Poland is a land in Eastern Europe with a population of 38million people.
It's capital is Warsaw.
It is a country that was unified in the early Middle Ages, after Slav migranst came there. It was ruled by kings for many years fighting off Germanic attacks. In the late Middle, Ages it's leaders were replaced , as nobles began to elect kings. But they always elected some other king, who could be manipulated, and they were corrupt. Poland was officially a republic, but really a kingdom. It's Jewish population fleeing from pogroms in Germany of the Middle Ages boomed, supported as a middle Class, and working class in towns and some villages.
the Jewish populations evenm had their own towns, at times. Also many Scotish people came in the 17th C, famed as traders. Poland had no inquisistion of note, and had some Protestants and Jews, and Catholics. In the mid 17thC, the noble elected kings system, had seen a line of kings elected who were just sons of past kings. A Cossack revolt rebelled against feudal oppression, aided by the leading feudal lord Cossacks, who had been used by Russia and Poland, in wars. The Cossacks were a group of escaped serfs living in Ukraine, often so Orthodox, in Christianity, they soon allied to Russia. Their victories over the Poles, and terrible massacres of Jewish traders, saw Russia take over annexing this major Polish empire to that land. Polish, Ukranian and Russian, in some ways are very similar languages and if these lands had been unified they would be as much a similar language as Russian is today.
Poland weakened by this was invaded by Russia, German states,. and Sweden. This saw Poland's population suffer from famine. And become a virtual puppet state of Russia, by the early 18thC.
The puppet king's ran Poland badly, and Poland's peasants remained very poor. Jews also began to see their prosperity and freedom lesson, with soem of theri rights taken away. In the late 18thC Russia Prussia and Austria started splitting Poland too it.
By 1792 they partioned it among themselves, a Polish liberal revolt inspired by America and France, against serfdoma nd slavery, 30000 were massacred in the capital the same year as the more mentioned reign of terror. in France. Poland had 2 revolts in the 19thC, It saw some jailings and deaths in small revolts in the 1800-20s, and 100s executed in the 1831 revolt, 100s in the 1860s revolt. And 100s more killed in the 1905 revolt, Then 100s of Jews executed in pogroms in the 1910s, and WW1. the Germans banned some language things in their parts, but Austria was more liberal, but still feudal, in many ways. Serfdom ended in the 19thC, like after the 1860s revolt in Russia, and in Austrian areas in 1848, after the great revolutions of 1848, and in Germany after French invasions,and the 1840s revolts, And then achieved independence in 1918. After 1918, it became a independanmt land, allowing Germans, Jews, and UKranians to live side by side. After Versailles, and after Germany and Russia had accepted to soem dgreeing armies that surfaced taking over, though both empires planned to crush poland later. ANd the USSR tried to crush it. but failed.
The POlish society boomed, and Poland prospered, free. Germans could speak German, Jews were allowed in any party, though did suffer some pogroms, and some deaths fuelled, by far right nazis, of Polish and German ways, and some even some bishops. The Ukranians were funded even in the 1920s to have national;ist movements which kileld some people. But this was not as bad as Germ,any, The demoacarcy decreased in power after a coup in 1926, but the dictators who managed the democratic parliament, were not in total power. they made failings like not being strong enougfgh against germany in the 1930s. at the start. But did oppose it, through th e era. tHEN IN 1939 the new German regime asked Poland for Danzig which separted the German lands in the Baltic, The Polish regimes planned and consideered giving it back. It stated it would not just hand it over, as many Poles were there. and were victims of atacks from Germans, and also the land to the west of Danzig was Polish, but Germany wanted that bit, and a Polish port that was being built, so Danzig could then be handed over. Germant then invaded with the USSR a few weeks later. The USSR invdaing as it diod not feel France and Britain were wanting to be it's allies, indeed the leader of the French army of 1940 was wanting to invade the USSR rather than stand up to Germany. The ussr occupation executed some, and killed some. But the German occupation planned colonisation, and killed millions, by the end of the war. They killed most of the Polish Jews, and used famines, concentration camps, and executions to kill millions of Poles.
During the war the USSR, liberated Poland, a improvement on the German plans to make Poles slaves, and to kill them, and then occupied Poland. They evicted many of the Germans, for what they had done in the past. It then handed power to local Communists, who then ran the country in a way of dictators, far more enlightened that the prior occupation. They invested in more equality and welfare, and saw some social advances, but they were still jailing and killing dissisdents in the 1960s and 1970s. With some kileld even in the 1980s. In the 1970s solidarity a trade union formed, against worsening economic conditions, on the past booms. The military tookover to avert a Soviet invasion to crush this huge millions strong union. The effects saw Gorbachov pushed towards reconciliation with the west. with other thuingsd such as a worsening Soviet economy, and the Communist leaders feeling mabye freedom is better after all. In 1989, Poland was set via it's own political changes, and the strengh of Solidarity, for freedom, and elections based on deals were soon held. after the Berlin wall fell, and after Gorbachoc did not prmisse to intervene,
This saw in the 1990s mass privatisation, and more poverty. but more freedom, and soon economic growth. It was among the first E-European lands to have an economy that started growing again. Soon after a Socialist was alected President. The right came back by the late 1990s, then the centre left. But corruption scandals, added to feelings among Poles, that the politicians were too much in it for themselves. This saw the right then win the nest election. A very right wing antio gay party, and a centre right party. In the meantime Poland had managed to join the EU, and so established it's postion as a equal partner among this great union. It has seen migration to America, millions moved there, in the late 19thC, in famines, and now hundreds of thousands have moved to the EU.
In terms of giving up Communism, Poland is now richer and has a higher life expectancy than in 1989. Unlike Russia, which has not seen improvements, Mabye as Russia is less of a democratic land, and even more capitalist.
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