Misplaced Pages

#40959

154-748: The Polish plural term Kresy corresponds to the Russian okrainy ( окраины ), meaning "the border regions". During the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Kresy only referred to the borderlands of the Kingdom of Poland and not the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Kresy is also largely co-terminous with the northern areas of the Pale of Settlement , a scheme devised by Catherine II of Russia to limit Jews from settling in

308-708: A lector of Polish at University of Leipzig where he had previously studied theology and philology. In 1793 he began to collaborate with supporters of the Constitution of 3 May 1791 . During the Kościuszko Uprising (1794) he was in Warsaw and supported Hugo Kołłątaj . In 1795–1803 he was a librarian to Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński and began gathering material for his future dictionary for Polish and other Slavic grammar and expressions by traveling for six years through Galicia and to Moldova. He became director at

462-470: A revolt , and, with the help of Denmark , blockaded maritime trade to neutral Elbląg (Elbing). Báthory, unable to penetrate the city's extensive fortifications, succumbed to the demands for greater privileges and freedoms. However, his successful Livonian campaign ended in the annexation of Livonia and the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia , respectively), thus expanding

616-759: A Polish Santa Claus and Give a Book to a Polish Child in Kresy". Polish churches and cemeteries (such as Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów ) are renovated with money from Poland. For example, in Nysa , money is collected to renovate the Roman Catholic church in Łopatyn near Lviv, while residents of Oława collect funds to renovate the church in Sasiv, also in the area of Lviv. Also, physicians from Kraków's organization Doctors of Hope regularly visit Eastern Borderlands, and

770-670: A centuries-long tradition of a nobles' democracy ( Golden Liberty ). Henry already posed as a candidate before Sigismund's death and received widespread support from the pro-French factions. The choice was a political move aimed at curtailing Habsburg hegemony, ending skirmishes with the French-allied Ottomans , and profiting from the lucrative trade with France. It was also believed that an Austrian Archduke could be too powerful and attempt to limit noble privileges. French envoys had also offered large amounts of bribes, amounting to several hundred thousand ecus . Upon ascending

924-454: A century, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, while its neighbours stabilised their internal affairs and increased their military might. The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791 , which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe. The revolutionary Constitution recast

1078-572: A contract with merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea . Countless rivers and waterways in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula , Pilica , Bug , San , Nida , Wieprz , and Neman . The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most of

1232-558: A halt to large scale economic activity which had depended on agriculture, forestry, brewing and small scale industries. Paradoxically, the Southern Kresy (present-day Ukraine) was famous for its fertile soil and was known as the "bread basket of Europe". Towards the end of the 19th century, the decline was so acute that trade and food supplies became problematic and large scale emigration from towns and villages began as Jewish communities, in particular, began heading West, to Europe and

1386-495: A local church, meetings with Kresy activists and scholars, and theatre shows of Brzeg's Garrison Club as well as Lwów Eaglets Middle School number 3 in Brzeg. Organizers of the festival assured that for the two days Brzeg would turn into the "capital of interwar Polish Kresy". In January, February and March 2012, Centre for Public Opinion Research did a survey, asking Poles about their ties to Kresy. It turned out that almost 15% of

1540-501: A mass scale were opened to satisfy the demands of the nobility as consumers. At the height of the Great Northern War a coalition ( Warsaw Confederation ) against Augustus II was formed by Stanisław Leszczyński and other magnates sponsored by Sweden. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus entered the war as Elector of Saxony. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by

1694-769: A million Poles from the Kresy were moved to the Recovered Territories , including 150,000 from the area of Wilno, 226,300 from Polesia , 133,900 from Volhynia , 5,000 from Northern Bukovina , and 618,200 from Eastern Galicia. The so-called First Repatriation of Poles (1944–1946) was carried out in a chaotic, disorganized way. People had to spend weeks, even months at railroad stations, waiting for transport. During that time, they were robbed of their belongings by either locals, Soviet soldiers or Soviet rail workers. For lack of railroad cars, in Lithuania at some point

SECTION 10

#1732773227041

1848-478: A mixture of: The end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1572 – after nearly two centuries – disrupted the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility. When presented with periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the szlachta exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not establish

2002-441: A nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark , a large farmstead worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes and nobles in the early years of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade . The economic strength of Commonwealth grain trade waned from the late 17th century on. Trade relationships were disrupted by

2156-592: A result of World War III , in which Western Allies would defeat the Soviets. One of the adages of the postwar period was: "Just one atom bomb, and we will be back in Lwów again. Just second one is small but strong and we will be back in Wilno again." ("Jedna bomba atomowa i wrócimy znów do Lwowa. Druga mała, ale silna i wrócimy znów do Wilna"). Polish settlers in former German areas were insecure about their future there until

2310-519: A series of blows during the following decades. Władysław's brother, John II Casimir , proved to be weak and impotent. The multicultural and mega-diverse federation already suffered domestic problems. As persecution of religious and ethnic minorities strengthened, several groups started to rebel. A major rebellion of self-governed Ukrainian Cossacks inhabiting south-eastern borderlands of the Commonwealth rioted against Polish and Catholic oppression of Orthodox Ukraine in 1648, in what came to be known as

2464-613: A state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar political systems existed in the contemporary city-states like the Republic of Venice . Both states were styled "Serenissima Respublica" or the " Most Serene Republic ". At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization , absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization , confederation and federation, democracy and religious tolerance . This political system unusual for its time stemmed from

2618-416: A strong and long-lasting dynasty . This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Stefan Batory from Transylvania (1576–86), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This

2772-455: A substantial increase in the power of the Polish magnates , and the transformation of szlachta democracy into magnate oligarchy . The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over

2926-468: A term used from 1573 on), included: The three regions (see below) of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy . Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poseł ( deputy ) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions. Golden Liberty created

3080-676: Is a 50,000 Polish minority in Latvia . In Lithuania and Belarus, Poles are more numerous than in Ukraine. This is the result of the Polish population transfers (1944–1946) as well as Massacres of Poles in Volhynia . Those Poles who survived the slaughter begged for the opportunity to emigrate. Many Polish organizations are active in the former Eastern Borderlands, such as the Association of Poles in Ukraine, Association of Polish Culture of

3234-545: Is a Museum of Kresy, and there is a project, supported by local government, to create a Museum of Eastern Borderlands in Wrocław, the city where a number of Poles from Kresy settled after World War II. Numerous photo albums and books, depicting cities, towns and landscapes of Kresy are published every year in Poland. In Chełm , there is Kresy Bicycle Marathon, Polish Radio Białystok every week broadcasts Kresy Magazine , dedicated to

SECTION 20

#1732773227041

3388-670: The Kresy after 1960 (especially in the territories of the Lithuanian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR ). Even today, Poles constitute the majority of inhabitants in many regions in the Grodno and Vilnius regions. Poles appear in the most recent national censuses as follows - Lithuania 183,000 (2021) ; Belarus 288,000 (2019) ; Ukraine 144,000 (2001) - the Belarus and Ukraine numbers firmly disputed in Poland. In

3542-579: The Kresy to alter its ethnic profile in favour of the Poles. One of the ways to do so was through the Osadnik colonists. These military colonists were one of the most "emotionalized" parts of the Polish government's policy in the Kresy and elicited opposition from the locals. The German historian Bernhard Chiari  [ de ] said that the Kresy were "the poorhouse of Poland", while

3696-527: The Kresy macroregion and the modern-day western border of Russia. It extended from the eastern pale , or demarcation line, to the Russian border with the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire ) and Austria-Hungary . It also comprised about 20% of the territory of European Russia and largely corresponded to historical lands of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Cossack Hetmanate , and

3850-759: The Austrian Galicia . The Kresy was the most war-devastated area in the whole of interwar Poland. The region later formed the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic. Territories included in the Kresy during the interbellum period comprised the eastern parts of the Voivodeships of Lwów and Białystok and the whole of the Nowogródek , Polesie , Stanisławów , Tarnopol , Wilno , Wołyń Voivodeships. The Polish government undertook an active policy of Polonizing

4004-774: The Austrian and Russian partitions became part of Poland. As many as 12 million inhabitants lived in the Eastern Borderlands, but ethnic Poles only were a third of that population, with another third being Ukrainian . Most small towns in the Borderlands were shtetls . Administratively, the Eastern Borderlands territory was composed of Lwów , Nowogródek , Polesie , Stanisławów , Tarnopol , Wilno , Wołyń , and Białystok voivodeships (provinces). Today, all these regions are divided between Western Ukraine , Western Belarus , and south-eastern Lithuania , with

4158-666: The Commonwealth before 1772, and where Polish communities continue to exist. Polish eastern settlements date back to the dawn of Poland as a state. In 1018, King Bolesław I the Brave invaded Kievan Rus' (see Bolesław I's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis , 1018), capturing Kyiv , and annexing the Cherven Cities . In 1340, Red Ruthenia came under Polish control, which intensified defensive Polish settlement and

4312-505: The Danube River , never again to threaten central Europe. John Sobieski's death in 1696 arguably ended the period of national sovereignty, and Poland's relative authority over the region dwindled swiftly. By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought the Commonwealth to the brink of civil war and the state became increasingly susceptible to foreign influence. The remaining European powers perpetually meddled in

4466-734: The Four-Year Sejm 's May Constitution , came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the Russian Empire, the German Kingdom of Prussia , and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy . By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918. The political doctrine of

4620-677: The Khmelnytsky Uprising . It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav , for protection by the Russian Tsar. In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland, and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Khmelnytsky asked the Tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection. Russian annexation of Zaporizhian Ukraine gradually supplanted Polish influence in that part of Europe. In

4774-706: The Massacres of Poles in Wołyń were banned from publication for Soviet propaganda reasons, because these lands now belonged to the Soviet Union. In official documents, people born in the Eastern Borderlands were declared as born in the Soviet Union, and very few Kresy -themed books or films were passed by the state censor at that time. One of the exceptions was the immensely popular comedy trilogy by Sylwester Chęciński ( Sami swoi from 1967, Nie ma mocnych from 1974, and Kochaj albo rzuć from 1977). The trilogy tells

Kresy - Misplaced Pages Continue

4928-1517: The Masurian town of Mrągowo , there is a Festiwal Kultury Kresowej (Festival of Kresy Culture), sponsored among others by the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of Culture, with the patronage of the First Lady. The Festival is broadcast by TVP2 and TVP Polonia , and in 2011 it was organized for the 17th time. Among participants of the 2011 Festival, there were such artists, as Folk Ensemble Mozyrzanka from Mozyr , Children and Youth Band Tęcza from Minsk , Folk Band Kresowianka from Ivyanets , Polish Academic Choir Zgoda from Brest , Instrumental Band Biedronki from Minsk , Vocal Duo Wspólna wędrówka from Minsk, Children's Polonia Ensemble Dolinianka from Stara Huta (Ukraine), Ensemble Fujareczka from Sambir , Ensemble Boryslawiacy from Boryslav , Ensemble Niebo do Wynajecia from Stralhivci (Ukraine), Polish Dance and Song Ensemble Wilenka from Vilnius, Dance and Song Band Troczenie from Trakai , Band Wesołe Wilno from Vilnius, Song and Dance Ensemble Kotwica from Kaunas , and Folk and Polish Folklore Dance and Song Ensemble Syberyjski Krakowiak from Abakan in Siberia . Other notable Kresy-oriented festivals are: In Lubaczów

5082-521: The Ottoman Empire (with Crimean Khanate ). The area included in the Pale, with its large Roman Catholic , Eastern Catholic and Jewish populations, was acquired through a series of military conquests and diplomatic manoeuvres, between 1654 and 1815. While the religious nature of the edicts creating the Pale is clear: conversion to Russian Orthodoxy , the state religion, released individuals from

5236-660: The Ottoman Empire . In 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in the 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottomans. For its centuries-long opposition to Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity). During the next 16 years, the Great Turkish War would drive the Turks permanently south of

5390-644: The Polish Enlightenment began to sprout. In 1764, aristocrat Stanisław August Poniatowski was elected monarch with the connivance and support of his former lover Catherine the Great , a German noblewoman who became Empress of Russia. Poniatowski's attempts at reform were met with staunch resistance both internally and externally. Any goal of stabilizing the Commonwealth was dangerous for its ambitious and aggressive neighbours. Like his predecessors, he sponsored artists and architects. In 1765 he founded

5544-507: The Polish government-in-exile in London . The Potsdam Conference, via substantive recognition of the pro-Soviet Polish Committee of National Liberation , implicitly consented to the deportation of Polish people from Kresy (see Polish population transfers (1944–1946) ). Most Polish inhabitants of Kresy were ordered by the Soviets to migrate west to Germany's former eastern provinces, newly emptied of their German population and renamed as

5698-605: The Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791). In the preamble of the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791) the dualistic nature of the state was confirmed and separate monarchial titles of Stanisław August Poniatowski were included: King of Poland ( Polish : Krol Polski ) and Grand Duke of Lithuania ( Polish : Wielki xiązę litewski ), also the land envoys of the Polish Crown and

5852-791: The Soviet Union (see Soviet invasion of Poland ), and a significant part of the ethnic Polish population of Kresy was deported to other areas of the Soviet Union including Siberia and Kazakhstan . The new border between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was re-designated by the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty , signed on 29 September 1939. After the elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus , communist governments for Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were formed and immediately announced their intention of joining their respective republics to

6006-547: The Third Statute of Lithuania in which it was stated that the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is a federation of two countries – Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland where both countries have equal rights within it. In the 17th century and later it was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland' ( Polish : Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska , Latin : Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae ),

6160-641: The Thirty Years' War ; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. During this period, Poland was experiencing a cultural awakening and extensive developments in arts and architecture; the first Vasa king openly sponsored foreign painters, craftsmen, musicians and engineers, who settled in the Commonwealth at his request. Sigismund's eldest son, Ladislaus succeeded him as Władysław IV in 1632 with no major opposition. A skilled tactician, he invested in artillery , modernised

6314-499: The Union of Vilnius and Radom and the Union of Grodno . Lithuania's vulnerable position and rising tensions on its eastern flank persuaded the nobles to seek a closer bond with Poland. The idea of a federation presented better economic opportunities, whilst securing Lithuania's borders from hostile states to the north, south and east. Lesser Lithuanian nobility were eager to share the personal privileges and political liberties enjoyed by

Kresy - Misplaced Pages Continue

6468-535: The United States . By the time of a newly resurgent Polish state, the provinces had been additionally disadvantaged by having the lowest literacy levels in the country, since education had not been compulsory during Russian rule. The regions had suffered a legacy of decades of neglect and underinvestment so were generally less economically developed than the western parts of interwar Poland. The years 1918–1921 were especially turbulent for Kresy , due to

6622-623: The Warsaw Corps of Cadets , the first state school in Poland for all classes of society. In 1773 the king and parliament formed the Commission of National Education , the first Ministry of Education in European history. In 1792, the king ordered the creation of Virtuti Militari , the oldest military decoration still in use. Stanisław August also admired the culture of ancient kingdoms, particularly Rome and Greece; Neoclassicism became

6776-599: The Yad Vashem historian Leonid Rein even wrote that "it would not be a great exaggeration to say it was the poor-house of the whole of Europe." This led to frequent conflicts with Ukrainian nationalists in the southeastern part of Kresy , which led to the pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia . Numerous Polish communities continued to live beyond the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic, especially around Minsk , Zhytomyr and Berdychiv . In

6930-414: The bourgeoisie , resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a rather slow development of industries . The nobility could also regulate the price of grain for their advantage, thus acquiring much wealth. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin . Several ancient trading routes such as the Amber Road ( Pic. 4 ) extended across Poland–Lithuania, which

7084-432: The " Recovered Territories " of the Polish People's Republic , based on Polish medieval settlement of the areas. Poles from the southern Kresy (now Ukraine) were forced to settle mainly in Silesia , while those from the north (Belarus and Lithuania) moved to Pomerania and Masuria . Polish residents of Lwów settled not only in Wrocław, but also in Gliwice and in Bytom . Those cities had not been destroyed during

7238-472: The " Stolen Lands ". Even though Poles were a minority in those areas, owing to forced depopulation, the "Stolen Lands" remained an integral part of Polish national identity, with Polish cultural centres and seats of learning in Vilnius University , Jan Kazimierz University and Krzemieniec Lyceum among many others. Since many local educated inhabitants had actively participated in Polish–Lithuanian national insurgencies ( November Uprising , January Uprising ),

7392-466: The "one-suitcase policy" was introduced, which meant that Poles had to leave behind all their belongings. They travelled in freight or open wagons , and the journeys were long and dangerous, as there was no protection from the military or the police. In the years 1955–1959, the second mass repatriation of Poles from Kresy took place. As a result, in the years 1945–1960, over 2 million Polish people left Kresy . About 1-2 million more remained in

7546-412: The 16th century. From Gdańsk, ships carried cargo to the major ports of the Low Countries , such as Antwerp and Amsterdam . The land routes, mostly to the German provinces of the Holy Roman Empire such as the cities of Leipzig and Nuremberg , were used for the export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides , salt, tobacco, hemp and cotton from the Greater Poland region. In turn,

7700-513: The 1931 census. South-East Poland: North-East Poland: In 1931, according to the Polish National Census, the ten largest cities in Polish Eastern Borderlands were: Lwów (pop. 312,200), Wilno (pop. 195,100), Stanisławów (pop. 60,000), Grodno (pop. 49,700), Brześć nad Bugiem (pop. 48,400), Borysław (pop. 41,500), Równe (pop. 40,600), Tarnopol (pop. 35,600), Łuck (pop. 35,600) and Kołomyja (pop. 33,800). In addition, Daugavpils (pop. 43,200 in 1930) in inter-war Latvia

7854-460: The 1970s (see Kniefall von Warschau ). Eastern settlers did not feel at home in Lower Silesia , and as a result, they did not care about the machinery, households and farms abandoned by Germans. Lubomierz in 1945 was in good condition, but in the following years, Polish settlers from the area of Chortkiv in Podolia let it run down and become a ruin. The Germans were aware of it. In 1959, German sources wrote that Lower Silesia had been ruined by

SECTION 50

#1732773227041

8008-419: The Americas rendered the Commonwealth's supplies less crucial which resulted in financial losses. Augustus III spent little time in the Commonwealth, instead preferring the Saxon city of Dresden . He appointed Heinrich von Brühl as viceroy and minister of Polish affairs who in turn left the politics to Polish magnate families, such as the Czartoryskis and the Radziwiłłs . It was also during this period that

8162-645: The Association of Help of Poles in the East Kresy (see also Karta Polaka ). Money is frequently collected to help those Poles who live in Kresy , and there are several annual events, such as "Christmas Package for a Polish Veteran in Kresy", and "Summer with Poland", sponsored by Association "Polish Community" , in which Polish children from Kresy are invited to visit Poland. Polish language handbooks and films, as well as medicines and clothes are collected and sent to Kresy . Books are most often sent to Polish schools which exist there — for example, in December 2010, University of Wrocław organized an event called "Become

8316-461: The Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after its adoption. The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and trade, though there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories – notably paper mills , leather tanneries , ironworks , glassworks and brickyards . Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers. The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in

8470-426: The Commonwealth imported wine, beer, fruit, exotic spices, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries , Pic. 5 ), furniture, fabrics as well as industrial products like steel and tools. The agricultural sector was dominated by feudalism based on the plantation system ( serfs ). Slavery was forbidden in Poland in the 15th century, and formally abolished in Lithuania in 1588, replaced by the second enserfment. Typically

8624-402: The Commonwealth of the Polish Kingdom, or the Commonwealth of Poland. Western Europeans often simplified the name to 'Poland' and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Poland, or just Poland. The terms 'Commonwealth of Poland' and 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów , Latin : Res Publica Utriusque Nationis ) were used in

8778-472: The Commonwealth was our state is a republic under the presidency of the King . Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that Rex regnat et non-gubernat ("The King reigns but [ lit. 'and'] does not govern"). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king ( Pic. 1 ). The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa , negotiated at

8932-454: The Commonwealth's influence into the Baltics . Most importantly, Poland gained the Hanseatic city of Riga on the Baltic Sea . In 1587, Sigismund Vasa – the son of John III of Sweden and Catherine Jagiellon – won the election, but his claim was overtly contested by Maximilian III of Austria , who launched a military expedition to challenge the new king. His defeat in 1588 at the hands of Jan Zamoyski sealed Sigismund's right to

9086-498: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : posłow ziemskich Korony Polskiey, y Wielkiego Xięstwa Litewskiego ) were mentioned. The English term Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and German Polen–Litauen are seen as renderings of the 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' variant. Other informal names include the 'Republic of Nobles' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita szlachecka ) and the 'First Commonwealth' ( Polish : I Rzeczpospolita ) or 'First Polish Republic' ( Polish : Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita ),

9240-408: The King of Prussia ( Prussian Poland ), to Jan Jacobsen Linde, a master locksmith and member of the city council who had immigrated from Sweden , and Anna Barbara, née Langenhann. His mother's family originated from Coburg . His second name Gottlieb has been rendered in Polish as Bogumił . Linde came from a German-speaking family but learned the Polish language in Leipzig in order to serve as

9394-490: The Kingdom of Poland; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking. Mining developed in the south-west region of Poland which was rich in natural resources such as lead , coal, copper and salt. The currency used in Poland–Lithuania was the złoty (meaning "the golden") and its subunit, the grosz . Foreign coins in the form of ducats , thalers and shillings were widely accepted and exchanged. The city of Gdańsk had

SECTION 60

#1732773227041

9548-416: The Kresy provinces were part of Poland, and both dialects were in common usage, spoken by millions of ethnic Poles. After the war and Soviet annexation of Kresy, however, the majority of ethnic Poles were deported westward, resulting in a severe decline in the number of native speakers. The northern Kresy dialect is still used along the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, where Poles still live in large numbers, but

9702-496: The Lviv Land , the Federation of Polish Organizations in Ukraine, Union of Poles in Belarus , and the Association of Poles in Lithuania . There are Polish sports clubs ( Pogoń Lwów , FK Polonia Vilnius ), newspapers ( Gazeta Lwowska , Kurier Wileński ), radio stations (in Lviv and Vilnius), many theatres, schools, choirs and folk ensembles. Poles living in Kresy are helped by a government-sponsored organization Fundacja Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie , and by other organizations, such as

9856-820: The Ossolineum, says that in 1945, there was a mass public campaign in Poland, aimed at transporting the whole Ossolineum to Wrocław. It succeeded in recovering only 200,000 volumes, as the Soviets decided that the bulk of the library had to remain in Lviv. Even though Poland lost its Eastern Borderlands in the aftermath of World War II, Poles connected with the Kresy still have some affection for those lands. Since Poles from current Western Ukraine mostly moved to Silesia . The cities of Wrocław and Gliwice are regarded as miasta lwowskie (cities of Lwów affinity), while Szczecin , Gdańsk and Olsztyn are regarded as miasta wileńskie (cities of Wilno affinity). Lwów's Ossolineum Foundation, its collections and famous library are now located in Wrocław. Polish academics from Lwów established

10010-410: The Poles to take and occupy Moscow for the next two years. The disgraced Vasili IV of Russia was transported in a cage to Warsaw where he paid a tribute to Sigismund; Vasili was later murdered in captivity. The Commonwealth forces were eventually driven out on 4 November 1612 (celebrated as Unity Day in Russia). The war concluded with a truce that granted Poland–Lithuania extensive territories in

10164-406: The Poles. Zdzisław Mach, a sociologist from the Jagiellonian University , explains that when Poles were forced to resettle in the West, which they resented, they had to leave the land they considered sacred and move to areas inhabited by the enemy. In addition, Communist authorities did not initially invest in the Recovered Territories because, like the settlers, for a long time they were unsure about

10318-753: The Polish University of Wrocław (taking over from the old German University of Breslau) and Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice . At the same time, Polish academics from Vilnius founded Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (even though Toruń belonged to Poland before the outbreak of World War II before 1939). There are numerous Kresy-oriented organizations, with the largest one, World Congress of Kresy Inhabitants ( Światowy Kongres Kresowian ), located in Bytom , and branches scattered across Poland, and abroad. The Congress organizes annual World Convention and Pilgrimage of Kresy Inhabitants to Jasna Góra Monastery . Other important Kresy organizations, active in contemporary Poland, include: Every year, in

10472-427: The Polish szlachta , but did not accept Polish demands for the incorporation of the Grand Duchy into Poland as a mere province, with no sense of autonomy. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł (Radvila Rudasis) and his cousin Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł , two prominent nobles and military commanders in Lithuania, vocally opposed the union. A fierce proponent of a single unified Commonwealth was Sigismund II Augustus , who

10626-423: The Polish Language gives a different etymology of the term. According to him, kresy meant the borderline between Poland and the Crimean Khanate , in the region of the lower Dnieper . The term kresy appeared for the first time in literature in Wincenty Pol poems, " Mohort " (1854) and " Pieśń o ziemi naszej ". Pol claimed that Kresy was the line between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers, neighbouring

10780-493: The Polish Ministry of Education runs a special program, which sends Polish teachers to the former Soviet Union. In 2007, more than 700 teachers worked in the East, most of them in Kresy . Studio East of Polish TV Wrocław organizes an event called "Save your grandfather's tomb from oblivion" ( Mogiłę pradziada ocal od zapomnienia ), during which students from Lower Silesia visit Western Ukraine, to clean Polish cemeteries there. In July 2011, about 150 students cleaned 16 cemeteries in

10934-429: The Polish language invocation, "O Lithuania, my fatherland, thou art like good health...." Other notable works located in Kresy , are Nad Niemnem , Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass , With Fire and Sword , Fire in the Steppe . In Communist Poland, all Kresy -related topics, such as Poland's eastern centuries old heritage, including ecclesiastical architecture, country houses and stately homes down to

11088-409: The Russian Empire through the annexation of Polish-Lithuanian territory substantially increased the new "Russian" Jewish population. Kresy and the superimposed Pale, in the former Polish and Lithuanian territories, had a Jewish population of over five million, and represented the largest community (40%) of the world Jewish population at that time. From the Polish perspective, the lands came to be called

11242-480: The Russian authorities resorted to intensified persecution, confiscations of property and land, penal deportation to Siberia , and the systematic attempt at Russification of Poles and their traditional culture and institutions. From the Russian perspective the "Pale of Settlement" included all of Belarus , Lithuania and Moldova , much of present-day Ukraine , parts of eastern Latvia , eastern Poland , and some parts of western Russia , generally corresponding to

11396-834: The Soviet Union (see also Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union ). After the German invasion of the USSR, the southeastern part of Kresy was absorbed into Greater Germany 's General Government , whereas the rest was integrated with the Reichskommissariats Ostland and Ukraine . In 1943–1944, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army , with the help of Ukrainian peasants, carried out mass exterminations of Poles living in southeastern Kresy (see Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia ). In January 1944, Soviet troops had reached

11550-592: The Soviet republics of Ukraine , Belarus and Lithuania , often by means of terror. Soviet territorial annexations during World War II were later ratified by the Allies at the Conferences of Tehran , Yalta and Potsdam and most of Poles here were expelled after the end of World War II in Europe . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was no change to the post-World War II borders. Despite

11704-734: The Swedish parliament, Charles crossed into the Commonwealth and vanquished the Saxe-Polish forces at the Battle of Kliszów in 1702 and at the Battle of Pułtusk in 1703. Charles then succeeded in dethroning Augustus and coercing the Sejm (parliament) to replace him with Stanisław in 1704. Augustus regained the throne in 1709, but his own death in 1733 sparked the War of the Polish Succession in which Stanisław once more attempted to seize

11858-509: The Tatar borderland. Coincidentally in relation to Jewish settlement in the macro region, the notion of the pale is an archaic English term derived from the Latin word palus , (which in Polish exists as pal and also means a stake), extended in this instance to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary. At the beginning of the 20th century, the meaning of the term expanded to include

12012-582: The USSR and in the Baltic states. Polish population east of the Curzon Line before World War II can be estimated by adding together figures for Former Eastern Poland and for pre-1939 Soviet Union: Two tables below show the linguistic ( mother tongue ) and religious structure of interwar South-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of Western Ukraine ) and interwar North-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of Western Belarus and southern Lithuania) by county, according to

12166-448: The area of kresy (note: the redirected list does not include Poles born in the cities of Lwów (Lviv), and Wilno (Vilnius) - see List of Leopolitans , List of people from Vilnius ). The family of former President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski , allegedly hails from northern Lithuania. The mother of Bogdan Zdrojewski , Minister of Culture and National Heritage is from Boryslav , and the father of former First Lady Jolanta Kwaśniewska

12320-691: The areas of Lviv, Ternopil , Podolia and Pokuttya . Despite wars and ethnic cleansing many treasures of Polish culture still remain in the East. In Vilnius, there is the Wróblewski Library , with 160,000 volumes and 30,000 manuscripts, which now belong to the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences . In Lviv, there is the Ossolineum , one of the most important Polish culture centres. Adolf Juzwenko, current president of Wrocław's office of

12474-618: The army and fiercely defended the Commonwealth's eastern borders. Under the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf , he reclaimed regions of Livonia and the Baltics which were lost during the Polish-Swedish wars. Unlike his father who worshipped the Habsburgs, Władysław sought closer ties with France and married Marie Louise Gonzaga , daughter of Charles I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua , in 1646. The Commonwealth's power and stability began waning after

12628-463: The ascendance of the szlachta noble class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as

12782-480: The assembly in protest. Sigismund II used his authority as grand duke and enforced the Act of Union in contumaciam . In fear, the absent nobles promptly returned to the negotiations. The Union of Lublin was passed by the gathered deputies and signed by attendees on 1 July, thus creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sigismund's death in 1572 was followed by an interregnum during which adjustments were made to

12936-542: The conservative magnates and Pope Innocent XII , who in turn voiced their endorsement. Imperial Russia and Habsburg Austria also contributed by financing Frederick, whose election took place in June 1697. Many questioned the legality of his elevation to the throne; it was speculated that the Prince of Conti had received more votes and was the rightful heir. Frederick hurried with his armies to Poland to quell any opposition. He

13090-455: The constitution as the "contagion of democratic ideas". Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion. Prussian minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg called the constitution "a blow to the Prussian monarchy", fearing that a strengthened Poland would once again dominate Prussia. In the end, the 3 May Constitution was never fully implemented, and

13244-408: The constitutional system; these adjustments significantly increased the power of the Polish nobility and established a truly elective monarchy . On 11 May 1573, Henry de Valois , son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici , was proclaimed King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in the first royal election outside Warsaw . Approximately 40,000 nobles cast a vote in what was to become

13398-584: The country's affairs. Upon the death of a king, several royal houses actively intruded in the hope of securing votes for their desired candidates. The practice was common and apparent, and the selection was often the result of hefty bribes directed at corrupt nobles. Louis XIV of France heavily invested in François Louis, Prince of Conti , in opposition to James Louis Sobieski , Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria and Frederick Augustus of Saxony . The latter's conversion from Lutheranism to Catholicism awed

13552-540: The country. Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the 3 May Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European power. Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence and declared the Polish constitution Jacobinical . Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the Targowica Confederation , referring to

13706-542: The crown, this time with the support of France. The Pacification Sejm culminated in Augustus III succeeding his father. The relative peace and inactivity that followed only weakened Poland's reputation on the world stage. Aleksander Brückner noted that Polish customs and traditions were abandoned in favour of everything foreign, and neighbouring states continued to exploit Poland to their advantage. Moreover, Western Europe's increasing exploitation of resources in

13860-472: The dominant form of architectural and cultural expression. Politically, however, the vast Commonwealth was in steady decline and by 1768, it started to be considered by Russians as a protectorate of the Russian Empire despite the fact that it was still an independent state. A majority of control over Poland was central to Catherine's diplomatic and military strategies. Attempts at reform, such as

14014-401: The dominant partner in the union. Polonization of nobles was generally voluntary, but state efforts at religious conversion were sometimes resisted. After a long period of prosperity, the Commonwealth entered a period of protracted political, military, and economic decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbours, Austria , Prussia , and Russia , during

14168-458: The east and marked its largest territorial expansion. At least five million Russians died between 1598 and 1613, the result of continuous conflict, famine and Sigismund's invasion. The Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21) forced Poland to withdraw from Moldavia in southeastern Europe, but Sigismund's victory over the Turks at Khotyn diminished the supremacy of the Sultanate and eventually led to

14322-498: The end of the Jagiellonian dynasty and introduced an elective monarchy , whereupon members of domestic noble families or external dynasties were elected to the throne for life. The Commonwealth's parliamentary system of government and elective monarchy , called the Golden Liberty , was an early example of constitutional monarchy . The General Sejm , the bicameral Parliament , held legislative power; its lower house

14476-502: The erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution: These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors, which had been content to leave the Commonwealth alone as a weak buffer state, but reacted strongly to attempts by king Stanisław August Poniatowski and other reformers to strengthen

14630-543: The former Polish–Soviet border, and by the end of July 1944, they again re-annexed the whole territory that had been taken by the USSR in September 1939 into their control. During the Tehran Conference in 1943, a new Soviet-Polish border was established, in effect sanctioning most of the Soviet territorial acquisitions of September 1939 (except for some areas around Białystok and Przemyśl), ignoring protests from

14784-527: The former provinces of the Eastern Borderlands no longer being part of Poland, a Polish minority remains. The Polish word kresy ("borderlands") is the plural form of the word kres meaning 'edge'. According to Zbigniew Gołąb , it is "a medieval borrowing from the German word Kreis ", which in the Middle Ages meant Kreislinie, Umkreis, Landeskreis ("borderline, delineation or circumscribed territory"). Samuel Linde in his Dictionary of

14938-495: The future of these lands. As Mach says, people in Western Poland for years lived "on their suitcases", with all their belongings packed in case of return to the East. The population of Kresy was multi-ethnic, primarily comprising Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and Belarusians. According to official Polish statistics from the interwar period, Poles formed the largest linguistic group in these regions, and were demographically

15092-681: The history and present times of the Eastern Borderlands. Every Sunday, Polish Radio Katowice broadcasts a program based on famous prewar Lwów's Merry Wave , every Tuesday, Polish Radio Rzeszów broadcasts a program Kresy Landscapes . In Wrocław, the Association of Remembrance of Victims of Ukrainian Nationalists publishes Na Rubieży ( On the Border ) magazine. Among best known Kresy activists of contemporary Poland are Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski , and Dr. Tadeusz Kukiz, father of popular singer Paweł Kukiz . Since 2007, annual medals Heritage of Eastern Borderlands are awarded in Wrocław. The 2011 recipient

15246-605: The homogenously Christian Orthodox core of the Russian Empire, such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg . The Pale was established after the Second Partition of Poland and lasted until the Russian Revolution in 1917, when the Russian Empire ceased to exist. In the aftermath of the Polish wars against Ukraine , Lithuania and Soviet Russia , the latter of which was ended by the Treaty of Riga, large parts of

15400-554: The immediate postwar period, Polish Communists, who ceded the Eastern Borderlands to the Soviet Union, were universally regarded as traitors, and Władysław Gomułka , First Secretary of the Polish Workers' Party, was fully aware of it. People who moved from the East to the Recovered Territories talked amongst themselves about their return to Lwów and other eastern locations, and the German return to Silesia , as

15554-547: The immediate postwar period, one-third of Polish settlers were either people from Kresy or Sybiraks . In 1948, people born in the Eastern Borderlands made up 47.5% of the population of Opole , 44.7% of Baborów , 47.5% of Wołczyn , 42.1% of Głubczyce , 40.1% of Lewin Brzeski , and 32.6% of Brzeg . In 2011, people with Kresy background made up 25% of the population of the Opole Voivodeship . The town of Jasień

15708-478: The indigenous upper classes of Kresy accepted Polish religion, culture and language, resulting in their assimilation and Polonization . The year 1772 marked the first partition of the Commonwealth of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (see Partitions of Poland ). By 1795, the whole eastern half of the state had been annexed by the Russian Empire in concert with the Habsburgs and Prussia 's Hohenzollerns . The dramatic westward expansion of

15862-404: The introduction of Catholicism . After the Union of Lublin 1569, more Polish settlers moved into the eastern borderlands of the vast Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Most of them came from the Polish provinces of Mazovia and Lesser Poland . They had moved gradually eastwards settling in sparsely populated areas, inhabited by earlier inhabitants such as Lithuanians and Ruthenians . Moreover,

16016-460: The king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators . The Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the " Golden Liberty " ( Latin : Aurea Libertas or Polish : Złota Wolność ,

16170-498: The lands of the former eastern provinces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , east of the Lwów – Wilno line. In the Second Polish Republic, Kresy equated to historically Polish settled lands to the east of the notional Curzon line . Currently, the term applies to all the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic that are no longer within the frontiers of modern Poland, together with lands further east, that had been integral to

16324-590: The largest ethnic group in the cities. Other national minorities included Lithuanians and Karaites (in the north), Jews (scattered in cities and towns across the area), Czechs and Germans (in Volhynia and East Galicia), Armenians and Hungarians (in Lviv) and also Russians and Tatars . The proportions of different native languages in each voivodeship in 1931, according to the Polish census of 1931 , were as follows: In addition to ethnic Poles in former eastern Poland, there were also large Polish communities in

16478-729: The late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a major reform effort and enacted the 3 May Constitution , which was the first codified constitution in modern European history and the second in modern world history after the United States Constitution . The official name of the state was the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie , Lithuanian : Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė , Latin : Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae ). The Latin term

16632-669: The late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet authorities created two Polish National Districts in Belarus and Ukraine, but during the Polish Operation of the NKVD , most of the Poles in those areas were murdered, while those remaining were forcibly resettled in Kazakhstan (see also Poles in the Soviet Union ). As a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , on 17 September 1939, the Kresy territories were annexed by

16786-572: The latter relatively common in historiography to distinguish it from the Second Polish Republic . In Lithuania, the state is referred to as 'Republic of Both Nations' ( Lithuanian : Abiejų Tautų Respublika ). The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances across the 13th and 14th centuries. The relations between the two states differed at times as each strived and competed for political, economic or military dominance of

16940-739: The major cities of Lviv , Vilnius , and Grodno no longer in Poland. During the Second Polish Republic, the Eastern Borderlands denoted the lands beyond the Curzon Line proposed after World War I in December 1919 by the British Foreign Office as the eastern border of the re-emerging sovereign Polish Republic, after over a century of partition. In September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland and follow-up invasion by Soviet Union, in accordance with Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact all Eastern Borderlands territories were incorporated into

17094-538: The murder of Osman II . This secured the Turkish frontier for the duration of Sigismund's rule. In spite of the victories in the Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) , the exhausted Commonwealth army signed the Treaty of Altmark which ceded much of Livonia to Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus . At the same time, the country's powerful parliament was dominated by nobles ( Pic. 2 ) who were reluctant to get involved in

17248-544: The new monarch. The nobles simultaneously elected Stephen Báthory as co-regent, who ruled jure uxoris . Báthory's election proved controversial – Lithuania and Ducal Prussia initially refused to recognise the Transylvanian as their ruler. Piotr Zborowski supported Bathory as he wanted to promote a princely or ducal candidate. He also endorsed the Duke of Ferrara . The wealthy port city of Gdańsk (Danzig) staged

17402-800: The newly established Königlich-Preußisches Lyzäum in Warsaw, the later Warsaw Lyceum (1804–31). Linde hired Frédéric Chopin 's father, Nicolas Chopin , as a teacher of French language . The composer himself studied at the Lyceum in 1823–26. Linde was a Lutheran and he was instrumental in establishing the Lutheran community in Warsaw. He is buried at the Evangelical Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw . Linde married Ludwika Nussbaum, originally from Switzerland. Their daughter Ludwika Emilia Izabela married Leopold Otto ,

17556-518: The nobility remained apprehensive believing that William would not secure domestic interests. Instead, they turned to Jogaila , the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jogaila was a lifelong pagan and vowed to adopt Catholicism upon marriage by signing the Union of Krewo on 14 August 1385. The Act imposed Christianity in Lithuania and transformed Poland into a diarchy , a kingdom ruled over by two sovereigns; their descendants and successive monarchs held

17710-616: The population of Opole Voivodeship , 25% of the population of West Pomeranian Voivodeship , and 18% of the population of Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship . Since Poles have lived in Kresy for hundreds of years, two groups of Kresy Polish dialects emerged: the northern ( dialekt północnokresowy ), and the southern ( dialekt południowokresowy ). Both dialects have been influenced either by Ukrainian , Belarusian or by Lithuanian . To Polish speakers in Poland, Kresy dialects are easy to distinguish, as their pronunciation and intonation are markedly different from standard Polish. Before World War II,

17864-426: The population of Poland (4,3 - 4,6 million people) declared that they either were born in the Kresy, or have a parent or a grandparent from that region. The number of Kresowiacy is high in northern and western Poland – as many as 51% of inhabitants of Lubusz Voivodeship , and 47% of inhabitants of Lower Silesian Voivodeship stated that their family has ties to the Kresy. Furthermore, Kresowiacy now make 30% of

18018-488: The prewar era. Examples of such publications include: In the first half of 2011, Rzeczpospolita daily published a series called "The Book of Eastern Borderlands" ( Księga kresów wschodnich ). The July 2012 issue of the Uważam Rze Historia magazine was dedicated to the Eastern Borderlands and their importance in Polish history and culture. The territory known to Poles as Kresy is now partitioned off between

18172-442: The privilege of minting its own coinage. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko began issuing the first Polish banknotes. The country played a significant role in the supply of Western Europe by the export of grain (rye), cattle (oxen), furs, timber, linen , cannabis , ash , tar , carminic acid and amber . Cereals, cattle and fur amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to European markets by overland and maritime trade in

18326-552: The refurbishment of the Warsaw Royal Castle into a modern palatial residence. Countless landmarks and monuments in the city bear a name referencing the Saxon kings, notably Saxon Garden , Saxon Axis and the former Saxon Palace . The period saw the development of urban planning, street allocation, hospitals, schools ( Collegium Nobilium ), public parks and libraries ( Załuski Library ). First manufactories producing on

18480-449: The region. In turn, Poland had remained a staunch ally of its southern neighbour, Hungary . The last Polish monarch from the native Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great , died on 5 November 1370 without fathering a legitimate male heir. Consequently, the crown passed onto his Hungarian nephew, Louis of Anjou , who ruled the Kingdom of Hungary in a personal union with Poland . A fundamental step in developing extensive ties with Lithuania

18634-460: The resurgence of the Polish nation-state and the formation of new borders. At that time, Poland had fought three wars to establish its eastern frontier: with Ukraine , Lithuania and Soviet Russia . In all three conflicts, Poland made territorial conquests, and as a result, it seized territories east of the Curzon line that were previously conquered by Russia, in addition to the land formerly part of

18788-567: The river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Grodno become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy. Urban population of the Commonwealth was low compared to Western Europe. Exact numbers depend on calculation methods. According to one source,

18942-481: The southern Kresy dialect is endangered, as Poles in western Ukraine do not form a majority of the population in any district. Particularly notable among the Kresy dialects is the Lwów dialect which emerged early in the 19th century and was spoken in the city gaining much recognition in the 1920s and 1930s, partly due to the countrywide popularity of numerous Kresy-born and trained actors and comedians whose native speech it

19096-511: The states of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. Ethnic Poles still live in those areas: in Lithuania, they are the largest ethnic minority in the country (see Poles in Lithuania ), in Belarus, they are the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians (see Poles in Belarus ), and in Ukraine, they officially number 144,130, but some Polish organizations claim that the number of Poles in Ukraine may be as many as 2 million, most of them assimilated. (see Poles in Ukraine ). Furthermore, there

19250-549: The story of two quarreling families, who after the end of the Second World War were resettled from current Western Ukraine to Lower Silesia, after Poland was shifted westwards. After the collapse of the Communist system, the old Kresy returned as a Polish cultural theme in the form of historical polemics. Numerous books and albums were published about the Eastern Borderlands, frequently with original photos from

19404-465: The strictures - historians argue that the motivations for its creation and maintenance were primarily economic and nationalistic in nature. The Russian Empire had abandoned Kresy to decline as a vast rural backwater after the original Polish–Lithuanian landowners had been disposed of in the wake of insurrections and the Abolition of serfdom in Poland in 1864. The devastation of country estates put

19558-779: The throne of Poland and Sweden. Sigismund's long reign marked an end to the Polish Golden Age and the beginning of the Silver Age. A devout Catholic, he hoped to restore absolutism and imposed Roman Catholicism during the height of the Counter-Reformation . His intolerance towards the Protestants in Sweden sparked a war of independence , which ended the Polish–Swedish union . As a consequence, he

19712-573: The throne, Henry signed the contractual agreement known as the Pacta conventa and approbated the Henrician Articles . The Act stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In June 1574, Henry abandoned Poland and headed back to claim the French crown following the death of his brother and predecessor, Charles IX . The throne

19866-490: The time of his election. The monarch's power was limited in favour of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance ). Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point onwards,

20020-468: The titles of king and grand duke respectively. The ultimate clause dictated that Lithuania was to be merged in perpetuity ( perpetuo applicare ) with the Polish Kingdom; however, this did not take effect until 1569. Jogaila was crowned as Władysław II Jagiełło at Wawel Cathedral on 4 March 1386. Several minor agreements were struck before unification, notably the Union of Kraków and Vilnius ,

20174-512: The urban population of the Commonwealth was about 20% of the total in the 17th century, compared to approximately 50% in the Netherlands and Italy ( Pic. 7 ). Another source suggests much lower figures: 4–8% urban population in Poland, 34–39% in the Netherlands and 22–23% in Italy. The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the nobles' privileged position when compared to

20328-400: The war. They were relatively closer to the new eastern border of Poland, which could become significant in case of a sudden hoped for a return to the East. Frequently, whole Kresy villages and towns were deported in a single rail transport to new locations in the west. For instance, the village of Biała, near Chojnów , is still divided into two parts: Lower Biała and Upper Biała. Lower Biała

20482-425: The wars, and the Commonwealth proved unable to improve its transport infrastructure or its agricultural practices. Serfs in the region were increasingly tempted to flee. The Commonwealth's major attempts at countering this problem and improving productivity consisted of increasing serfs' workload and further restricting their freedoms in a process known as export-led serfdom. The owner of a folwark usually signed

20636-536: The years following, Polish settlers, nobles, Catholics and Jews became the victims of retaliation massacres instigated by the Cossacks in their dominions. The other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655, known as the Deluge , which was supported by troops of Transylvanian Duke George II Rákóczi and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg . Under the Treaty of Bromberg in 1657, Catholic Poland

20790-509: Was (see also: Dialects of the Polish language ). Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic , was a federative real union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , existing from 1569 to 1795. This state

20944-538: Was a linguist , librarian , and lexicographer of the Polish language . He was director of the Prussian-founded Warsaw Lyceum during its existence (1804–31), and an important figure of the Polish Enlightenment . Samuel Gottlieb Linde was born in Toruń, Crown of Poland , which 22 years later, after his birth, as a result of the Second Partition of Poland , became a city under the rule of

21098-475: Was a succession crisis arising in the 1380s. Louis died on 10 September 1382 and, like his uncle, did not produce a son to succeed him. His two daughters, Mary and Jadwiga (Hedwig), held claims to the vast dual realm. The Polish lords rejected Mary in favour of her younger sister Jadwiga, partly due to Mary's association with Sigismund of Luxembourg . The future queen regnant was betrothed to young William Habsburg, Duke of Austria , but certain factions of

21252-511: Was also a major Polish community with 21% ethnic Polish inhabitants. Despite the expulsion of most of ethnic Poles from the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1958, the Soviet census of 1959 still counted around 1.5 million ethnic Poles remaining in the USSR: According to a more recent census, there were about 295,000 Poles in Belarus in 2009 (3.1% of the Belarus population). A number of influential figures in Polish history were born in

21406-416: Was among the largest and most populated countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its peak in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth spanned nearly 1,000,000 km (390,000 sq mi) and supported a multi-ethnic population of approximately 12 million as of 1618. The official languages of the Commonwealth were Polish and Latin , with Catholicism as the state religion. The Commonwealth

21560-578: Was born in Wołyń , where his sister was murdered in 1943 by the Ukrainian nationalists. Since some of the most distinguished names of Polish literature and music were born in Kresy , e.g. Mikołaj Rej , Adam Mickiewicz , Juliusz Słowacki , Karol Szymanowski or Czesław Miłosz , Eastern Borderlands have featured repeatedly in the Polish Literary canon . Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz begins with

21714-419: Was childless and ailing. According to historians, it was his active involvement which hastened the process and made the union possible. A parliament ( sejm ) convened on 10 January 1569 in the city of Lublin , attended by envoys from both nations. It was agreed that the merger will take place the same year and both parliaments will be fused into a joint assembly. No independent parliamentary convocation or diet

21868-481: Was crowned as Augustus II in September and Conti's brief military engagement near Gdańsk in November of the same year proved fruitless. The House of Wettin ruled Poland–Lithuania and Saxony simultaneously, dividing power between the two states. In spite of his controversial means of attaining power, Augustus II lavishly spent on the arts and left an extensive cultural and architectural ( Baroque ) legacy in both countries. In Poland, he expanded Wilanów and facilitated

22022-422: Was deposed in Sweden by his uncle Charles IX Vasa . In Poland, the Zebrzydowski rebellion was brutally suppressed. Sigismund III then initiated a policy of expansionism , and invaded Russia in 1609 when that country was plagued by a civil war known as the Time of Troubles . In July 1610, the outnumbered Polish force comprising winged hussars defeated the Russians at the Battle of Klushino , which enabled

22176-451: Was elected by all szlachta (some 15% of the population). The king and his government were bound by a constitutional statute, the Henrician Articles , which tightly circumscribed royal authority. The country also exhibited unusual levels of ethnic diversity and great religious tolerance by European standards, guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act of 1573 , though the practical degree of religious freedom varied. Poland acted as

22330-413: Was emeritus Archbishop of Wrocław , Henryk Gulbinowicz . Participants of annual Katyń Motorcycle Raid ( Motocyklowy Rajd Katyński ) always visit Polish centers in Kresy , giving presents to children, and meeting local Poles. The program of 2011 Days of Kresy Culture (October 22–23) in Brzeg covered such events, as: Kresy themed cabaret, promotion of Kresy books, Eastern Borderlands cuisine, mass in

22484-404: Was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa , whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as the Deluge (1655), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline. The Zebrzydowski Rebellion (1606–1607) marked

22638-485: Was established as a single entity by the Union of Lublin on 1 July 1569. The two nations had previously been in a personal union since the Krewo Agreement of 1385 and the subsequent marriage of Queen Jadwiga of Poland to Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania , who was crowned jure uxoris King of Poland. Their descendant, Sigismund II Augustus , enforced the merger to strengthen frontiers of his dominion and maintain unity as he remained childless. His death in 1572 marked

22792-411: Was forced to renounce its suzerainty over Protestant Prussia ; in 1701 the once-insignificant duchy was transformed into the Kingdom of Prussia , which became a major European power in the 18th century and proved to be Poland's most enduring foe. In the late 17th century, the king of the weakened Commonwealth, John III Sobieski , allied with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to deal crushing defeats to

22946-402: Was henceforth permitted. Subjects of the Polish Crown were no longer restricted in purchasing land on Lithuanian territory and a single currency was established. Whilst the military remained separate, a unified foreign policy meant that Lithuanian troops were obliged to contribute during a conflict not to their advantage. As a result, several Lithuanian magnates deplored the accords and left

23100-456: Was settled by people from the area of Ternopil in late 1945 and early 1946, while Poles from Borschiv moved to Trzcińsko-Zdrój and Chojna . The situation was completely different in Wschowa and its county. In 1945–1948, more than 8,000 people moved there. They came from different areas of the Kresy — Ashmyany , Stanislawow , Równe , Lwów , Brody , Dzyatlava District , and Ternopil . Altogether, between 1944 and 1946, more than

23254-409: Was settled by people who used to live in a Bieszczady village of Polana near Ustrzyki Dolne (this area belonged to the Soviet Union until 1951: see 1951 Polish–Soviet territorial exchange ), while inhabitants of the village Pyszkowce near Buczacz moved to Upper Biała. Every year in September, Biała is the scene of an annual festival called Kresowiana . In Szczecin and Polish West Pomerania , in

23408-598: Was situated in the heart of Europe and attracted foreign merchants or settlers. Countless goods and cultural artefacts continued to pass from one region to another via the Commonwealth, particularly that the country was a link between the Middle East , the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. For instance, Isfahan rugs imported from Persia to the Commonwealth were incorrectly known as "Polish rugs" (French: Polonaise ) in Western Europe. Samuel Linde Samuel Gottlieb Linde (polonised Samuel Bogumił Linde ; 11 or 24 April 1771, in Toruń – 8 August 1847, in Warsaw )

23562-430: Was subsequently declared vacant. The interregnum concluded on 12 December 1575 when primate Jakub Uchański declared Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor , as the next king. The decision was condemned by the anti-Habsburg coalition, which demanded a "native" candidate, known as "Piasts". As a compromise, on 13 December 1575 Anna Jagiellon – sister of Sigismund Augustus and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty – became

23716-487: Was usually employed in international treaties and diplomacy. By concluding the 1569 Union of Lublin the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained a separate state from the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland with its own name, laws, and territory. The name 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów ) came into force during the reign of Stephen Báthory (since 1582, and was officially used until 1795). On 28 January 1588, Sigismund III Vasa has confirmed

#40959