues, and she lost the elections in June 1993.

Return of the communist regime

An impatient Walesa stepped in, dissolving parliament and calling general elections. His decision was a grave miscalculation. The pendulum swung and the elections led to a coalition of the Democratic Left (SLD) and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL).

The new government, led by PSL leader Waldemar Pawlak, continued with general market reform, but the economy began to slow. Continued tensions within the coalition led to a decline in her popularity, and her battles with the president brought further changes in February 1995, when Walesa threatened to dissolve parliament unless Pawlak was replaced. The fifth and final prime minister of Walesa's presidency was Józef Oleksy: another former Communist Party official.

Wales's presidential style and achievements have been repeatedly questioned by virtually all political parties and the majority of the electorate. His bizarre behavior and capricious use of power caused a decline in the success he had enjoyed in 1990 and led to his lowest-ever level of public support in 1995, when polls indicated that only 8% of the country would prefer him as president for another term. . Despite this, Walesa maneuvered energetically and came quite close to winning a second term.

The November 1995 elections were essentially a tight contest between the anti-communist people's figure, Lech Walesa, and the young, former communist technocrat and leader of the SLD, Aleksander Kwasniewski. Kwasniewski was ahead of Wales, but by a small margin of only 3.5%.

Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, another former Communist party official, took over as prime minister. In reality, the post-communists have a stranglehold on power, controlling the presidency, government and parliament - the 'red triangle' - as Walesa warned. The center and right - almost half the political nation - have effectively lost control of the decision-making process. The Church favored by Walesa during his reign also suffered setbacks and warned believers against the dangers of "neopaganism" under the new regime.

Establishing balance

By 1997, the electorate clearly understood that things had gone too far. Parliamentary elections in September were won by an alliance of about 40 small Solidarity offshoot parties, collectively called the Electoral Action of Solidarity (AWS). The union formed a coalition with the centrist liberal Union of Freedom (UW), pushing ex-communists into opposition. Jerzy Buzek of AWS became prime minister, and the new government accelerated the privatization of the country.

President Kwasniewski's political style was in sharp contrast to his predecessor Walesa. Kwasniewski brought political calm during his reign and was able to successfully cooperate with the left and right wings of the political establishment. This won him a significant degree of popular support, and paved the way for another five-year term in office.

At least 13 people challenged the October 2000 presidential election, but none came close to Kwasniewski, who won with 54% of the popular vote. Centrist businessman Andrzej Olechowski came second with 17% support, while Walesa, trying his luck a third time, was defeated with just 1% of the vote.

On the way to Europe

On the international front, Poland was granted full NATO membership in March 1999, while at home parliamentary elections in September 2001 changed the political axis once again. The Union of Democratic Left (SLD) staged its second comeback, occupying 216 seats in the Diet. The party formed a coalition with the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), repeating the shaky alliance of 1993, and a former senior Communist Party official, Leszek Miller, took over as prime minister.

Poland's largest movement in the 21st century was joining the European Union May 1, 2004. The next day, Miller resigned amid a string of corruption scandals and unrest over high unemployment and low living standards. His replacement, the respected economist Marek Belka, lasted until the elections in September 2005, when the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) party took power. In total, they received 288 seats in the Sejm out of 460. PiS member Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was appointed prime minister, and a month later, another PiS member, Lech Kaczynski, took the presidential seat.

History of Poland today

Unsurprisingly, Marcinkiewicz did not last long and resigned in July 2006 over an alleged estrangement with PiS leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Yaroslav, the president's twin brother, was quickly appointed to this position. However, his dominance was short-lived - in early elections in October 2007, Yaroslav lost to the more liberal and EU-friendly Donald Tusk and his Civic Platform party.

President Kaczynski, his wife and dozens of senior officials were killed April 10, 2010 when their plane crashed in the Katyn forest near Smolensk. A total of 96 people died in the crash, including Poland's deputy foreign minister, 12 members of parliament, heads of the army and navy, and the president of the national bank. Bronislaw Komorowski, leader of the lower house of parliament, took on the role of acting president.

Kaczynski's twin brother and former prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, ran for president against Bronislaw Komorowski, who leads the Civic Platform party. Komorowski won the first and second rounds of elections and was recognized as president in July.

Despite countless reforms and coalitions, Poland is still wavering in political and economic interests. But given its turbulent past, the country has found some stability and enjoys self-rule and peace.

Poland in the 16th century. Consolidation and expansion

Poland exists when there is an identity capable of finding material means for its expression. For the 16th century We can now speak with greater certainty about what were the distinctive features of Poland and the Poles of that time. Among them was the Polish language as a stable element of Polish identity, which in the 16th century. managed to oust Latin from the sphere of public life and become a means of expression in the field of spiritual life of the Poles. During the same period, the idea of ​​law, common to the entire gentry class, as a norm that stood above any power, took root. And finally, the kingdom was replaced by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a unique form of government, which had a huge impact on all subsequent history. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the gentry class turned into a “gentry nation”; over the course of two generations, thanks to previously acquired privileges and favorable economic conditions, she had complete control over all areas of political, social and economic life. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth existed until the partitions, but the nature of the dominant position of the gentry did not undergo significant changes. Throughout the 16th century. the king turned into an elected monarch with very limited powers, the nobility became magnates, and the gentry, not forgetting their knightly origins, began to turn into the landowner class.

The death of King Jan Olbracht (1492-1501) opened a new period in the history of Poland, when contradictions emerged between the interests of the state and the interests of the ruling dynasty. The ambitions of the Jagiellons, sometimes coinciding and sometimes contradicting the aspirations of the gentry, collided with the expansionist plans of the Habsburgs. The gentry disliked this dynasty and reluctantly agreed to perform any duties in favor of the state. The Jagiellons, in turn, sought to maintain their positions in Lithuania, which the gentry saw as both positive and negative aspects for themselves. What were the interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which became the embodiment of the interests of the gentry class? The answer to this question is not easy to find.

After the defeat of the Lithuanians in the war with Moscow on the Vedrosha River (1500) and the crown army in Bukovina (1497), conditions developed that favored the rapprochement of Poland and Lithuania. In 1499, in the face of a threat from the Moscow Principality, the Gorodel Union was restored; in 1501 it was again confirmed, which was due to reasons of an internal political nature. At the same time, the practice of electing the king at elective congresses of the gentry was established, although the circle of applicants was limited only to members of the ruling dynasty. Alexander (1501-1506), who occupied the Lithuanian throne from 1491, in exchange for the coronation and the Polish throne, issued the Melnitsky Privilege (1501), according to which the nobility found itself in a more advantageous position compared to the gentry: power passed into the hands of the Senate, and the king was practically given the role of its chairman. It is quite obvious that the prospect of limiting the powers of power did not meet the interests of the monarch, so he tried to find support in the person of the middle gentry. As a result, at the diets held in Piotrkow (1504) and Radom (1505), an anti-magnate alliance was formed, which marked the beginning of the struggle for the return of the granted crown possessions. The return of these lands to the treasury would allow the king to increase his income, and the gentry to count on a reduction in taxes in favor of the state. The law on incompatibilia, in turn, prevented the concentration of too much power in one hand, which also posed a danger to the king and the gentry. The latter, however, managed to defend the fundamental principle of “nothing new” (Latin: nihil novi) (1505). The ban on introducing any innovations without the consent of representatives of the gentry was enshrined in 1506 in a code of laws compiled on the initiative of the crown chancellor Jan Laski. But neither side showed the necessary determination. The struggle for the so-called “execution of rights” did not resolve the existing problems, although the activities of the gentry reformers of the state were concentrated around execution for more than half a century. In the struggle for their class hegemony, they developed a special style of social activity and specific forms of lifestyle.

Two subsequent representatives of the Jagiellon dynasty - Sigismund I (1506-1548), nicknamed the Old, and his son Sigismund Augustus (1548-1572) managed to balance quite successfully between the aspirations of the nobility and the claims of the gentry. This was the interest of the dynasty, which, in the understanding of the last Jagiellons, was identical to the interests of the state. Their policy was opposed by the concept of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that is, the republic (res publica) as a common good, identified with the good of the nobility. But, although the confrontation between the two concepts of government sometimes took sharp forms, things did not come to an open clash: economic transformations, the spread of the Protestant Reformation and humanistic ideas proceeded calmly. A kind of balance developed, which was expressed in the principle of interaction between the three so-called “Sejm estates”: the king, the Senate and the “embassy hut”.

The Crown Lands and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as before, were united by a personal union; and only in 1569 a real union was concluded in Lublin and the two states were united into a single whole. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth turned into a homogeneous (from the point of view of the institutions of state power) political organism, but at the same time retained heterogeneity in all other respects. The territory of the state after the annexation of Livonia in 1582 was 815 thousand square meters. km and was less than at the beginning of the century (1140 thousand sq. km); after the conclusion of the Polyanovsky Peace in 1634, it increased to 990 thousand square meters. km. After Russia, it was the largest state in Europe. Population growth was quite significant, reaching 0.3% per year in the central regions of the Crown (Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Mazovia); This population growth continued until the middle of the 17th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, about 7.5 million people lived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 8 to 10 million in 1582 and almost 11 million in 1650. At the same time, the population was distributed very unevenly: in Lesser Poland its density was 22 people/ sq. km, and in Ukraine - no more than 3 people/sq. km. And although the average population density increased from 6 to 11 people/sq. km, the country remained sparsely populated. For this reason, it is likely that the state did not stimulate intensive colonization and did not solve emerging socio-economic problems through repressive methods. Gradually, although not at a very rapid pace, the freedom of movement of peasants was limited, which served the interests of the gentry and its farms. Over time, serfdom was imposed on the peasants. And only much later did the negative consequences for the state of such a decision become apparent.

Both last representatives of the Jagiellon dynasty waged a fierce struggle, primarily over how the state would be governed. Possessing unlimited hereditary power in Lithuania, the Jagiellons failed to impose an absolutist type of government on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This was not due to the large number of the gentry, which reached 8-10% of the total population. At the same time, in Spain the number of nobility was approximately the same, but, despite this, a completely different form of government developed there, which became for the Polish gentry of the 16th-17th centuries. synonymous with the most terrible tyranny. Therefore, the failure of royal power to gain a dominant position in the state should be associated with other reasons.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed as a state of the gentry. It remained so even when the real levers of power were in the hands of magnates, and when power in the country was exercised by foreign armies and residents of neighboring powers. Since the 14th century. The gentry gradually won for themselves privileges that allowed the knightly class to turn into a landowning class, and this is what gave it the opportunity to take advantage of the unique economic situation that developed in the 16th century in Europe due to the growing demand for grain and the influx of valuable metals from America. The problems associated with the so-called crisis of feudalism affected the Polish gentry to a lesser extent than the privileged class in the West, and perhaps this is why the number of the Polish nobility increased significantly. In any case, a solution was found before a favorable economic situation had developed: the personal dependence of the peasantry became the basis of the gentry model of society and state, and the situation in grain prices in the 16th century. made it possible to fully exploit this dependence. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was not the embodiment of the ideal, but the ideal of gentry democracy developed in a state that in practice stood guard over the rights of its citizens.

The state was called upon to strengthen the legal system, guarantee the safety of citizens and not limit their economic initiative; the benefit of the noble landowner was supposed to become the benefit of the state, the interest of the gentry class - the state interest. And it is from this perspective that it is necessary to consider the events of not only the 16th century, but also the entire era of the “Rzeczpospolita of both nations.”

Power in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided between three forces, and what emerged in the first half of the 16th century. the balance prevented the introduction of any fundamental innovations in the sphere of government. In the 30s of the 16th century, under the slogan of “execution” (executio) of former rights and the return of royal possessions, a political movement of the gentry was formed, which was called the execution movement. The politically active part of the gentry sought to gain influence on the monarch, thus giving him a chance to strengthen his own power. The program of “execution of rights” associated with the Polish Reformation and the spread of humanist ideas remained in the realm of postulates for a long time. But the strength of the gentry lay in the fact that it was they who had the right to determine the level of taxes, and the king was unable to obtain the funds he needed in any other way, although the poverty of the royal treasury was explained not only by the lack of lending from the philistinism. The executionists, not agreeing with the economic privileges of the Catholic clergy, demanded independence from Rome. But they failed to create a national church. Apparently, neither the king nor the gentry needed such a radical solution to the problems. The Reformation, however, became quite widespread among the gentry, and in the middle of the 16th century. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a de facto state of several religious denominations. This, however, did not change the general direction of the evolution of society and the state.

At the end of the 50s of the 16th century. the sense of futility of the dispute, which lasted for two decades, gradually grew. Sigismund Augustus, who was in dire need of funds to wage war in Livonia, moved towards rapprochement with the embassy hut. At the Piotrkow Sejm 1562-1563. the demands of the executionists were approved, and first of all the demand to revise the rights to own royal lands received by the magnates, which was supposed to weaken the position of the nobility; it was decided that a quarter of the income from these lands would be allocated for the maintenance of a standing army. The gentry tried to shift the responsibility for protecting state borders to the king and serfs. In an effort to protect themselves from possible oppression by the monarch, the gentry retained the right to disobey the king. But the king’s alliance with supporters of the reforms did not bring success to either side, and in 1569 a conflict broke out between the parties: in order to force the gentry to reform the tax system, the king did his best to restrain the reform of the appellate justice system.

Agitation around the execution program and plans for the reorganization of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was especially active at the Diets of 1564 and 1565, weakened significantly after the death of Sigismund Augustus, although the struggle for power and for the redistribution of income still continued. The gentry jealously ensured that the distribution of possessions and positions did not lead to the strengthening of the king’s position and that the state did not infringe on the rights of its citizens. In 1573-1575 The dominant role of the Sejm in political life was established. But the prerogatives received by the Sejm were a kind of advance payment. In conditions of further strengthening of the property stratification of the gentry, this led in the 17th century. to strengthen the role of magnateria.

In a state that was increasingly turning into a republic of the “gentry nation,” the sense of Corpus Regni, that is, of shared responsibility for its fate, weakened. This concept continued to apply to all the lands of the Lechitic Slavs, as well as to the lands that were once part of the Piast state. In the second half of the 16th century. The desire for the complete unification of these territories is gradually weakening, giving way to a new desire for a completely different identity of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The process of integration of lands and people was carried out in accordance with a new formula, which influenced the directions and forms of external expansion.

The gentry took the integration of Mazovia into the crown lands for granted. These lands were gradually included throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, as the local princely dynasty faded; their final incorporation was completed in 1526-1529. Over the next 50 years, Mazovia was fully integrated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although it was known as the poorest region, known for its extremely numerous (up to 40% of the population) small-scale, quarrelsome and very ignorant gentry. But thanks to the fact that Warsaw became the capital, these lands were destined to become a symbol of all Polish lands. After Greater Poland, the time came for Mazovia to become synonymous with everything “Polish,” although this happened already in the era of the loss of statehood. Along with territorial integration in the 16th century. an awareness of common interests and a sense of unity was born. But this process did not affect the Polish lands too deeply and did not overcome their heterogeneity. The dual nature of the identification of the gentry with the Polish land and with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth facilitated territorial expansion without simultaneous strengthening of the state.

The fate of the Prussian territories turned out differently, where the interests and consciousness of the local nobility were radically different from those that were characteristic of the bulk of the Polish gentry. The Teutonic Order did not abandon the idea of ​​returning the territories lost in the previous century. To realize his aspirations, he easily found support in the empire, since the Habsburgs saw the Jagiellons as their rivals for hegemony in Central Europe. Gdansk was connected by business interests with Poland, while a policy completely independent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was imposed on the residents of the city. The Gdansk patriciate sought to keep the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth close to the Baltic and had absolutely no intention of submitting to its tax policy. The Polish gentry, to tell the truth, were only interested in grain prices and the conditions for purchasing foreign goods. Representatives of state power did not have any specific concept regarding maritime policy, and therefore all attempts to subjugate Gdansk were inconsistent. During the First Northern War 1563-1570. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, due to its interests in Livonia, was involved in hostilities in the Baltic Sea. Sigismund Augustus believed that Moscow should not be given access to the Baltic and that it was necessary to create its own fleet. This interweaving of domestic and foreign political conditions inclined him to cooperate with the executionist movement. The king acted decisively and in 1568 managed to subjugate Gdansk. But Stefan Batory, occupied exclusively with Moscow and Hungarian affairs, easily made concessions to the residents of Gdansk in 1576: the estuary of the Vistula River, vital for the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, remained under the control of the proud city, as if everyone was confident that the sale of Polish grain was better entrust everything to Gdansk.

The isolation of Royal Prussia (East Pomerania) was eliminated after 1568. But the principality that arose on the territory of Prussia after the secularization of the Teutonic Order more and more clearly demonstrated its independence from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The oath taken in 1525 by the last Grand Master Albrecht of Hohenzollern to Sigismund I was an event that, however, did not affect the future of these lands. Both sides had every reason to consider this event a foreign policy success: although secularization deprived the principality of the patronage of the emperor and the pope, Albrecht was able to prevent a seemingly inevitable military defeat, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was able to secure its northern flank without additional costs. The Hohenzollerns sought to create their own state on the territory of Prussia and, despite their tough position, were able to receive significant support from the local gentry and philistines. But the political forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not show interest in this, so the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns managed to first consolidate their hereditary rights to Prussia (1563), and in 1611 to extend fief rights to it, in order to finally achieve the complete abolition of fief dependence of Princely Prussia in 1657 from Poland. The immediate benefits gained from the secularization of the order were minor, and the consequences of this became apparent much later. The Prussian problem in the 16th century was not considered in terms of ethnicity, and the religious factor made itself felt only in the 17th century, when Polish identity associated with Catholicism and the nobility began to take shape.

The northern and western territories did not attract the attention of the gentry and the king, and therefore very real chances to establish control over Western Pomerania at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries went unnoticed; no one particularly cared about returning at least part of the Silesian lands that had gone to the Czech Republic. The attention of the gentry and the authorities was drawn to another (southeastern) direction, although this factor cannot serve as an exhaustive explanation of why the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth abandoned the fight for the western and northwestern lands. The interests of Poland of that era, when there was a certain linguistic and social community, shifted from the north-west to the south-east. The reasons for this drift are not entirely clear. The most intensive integration processes went in the same direction; the axis of this direction united the most densely populated territories: Kuyavia, Mazovia and Krakow lands with the lands of Galician Rus, Volyn, and Podolia that were attractive for agricultural colonization. Here also passed the route along which precious metals earned from the grain trade flowed towards the Levant; along the same route (but from the other side), oriental motifs so characteristic of that era penetrated into Poland. Consequently, these geopolitical changes cannot be considered random and cannot be explained only by the class egoism of the Polish gentry.

Polish expansion in an eastern direction continues to cause great controversy even today. This expansion was one of the manifestations of integration processes, as a result of which a significant part of the population, mainly of gentry origin, began to consider themselves Poles. The 1569 union with Lithuania was not a dictate of the Kingdom of Poland, but an expression of the will of the gentry layer, whose interests were in some sense subordinated to the highest interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Union drew the Crown into Moscow, and, over time, also Livonian and Ukrainian problems, which seemed far from it. It must, however, be borne in mind that in the 16th century. it was the Principality of Moscow that carried out expansion in the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And if it is possible to talk about any Polish historical mistake, then only in the sense that a conflict was allowed with Sweden, and not in the fact that Poland opposed the advance of the Moscow state to the West. From the point of view of political categories of the 16th century. the actions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth must be recognized as completely rational. Poland's access to the Baltic Sea during the reign of Sigismund Augustus was a bold, but unfounded plan; no one except the king understood the necessity of this enterprise. Seeing territorial expansion as a means to expand their living space and maintain class status, the gentry in the 16th century. found simpler solutions in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth than the desire to break through to the sea. The Dutch, Danes, Hanseatics and even the inhabitants of Gdansk, although their interests were contradictory to each other, were against the creation of a Polish fleet or Polish control of navigation in the Baltic Sea. However, it is important to note that the solution to the problem proposed by Sigismund Augustus and his supporters (the so-called Naval Commission of 1568 and the plan for the construction of the royal fleet) did not receive support from the gentry.

Showing no interest in Prussia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth turned to expansion in Livonia. These lands, which were under the rule of the Livonian Order of the Sword, were engulfed in internal conflicts on religious grounds. The conflicts were aggravated by intrigues on the part of external forces interested in establishing their power over the rich country, which controlled trade with Lithuanian and Russian lands. The intervention of Sigismund Augustus in internal conflicts in Livonia led in 1557 to the conclusion of the Posvolsky Agreement directed against Russia. A war began, as a result of which Russia achieved access to the Baltic Sea in Narva (1558); Sweden invaded Estonia (1561); Denmark took possession of the Bishopric of Ezel. Livonia was faced with a choice: either be divided or maintain its integrity, which, as it seemed then, could only be guaranteed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1561, the order was secularized, and a secular principality was created on the territory of Courland and Semigallia (Zemgale); the remaining territories turned into Polish-Lithuanian joint possession. This solution to the problem, which at that moment was the most profitable for the residents of Livonia, looked more attractive to the Polish magnates than to the gentry. Sigismund Augustus sought to strengthen the ties of the Livonian nobility with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but this was prevented by the increasing pressure from the Polish and Lithuanian gentry. The elderships created in Livonia during the reign of Stefan Batory ended up in the hands of the Poles. In this situation, it became obvious that it was necessary to come to an agreement with one of the rivals laying claim to Livonia, but since an agreement with Moscow was impossible, the only reasonable thing was an alliance with Sweden. However, this particular option turned out to be completely unrealistic, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was unable to achieve significant successes in Livonia with the help of military force. According to the peace treaty signed in Szczecin (1570), Sweden strengthened its position, and the Muscovite state, thanks to the support of the Habsburgs, retained the right to navigate Narva. Given this balance of power, Ivan IV’s attack in 1577 was not only aimed at ousting the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Livonia, but also posed a serious threat to Lithuania.

From the point of view of the interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, expansion in Livonia was completely justified, but the method of its implementation was not entirely successful. It was too difficult to reconcile the material interests of the magnates, the counter-reformist sentiments of the Catholic clergy and the tax interests of the state. Therefore, despite the growing influence of the gentry culture and the possible benefits from the union with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Livonia continued to hesitate. This made it easier for Sweden to intervene and encouraged Moscow to launch new attacks.

Under these conditions, the southeastern direction of Polish expansion seemed to be the most profitable. The magnates and the gentry acted together. This, however, does not mean that they always acted skillfully. This direction of expansion, as a result of which conflict with Turkey and Russia could be avoided, corresponded to the natural development trends and socio-political structure of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the same time, all attempts to involve the gentry in the war against Moscow and subjugate Russian society with the help of a church union were untenable, did not correspond to the spatial and cultural status of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and, therefore, were doomed to failure. Only a truly great power could handle such a conflict, but the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, having enough opportunities for this, did not become a great power in the then Europe.

If we try to assess the significance of the southeastern direction of expansion - the only one that made it possible to avoid direct military conflicts and at the same time solve the problems associated with the numerical increase of the gentry - then two considerations arise. Firstly, the surplus of the gentry was not as significant as in the 16th century. failed to gain a foothold in Ukraine and polonize it. Secondly, both the nature of the lands included in the Crown after the Union of Lublin in 1569 and the specifics of the state structure contributed to the development of large land ownership in these territories. In the border lands, sparsely populated but very fertile, which were constantly threatened by Tatar raids, contradictory processes took place: on the one hand, colonization was carried out mainly by the local population, which differed from the Polish element in its ethnic and religious affiliation; on the other hand, only large land holdings could successfully defend themselves in conditions of constant external danger. Therefore, it was in the southeastern lands that the economic power of the magnates developed and the prerequisites for their real independence arose. As will be noted below, the gentry alienated the Cossacks, the only force that could firmly connect Ukraine with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Polish culture. The reluctance to solve the problem of the Zaporozhye Cossacks was probably the only mistake that could have been avoided.

With the death of the last Jagiellon, the era of elective kings began. The period of kinglessness (July 1572 - May 1573) and the reign of Henry Valois (1573-1574), which lasted a little over a year, did not shake the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: despite the chaos that accompanied the election, internal strife and outside interference, a crisis was avoided. During the reign of Stefan Batory (1576-1586) and Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth reached the apogee of its power: the most extensive borders in its entire history, the largest expansion and the most powerful position in Europe - all these advantages came from that the moment when the preconditions for a future collapse were already making themselves felt.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not pay much attention to foreign policy. It was not distinguished by its thoughtfulness, combining the unrelated, often contradictory interests of the monarch and the gentry, individual families of the nobility, the Crown and Lithuania. At the beginning of the 16th century. foreign policy was influenced by the dynastic plans of the Jagiellons and their opposition to the expansion of the Habsburgs. The formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was associated with the flexibility of the Crown institutions. This was also facilitated by the conscious policy of the dynasty. At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. The international situation seemed particularly favorable. Great hopes for containing Ottoman expansion were inspired by the prospect that the border of a state with solid rear lines would run along the Danube; the only question was which state we were talking about. It is quite obvious that the empire laid claim to the role of the main, and therefore dominant, force in this part of Europe. The Jagiellonian policy in this region depended de facto on local anti-Habsburg tendencies: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, firstly, could become a counterweight to Habsburg expansion, and secondly, it was seen as protection against the Turkish threat. Was this a fallacy? If we do not take into account the Czech Republic, for which an alliance with Austria seemed more beneficial than relying on Poland, all the countries of the southern belt sought to gain state independence. And this greatly increased the Jagiellons' chances of adequately competing with the Habsburgs.

Both sides took this problem seriously. Emperor Maximilian supported all attempts of the Teutonic Order to achieve independence and looked for an ally in Moscow. The expansion of the Russian state under Vasily III developed rapidly, coming into conflict with territorial claims from Lithuania. Smolensk was captured in 1514, and the important victory of the Polish-Lithuanian army near Orsha that same year did not provide a political solution to the conflict. Then Sigismund I started a long-term political intrigue, the goal of which was for the Polish-Lithuanian state to acquire great power status. In 1515, Sigismund managed to change the unfavorable situation for Poland: at the cost of the hope of obtaining the Czech and Hungarian thrones, he obtained from Maximilian a refusal to support the Teutonic Order and weave intrigues in Moscow. But this plan did not have strong support, evidence of which was the actions of the Czechs that discredited Sigismund during the election of the emperor in 1519. Albrecht Hohenzollern remained an ally of Moscow (from 1517); but in 1519-1521. the Poles managed to put significant pressure on him. The order was saved from disaster by the diplomatic intervention of Charles V and the actions of the Danish fleet. Further developments in Prussia and the empire forced Albrecht to submit to Poland, and this alliance turned out to be stable for a long time. In 1522, the Lithuanians concluded a truce with Moscow, without, however, receiving back the Smolensk and Seversk lands they had lost. This state of affairs continued after the Russian-Lithuanian war (1534-1537). The terms of the peace treaty were observed for 25 years and were violated by aggressive actions on the part of Ivan IV.

The Jagiellonian plan to strengthen its influence in Central Europe, if there was one, ended in failure in 1526 near Mohács, where the Hungarian troops were defeated by the Turks. The death of the young Hungarian king Louis Jagiellon opened the way for Ferdinand Habsburg to the Czech and Hungarian thrones. The resistance in Hungary was short-lived; the gentry party, united around Janos Zapolyai, who enjoyed the support of Sigismund, was unable to maintain the integrity of the country. Türkiye was closer and turned out to be a more reliable protector than the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Events exposed the weakness of Sigismund I's position in Europe: he could not participate in military conflicts on several fronts simultaneously, and tried not to take any action against Turkey. The reason for the conflicts with the Moldavian rulers was the desire to control the trade routes passing through their lands. Conflicts were limited to border wars so as not to provoke Turkey, which considered these lands as its sphere of influence. Therefore, after the victory of Hetman Jan Tarnowski over the Moldavian ruler Petrila (Petr Raresh) near Obertyn (1531), Poland was content with a guarantee of security for the Pokuttya region, without trying to establish a protectorate over all of Moldova. A perpetual peace was concluded with the Porte in 1533, which was not broken for almost a century. Neither financially nor militarily, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was able to make the necessary effort to realize the opportunities that the Jagiellonian dynastic policy opened up for it.

Between the two potential empires - the Habsburg-Spanish and the Russian - there were living space and material resources sufficient to create a powerful political system. In this regard, the example of France, which at certain points in its history was surrounded by an even greater number of enemies, is very instructive. The reasons for Poland's political defeat in Central Europe were rooted in the interests of the ruling group: these interests led to the formation of a political system that was incapable of expansion through military force. That is why France, which opposed the Habsburgs, looked for an ally in Turkey rather than in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

And this is especially noticeable in solving the problem of dominium maris baltici - dominance in the Baltic Sea. It is very characteristic that for all subsequent Polish kings the Livonian problem was more important than the Prussian one. The main danger to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was Moscow, so there was a desire to create a barrier on the territory of Livonia that could contain the spread of “barbarism.” The foreign policy turn towards Sweden after 1568, when Johan III Waza, married to Katarzyna Jagiellonka, ascended the Swedish throne, turned out to be short-lived. It is difficult to answer the question of what was the reason: a lack of mutual understanding on both sides, a lack of understanding of the essence of the Baltic problem, or simple human ambitions, starting with the dispute over Estonia. In any case, in 1570 in Szczecin the emperor left the Polish ambassadors with nothing, making the plan of diplomatic isolation of Moscow impossible. The ambassadors of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth operated with moral arguments during the negotiations, while money and guns were needed. It is very likely that the failure that befell Poland's most natural foreign policy alliance with Sweden in subsequent decades stemmed from the inability of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to mobilize the necessary funds. This weakness of the state forced the Habsburgs, who were constantly losing in the struggle for the Polish throne, to make partition plans and support all political forces that could cause harm to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Neither Vienna nor Istanbul understood the specifics of the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which did not prevent them from making a sober calculation based on the answers to the questions: can a state, striving to gain the status of a great power, allow the arbitrariness of the residents of Gdansk, pay taxes to the Tatars, leave them unpunished? interference in your internal politics? What kind of king is this who does not rule and rule?

Stefan Batory cannot be blamed for the fact that for him the problems of Gdansk and Prussia were less important compared to the threat from Russia in Livonia. This, apparently, corresponded to the point of view of the Sejm, which agreed to introduce an emergency tax. Thanks to additional funds, the king carried out three successive military campaigns, as a result of which he managed to push Russia away from the mouth of the Dvina. The blow to the Russian lands, marked by the acquisition of Polotsk (1579), Velikie Luki (1580) and the siege of Pskov (1581), made it possible to sign a truce in Yama-Zapolsky, according to which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth received all of Livonia and Polotsk. The success was obvious, but it turned out to be short-lived. In Livonia itself, when the threat of the establishment of Moscow's power had passed, an alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no longer considered necessary. Batory and the Poles did not seriously consider the threat from the Swedes, and they, taking advantage of the situation, captured Narva and strengthened their positions in Estonia. Having received Livonia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was unable to take full advantage of its success and did not eliminate the source of potential conflicts with Sweden. What were Batory's foreign policy priorities? First of all, he sought to nullify the danger of Moscow's intervention. Can this be considered a prelude to significant military action against Turkey and pushing it beyond the Danube? Batory was always suspected of putting his dream of liberating Hungary above the interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was he who, under the pressure of financial difficulties, agreed to renounce most of the judicial powers remaining in the hands of the king: in 1578, the Crown Tribunal was created - the highest court of appeal

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