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109-1093: Coordinates : 53°1′N 17°45′E / 53.017°N 17.750°E / 53.017; 17.750 World War II Nazi prisoner-of-war camp Oflag XXI-B Szubin , German-occupied Poland [REDACTED] Memorial to the prisoners and victims of the German POW camps in Szubin [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Oflag XXI-B Coordinates 53°1′N 17°45′E / 53.017°N 17.750°E / 53.017; 17.750 Type Prisoner-of-war camp Site information Controlled by [REDACTED] Nazi Germany Site history In use 1940–1943 Garrison information Occupants Polish, French, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, American, and other Allied officers Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin
218-501: A Fellowship of the Royal Society . In 1791, Great Sejm parliament adopted the 3 May Constitution , the first set of supreme national laws, and introduced a constitutional monarchy . The Targowica Confederation , an organisation of nobles and deputies opposing the act, appealed to Catherine and caused the 1792 Polish–Russian War . Fearing the reemergence of Polish hegemony, Russia and Prussia arranged and in 1793 executed,
327-543: A prime meridian at the westernmost known land, designated the Fortunate Isles , off the coast of western Africa around the Canary or Cape Verde Islands , and measured north or south of the island of Rhodes off Asia Minor . Ptolemy credited him with the full adoption of longitude and latitude, rather than measuring latitude in terms of the length of the midsummer day. Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography used
436-695: A coastline spanning 770 km (480 mi); extending from the shores of the Baltic Sea, along the Bay of Pomerania in the west to the Gulf of Gdańsk in the east. The beach coastline is abundant in sand dune fields or coastal ridges and is indented by spits and lagoons, notably the Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Lagoon , which is shared with Russia. The largest Polish island on the Baltic Sea
545-533: A few miles southwest of Bydgoszcz , Poland , which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany . Timeline [ edit ] [REDACTED] Former Polish boys' school, occupied by the Stalag XXI-B, Oflag XXI-B and Oflag 64 POW camps during the German occupation of Poland September 1939 – The Germans established a camp for arrested Polish civilians, mostly the intelligentsia , arrested as part of
654-552: A leading power and a major cultural entity, exercising political control over parts of Central, Eastern , Southeastern and Northern Europe. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied approximately 1 million km (390,000 sq mi) at its peak and was the largest state in Europe. Simultaneously, Poland imposed Polonisation policies in newly acquired territories which were met with resistance from ethnic and religious minorities. In 1573, Henry de Valois of France ,
763-667: A legendary ruler of the Lechites , or from the Lendians , a West Slavic tribe that dwelt on the south-easternmost edge of Lesser Poland . The origin of the tribe's name lies in the Old Polish word lęda (plain). Initially, both names Lechia and Polonia were used interchangeably when referring to Poland by chroniclers during the Middle Ages . The first Stone Age archaic humans and Homo erectus species settled what
872-679: A little before 1300; the text was translated into Latin at Florence by Jacopo d'Angelo around 1407. In 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference , attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich , England as the zero-reference line. The Dominican Republic voted against
981-416: A location often facetiously called Null Island . In order to use the theoretical definitions of latitude, longitude, and height to precisely measure actual locations on the physical earth, a geodetic datum must be used. A horizonal datum is used to precisely measure latitude and longitude, while a vertical datum is used to measure elevation or altitude. Both types of datum bind a mathematical model of
1090-538: A longitudinal degree is 111.3 km. At 30° a longitudinal second is 26.76 m, at Greenwich (51°28′38″N) 19.22 m, and at 60° it is 15.42 m. On the WGS 84 spheroid, the length in meters of a degree of latitude at latitude ϕ (that is, the number of meters you would have to travel along a north–south line to move 1 degree in latitude, when at latitude ϕ ), is about The returned measure of meters per degree latitude varies continuously with latitude. Similarly,
1199-700: A national cartographical organization include the North American Datum , the European ED50 , and the British OSGB36 . Given a location, the datum provides the latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } and longitude λ {\displaystyle \lambda } . In the United Kingdom there are three common latitude, longitude, and height systems in use. WGS 84 differs at Greenwich from
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#17327797044871308-666: A new provisional pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish government-in-exile based in London. This action angered many Poles who considered it a betrayal by the Allies. In 1944, Stalin had made guarantees to Churchill and Roosevelt that he would maintain Poland's sovereignty and allow democratic elections to take place. However, upon achieving victory in 1945,
1417-565: A political force. Despite persecution and imposition of martial law in 1981 by General Wojciech Jaruzelski , it eroded the dominance of the Polish United Workers' Party and by 1989 had triumphed in Poland's first partially free and democratic parliamentary elections since the end of the Second World War. Lech Wałęsa , a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990 . The Solidarity movement heralded
1526-752: A rival Habsburg electoral candidate, Archduke Maximilian III , in the War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588) . In 1592, Sigismund succeeded his father and John Vasa , in Sweden . The Polish-Swedish union endured until 1599, when he was deposed by the Swedes. In 1609, Sigismund invaded Russia which was engulfed in a civil war , and a year later the Polish winged hussar units under Stanisław Żółkiewski occupied Moscow for two years after defeating
1635-872: A simple translation may be sufficient. Datums may be global, meaning that they represent the whole Earth, or they may be local, meaning that they represent an ellipsoid best-fit to only a portion of the Earth. Examples of global datums include World Geodetic System (WGS 84, also known as EPSG:4326 ), the default datum used for the Global Positioning System , and the International Terrestrial Reference System and Frame (ITRF), used for estimating continental drift and crustal deformation . The distance to Earth's center can be used both for very deep positions and for positions in space. Local datums chosen by
1744-876: A tribal federation and later a centralised monarchical state. Poland began to form into a recognisable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty . In 966, ruler of the Polans Mieszko I accepted Christianity under the auspices of the Roman Church with the Baptism of Poland . In 968, a missionary bishopric was established in Poznań . An incipit titled Dagome iudex first defined Poland's geographical boundaries with its capital in Gniezno and affirmed that its monarchy
1853-499: A tunnel occurs - 35 men escape, albeit none are successful in reaching neutral territory. April 1943 – The camp is cleared of all POWs - all being sent to the enlarged Stalag Luft III . The camp was later re-opened and re-numbered Oflag 64 for American officers only. Notable prisoners [ edit ] William Ash – American serving in RCAF, escapee and future author Anthony Barber – RAF pilot and future Chancellor of
1962-503: A year, or 10 m in a century. A weather system high-pressure area can cause a sinking of 5 mm . Scandinavia is rising by 1 cm a year as a result of the melting of the ice sheets of the last ice age , but neighboring Scotland is rising by only 0.2 cm . These changes are insignificant if a local datum is used, but are statistically significant if a global datum is used. On the GRS 80 or WGS 84 spheroid at sea level at
2071-586: Is where Earth's equatorial radius a {\displaystyle a} equals 6,378,137 m and tan β = b a tan ϕ {\displaystyle \textstyle {\tan \beta ={\frac {b}{a}}\tan \phi }\,\!} ; for the GRS 80 and WGS 84 spheroids, b a = 0.99664719 {\textstyle {\tfrac {b}{a}}=0.99664719} . ( β {\displaystyle \textstyle {\beta }\,\!}
2180-665: Is Warsaw ; other major cities include Kraków , Wrocław , Łódź , Poznań , and Gdańsk . Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic , with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Glacial Period . Culturally diverse throughout late antiquity , in the early medieval period the region became inhabited by the West Slavic tribal Polans , who gave Poland its name . The process of establishing statehood coincided with
2289-847: Is Wolin , located within Wolin National Park . Poland also shares the Szczecin Lagoon and the Usedom island with Germany. The mountainous belt in the extreme south of Poland is divided into two major mountain ranges ; the Sudetes in the west and the Carpathians in the east. The highest part of the Carpathian massif are the Tatra Mountains , extending along Poland's southern border. Poland's highest point
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#17327797044872398-418: Is a spherical or geodetic coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on Earth as latitude and longitude . It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various spatial reference systems that are in use, and forms the basis for most others. Although latitude and longitude form a coordinate tuple like a cartesian coordinate system , the geographic coordinate system
2507-790: Is a founding member state of the United Nations and a member of the World Trade Organization , OECD , NATO , and the European Union (including the Schengen Area ). The native Polish name for Poland is Polska . The name is derived from the Polans , a West Slavic tribe who inhabited the Warta River basin of present-day Greater Poland region (6th–8th century CE). The tribe's name stems from
2616-493: Is internal waters and 8,783 km (3,391 sq mi) is territorial sea. Topographically, the landscape of Poland is characterised by diverse landforms , water bodies and ecosystems . The central and northern region bordering the Baltic Sea lie within the flat Central European Plain , but its south is hilly and mountainous. The average elevation above the sea level is estimated at 173 metres. The country has
2725-806: Is known as the reduced (or parametric) latitude ). Aside from rounding, this is the exact distance along a parallel of latitude; getting the distance along the shortest route will be more work, but those two distances are always within 0.6 m of each other if the two points are one degree of longitude apart. Like any series of multiple-digit numbers, latitude-longitude pairs can be challenging to communicate and remember. Therefore, alternative schemes have been developed for encoding GCS coordinates into alphanumeric strings or words: These are not distinct coordinate systems, only alternative methods for expressing latitude and longitude measurements. Poland – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in
2834-544: Is not cartesian because the measurements are angles and are not on a planar surface. A full GCS specification, such as those listed in the EPSG and ISO 19111 standards, also includes a choice of geodetic datum (including an Earth ellipsoid ), as different datums will yield different latitude and longitude values for the same location. The invention of a geographic coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene , who composed his now-lost Geography at
2943-753: Is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses (often called great circles ), which converge at the North and South Poles. The meridian of the British Royal Observatory in Greenwich , in southeast London, England, is the international prime meridian , although some organizations—such as the French Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière —continue to use other meridians for internal purposes. The prime meridian determines
3052-405: Is ultimately calculated from latitude and longitude, it is crucial that they clearly state the datum on which they are based. For example, a UTM coordinate based on WGS84 will be different than a UTM coordinate based on NAD27 for the same location. Converting coordinates from one datum to another requires a datum transformation such as a Helmert transformation , although in certain situations
3161-630: The Intelligenzaktion . October 1939 – First Polish soldiers captured during the German Invasion of Poland (1939) brought to Szubin, Kriegsgefangenenlager Schubin prisoner-of-war camp for Poles established. The camp was built around a Polish boys' school by adding barracks. Polish POWs were used for the expansion of the camp. December 1939 - The Germans formally established the Stalag XXI-B2 POW camp in Szubin, and
3270-489: The Armia Krajowa ( Home Army ), fought against German occupation. It was one of the three largest resistance movements of the entire war, and encompassed a range of clandestine activities, which functioned as an underground state complete with degree-awarding universities and a court system . The resistance was loyal to the exiled government and generally resented the idea of a communist Poland; for this reason, in
3379-545: The Battle of Vienna . The Saxon era, under Augustus II and Augustus III , saw neighboring powers grow in strength at the expense of Poland. Both Saxon kings faced opposition from Stanisław Leszczyński during the Great Northern War (1700) and the War of the Polish Succession (1733) . The royal election of 1764 resulted in the elevation of Stanisław II Augustus Poniatowski to the monarchy. His candidacy
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3488-583: The Curzon Line by Stalin . The western border became the Oder-Neisse line . As a result, Poland's territory was reduced by 20%, or 77,500 square kilometres (29,900 sq mi). The shift forced the migration of millions of other people , most of whom were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and Jews. At the insistence of Joseph Stalin , the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of
3597-622: The Duke of Milan and queen consort to Sigismund I, made considerable contributions to architecture , cuisine , language and court customs at Wawel Castle . The Union of Lublin of 1569 established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , a unified federal state with an elective monarchy , but largely governed by the nobility. The latter coincided with a period of prosperity; the Polish-dominated union thereafter becoming
3706-674: The European Spring of Nations , Poles took up arms in the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 to resist Germanisation , but its failure saw duchy's status reduced to a mere province ; and subsequent integration into the German Empire in 1871. In Russia, the fall of the January Uprising (1863–1864) prompted severe political, social and cultural reprisals , followed by deportations and pogroms of
3815-595: The European Union (green) – [ Legend ] Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to
3924-590: The Grand Duke of Lithuania , thus forming the Jagiellonian dynasty and the Polish–Lithuanian union which spanned the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era . The partnership between Poles and Lithuanians brought the vast multi-ethnic Lithuanian territories into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for its inhabitants, who coexisted in one of the largest European political entities of
4033-494: The Library of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. A century later, Hipparchus of Nicaea improved on this system by determining latitude from stellar measurements rather than solar altitude and determining longitude by timings of lunar eclipses , rather than dead reckoning . In the 1st or 2nd century, Marinus of Tyre compiled an extensive gazetteer and mathematically plotted world map using coordinates measured east from
4142-734: The Proto-Slavic noun pole meaning field, which in-itself originates from the Proto-Indo-European word *pleh₂- indicating flatland. The etymology alludes to the topography of the region and the flat landscape of Greater Poland. During the Middle Ages , the Latin form Polonia was widely used throughout Europe. The country's alternative archaic name is Lechia and its root syllable remains in official use in several languages, notably Hungarian , Lithuanian , and Persian . The exonym possibly derives from either Lech ,
4251-880: The Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm were transferred from Oflag VI-B at Warburg following its temporary closure. These included airmen from Poland , Czechoslovakia and other occupied countries serving in the RAF , as well as airmen from the Allied Air Forces - RAAF , RNZAF , RCAF , SAAF , USAAF . October 1942 – More British RAF officers and NCOs arrive from Stalag Luft III to help relieve overcrowding there. November 1942 – A second batch of British RAF officers arrive from Stalag Luft III October to March 1943 - Newly captured British, American and Allied Air Force officers arrive in batches transferred from Dulag luft . March 1943 – A mass escape through
4360-477: The Second Partition , which left the country deprived of territory and incapable of independent existence. On 24 October 1795, the Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time and ceased to exist as a territorial entity. Stanisław Augustus, the last King of Poland, abdicated the throne on 25 November 1795. The Polish people rose several times against the partitioners and occupying armies. An unsuccessful attempt at defending Poland's sovereignty took place in
4469-558: The Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September. On 28 September 1939, Warsaw fell . As agreed in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , Poland was split into two zones, one occupied by Nazi Germany , the other by the Soviet Union . In 1939–1941, the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Poles. The Soviet NKVD executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war (among other incidents in the Katyn massacre ) ahead of Operation Barbarossa . German planners had in November 1939 called for "the complete destruction of all Poles" and their fate as outlined in
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4578-419: The Teutonic Knights to aid in combating the Baltic Prussians; a decision that later led to centuries of warfare with the Knights. In the first half of the 13th century, Henry I the Bearded and Henry II the Pious aimed to unite the fragmented dukedoms, but the Mongol invasion and the death of Henry II in battle hindered the unification. As a result of the devastation which followed, depopulation and
4687-454: The University of Kraków , one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Europe. Upon his death in 1370, the Piast dynasty came to an end. He was succeeded by his closest male relative, Louis of Anjou , who ruled Poland, Hungary , and Croatia in a personal union . Louis' younger daughter Jadwiga became Poland's first female monarch in 1384. In 1386, Jadwiga of Poland entered a marriage of convenience with Władysław II Jagiełło ,
4796-421: The War of the Fourth Coalition . In accordance with the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit , Napoleon proclaimed the Duchy of Warsaw , a client state ruled by his ally Frederick Augustus I of Saxony . The Poles actively aided French troops in the Napoleonic Wars , particularly those under Józef Poniatowski who became Marshal of France shortly before his death at Leipzig in 1813. In the aftermath of Napoleon's exile,
4905-459: The armistice with Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic . The Second Polish Republic reaffirmed its sovereignty after a series of military conflicts , most notably the Polish–Soviet War , when Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw . The inter-war period heralded a new era of Polish politics. Whilst Polish political activists had faced heavy censorship in
5014-472: The collapse of communist regimes and parties across Europe . A shock therapy program, initiated by Leszek Balcerowicz in the early 1990s, enabled the country to transform its Soviet-style planned economy into a market economy . As with other post-communist countries , Poland suffered temporary declines in social, economic, and living standards, but it became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels as early as 1995, although
5123-594: The first of its neighbors, initiating the fall of the Iron Curtain . Poland is a parliamentary republic with its bicameral legislature comprising the Sejm and the Senate . Considered a middle power , it is a developed market and high-income economy that is the sixth largest in the EU by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by GDP (PPP) . Poland enjoys a very high standard of living , safety, and economic freedom , as well as free university education and universal health care . The country has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 15 of which are cultural. Poland
5232-484: The 1794 Kościuszko Uprising , where a popular and distinguished general Tadeusz Kościuszko , who had several years earlier served under George Washington in the American Revolutionary War , led Polish insurgents. Despite the victory at the Battle of Racławice , his ultimate defeat ended Poland's independent existence for 123 years . In 1806, an insurrection organised by Jan Henryk Dąbrowski liberated western Poland ahead of Napoleon's advance into Prussia during
5341-424: The 1950s. Despite widespread objections, the new Polish government accepted the Soviet annexation of the pre-war eastern regions of Poland (in particular the cities of Wilno and Lwów ) and agreed to the permanent garrisoning of Red Army units on Poland's territory. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War came about as a direct result of this change in Poland's political culture. In
5450-409: The Allies, providing much of the intelligence from Europe and beyond, Polish code breakers were responsible for cracking the Enigma cipher and Polish scientists participating in the Manhattan Project were co-creators of the American atomic bomb . In the east, the Soviet-backed Polish 1st Army distinguished itself in the battles for Warsaw and Berlin . The wartime resistance movement , and
5559-441: The Brave . In 1000, at the Congress of Gniezno , Bolesław obtained the right of investiture from Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor , who assented to the creation of additional bishoprics and an archdioceses in Gniezno. Three new dioceses were subsequently established in Kraków , Kołobrzeg , and Wrocław . Also, Otto bestowed upon Bolesław royal regalia and a replica of the Holy Lance , which were later used at his coronation as
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#17327797044875668-421: The Commemoration of POW Camps in Szubin . Retrieved 8 August 2021 . ^ WO208/3296 Official Camp History Chapter I ^ WO208/3296 Official Camp History Chapter II Para 24 ^ "Josef Bryks" . Free Czechoslovak Air Force. 20 February 2011 . Retrieved 27 October 2017 . Sources [ edit ] Chew, JD. "Letters Home" . Prisoner of War (1939–1945) . Archived from
5777-469: The Duchy of Warsaw was abolished at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and its territory was divided into Russian Congress Kingdom of Poland , the Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen , and Austrian Galicia with the Free City of Kraków . In 1830, non-commissioned officers at Warsaw's Officer Cadet School rebelled in what was the November Uprising . After its collapse, Congress Poland lost its constitutional autonomy , army and legislative assembly. During
5886-403: The Equator, one latitudinal second measures 30.715 m , one latitudinal minute is 1843 m and one latitudinal degree is 110.6 km. The circles of longitude, meridians, meet at the geographical poles, with the west–east width of a second naturally decreasing as latitude increases. On the Equator at sea level, one longitudinal second measures 30.92 m, a longitudinal minute is 1855 m and
5995-400: The European Union were dismantled, allowing for full freedom of movement within most of the European Union. On 10 April 2010, the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński , along with 89 other high-ranking Polish officials died in a plane crash near Smolensk , Russia. In 2011, the ruling Civic Platform won parliamentary elections . In 2014, the Prime Minister of Poland , Donald Tusk ,
6104-543: The European scene, it came to characterise the full-fledged integration of Poland into the brotherhood of communist nations. The new communist government took control with the adoption of the Small Constitution on 19 February 1947. The Polish People's Republic ( Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa ) was officially proclaimed in 1952 . In 1956, after the death of Bolesław Bierut , the régime of Władysław Gomułka became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Collectivisation in
6213-449: The Exchequer Per Bergsland – Norwegian pilot serving in RAF and Great Escape Josef Bryks – Czechoslovak RAFVR fighter pilot and serial escaper (1942 – March 1943). Jimmy Buckley RN – Fleet Air Arm Pilot and escapee Flight Lieutenant CC Cheshire – RAF Pilot and brother of Leonard Cheshire VC Aidan Crawley – RAF Officer and future author, journalist and MP Wing Commander Harry Day , Great Escape survivor, who
6322-438: The French. Stalag XXI-B and Oflag XXI-B co-existed next to each other for three months. December 1940 – Stalag XXI-B was relocated to the nearby village of Tur . Polish officers, previously held together with enlisted men in other camps, were moved to Oflag XXI-B. 1941/1942 – All French officers had been transferred elsewhere prior to the arrival of British officer POWs. September 1942 – British and Commonwealth officers of
6431-405: The German occupation of Poland , including between 50,000 and 100,000 members of the Polish intelligentsia – academics, doctors, lawyers, nobility and priesthood. During the Warsaw Uprising alone, over 150,000 Polish civilians were killed, most were murdered by the Germans during the Wola and Ochota massacres. Around 150,000 Polish civilians were killed by Soviets between 1939 and 1941 during
6540-436: The Polish People's Republic failed. A similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under Edward Gierek , but most of the time persecution of anti-communist opposition groups persisted. Despite this, Poland was at the time considered to be one of the least oppressive states of the Eastern Bloc. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union " Solidarity " (" Solidarność "), which over time became
6649-447: The Polish-Jewish population. Towards the end of the 19th century, Congress Poland became heavily industrialised; its primary exports being coal, zinc , iron and textiles. In the aftermath of World War I , the Allies agreed on the reconstitution of Poland, confirmed through the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919. A total of 2 million Polish troops fought with the armies of the three occupying powers, and over 450,000 died. Following
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#17327797044876758-464: The Prussian rulers to pay tributes . The Jagiellonian dynasty also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia (1471 onwards) and Hungary. In the south, Poland confronted the Ottoman Empire (at the Varna Crusade ) and the Crimean Tatars , and in the east helped Lithuania to combat Russia . Poland was developing as a feudal state, with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly powerful landed nobility that confined
6867-404: The Russians at Klushino . Sigismund also countered the Ottoman Empire in the southeast; at Khotyn in 1621 Jan Karol Chodkiewicz achieved a decisive victory against the Turks, which ushered the downfall of Sultan Osman II . Sigismund's long reign in Poland coincided with the Silver Age . The liberal Władysław IV effectively defended Poland's territorial possessions but after his death
6976-591: The Soviet Union's occupation of eastern Poland ( Kresy ), and another estimated 100,000 Poles were murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) between 1943 and 1944 in what became known as the Wołyń Massacres . Of all the countries in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: around 6 million perished – more than one-sixth of Poland's pre-war population – half of them Polish Jews. About 90% of deaths were non-military in nature. In 1945, Poland's borders were shifted westwards . Over two million Polish inhabitants of Kresy were expelled along
7085-502: The Stalag XXI-B1 POW camp in Antoniewo near Skoki , both for Polish POWs. March-May 1940 - Polish POWs were transferred to other camps, located in Germany. June 1940 - French officers were brought here from the Battle of France . August 1940 - Stalag XXI-B2 was renamed to Stalag XXI-B; Stalag XXI-B1 in Antoniewo was renamed to Stalag XXI-B/Z, and made a branch camp of the Stalag XXI-B in Szubin. September 1940 - Oflag XXI-B for Allied officers established. Its first prisoners were
7194-422: The beginning of World War II , which resulted in the Holocaust and millions of Polish casualties . Forced into the Eastern Bloc in the global Cold War , the Polish People's Republic was a founding signatory of the Warsaw Pact . Through the emergence and contributions of the Solidarity movement , the communist government was dissolved and Poland re-established itself as a democratic state in 1989, as
7303-492: The conversion of a pagan ruler of the Polans to Christianity, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church in 966. The Kingdom of Poland emerged in 1025, and in 1569 cemented its long-standing association with Lithuania , thus forming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . At the time, the Commonwealth was one of the great powers of Europe, with an elective monarchy and a uniquely liberal political system, which adopted Europe's first modern constitution in 1791. With
7412-403: The decades up until World War I , a new political tradition was established in the country. Many exiled Polish activists, such as Ignacy Jan Paderewski , who would later become prime minister, returned home. A significant number of them then went on to take key positions in the newly formed political and governmental structures. Tragedy struck in 1922 when Gabriel Narutowicz , inaugural holder of
7521-402: The demand for craft labour spurred a migration of German and Flemish settlers into Poland, which was encouraged by the Polish dukes. In 1264, the Statute of Kalisz introduced unprecedented autonomy for the Polish Jews , who came to Poland fleeing persecution elsewhere in Europe. In 1320, Władysław I the Short became the first king of a reunified Poland since Przemysł II in 1296, and
7630-433: The doctrine of the so-called Polish Brethren , who separated from their Calvinist denomination and became the co-founders of global Unitarianism . The European Renaissance evoked under Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus a sense of urgency in the need to promote a cultural awakening . During the Polish Golden Age , the nation's economy and culture flourished. The Italian-born Bona Sforza , daughter of
7739-470: The earliest evidence of European cheesemaking (5500 BC) was discovered in Polish Kuyavia , and the Bronocice pot is incised with the earliest known depiction of what may be a wheeled vehicle (3400 BC). The period spanning the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (1300 BC–500 BC) was marked by an increase in population density, establishment of palisaded settlements ( gords ) and the expansion of Lusatian culture . A significant archaeological find from
7848-602: The elections organised by the occupying Soviet authorities were falsified and were used to provide a veneer of legitimacy for Soviet hegemony over Polish affairs. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc . As elsewhere in Communist Europe , the Soviet influence over Poland was met with armed resistance from the outset which continued into
7957-414: The far western Aleutian Islands . The combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The visual grid on a map formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule . The origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km (390 mi) south of Tema , Ghana ,
8066-503: The first King of Poland in c. 1025 , when Bolesław received permission for his coronation from Pope John XIX . Bolesław also expanded the realm considerably by seizing parts of German Lusatia , Czech Moravia , Upper Hungary , and southwestern regions of the Kievan Rus' . The transition from paganism in Poland was not instantaneous and resulted in the pagan reaction of the 1030s . In 1031, Mieszko II Lambert lost
8175-647: The first elected king, approbated the Henrician Articles which obliged future monarchs to respect the rights of nobles. When he left Poland to become King of France , his successor, Stephen Báthory , led a successful campaign in the Livonian War , granting Poland more lands across the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. State affairs were then headed by Jan Zamoyski , the Crown Chancellor . Stephen's successor, Sigismund III , defeated
8284-524: The first to be crowned at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. Beginning in 1333, the reign of Casimir III the Great was marked by developments in castle infrastructure , army, judiciary and diplomacy . Under his authority, Poland transformed into a major European power; he instituted Polish rule over Ruthenia in 1340 and imposed quarantine that prevented the spread of Black Death . In 1364, Casimir inaugurated
8393-652: The genocidal Generalplan Ost . Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution in Europe, and its troops served both the Polish Government in Exile in the west and Soviet leadership in the east . Polish troops played an important role in the Normandy , Italian , North African Campaigns and Netherlands and are particularly remembered for the Battle of Britain and Battle of Monte Cassino . Polish intelligence operatives proved extremely valuable to
8502-415: The length in meters of a degree of longitude can be calculated as (Those coefficients can be improved, but as they stand the distance they give is correct within a centimeter.) The formulae both return units of meters per degree. An alternative method to estimate the length of a longitudinal degree at latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } is to assume a spherical Earth (to get
8611-481: The motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911. The latitude ϕ of a point on Earth's surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through (or close to) the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on
8720-426: The new Prime Minister leading a coalition made up of Civic Coalition , Third Way , and The Left . Law and Justice became the leading opposition party. Poland covers an administrative area of 312,722 km (120,743 sq mi), and is the ninth-largest country in Europe . Approximately 311,895 km (120,423 sq mi) of the country's territory consists of land, 2,041 km (788 sq mi)
8829-591: The nobility. The failed attempts at government restructuring as well as the domestic turmoil provoked its neighbours to invade. In 1772, the First Partition of the Commonwealth by Prussia, Russia and Austria took place; an act which the Partition Sejm , under considerable duress, eventually ratified as a fait accompli . Disregarding the territorial losses, in 1773 a plan of critical reforms
8938-523: The one used on published maps OSGB36 by approximately 112 m. The military system ED50 , used by NATO , differs from about 120 m to 180 m. Points on the Earth's surface move relative to each other due to continental plate motion, subsidence, and diurnal Earth tidal movement caused by the Moon and the Sun. This daily movement can be as much as a meter. Continental movement can be up to 10 cm
9047-1034: The original on 2008-08-20. {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ( link ) "Letters of Colin N. Dilly from Oflag XXI-B and Stalag Luft 3" . BBC Online. Archived from the original on 2009-09-10. Gustavsson, Håkan (1 September 2008). "Squadron Leader George Dudley Craig OBE, RAF no. 90285" . Biplane fighter aces . Håkan Gustavsson. See also [ edit ] List of German WWII POW camps Oflag Oflag 64 Stalag Luft III Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oflag_XXI-B&oldid=1227575511 " Categories : Oflags World War II sites in Poland Hidden categories: Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Coordinates on Wikidata CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown Geographic coordinate system A geographic coordinate system ( GCS )
9156-558: The passing of the prosperous Polish Golden Age , the country was partitioned by neighbouring states at the end of the 18th century. Poland regained its independence at the end of World War I in 1918 with the creation of the Second Polish Republic , which emerged victorious in various conflicts of the interbellum period. In September 1939, the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union marked
9265-484: The period known as Golden Liberty , when the state was ruled by the seemingly free and equal Polish nobles . The 16th century saw Protestant Reformation movements making deep inroads into Polish Christianity, which resulted in the establishment of policies promoting religious tolerance, unique in Europe at that time. This tolerance allowed the country to avoid the religious turmoil and wars of religion that beset Europe. In Poland, Nontrinitarian Christianity became
9374-580: The population to private manorial farmstead known as folwarks . In 1493, John I Albert sanctioned the creation of a bicameral parliament composed of a lower house, the Sejm , and an upper house, the Senate . The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish General Sejm in 1505, transferred most of the legislative power from the monarch to the parliament, an event which marked the beginning of
9483-481: The presence of Roman Legions sent to protect the amber trade . The Polish tribes emerged following the second wave of the Migration Period around the 6th century AD; they were Slavic and may have included assimilated remnants of peoples that earlier dwelled in the area. Beginning in the early 10th century, the Polans would come to dominate other Lechitic tribes in the region, initially forming
9592-640: The presidency, was assassinated at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw by a painter and right-wing nationalist Eligiusz Niewiadomski . In 1926, the May Coup , led by the hero of the Polish independence campaign Marshal Józef Piłsudski , turned rule of the Second Polish Republic over to the nonpartisan Sanacja ( Healing ) movement to prevent radical political organisations on both the left and
9701-535: The proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres , although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E. This is not to be conflated with the International Date Line , which diverges from it in several places for political and convenience reasons, including between far eastern Russia and
9810-527: The protohistory of Poland is a fortified settlement at Biskupin , attributed to the Lusatian culture of the Late Bronze Age (mid-8th century BC). Throughout antiquity (400 BC–500 AD), many distinct ancient populations inhabited the territory of present-day Poland, notably Celtic , Scythian , Germanic , Sarmatian , Baltic and Slavic tribes. Furthermore, archaeological findings confirmed
9919-500: The right from destabilizing the country. By the late 1930s, due to increased threats posed by political extremism inside the country, the Polish government became increasingly heavy-handed, banning a number of radical organisations, including communist and ultra-nationalist political parties, which threatened the stability of the country. World War II began with the Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, followed by
10028-430: The same datum will obtain the same location measurement for the same physical location. However, two different datums will usually yield different location measurements for the same physical location, which may appear to differ by as much as several hundred meters; this not because the location has moved, but because the reference system used to measure it has shifted. Because any spatial reference system or map projection
10137-665: The same prime meridian but measured latitude from the Equator instead. After their work was translated into Arabic in the 9th century, Al-Khwārizmī 's Book of the Description of the Earth corrected Marinus' and Ptolemy's errors regarding the length of the Mediterranean Sea , causing medieval Arabic cartography to use a prime meridian around 10° east of Ptolemy's line. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes ' recovery of Ptolemy's text
10246-486: The shape of the earth (usually a reference ellipsoid for a horizontal datum, and a more precise geoid for a vertical datum) to the earth. Traditionally, this binding was created by a network of control points , surveyed locations at which monuments are installed, and were only accurate for a region of the surface of the Earth. Some newer datums are bound to the center of mass of the Earth. This combination of mathematical model and physical binding mean that anyone using
10355-626: The summer of 1944 it initiated Operation Tempest , of which the Warsaw Uprising that began on 1 August 1944 is the best-known operation. Nazi German forces under orders from Adolf Hitler set up six German extermination camps in occupied Poland, including Treblinka , Majdanek and Auschwitz . The Germans transported millions of Jews from across occupied Europe to be murdered in those camps. Altogether, 3 million Polish Jews – approximately 90% of Poland's pre-war Jewry – and between 1.8 and 2.8 million ethnic Poles were killed during
10464-519: The surface of Earth called parallels , as they are parallel to the Equator and to each other. The North Pole is 90° N; the South Pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the Equator , the fundamental plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The Equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres . The longitude λ of a point on Earth's surface
10573-622: The time. In the Baltic Sea region, the struggle of Poland and Lithuania with the Teutonic Knights continued and culminated at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, where a combined Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive victory against them. In 1466, after the Thirteen Years' War , king Casimir IV Jagiellon gave royal consent to the Peace of Thorn , which created the future Duchy of Prussia under Polish suzerainty and forced
10682-617: The title of king and fled amidst the violence. The unrest led to the transfer of the capital to Kraków in 1038 by Casimir I the Restorer . In 1076, Bolesław II re-instituted the office of king, but was banished in 1079 for murdering his opponent, Bishop Stanislaus . In 1138, the country fragmented into five principalities when Bolesław III Wrymouth divided his lands among his sons. These were Lesser Poland , Greater Poland, Silesia , Masovia and Sandomierz , with intermittent hold over Pomerania . In 1226, Konrad I of Masovia invited
10791-547: The unemployment rate increased. Poland became a member of the Visegrád Group in 1991, and joined NATO in 1999. Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on 1 May 2004, following the consequent enlargement of the organisation . Poland has joined the Schengen Area in 2007, as a result of which, the country's borders with other member states of
10900-546: The vast Commonwealth began declining from internal disorder and constant warfare. In 1648, the Polish hegemony over Ukraine sparked the Khmelnytsky Uprising , followed by the decimating Swedish Deluge during the Second Northern War , and Prussia's independence in 1657. In 1683, John III Sobieski re-established military prowess when he halted the advance of an Ottoman Army into Europe at
11009-484: The west. The territory is characterised by a varied landscape, diverse ecosystems, and temperate transitional climate. Poland is composed of sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 million people, and the fifth largest EU country by land area, covering a combined area of 312,696 km (120,733 sq mi). The capital and largest city
11118-445: The width per minute and second, divide by 60 and 3600, respectively): where Earth's average meridional radius M r {\displaystyle \textstyle {M_{r}}\,\!} is 6,367,449 m . Since the Earth is an oblate spheroid , not spherical, that result can be off by several tenths of a percent; a better approximation of a longitudinal degree at latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi }
11227-757: Was Senior British Officer November 1942 – March 1943 Johnnie Dodge – British Army officer and Great Escape survivor Flight Lieutenant Bertram James – RAF Pilot and Great Escape survivor Robert Kee – RAF Pilot and future author and journalist Oliver Philpot – RAF Pilot and escapee Peter Stevens – RAF pilot of German-Jewish birth and serial escapee Jorgen Thalbitzer – Danish pilot serving in RAF Eric Williams – RAF Officer and escapee Albert W Harris - Private. The Buffs Royal East Kent Regiment. References [ edit ] ^ "POW Camps in Szubin (Schubin/Altburgund)" . Polish-American Foundation for
11336-625: Was chosen to be President of the European Council , and resigned as prime minister. The 2015 and 2019 elections were won by the national-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) led by Jarosław Kaczyński , resulting in increased Euroscepticism and increased friction with the European Union. In December 2017, Mateusz Morawiecki was sworn in as the Prime Minister, succeeding Beata Szydlo , in office since 2015. President Andrzej Duda , supported by Law and Justice party,
11445-530: Was established, in which the Commission of National Education , the first government education authority in Europe, was inaugurated. Corporal punishment of schoolchildren was officially prohibited in 1783. Poniatowski was the head figure of the Enlightenment , encouraged the development of industries, and embraced republican neoclassicism . For his contributions to the arts and sciences he was awarded
11554-514: Was extensively funded by his sponsor and former lover, Empress Catherine II of Russia . The new king maneuvered between his desire to implement necessary modernising reforms, and the necessity to remain at peace with surrounding states. His ideals led to the formation of the 1768 Bar Confederation , a rebellion directed against the Poniatowski and all external influence, which ineptly aimed to preserve Poland's sovereignty and privileges held by
11663-486: Was re-elected in the 2020 presidential election . As of November 2023 , the Russian invasion of Ukraine had led to 17 million Ukrainian refugees crossing the border to Poland. As of November 2023 , 0.9 million of those had stayed in Poland. In October 2023, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party won the largest share of the vote in the election , but lost its majority in parliament. In December 2023, Donald Tusk became
11772-447: Was to become Poland approximately 500,000 years ago, though the ensuing hostile climate prevented early humans from founding more permanent encampments. The arrival of Homo sapiens and anatomically modern humans coincided with the climatic discontinuity at the end of the Last Glacial Period ( Northern Polish glaciation 10,000 BC), when Poland became habitable. Neolithic excavations indicated broad-ranging development in that era;
11881-522: Was under the protection of the Apostolic See . The country's early origins were described by Gallus Anonymus in Gesta principum Polonorum , the oldest Polish chronicle. An important national event of the period was the martyrdom of Saint Adalbert , who was killed by Prussian pagans in 997 and whose remains were reputedly bought back for their weight in gold by Mieszko's successor, Bolesław I
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