A Concise History of PolandPoland only sporadically makes the headlines of the Anglo-Saxon world, and its history remains comparatively unknown. It has suffered the dubious distinction of being wiped off the political map in 1795, to be resurrected after the First World War, to suffer seeming annihilation during the Second World War, reduction to satellite status of the Soviet Union after 1945, only to emerge during the 1980s. It is presently a contender for membership in the European Union. The only general introduction to the politics of Polish history in English, The Concise History of Poland covers medieval times to the present. The authors describe how Polish society developed under foreign rule in the 19th century and how it was altered by and responded to 45 years of communism, and developments since its collapse. Primarily a political outline of Poland's turbulent and complex past, it traces the process of its rise and fall from the middle ages, from a dynastic realm to a remarkable constitutional experiment in multinational, consensual politics, embracing much of Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. Jerzy Lukowski is Senior Lecturer in Modern History, School of Historical Studies, at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is also the author of, The Partitions of Poland (Addison Wesley, 1998), and Liberty's Folly (Routledge, 1991), and many journal articles. Herbert Zawadzki is Teacher of History at Abingodn School, in Abingdon, UK. He spent the first ten years of his life in various Polish resettlement camps across the length and breadth of Britain, eventually settling near Stratford-on-Avon. He has since traveled extensively in Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania. He has written for several journals and contributed to the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the former Soviet Union (1994). |
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User Review - motorbike - LibraryThingPoland has had a chequered history, continually expanding and contracting, sometimes disappearing and once being the largest state in Europe. This latest retelling of Poland’s history – a concise ... Read full review
Contents
PIAS POLAND ?1385 | 3 |
JAGIELLONIAN POLLAND 13861572 | 33 |
THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE TWO NATIONS 15721795 | 66 |
Poland after 1795 | 107 |
CHALLENGING THE PARTITIONS 17951864 | 109 |
AN ERA OF TRANSFORMATION 18641914 | 155 |
INDEPENDENCE REGAINED AND LOST 19141945 | 190 |
COMMUNISM AND BEYOND 1945? | 250 |
The Piast dynasty | 290 |
The Jagiellonian dynasty | 291 |
Elective rulers of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth | 292 |
Rulers of the partitioned Polish territories | 293 |
List of heads of state presidents Communist Party leaders 19182000 | 294 |
296 | |
303 | |
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activity administration army August Austrian authorities brought Casimir Catholic cause cent central century Church communist constitution continued Courtesy Crown cultural death demands democratic duchy Duke early east eastern economic effective elections emerged Empire established Europe finally followed forces foreign former France French further Galicia German Grand groups hand helped hoped Hungary independence industrial Italy Jewish Jews John June king Kingdom Knights Kraków lands leaders liberal limited Lithuania major March military million movement nationalist nobility nobles November organizations Party patriotic peasants period Poland Poles Polish political population position radical reform region remained restored royal rule rulers Russian Russian Poland Sejm September Sigismund Silesia social socialist society Soviet szlachta territories tion took towns turn Ukrainian Union USSR Warsaw West western Wielkopolska Władysław workers