The most famous Polish kings. Which of the Polish kings was not a Pole at all and why this happened. French on the Polish throne
Standard of the rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Since ancient times, the banners of Polish monarchs depicted a white eagle on a red field. The standard of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was originally a white cloth with the image of the small coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But since red and white were the national colors of both Poland and Lithuania, the unified state began to use a standard consisting of three or four horizontal stripes of red and white, ending in a dovetail, from the 17th century. In addition, the standard contained the coat of arms of the Commonwealth (in the picture - a standard with the coat of arms of the Vasa dynasty).
Historical coat of arms of the Piasts
Tradition says that the legendary ancestor of the Poles founded his capital, Gniezno, in the place where he saw a white eagle sitting on the branches of trees, against the backdrop of a sky flaming from the sunset, and since then the white eagle has become a symbol of Poland. However, if we proceed not from legends, but from historical facts, then the white eagle was originally a personal sign, and became a national symbol at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century.
The coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the combined coat of arms of Poland and Lithuania in a four-part shield, in the first and fourth parts - the Polish white eagle, in the second and third - the Lithuanian "Pursuit". A small shield with the coat of arms of the reigning monarch was usually superimposed on the main shield.
Crown of Boleslaw the Brave
(modern copy)
Kingdom of Poland
Królestwo Polskie(Polish)
People inhabited the territory of modern Poland already during the Paleolithic period, approximately 800 thousand years ago. By the period of classical antiquity (400 BC - 500 AD), tribes of Celts, Germans and Balts lived here. They did not have their own written language, but, according to indirect evidence, they reached a high level in material culture and social organization. Perhaps they already had "princes". At least some of the burials discovered by archaeologists are significantly richer.
The Slavs entered Poland around the 5th-6th centuries as a result of the Great Migration of Peoples. In ancient chronicles, there are widespread legends about the rulers of those times, who, as usual, allegedly traced their ancestry to the biblical patriarchs and were related to the Roman Caesars. These legends are distinguished by a variety of variants (the same deeds are attributed to different princes with the same name) and chronological inconsistencies. Thanks to these legends, Poland acquired two centers of statehood - Krakow, allegedly built by the first legendary prince of the Lechites, where subsequent monarchs were crowned and the possession of which meant supremacy over all rulers of the Polish land, and Gniezno, the former residence of the first historical rulers of Poland.
More or less reliable information about the Polish princes begins in the 10th century, when he adopted Christianity. The subsequent history of Poland until the 14th century was a series of ups and downs, when some sovereigns collected lands, trying to equal the power of the German emperors, while others divided them among their children. And one of their descendants began the process of unification again. Poland achieved the first at . Having united the Polish lands after the death of his father, he assumed the royal title shortly before his death in 1025. However, his death was followed by the traditional feud between his sons, as a result of which he lost a significant part of his lands and his royal title. It was not for nothing that he was called the Restorer who put an end to it. His son influenced affairs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kievan Rus and was proclaimed king in 1076. Under his grandson, Ancient Poland reached . annexed Pomerania and repelled the attack of the German emperor. However, his “Statute” (testament), issued with the intention of preventing internecine wars between his sons, marked the beginning of more than two hundred years of feudal fragmentation.
According to the "Statute of Boleslav Wrymouth" in 1138, Poland was divided into four parts between his sons. The Krakow Land, Sieradz-Lenczyca Land, Western Kuyavia and the eastern part of Greater Poland stood out as special "businessman", which was supposed to belong to the eldest of the Piasts. Descendants began a long struggle for seignorate, even though over time, possession of Krakow became simply a matter of prestige and did not provide any real advantages. Pomerania was abandoned, the northern regions came under the control of the Teutonic Knights, the Germans began to advance from the west, and the Tatar-Mongols attacked from the east. At the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries, most of Poland became part of Poland, and in 1300 he was crowned with the Polish crown in Krakow.
Against the backdrop of numerous turmoil, centripetal trends began to be observed again in Poland. In 1295, the Greater Poland prince independently accepted the royal title in Gniezno, but was soon killed by Greater Poland magnates who entered into an agreement with the Brandenburg Elector. In 1306, the Přemyslid Empire suddenly collapsed, and Kraków again fell to Piast, the Prince of Kujaw. The energetic prince quickly annexed Eastern Pomerania and Greater Poland and in 1320 was crowned with the royal crown in Krakow, although he failed to achieve complete unity of the Polish lands. This was achieved by his son, the only Polish king who earned the nickname Great. He managed to restore order in internal affairs and achieve success in foreign policy using diplomacy rather than force. Unfortunately, he did not leave any sons, which is why the Polish throne for the first time went to a foreigner - his nephew. Owning from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic seas, he did not have the strength and time to carefully delve into the affairs of a country foreign to him. Without a strong foothold in Poland, in 1374 he issued the Privilege of Koshitsy, which granted all magnates and gentry rights and privileges that had previously been enjoyed only by the highest secular and spiritual feudal lords. Priviley gave impetus to the growth of the power of the Polish nobility and the decline in the authority of the king. The Koszycki privilege was intended as a means of securing the Polish throne for one of the daughters.
Old Polish state
Princes and kings of Poland
| prince around 964-992 | |
| prince 992-1025 king 1025 |
|
| (1) | king 1025-1031 |
| prince 1031-1032 | |
| (2)
| princes-co-rulers 1032-1033 |
| (3) | prince 1033-1034 |
| Bezkrulevye | 1034-1038 |
| prince 1039-1058 | |
| prince 1058-1076 king 1076-1079 |
|
| prince 1079-1102 | |
| (part of Poland) (part of Poland) | princes 1102-1106 |
| prince 1106-1138 |
(titular prince)
(King of Poland)
Kings of Poland
United Kingdom of Poland
| 1320-1333 | |
| 1333-1370 | |
| 1370-1382 | |
| 1384-1386 | |
| (co-ruler) | 1386-1399 |
| 1399-1434 | |
| 1434-1444 | |
| "Bezrulevye" | 1444-1447 |
| 1447-1492 | |
| 1492-1501 | |
| 1501-1506 | |
| 1506-1529 | |
| (co-ruler) | 1529-1548 |
| 1548-1569 | |
| Union of Lublin: unification of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth | 1569 |
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They are the first Polish princely and royal dynasty. They ruled from the end of the 9th century until 1370.
967 – 1025 – years of life of Boleslav I the Brave. He was a prince for 33 years, then became a king. United and expanded Polish lands. He conquered Eastern Pomerania, Moravia and partly Slovakia.
990 – 1034 years of life of Sack II. Troubled times for Poland: wars, political isolation, civil strife. The king had to suppress the rebellions and give up part of the lands conquered by his predecessor. Mieszko II was killed by conspirators.
1271 – 1305 – Czech ruler Vaclav II. In 1300 he became king of Poland. He died during the years of conflict between contenders for the imperial throne of the Roman Empire.
1261 – 1333 – Vladislav I (Lokotok). Became king in 1320. He united Polish lands and fought against foreign rule.
1310 – 1370 – Casimir III. To develop the country, he took up reforms, creating a set of laws for all of Poland and establishing connections with neighbors - the Germans, Czechs and Hungarians. Founded the University of Krakow.
1326 – 1382 – Louis I is a Hungarian king; in 1370 he became the Polish king after the death of his uncle, who left no heirs. Despite the fact that he owned vast territories and carried out reforms, the Poles did not respect him, believing that he was doing little for Poland, limiting himself to collecting taxes.
1373 – 1399 – Jadwiga I, daughter of Louis I, after his death received Poland as an inheritance. In 1384 she took the title of king, although, according to Polish law, a woman had no right to this. Because of this, she only ruled for a year. After Jadwiga got married, the country was governed jointly with her husband.
Jagiellonian Dynasty
1362 – 1434 – the years of the life of Vladislav II, the first representative of the Lithuanian princely family. In 1386 he took over as Polish king. His reign is associated with the famous Battle of Grunwald and the baptism of Lithuania.
1424 – 1444 – Vladislav III. He fought for the Hungarian throne and died in the war with the Ottoman Turks.
1427 – 1492 – Casimir IV – achieved access to the sea in the fight against the Teutons. During his reign, the gentry increased its influence in the country.
1459 - 1501 – Jan I. He had to constantly fight with his neighbors - the Principality of Moscow, the Tatars, and the peoples of Moldova. He fought against the expansion of the rights of the gentry. Died suddenly.
1461 – 1506 – Alexander I Jagiellon. He continued to fight with his neighbors. Established a set of uniform laws.
1467 – 1548 – Sigismund I. He paid tribute to the Tatars, carried out military reform to strengthen the country's defense capability.
1520 – 1572 – Sigismund II. Famous for the conclusion of the Union of Lublin, which united Poland and Lithuania into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He fought with Ivan the Terrible and lost Polotsk to him, and passed laws. Catholics and Orthodox Christians received equal rights.
Elected kings
1551 – 1589 – Henry III. He sought the throne by making promises to the nobility. He was little involved in the affairs of the country. In 1574 he fled to France, taking its throne.
1533 – 1586 - Stefan Batory. He fought with the gentry to strengthen royal power, developed education, the monetary system, and the bureaucracy. He continued to fight with Ivan the Terrible for Livonia.
Subsequently, the elected kings had to continue the struggle with the Polish nobility - the gentry, which proceeded with varying degrees of success. The most famous kings of this time were Jan II Casimir (1609 – 1672), Mikhail Vishnevetsky (1640 – 1673), Augustus II the Strong (1670 – 1733).
The last king of Greater Poland, Stanisław II Poniatowski (1732 - 1798), was an intelligent and educated man. He was involved in reforms, the financial system, and the army. He fought unsuccessfully against the gentry, which led to civil war and the division of Poland between neighbors. Poniatowski had to renounce the throne and live the last years of his life in Russia.
The proudest and most independent in spirit (according to its own legend, at least) of the Slavic countries, Poland, was very often ruled by foreigners. Moreover, many legendary Polish kings were newcomers. The French, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Swedes, Czechs and Russians sat on the Polish throne.
True, to what extent the Russian tsars, each of whom was predominantly of German blood at the time when he was crowned separately in Warsaw, can be considered Russian is a big question. But the fact is a fact: when Poland was part of Russia as the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Emperor was obliged to undergo a separate coronation with the Poles for the legitimacy of his reign, all three Alexanders and both Nicholas were kings of Poland.
French on the Polish throne
The first thing that comes to mind with this phrase is the story of Henry III of Valois, who so persistently sought the Polish throne and so dishonestly fled from his throne after a very short reign. He, of course, entered Polish legends, but not in the way he would have liked.However, even before Henry, there were French on the Polish throne. The first was Louis of Anjou, who went down in the history of neighboring Hungary as Lajos the Great - since he ruled both countries. However, strictly speaking, Louis belonged to the Neapolitan, that is, Italian, branch of the dynasty, so he can be remembered in the same way as an Italian on the Polish throne.
Louis of Anjou had no sons, only two daughters. He bequeathed Hungary to the eldest, Maria, and Poland to the younger, Jadwiga. Moreover, he died when both were still just girls, and it turned out to be difficult for them to retain their thrones. Jadwiga, under pressure from the Poles, had to marry the old ugly Lithuanian prince Jogaila, who was considered a bit of a scumbag in his family, instead of taking as her husband the young Austrian duke, whom she really liked. When the wedding took place, the bride was not even fifteen and she walked down the aisle in dark clothes, without a single decoration, so that no one could suspect that she was happy about this day.
The Polish people fell in love with Jadwiga very much during her lifetime, and after her death many believed that she was a saint. But the Catholic Church canonized her only in our time. When this happened in 1997, Pope John Paul II, himself a Pole, came to Krakow and addressed the queen’s tombstone: “You have waited a long time, Jadwiga...”
Well, it’s always worth remembering that Poland, like many other countries, was once conquered by Napoleon and even married a Polish noblewoman.
Hungarian - the object of all-Polish love
Polish history was connected with Hungary not only by Jadwiga’s father, but also by the king who replaced the escaped Henry of Valois, Stefan Batory, born Istvan Batory. The Bathory family was at one time one of the most influential in Eastern Europe thanks to a cunning system of marriage alliances, and when one of them ascended the throne, the rest probably thought that they had won a great dynastic game and from now on the Bathory family would be remembered as royalty. But Istvan was unable to found a dynasty - his wife Anna, a Polish woman, a distant descendant of Jogaila, was over fifty and she could not conceive a child, and Istvan saw no point in making heirs on the side.
Stefan Batory not only became a great Polish king - he is remembered with delight and love by all the peoples he then ruled: Poles, Lithuanians and Belarusians. Moreover, he did not speak any of the three languages and he had to write decrees in Latin. This did not stop Stefan in his frenetic activity; he also corresponded with the Russian Tsar Ivan IV - challenging him to a duel. Simply because he believed that it was impossible to be so cruel in the world. In addition to challenging him to a duel, he sent the king a stack of books for self-education.
Czechs also wanted to be Poles
Some of the Czech kings were not averse to being also the Polish king. This distinguished two representatives of the Přemyslid dynasty, Wenceslas II and his son Wenceslas III. Wenceslas the Father received the Duchy of Krakow from the hands of the Polish king Przemysl II. In fact, this gesture was already preparing Wenceslas to receive the throne after Przemysl; it was believed that whoever owns Krakow also owns Poland. He also later received the crown of Hungary, establishing the glorious tradition of future kings of Poland (or Hungary) ruling both these countries.
Vaclav himself was a very interesting person. He became the King of the Czech Republic after his stepfather-regent, who had been sitting too long, suddenly turned out to be guilty of various kinds of crimes and had to be beheaded. Vaclav spent his childhood from seven to twelve years old as a hostage with a stern German knight, who went down in history as Otto the Long, and this probably spoiled Vaclav’s character a little, otherwise his stepfather would have gotten off with some kind of exile.
In Polish history, he was not noted for anything interesting, except for marrying the daughter of King Przemysl after the death of the latter, and having a crowd of illegitimate children. Why he needed Poland at all, except for vanity, was not very clear. In any case, Vaclav's son Vaclav Poland almost drank away, but he was killed earlier. After this, Czechs were no longer announced on the Polish throne.
Sweden also wants Poland
At a time when kings in Poland were already elected, one of the Swedish kings almost managed to found a dynasty in Poland - that is, not only he himself was king, but also his two sons. We are talking about Sigismund Vasa, where Vasa is not a nickname, but the surname of the Swedish royal dynasty.Prince Sigismund participated in the elections with some reason - his mother was Katherine Jagiellonka, one of Jogaila's offspring. By placing the Swedish prince on the throne, Poland hoped to settle land disputes on the Lithuanian shores (Lithuania generally plays a huge role in Polish history). They were waiting for him with great enthusiasm, but no one liked the prince on the spot. He walks wrong, sits wrong, looks wrong, talks wrong... The hostility was mutual, and the prince even thought about transferring the crown along with the country to the Austrians, but later his thoughts turned in a different direction: how to make Sweden and Poland a single country?
Now the plans seem ridiculous: where are the Swedes and where are the Poles? But at that time Poland owned much more of the Baltic lands, and the Swedes owned modern Finnish and Estonian lands, so it would have been a wonderful empire with the Baltic Sea in the middle. The project, however, failed. Moreover, having become the Swedish king, Sigismund discovered that the Swedes did not like him just like the Poles, and that this was the only point on which the two peoples were ready to unite.
Germans in the city
From time to time the Germans also ruled Poland. We are talking not only about the Second World War, but also about the times of kings. For example, at the end of the seventeenth century, the Elector of Saxony, who went down in the history of Poland as Augustus the Strong, was chosen as the Polish king. He was allowed to the throne only on condition of accepting the Catholic faith.
Augustus entered Russian history as an ally of Peter I in the war against Sweden. However, at the same time, he entered into secret agreements with the Swedish king. In general, he pursued a two-faced policy. His son Augustus also became King of Poland (yes, diversity in royal families was considered unnecessary), but this one became even less famous - exclusively for his special extravagance and love for the beautiful life. In general, the Poles did not get along well with the Germans long before Hitler. Although no one can surpass Hitler: he was very fond of building death camps in Poland. And kill thousands of people in them.
It is impossible to write about Poland under the rule of Nazi Germany without shuddering. , and this is only one of the few evidence of a huge tragedy.
Mieszko I laid the foundations of Polish statehood. It was under this Polish prince that Christianity of the Latin rite was established as the sovereign religion. During the reign of Mieszko I and thanks to his government activities, the Polish lands were united together. Kuyavia, Eastern Pomerania and Mazovia were annexed to the territory of Greater Poland. Poland began to play an important role in the political life of all of Europe.
Boleslaw I the Brave continued the work of his father Mieszko I in terms of collecting Polish lands. The Krakow land was annexed to Poland. In 999, the prince managed to capture Moravia. And a year later, even part of the Slovak lands. In 1025 Bolesław was crowned King of Poland in Gniezno. He glorified himself in numerous battles and received the nickname Brave. But he made many enemies. Almost all neighbors were hostile to Poland.
Mieszko II continued the expansionist policy of his father Bolesław I the Brave. During his reign, raids were made on the Czech Republic and Saxony. However, Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II pacified Mieszko II's attempts to increase his influence. In 1034, the Polish king was brutally murdered. The Polish feudal lords were dissatisfied with the policies he pursued. But the murder of the king only plunged Poland into even greater chaos and turmoil.
During his reign, he followed the example of Boleslav I the Brave. He continued to interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring states, such as Hungary. In addition, he took part in the Czech internecine wars. But it was Bolesław II who regained his royal title. Under him, no one challenged the independence of the Polish state. As a result of the revolt of the magnates in 1079, Bolesław II was forced to flee the country forever.
after many years of socio-political crisis in Poland, he tried to restore statehood, establish Christianity and raise the broken authority of the Polish government. If it were not for the timely assistance of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III provided to Casimir, the Polish lands could have become part of the Czech Republic and returned to paganism. But Casimir I was forced to pay for the assistance provided with the independence of Poland.
came to grips with the issue of subjugating Pomerania. Polish troops under his command managed to capture Gdansk. Boleslav III did not refuse to intervene in the affairs of foreign states (Kievan Rus and Hungary). But the biggest result of his reign was the Statute, which actually introduced the seignorate system in the country. The statute prescribed that the Polish state was split into many small parts. The era of feudal fragmentation began.
in 1177 he ascended the Polish throne. He managed to become a powerful prince of Poland. The foreign policy of the Polish state under him was peaceful. Casimir III paid more attention to internal problems. His goal was to unite the Polish lands, but he failed to achieve this goal. Bloody unrest broke out again in Poland after the death of Casimir II.
was first married to Versheslav from Novgorod. But after the tragic death of their son Boleslav, the prince chose Maria as his wife. The son of Bolesław IV received an inheritance in Mazovia. The result of the king's reign was a reduction in the powers of the prince-princeps. In practice, the country was led by aristocrats who extended their influence over a certain fiefdom. Due to such fragmentation of the state, Boleslav IV never managed to receive a royal title.
was not a strong ruler. His years in power were not marked by an authoritarian style of government. He relied entirely on the Polish aristocracy when making decisions. Foreign policy turned out to be a failure. Trips to Western Pomerania ended in nothing. And his support (the ruler relied on the provincial aristocracy as the main force) betrayed him and got out of control. Separatist tendencies were intensifying in the country, and the king could not do anything about them.
almost became the last Polish king from the Piast dynasty. He received the crown not without effort, since the previous ruler of Poland, Leszek Chorny, died childless. As a result, a struggle for the throne developed between the Piasts, in which Przemysl II emerged victorious. However, he did not have to rule for long. He would be kidnapped and beaten. The most likely customer of the harsh reprisal against Przemysl II is called Otto of Brandenburg.
received this nickname for his small stature, which did not exceed 140 centimeters. The ruler actively fought for the unification of Polish lands. Although his path to the Polish crown was thorny and difficult, Wladyslaw I was able to annex Greater Poland and Eastern Pomerania to his possessions. In 1293, Jadwiga of Kalisz became the wife of Władysław. In their marriage they had six children.
in 1370 he took the Polish throne. As a result, he owned vast territories from the Baltic shores to the Balkans. Under him, a number of laws were adopted on local self-government, on the rights of the crown and the privileges of cities. But this king cared little about the affairs developing in Poland. Louis I lived permanently on Hungarian territory. After his death, the Polish throne was taken by his daughter from his second marriage, Jadwiga.
Already at the age of eleven she became the Queen of Poland, and a year later she married Prince Jagiello of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jadwiga remained in the memory of the Poles as a good-natured, wise and pious woman. He constantly provided assistance to the poor and knew four foreign languages perfectly. Helped in the transformation of the University of Krakow. In 1997, the Vatican declared Queen Jadwiga a saint.
, former Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, became engaged to Queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386. He was baptized into Catholicism, taking the name Vladislav. Among the main achievements of his reign on the Polish throne were the baptism of Lithuanian lands and the victory in the Battle of Grunwald. Thus, the expansion of the German knights to the East was stopped. He competed with the leader of the Lithuanian opposition Vytautas. According to the testimony of Jan Dlugosz, Jagiello died in 1434 from a cold.
did not occupy the Polish throne for long. At first, regents helped him rule the country, and in 1444, at the age of nineteen, the king went on a campaign against the Turkish troops of Murad II. However, the campaign failed miserably. Vladislav III heroically fell in battle near the city of Varna. The body of the Polish king was never found. Because of this, a lot of rumors appeared about his lucky salvation.
led a fairly successful fight against the Teutonic Order. In 1466, the Peace of Torun was concluded, according to which many territories were annexed to Poland. Casimir IV wanted to create close alliances with many of Poland's neighbors, including Prussia and the Czech Republic. During the reign of Casimir IV, the University of Krakow began to play an important role in European education. The Latin language became widespread.
tried to correct the situation with the increased gentry privileges in Poland, but he failed. The king was in a very difficult financial situation, so he had to seek help from the gentry. She took advantage of this situation and further strengthened her position, reducing the rights of the bourgeoisie and actually laying the foundation for serfdom in Poland. The expedition against the Moldavian ruler Stefan ended in failure.
turned out to be a very wasteful king of Poland. Wars with neighbors did not stop throughout his reign. The Tatars attacked Polish territories and literally devastated many lands. In 1505, the Radom Constitution was adopted. The royal power was losing its influence, and the gentry, on the contrary, strengthened their position. Alexander Jagiellonczyk was buried in Vilna, and not, according to tradition, in Poland.
closely took up the issues of defense of his state. Salaries were paid to the troops. There are new rules regarding defense issues. Military-financial reform was also implemented. Sigismund I was a great philanthropist, had an extensive library, and constantly invited eminent artists and sculptors to his palace. It was he who signed a number of letters of safe conduct for the pioneer printer Francis Skaryna.
established good relations with Turkey and Austria. But relations with Moscow were spoiled. As a result of a series of wars, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost many important cities, for example, Polotsk. In 1563, a privilege was signed, which equalized the rights of Catholics and Orthodox Christians. During his reign, the gentry continued to prosper, trying not to spoil relations with the authorities. Royal prosecutors appeared in the povets.
had little interest in the internal affairs of Poland. He did not know the language or tradition. Royal ceremonies irritated him. Periodically he took money from the royal treasury to pay off debts due to constant losses at cards. Of course, although short, the memorable reign of the Frenchman on the Polish throne influenced the rapprochement of the two peoples. In 1574, Henry III fled from his residence in Wawel, Poland.
tried in every possible way to strengthen the power of the King of Poland. Fought with tycoons. In defiance of the reform movements, he provided all possible assistance to the Catholic Church and the Jesuits. It was during his reign that numerous Jesuit colleges were opened. Stefan Batory also paid increased attention to the development of the public administration infrastructure of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under him, the Polish grosz became the main means of payment.
left conflicting feelings in the memory of descendants. On the one hand, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth reached the peak of its development under him. But during the reign of the king, the first shoots of a crisis in the Polish-Lithuanian state began to be observed. The principle of unanimity began to spread at the Sejms. Any attempts by the king to moderate the rights of the gentry ended in failure. Sigismund III tried to unite Poland and Sweden under one rule, but he failed.
began modernizing the Polish army. Artillery and infantry were improved. He renounced all claims to the Moscow throne. Based on the results of the Peace of Polyanovka, Poland confirmed its borders before the Smolensk War of 1632-1634. In the field of religion, Vladislav IV showed religious tolerance and tried to play on the existing contradictions in his own interests. He was a great connoisseur of painting and regularly supported artists financially.
carried out a number of radical reforms in the army, but the Turkish threat again loomed over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But this was of little concern to the gentry and Lithuanian magnates. The last years of Jan III were also not very positive. There was complete discord in the family. The king's sons understood that John III Sobieski had little time left to live, so even during his lifetime they began to divide the throne. And the wife openly traded positions.
turned out to be the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the first years of his reign, he tried to save Poland from a deep crisis. Numerous reforms began in the army, treasury, and legislative system. However, Stanislav Poniatowski was never able to cope with his main enemy - the right of “liberum veto”, which impeded the normal legislative process. Although the country adopted a Constitution in 1791, it was already too late. As a result of the partitions, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist.
Jozef Piłsudski was the first head of the revived Polish state. However, it was under him that an authoritarian regime was established in the country. The role of the legislative branch of government was greatly limited. In Poland, a policy of “sanation” (“moral recovery”) was pursued, the real goal of which was to strengthen Pilsudski’s power. In 1935, a new Polish constitution was approved, formally establishing a strong presidential regime.
still receives an ambiguous characterization among Poles. On the one hand, he was the communist leader of Poland for a long time. Under him, many human rights were violated. On the other hand, he was the first president of independent Poland. In 1990, he agreed to hold multi-party elections for the presidency. Wojciech Jaruzelski peacefully transferred power to the victorious Lech Walesa.
, although he was an electrician by profession, was able to become the leader of the Polish Solidarity movement. In 1990 he became president. He faced the difficult tasks of reviving the Polish state, economic problems, and carrying out reforms that were painful for society. As a result of the policy of implementing a set of tough economic transformations, the level of income of the population dropped significantly, but subsequent years showed the effectiveness of the measures taken.
in his election program he proclaimed a “return to moral values.” Together with his twin brother, he headed the Law and Justice party. He was President of Poland for less than five years. Tragically died in a terrible plane crash in Russia. At the same time, many high-ranking Polish government officials died. Many cities have streets named after Lech Kaczynski.
Graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. For almost ten years he taught history at a Catholic seminary. Then he became involved in political activities. At one time he belonged to the Conservative People's Party. He was elected by the Polish people to the presidency in 2010. Komorowski ran for the Civic Platform party. He defeated his competitor Jaroslaw Kaczynski in the second round.
Andrzej Duda- Current President of Poland.