People
Lech Walesa/Solidarnosc
Communist
takeover from 1944
Peasant
emancipation, 1800s.
Conflict with Russia / fight for independence 1794-1918.
15/5/2014, General Wojciech Jarulzelski
died, aged 90. He was appointed Defence Minister of Poland in 1968; in 1970 his
troops shot dozens of striking shipyard workers in Gdansk and Gdynia, and was leader of Poland during
the rise of Solidarnosc.
10/4/2010, Polish President Lech Walesa and other senior
government officials were killed in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. They
were travelling to Russia to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn
massacre. Russia blamed pilot error; Poland blamed poor pilot advice from
Russian air traffic control.
26/8/2005, Jean Michael Jarre held a ‘Space
of Freedom’ concert in Gdansk, Poland, to mark the 25th anniversary
of the creation of the Solidarnosc
trade union.
24/1/1993, In Poland the ferry boat
John Heweliusz sank, with 52 killed.
14/10/1992, The Russian KGB handed
over documents to Poland’s Lech Walesa revealing that the Russians killed
Polish officers in 1940 in the Katyn Forest Massacre. The Kremlin had
previously insisted it was the Germans who had done this.
22/12/1990. Lech Walesa became president
of Poland.
25/11/1990, Lech Wałesa and Stanisław Tyminski won the
first round of the presidential elections in Poland.
27/1/1990. The Polish Communist Party dissolved itself. On
28/1/1990 East Germany formed an all-party government.
15/11/1989, Lech Walesa, leader of the Polish Solidarity
movement, addressed a Joint Session of the United Nations Congress.
19/9/1989, Poland became the first
country in Eastern Europe to end one-party rule, as Solidarity’s
Tadeusz
Mazowiecki became Prime Minister.
19/8/1989, Tadeusz Mazowiecki of Solidarity
became Prime Minister of Poland, the first non-Communist PM in 42 years.
19/7/1989, General
Wojciech Jaruselski, who imposed martial law in 1981, was elected
President of Poland by 270 votes out of 537, However he was the only candidate,
233 voted against and 34 abstained. Solidarity declared the vote illegal.
Poland was bankrupt with a resentful population.
19/6/1989, The
second round of elections to the Polish National Assembly. Solidarity won an overwhelming victory.
4/6/1989. Poland held partially-free
elections. The
result was a major embarrassment for the country’s leaders as Solidarity
won the lion’s share of the vote. On a turnout of 62% - smaller than Solidarity had hoped for – the union’s
candidates had by 6/6/1989 won all Warsaw’s constituencies except
Zoliborz, where the result was still awaited. In some constituencies Solidarity
won over 80% of the vote cast. Few government candidates won over 18% of the
votes cast.
17/4/1989. In Poland, Solidarnosc was legalised
after an 8-year ban.
5/4/1989, The
Polish Trades Union Solidarnosc won
the right to contest partially-free elections in Poland and to publish its own
newspaper. Solidarnosc had been
banned by the Polish Government under General Jaruzelski since 1982.
2/5/1988, In
Poland, thousands of shipyard workers went on strike, and 7 Solidarnosc union leaders were detained.
29/4/1988. The worst industrial unrest in
Poland since the 1981 martial law crackdown on Solidarnosc. Workers demanded large pay
rises after the Polish government raised food prices by 40%, rents by 50%, and
electricity by 100%; a spell of austerity was needed to restore economic
stability, said the government.
1/5/1985, May Day celebrations in Gdansk,
Poland. 10,000 Solidarity supporters clashed with police.
30/10/1984, The body of pro-Solidarity
priest
Father Jerzy
Popieluszko, 37, was found by police frogmen in a reservoir in
Wloclawek Reservoir, northern Poland. He had been kidnapped 12 days earlier; hardline
opponents of Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski were suspected.
21/7/1984. Poland granted amnesty to 652 political prisoners.
5/10/1983. Lech Walesa, leader of the Polish trade
union Solidarnosc, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
21/7/1983. Poland ended
martial law.
1/5/1983. Polish police broke up demonstrations in 20 Polish cities.
22/4/1983, Lech Walesa, leader of Polish
trades union Solidarnosc, returned to work at the Gdansk shipyard.
7/2/1983, The Polish Communist Party suffered a
financial crisis as many members refuse to pay their dues.
3/1/1983. Poland formed new trade
unions.
19/12/1982. Poland lifted
martial law. In
May 1981 more than 3,000 Poles were arrested when Polish police used teargas
and water cannons to break up
anti-government demonstrations in Warsaw. Other serious riots took place in the
Polish cities of Szcecin, Wroclaw, the steel town of Nova Huta, and the Baltic
port of Gdansk where Solidarnosc
began. In October 1981 Solidarnosc
and Rural Solidarnosc were banned,
but their leader, Lech Walesa, who had been held in prison since
late 1981, was released on 12/11/1982.
12/11/1982. In Poland, Lech Walesa was freed after one year’s
detention.
13/10/1982, Strikes in Polish shipyards were suppressed by the
military.
10/10/1982, The US imposed trade sanctions on Poland.
8/10/1982. The trades union Solidarnosc was outlawed in Poland.
17/2/1982, General Jaruselski imposed martial law in Poland
as he cracked down on Solidarnosc.
12/12/1981. The
Communists outlawed the Polish Trade Union Solidarity, and imposed martial law in Poland.
16/8/1981,
The USSR postponed Polish debt repayments
and increased supplies of raw materials and consumer goods to Poland.
7/8/1981. In
Poland, 1 million Solidarity members went on strike, in protest over food shortages.
3/8/1981, In Poland, Solidarnosc blockaded Warsaw city
centre in protest at food shortages.
23/7/1981, The Polish Government announced plans to cut
rations and quadruple food prices.
12/6/1981, In Poland, General Jaruzelski reshuffled the
government to deal with the economic crisis.
27/3/1981, Polish workers staged a General
Strike in protest at police harassment of the Solidarnosc Union. The Polish leader, General
Jaruzelski, was considering banning Solidarnosc and declaring martial law.
9/2/1981. General Jaruselski, Defence Minister, became Prime
Minister of Poland.
He had close links with the USSR and promised a crackdown on Solidarity and its leader Lech Walesa.
31/10/1980, The
Polish Government recognised Solidarity.
22/9/1980. The Polish trades union Solidarnosc was founded.
30/8/1980. Lech Walesa won the right to form
independent trades unions in Poland.
14/8/1980. Polish ship workers went on strike and seized the Lenin
shipyard at Gdansk. A wave of strikes in Poland had been triggered by a rise in the meat price. Panic buying of
food in Poland ensued, as 17,000 ship workers struck. The strike took on a
political dimension as the Trade Union Solidarnosc (Solidarity) demanded the legalisation of independent Trades
Unions, an end to press censorship, and the release of imprisoned dissidents.
In September the Polish authorities gave in and on 17/9/1980 the Independent
National Committee of Solidarnosc convened in Gdansk, electing the shipworker’s leader Lech Walesa
(born 1943) as its Chairman. In 2002 Poland and 10 other nations
succeeded in their applications to join the EU in 2004, enlarging the EU from
15 to 25 members.
24/6/1976, In Poland, Jaroszewicz announced large food price
increases, believing that one sudden large riise was better than a number of
smaller ones, Basic food prices would rise some 60% from 27/6/1976. Sugar would
be up 100%, meat an average 69%, and butter and cheese up 30%. Low wage earners
and OAPs would receive pay rises to compensate, and farmers would be paid more
for their produce. On 25/6/1976 there were riots, some violent, across Poland.
Many rioters suffered arrest, police brutality, summary imprisonment, and
dismissal from their jobs. However an amnesty in July 1977 meant most were
released from jail.
20/12/1970 The Polish leader Gomulka
resigned after more rioting, to be replaced by Edward Gierek.
16/12/1970. Six killed in riots at the
Gdansk shipyard, Poland.
15/12/1970, Food riots in Poland. Poor
weather conditions caused bad harvests in 1969 and 1970, and imports of grain
to feed animals had virtually ceased because Gomulka wanted Poland to be
self-sufficient in animal feed by 1970. Pig and cattle numbers fell
dramatically and meat prices soared. Heavy price rises on consumer goods came
in just before Christmas 1970.
8/3/1968, Student unrest in Poland
intensified. On 30/1/1968 a play by Mickiewicz, Dziady (The Forefathers) was shown at the Warsaw National Theatre
for the last time; the authorities were concerned that the play provoked
anti-Soviet sentiments in its audience. On the occasion of its last showing,
Warsaw University students staged a street demonstration. The organisers of the
demonstration were arrested; meanwhile the Warsaw branch of the Writers Union,
supported by well-known personalities such as Slonimski, Jastrun, Andrzejewksi, Kolakowski
and Jasienica
protested the decision to close Dziady
as Party censorship curtailing creativity. On 8/3/1968 a student protest
meeting was brutally broken up by police and paramilitaries. Unrest spread onto
the streets of Warsaw and to other Polish universities. The intelligentsia
supported the students but the workers, influenced by official propaganda,
opposed them. Around 1,200 students were arrested but only a small number were
tried and received jail terms. Some were temporarily suspended from their
university, Some academics also lost their posts, entire university departments
were closed, new academic appointments were made on political grounds not
ability, and overall, academic freedom was replaced by repression and
suspicion, at least while Gomulka held power in Poland.
20/1/1957. Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected First Secretary of
the Polish Communist Party. Aware of the USSR’s crackdown in Hungary in 1956 he
tempered ideas for a Polish form of Communism, strengthening links between Poland
and the USSR. However he ended collective farming in Poland, returning 80% of
arable land to private hands, and curbed the worst excesses of the Polish
secret police.
8/12/1956, The Polish government completed a process of reconciliation with the
Catholic Church. Cardinal Wyszynski had been released from prison on
26/10/1956, and on this day the Church was now free to make its own
ecclesiastical appointments. Religious teaching in schools, and religious posts
in hospitals and the army, were restored. Criticism of government policies in
church sermons was permitted.
28/6/1956. In riots in
1/8/1955,
12/1954, The Polish nationalist, Wladyslaw
Gomulka, was quietly released from prison into house arrest, and
later (8/1956) readmitted to the ruling Communist Party. Stalin was wary of Gomulka
for his promotion of ‘Polish Communism’.
24/11/1953, Professor Marek Korowicz, having
defected in October 1953 from a Polish inspection team in North Korea to the US
whilst in the demilitarised border zone, gave details of Polish forced labour
camps at a press conference in New York. He said there were at least 73 such
camps in the country, with around 300,000 inmates in total. The inmates
included middle class merchants, labelled ‘class enemies’, also a considerable
number of young male former anti-Nazi resistance fighters.
9/2/1953, The Polish Government made itself responsible for all appointments and
dismissals of posts within the Polish Catholic Church.
20/11/1952, In Poland, after the first general election held under the new
constitution (26/10/1952), Boleslaw Bierut, Communist, was elected Prime Minister by the Sejm.
20/3/1950, Poland's Sejm passed a law requiring
the nation's Roman Catholic churches, and all other religious associations, to
transfer their property to government ownership. The purpose, according to
the introduction, was "to remove the last remains of the landowner feudal
privileges in the Church estates and to secure the material needs of the
clergy". The church pastors were allowed to keep and operate their own
private farms, and houses of worship and office buildings were exempt, but all
other church-owned assets were confiscated.
18/1/1946, Poland appropriated all farms
of over 100 hectares (50 hectares for arable land) and redistributed the
land to farm labourers. 6 million hectares of land were reassigned, resulting
in the disappearance of the landowning gentry class.
10/11/1945, In Poland
a Central Planning Office was established; renamed as the State Planning
Commission in 1949.
6/9/1944. The Polish Committee for National Liberation
decreed the expropriation of farms with over 50 Ha (123.5 acres) arable land,
or more than 100 ha (247 acres) land overall. Some of this land was given to
agricultural labourers; the rest was made into state farms, and the forests
were nationalised.
29/9/1943. Polish
leader Lech Walesa was born in
Popovo, the son of a carpenter.
For main
events of World War Two see France-Germany
29/6/1941, Ignacy Jan
Paderewski, Prime Minister of Poland, died.
28/8/1939, The Tarnow rail station bomb attack was carried
out in southern Poland. A time bomb left by a German agent exploded, killing 20
and wounding 35.
2/10/1938, Poland annexed Trans-Olza, taking over from
Czechoslovakia that portion of Austrian Silesia to which Poland had laid claim
since 1920.
12/5/1935, Pilsudski, Polish leader, died.
6/3/1933. Poland
occupied the free city of Danzig, now renamed
25/7/1932. The
26/10/1931, 11 political leaders went on trial in Poland for
conspiring to overthrow Józef Piłsudski.
15/3/1931, In Poland the Peasants’
Party was founded.
27/6/1928, In Poland, after elections, Kazimierz Bartel replaced Jozef
Piludski as Prime Minister. However Piludski remained
as Minister of Defence.
2/10/1926, In Poland, Jozef Piludski became Prime
Minister.
31/5/1926, In Poland, the Parliament elected Jozef
Piludski as leader, but he declined to take the office. On 1/6/1926,
Ignace
Moscicki was elected in his place.
14/5/1926, Josef Pilsudski seized
power in a military coup in Poland.
15/11/1923. Poland
was in the grip of hyperinflation, though not as bad as Germany’s. The Polish
mark went from 9.8 to the US$ in November 1918 to 580 by end-December 1920, and
to 17,800 to the US$ by December 1922. By November 1932 the rate stood at 2,300,000
Polish Marks to the US$.
14/3/1923. The Allies recognised Vilna and
1/12/1922, Jozef Pilsudski, President
of Poland, resigned.
4/9/1922, Silesia voted to remain with Prussia.
15/5/1922. Germany ceded Upper Silesia to
12/10/1921, The Council of the League of Nations awarded the
upper two thirds of Silesia to Poland (along with most of its coal mines and
steelworks). Germany reluctantly accepted the decision.
3/3/1921, Poland
signed an alliance with Romania. This resulted in a decline in previously-close
Hungarian-Polish relations.
9/2/1921. A peace treaty was signed between
17/11/1921, The Polish Constitution was established.
15/11/1920. Danzig
was declared a free city.
6/10/1920. Poland and Russia signed an armistice at
19/8/1920, The Russian army was defeated by the Poles at
16/8/1920. As Russian troops closed in on
31/7/1920. Russia postponed peace talks and marched on
23/7/1920, Poland sought peace with
10/7/1920, Lloyd George proposed the Curzon Line as a
Polish-Russian frontier. Subsequent
correspondence was handled by the UK Foreign Secretary, George Curzon. The line, from
6/7/1920. Major offensive by Red Army against
17/1/1919, Ignacy Paderewski became Prime Minister of
Poland.
For main
events of Russian Revolution 1917 see Russia
For main
events of World War One see France-Germany
27/12/1918, Poznan rebelled against the Germans, ending a 103-year-old
German occupation.
22/11/1918, The Poles took
6/11/1918. Republic of
5/11/1918, The Poles
occupied Lvov,
27/10/1918. Poland declared its independence.
15/8/1917, In
Lausanne Dmowski formed a Polish National Committee, It was almost a
government-in-exile, recognised by the Allies as representing Polish interests.
4/6/1917. In
France, with the co-operation of the provisional Russian government, a Polish
army was formed to fight Germany.
30/3/1917, The
Russian provisional government guaranteed the independence of Poland.
11/6/1908, Georg Adler,
Polish economist, died.
15/8/1906, ‘Bloody
Wednesday’ in Poland. 80 people were killed in terrorist attacks by socialists
against Russian occupation of the country. Pilsudsky had visited Japan in 1904 and
secured their backing in the fight against Russia; Japan was fighting Russia in
the Far East.
12/11/1905, Russia imposed martial law in Poland.
18/6/1905, A group of striking textile workers from Lodz,
Poland, were fired upon by Cossacks and soldiers, killing five. This led to
several days of rioting, in which (official figures) 151 were killed, including
55 Poles, 79 Jews and 17 Germans. The Polish middle classes feared more unrest
and over the next year some 33,000 applied for passports to emigrate from
Poland.
1/2/1905, The General Strike that began in Warsaw (27/1/1905)
now spread to Czestochowa and the Dabrowa Basin.
27/1/1905, A General Strike began in Warsaw in support of
socialism and workers rights The army was brought in to suppress the strike and
29 companies of infantry along with 5 squadrons of cavalry and 4 Cossack
companies killed (official figures) 64 strikers, a further 29 dying of their
wounds later. In fact some 200 were killed and 270 wounded.
18/11/1904, In
Poland the illegal Polish Peasant Union (Polski Zwiazek Ludowy, PZL) was
formed. It demanded a political voice for the workers and peasants.
13/11/1904, In the Plac Gryzbowski,
Warsaw, a serious worker uprising took place. In clashes with the police and
army, 6 were killed, 27 wounded and hundreds arrested.
28/7/1904, In Poland the Interior Minister, Plehve,
was assassinated by the socialist revolutionary, Sazonov.
28/7/1895, In Poland
the Peasant Electoral Committee (Ludowy Komitet Wyborcy) assembled in Rzeszow;
from this meeting emerged the Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo
Ludowe). The PSL demanded universal
suffrage, redistribution of land from the gentry, and an end to peasant service
obligations to their landlord.
6/5/1892, A
worker’s uprising began in Lodz, Poland; all workers came out on strike. Order
was not restored until 10/5/1893, by which time 217 people had been killed or
wounded and 350 arrested.
19/4/1888, Zygmunt
Florenty von Wrobleski, Polish physicist, died in Cracow.
20/12/1885, The trial of Proletariat
Party members in Poland ended (began 23/11/1885). The trial produced the first
socialist martyrs; the Russian Piotr Bardovsky, also Stanislaw Kunicki, Michal Ossowski
(shoemaker), and Jan Petrusinski (weaver) were hanged on 28/1/1886. Warysnki
was also found guilty, and died in the Schlusselberg fortress in St Petersburg
in 1889. Maria
Bohuszewicz took over leadership of the Party and was herself
condemned to exile; she died on the way to Siberia. Stefan Ulrych became the next
leader, and was sentenced to exile in Siberia in 1888. Marcin Kasprzak and Ludwik
Kulczycki became the next leaders. The movement laid the foundations
of Polish socialism.
23/11/1885, The
(political) trial of Proletariat Party members in Poland began.
1/9/1882, In Poland
Ludwik
Warynski founded the Proletariat Party,, a ‘social-revolutionary party
working for the liberation of both the rural and urban working class’.
22/1/1863, An uprising in
Warsaw against Russian rule.
18/11/1860, Paderewski, Polish politician and first Prime Minister of Poland, was
born in Kurylowka.
29/11/1850, An uprising began
in Warsaw against Russian rule.
22/4/1848, To
placate a restive peasantry, the governor of Galicia, Franz von Stadion, ordered that
peasant tenant farmers should receive the freehold to their land and the gentry
landlords be compensated by the State. Furthermore on 7/9/1848 (see date above
also) the peasants were granted unrestricted access to woods, meadows and
pastures.
13/4/1846, To quell
peasant unrest, the Polish government abolished the duty on them of extra days
unpaid labour previously due to their manorial lord. There was an ongoing
famine in Poland, aggravated by cholera and typhus outbreaks; in 1847 there
were 380,000 deaths in Poland, compared to the previous annual average of
153,000.
26/5/1831. The Russians
defeated the Poles at the Battle of Ostrolenska.
25/2/1831. The Poles halted
the Russian advance at the Battle of Grochow.
19/6/1799, Jan Dombrowski, Polish General, died (born
29/8/1755).
24/10/1795, King Stanislaus II of Poland,
aged 63, abdicated.
9/11/1794, Russian forces entered Warsaw, ending the Polish rebellion.
10/10/1794, The Polish army, 7,000 men
under Tadeusz
Kosciusko was heavily defeated by the Russians, 16,000 men, at
Maciejowice, and its leader taken prisoner. Kosciusko was released by Czar Paul
in 1796, and died on 15/10/1817 when his horse fell over a precipice.Polish
army was heavily defeated by the Russians, and its leader taken prisoner.
23/1/1793, Prussia signed a treaty
with Russia. Poland was partitioned, with Prussia obtaining Danzig, Thorn,
Posen, and most of Great Poland. Russia
received Minsk, Pinsk, and the frontier on the Zbrucz. Austria received promises of help in
re-conquering Belgium, as well as some Polish territories.
18/5/1792. Russian troops invaded Poland.
3/5/1791, Poles, seeking the rebirth of their country,
declared a parliamentary constitution in Warsaw. Before this date the Polish
aristocracy could block the adoption of any measure into the Diet (Parliament)
by a single vote. Therefore there was no taxation on the nobility, the Treasury
was empty, the monarch was powerless, and Poland had limited representation
abroad.
5/8/1772. Russia, Prussia, and Austria signed a treaty
agreeing on the partition of Poland. Poland lost about a third of its land
and half its population. Frederick II of Prussia wanted the wedge of
territory known as West Prussia separating Brandenburg from East Prussia.
Catherine of
Russia saw a weak Poland as an opportunity for Russian expansion. To
appease Austrian concerns about an expansionist Russia, Austria was given the
Polish land of Silesia.
1768, The Confederation of Bar
was formed. It was a patriotic Polish, anti-Russian, association of Catholic
nobles. When Protestants and Greek Orthodox Christians were granted equal
rights with Catholics in Poland, the Confederation started an uprising that led
to civil war and the First Partition of Poland (5/8/1772).
5/10/1763, Death of King Augustus III of Poland, also Grand Duke
of Lithuania. Born 17/10/1696, he acceded to the throne in 1734.
29/8/1755, Jan Dombrowski, Polish General, was born (died
19/6/1799).
5/10/1735, The War of the
Polish Succession ended with the Treaty of Vienna. The Elector of Saxony was accepted
as King
Frederick Augustus III of Poland.
2/6/1734, Danzig fell to the Russians after an 8-month
siege. Stanislas
managed to escape to Prussia.
12/9/1733, Stanislas Lesczcynski (1677-1766) was elected
as (disputed) King of Poland.
1/2/1733, Augustus II
of Poland died aged 62, precipitating the War of the Polish Succession. Austria
and Russia demanded the succession of Augustus’s only legitimate son, the 36-year
old Elector
of Saxony, However France persuaded the Polish nobility to restore Stanislas Leszczynski. Russia
invaded Poland, forcing Leszczynski to flee to Danzig.
17/10/1696, Augustus III,
King of Poland, was born in Dresden (died in Saxony 5/10/1763).
17/6/1696, John III Sobieski, King of Poland, died aged
72, after a 20-year reign. In 1697 Poland chose the Elector of Saxony, Frederick Augustus,
aged 27, to succeed him. He was crowned in September 1697 and ruled as Augustus II
until his death in 1733.
1/4/1683, Poland
made a treaty of mutual defence with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I,
against the threat from Ottoman Turkey.
1670, The Ukrainian Cossacks rebelled against Polish rule, but
were defeated by General Sobieski.
12/5/1670, Augustus II,
King of Poland, was born in Dresden (died 1/2/1733 in Warsaw).
31/1/1667, After eight years war between Russia and Poland, the Treaty of Andruszow between them
divided up Ukraine between them, along the Dneiper River.
24/9/1621, Jan
Chodkiewicz, Polish General, died (born 1560).
28/7/1656, The Battle of Warsaw began
(ended 30/7/1656). Warsaw fell to a Swedish-Brandenburg army.
20/5/1648, King Ladislas IV of Poland died
aged 55, after a 16-year reign. He was succeeded by his 39-year-old Jesuit
brother, who reigned until 1668 as John II Casimir.
1632, Polish King Sigismund III Vasa died aged 65 after a
44-year reign. Russia declared war on Poland as Sigisund’s son, King Ladislas IV, aged 37, began a 16-year reign.
25/9/1629, The Treaty
of Altmark ended the Polish-Swedish war, for six years. Gustavus of Sweden was now,
summer 1627, to start a campaign in northern Germany.
2/6/1624, John Sobieski, King of Poland, was born.
1596, Warsaw replaced Krakow as
capital of Poland.
18/10/1588, The Polish
postal service was created,
when King
Zygmunt August established a permanent postal route from Kraków to
Venice.
12/12/1586, Stephen Bathory of Poland died
suddenly, aged 53. He was succeeded by the 12-year old son of the Swedish
King as Sigismund II.
10/8/1582. After 25 years of conflict,
Russia made peace with Poland and gave up its claim on the Baltic state of
Livonia.
15/12/1575, Stephen Bathory became King of Poland.
6/7/1572, Sigismund II, King of Poland, died.
1/7/1569, The Union
of Lublin united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Treaty was signed at Lublin Castle. This strengthened Poland
against possible attacks from Russia.
1/4/1548, Sigismund I, King of Poland, died aged 81, after a reign of 42
years. He was succeeded by his 28-year old son, Sigismund II who ruled for 24 years.
8/9/1514, At the Battle
of Orsha, a combined force of Poles and Ukrainians defeated the Russians.
5/8/1506. Death of King Alexander of Poland. Born in 1461, he
succeeded his brother Albert to the Polish throne in 1501.His power
was greatly eroded by the Polish nobility and senate. Consequently, because of
lack of funds, Alexander
was unable to restrain much the expansion of the Muscovy or the Teutonic Order
in Prussia.
19/10/1466, King Casimir IV signed the
Second Peace of Thorn, ending the
warfare which began in 1454 when Casimir IV agreed to help the Prussian
Confederation against the Teutonic Knights. Under this Treaty, Prussia was
divided; half was still controlled by the Teutonic Knights, and half became a vassal state
of Poland.
1455, Gdansk (Danzig) was captured by Poland from the Teutonic Knights.
1454, The Thirteen Years War began
between Poland and the Teutonic Order Knights.
1447, The nobility of Poland chose the 20-year-old Grand
Duke of Lithiania to succeed the late Ladislas VI, his older brother. He began a
45-year reign as Casimir IV. He reunited Poland and Lithuania, giving Poland
access to the Baltic.
10/11/1444, Ladislas VI, King of Poland, died.
1/6/1434, Ladislas V Jagiello, (born ca. 1362), King of
Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, died aged 84 after a 38-year reign. He was
succeeded by his 10-year-old son who ruled as Ladislas VI until his death in
1444.
30/11/1427, King Casimir IV of Poland was born.
15/7/1410. The Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic Knights
at the First Battle of Tannenberg /
Battle of Grunwald). The Order of the Teutonic Knights had established a State in
Prussia, from where they launched Crusades against their non-Christian
neighbours to the east, including the Duchy of Lithuania. In 1386 the ruler of
Lithuania converted to Christianity and married the Queen of Poland; on her
death he became ruler of Poland, as King Ladislav
II Jagiellon. The Teutonic Knights contested the sincerity if his
conversion, and in 1409 their Grand Master, the volatile Ulrich von Jungingen, declared
war on Poland and Lithuania. He had underestimated the power and unity of the
joint Polish-Lithuanian State. In Summer 1410 a joint Polish-Lithuanian army,
led by King
Jagiellon and Grand Duke Witold of Lithuania, marched upon
the Teutonic Knights capital at Marienberg. The Knights confronted the invaders
at a point between the villages of Grunwald and Tannenberg; they enjoyed
initial success but were outflanked by Lithuanian cavalry and mostly
slaughtered. However the Poles did not press on and take Marienberg, and peace
terms were mild. In Soviet Russia, some credit was claimed for this battle
because troops from Smolensk also supported the Poles. In an early German victory
over Russia in World War One, the Germans called this battle ‘Tannenberg’ to
avenge defeat 5 centuries earlier.
5/11/1370. King Casimir III of Poland died in a hunting
accident, aged 60, after a 37 year reign. He had repulsed a Mongol invasion,
annexed Galicia, and encouraged the immigration of Jews to serve as bankers and
tax collectors. He founded the University of Cracow, and codified the law and
administration.
3/1333, King Ladislas IV of Poland died
aged 72, after a 13-year reign he was succeeded by his 23-year-old son who
ruled for 37 years as Casimir III.
1332, First recorded mention of
the present day city of Lodz.
27/9/1332, Battle of Plowce. The Teutonic Knights were defeated by a Polish army
under Ladislas
IV Lokietek.
30/4/1310, King Casimir III of Poland was born.
18/3/1241, The Mongols plundered the Polish city of Cracow, their furthest
penetration westwards.
1138, King Boleslav III (Wry-mouth) of
Poland died aged 62 after a 36-year reign, He divided his realm amongst his
five sons. Krakow became the capital of Poland.
1081, King Boleslav II died (born
1039, succeeded his father Casimir I in 1058).
1067, King Boleslav II captured the
city of Kiev.
1058, Poland’s Grand Duke Casimir died aged 43,
having restored Christianity and regained much of the territory
Poland lost with the help of the late King Henry III of Germany. Casimir
was succeeded by his 19-year-old son who ruled until 1079 as Boleslav II
(The Bold).
1025, King Boleslav died, having made
Poland one of Europe’s most powerful countries, with Russia as a vassal state,
ruling territory from the Danube to the Baltic. He was succeeded by his son, Mieszko II,
who ruled until 1034; however other sons fought for parts of the country, and
Poland lost much of its territorial gains to neighbouring countries.
1018, The Treaty of Bautzen ended a 15-year war between Germany and Poland. Boleslav the
Brave gained Lusatia.
997, Earliest mention of the city of
Gdansk (as Danzig, German Prussia).
994, Boleslav compeleted his invasion
of eastern Pomerania.
992, Meiszko I of the Plast family died.
He was succeeded by 25-year-old Boleslav the Brave (Chobry),who ruled until
1025. Boleslav
invaded eastern Pomerania so as to gain access to the Baltic.
14/4/966, Mieczyslaw I, the first
King of Poland, was baptized a Christian. This
is usually considered the beginning of the Polish state.
965, Mieczyslaw I arrived at what is now Poznan
Castle, on an island in the Warta/Cybina Rivers.
960, Mieczyslaw I became the first King of Poland.