Name: Republic of Poland
Capital: Warsaw
Population: 38,111,000 (2003)
Head of State: President Lech Kaczyński (December 2005)
Prime Minister: Donald Tusk (November 2007)
History
|
966 1025 |
The Polish court adopts Christianity in 966 when Mieszko I is baptised.
Boleslaw Chobry, son of Mieszko, becomes the first King of
Poland in 1025AD, crowned only at the end of his
reign shortly before his death. |
| 1385 | ‘Personal Union’ of Poland and Lithuania through the marriage of Queen Jadwiga and Wladyslaw Jagiello. |
| 1410 | Defeat of the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald. |
| 1493 | Foundation of the first Sejm (Parliament) made up of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. |
| 1569 | Under the Treaty of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania unite to form a commonwealth stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea and almost from Berlin to Moscow. |
| 1596 | The Capital is moved from Krakow to Warsaw by King Zygmunt III Wasa. |
| 1610-12 | Polish occupation of Moscow. |
| 1655-60 | “The Deluge”- Invasion of Poland by Swedish Army |
| 1683 | King Jan III Sobieski of Poland raises the Turkish siege of Vienna. |
| 1772 | The First Partition of Poland |
| 1791 | On 3 May, King Stanislaw August Poniatowski proclaims a new constitution. |
| 1793 | The Second Partition of Poland. |
| 1795 |
The Third Partition of Poland sees Prussia, Austria and Russia divide and occupy Poland. Warsaw comes under Prussian rule until 1815. After the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Poland ('Congress Kingdom') is created, featuring a liberal consituitution. The Kingdom is attached by personal union to Russia, with Tsar Alexander 1 Romanov the first king. |
| 1830-32 | The November Uprising against Russia. Congress Kingdom is incorporated into Russia. |
| 1863-64 | The January Uprising. |
| 1918 | An independent Polish state under Marshall Pilsudski is recognised by the Allied Powers following the end of World War I. |
| 1920 | The Miracle on the Vistula – The Polish Army under Marshall Pilsudski stops the Red Army invasion of Poland and seizes areas of Lithuania and Ukraine. |
| 1926 | Marshall Pilsudski assumes power in a coup. |
| 1939 | World War II begins with the German attack on Westerplatte, near Gdansk. |
| 1943 | The Warsaw Ghetto uprising. |
| 1944 | The Warsaw Rising against German occupation. |
| 1945 | The Soviet-backed ‘Lublin Committee’ proclaims itself the Provisional Government of Poland. The Yalta agreement consigns Poland to the Soviet sphere of influence. |
| 1955 | The founding of the Warsaw Pact. |
| 1956 | Poznan Strikes |
| 1978 | Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected Pope. |
| 1980 | General strikes in Gdansk spread countrywide. The Solidarity trade union is formed. |
| 1981 | General Jaruzelski declares martial law. |
| 1989 | Round Table talks between the Communist Government and Solidarity agree a power-sharing arrangement and the holding of free elections. In these elections, the Communists are defeated and Tadeusz Mazowiecki is elected Prime Minister. |
| 1990 | Lech Walesa is elected President. |
| 1997 | Poland applies for membership of the EU and NATO |
| 1999 | Poland joins NATO |
| 2004 | Polish Accession to the EU |
System of Government
Poland is a constitutional democracy with executive power held by the Prime Minister, as Head of Government. The Government (Council of Ministers) conducts the internal and foreign affairs of the State “not reserved to other State organs or local government”. The President also has executive power. He/she is elected directly by the people to a five year term and may only serve for two terms. The President is the guardian of the Constitution, Poland’s territorial integrity and the maintenance of international political and military alliances. He/she is also Commander of the Armed Forces. Foreign and security policy is a shared competence of the President and the Government.
Poland’s Constitution was ratified by referendum and adopted by Parliament in 1997. The Constitution states that a referendum requires a voter turn-out of more than 50% to be binding.
There are two Houses of Parliament, a 460-seat lower house (the Sejm), and a 100-seat upper house (the Senat). Elections take place at least once every four years and did so most recently on 21 October 2007. The main political parties in the present Sejm are Civic Platform (PO), Law and Justice (PiS), the Left and Democrats grouping (LiD) and the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL).
Poland has a devolved system of government with sixteen regions or provinces, known as Wojewodztwa or Voivodship, each with a Parliament (Sejmik), a Marshal who is the head of the local government, and a Voivod who is appointed by central Government to act in its interests and to ensure that Polish law is observed. The regions are further subdivided into Powiats (counties) and Gminas (communes). Assemblies at theses levels also have powers, as do Presidents (Mayors), especially in Poland’s large cities.
For further details about Poland, please see the official information website of the Government of the Republic of Poland
Quicklinks
Contact Details
Embassy of Irelandul. Mysia 5
00-496 Warsaw
Fax: +48 22 849 84 31
Visa Office is open to the public and for telephone enquires from 09.00-13.00 only
