Period Description MEDIEVAL PERIOD 966 Prince Mieszko adopts Christianity; traditional date of origin of Polish state. 1025 Boleslaw I (the Brave) recognized as first king of Poland. 1079 Bishop Stanislaw of Kraków martyred. 1226 Teutonic Knights introduced into Polish regions. 1241 Asiatic Tatars invade Poland and Central Europe. 1320 Following a period of disunity, W adyWladyslaw Lokietek (the Short) recognized in Europe as king of Poland. 1333-70 Kaziemierz III (the Great), reigns as one of Poland's most noted rulers. 1364 University of Kraków founded. 1385 Union of Krewo begins Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under Jagiellon Dynasty. 1410 Forces of Poland-Lithuania defeat Teutonic Knights at Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). SIXTEENTH CENTURY 1500-1600 Traditional "Golden Age" of Poland- Lithuania; period when political stability, prosperity, and cultural achievement reach their peak. 1526 Defeat by Ottoman Turks at Battle of Mohács leads to collapse of Jagiellon rule over Bohemia and Hungary. 1543 Copernicus publishes treatise defining heliocentric universe. 1569 Union of Lublin strengthens Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1572 Jagiellon Dynasty ends, and era of truly elective monarchy begins. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 1648-67 "Deluge" period includes internal rebellion and foreign invasion. 1683 King Jan Sobieski breaks siege of Vienna. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ca. 1700-25 Poland becomes virtual puppet of Russia during reign of Tsar Peter the Great. 1764 Stanislaw August Poniatowski elected as last king of PolandLithuania . 1768-72 Confederation of Bar rebels. 1772-73 Austria, Prussia, and Russia impose first partition of Poland. 1791 Constitution of May 3 restores hereditary monarchy and reforms political system. 1792-93 Confederation of Targowica invites foreign intervention; Prussia and Russia carry out second partition of Poland. 1794 Tadeusz Kosciuszko leads rebellion against foreign rule. 1795 Austria, Prussia, and Russia impose third partition of Poland, ending Polish independence for more than a century. NINETEENTH CENTURY 1807-15 Semi-independent Duchy of Warsaw established by Napoleon; abolished by Russian occupation, 1813; repartitioned by Congress of Vienna after Napoleon's final defeat. ca. 1820-55 Era of Romanticism in Polish culture produces such figures as Mickiewicz and Chopin. 1830-31 "November Revolt" against Russian rule in Congress Kingdom of Poland proves unsuccessful. 1846 Polish uprising in Austrian zone of partition fails. 1863-64 "January Insurrection" in Russian sector culminates in failure, ending phase of nineteenth-century insurrections against foreign domination. ca. 1864-1900 Period of "Organic Work" marks important transition in Polish politics and society. TWENTIETH CENTURY 1914-18 World War I results in collapse of all partition powers and rise of independent Second Polish Republic at war's end. ca. 1919-21 War with Soviet Russia; Poland avoids Soviet conquest and gains narrow victory. 1926 Jozef Pilsudski gains power by coup and establishes sanacja government that rules until 1939. 1939 World War II begins with September invasions of Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union; Polish forces defeated. After defeat, Polish government-in-exile forms in London under General Sikorski. 1940-41 Soviet Union incarcerates 1.5 million Poles in labor camps and executes thousands of prisoners of war before ceding Polish lands to Germans. 1941-44 All Polish territory comes under Nazi occupation, taking savage toll of Polish lives; Poland becomes main killing ground of the Holocaust; Polish resistance movements active at home and abroad. 1943 Discovery of Katyn Massacre causes breach between Soviet Union and Polish government-in-exile. 1944 Warsaw uprising by resistance Polish Home Army receives no Soviet assistance, is crushed by Nazis. 1945 Red Army liberates Polish territories and establishes communist-dominated coalition government. 1947 Communists consolidate political monopoly after rigged elections. 1947-49 Sovietization occurs, including nationalization of industry and business, attacks on organized religion, and imprisonment of opposition leaders. 1948-56 Stalinist period brings most severe communist rule; adoption of Soviet-style constitution; attempted collectivization of agriculture. 1956 Worker riots in Poznan result in numerous deaths; in defiance of Soviet Union, Wladyslaw Gomulka chosen as Polish Communist Party leader; he announces commitment to reform and liberalization of system. 1968 Popular disenchantment with Gomulka begins to crystallize opposition that will mature in next two decades. 1970 Government price increase policy brings strikes and demonstrations on Baltic coast; met by lethal force, hundreds die; Gomulka deposed. 1970-80 Edward Gierek heads communist party; his policies result in severe economic crisis and intensified opposition sentiment; strikes and riots result from price rises, 1976. 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, elected pope, takes name John Paul II. 1980 Nationwide worker strikes culminate in occupation of Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk; state authorities sign Gdansk Accords, acceding to striker demands and autonomy for the Solidarity trade union. 1980-81 Solidarity, spearhead of political and social reform movement, exists legally; constant friction between Solidarity and government; Warsaw Pact threatens intervention. 1981 General Wojciech Jaruzelski becomes party head, declares martial law, and carries out military takeover in name of communist party; Solidarity banned, its leadership imprisoned, other union activists driven underground. 1983 Solidarity leader Lech Walesa receives Nobel Prize for Peace. 1984 Father Jerzy Popieluszko murdered by Polish secret police. 1985-1988 Period of gradual liberalization corresponding to advent of Mikhail Gorbachev in Soviet Union; economic crisis and popular frustration deepen. 1988 Renewed labor strikes convince Jaruzelski to initiate talks with opposition. 1989 Round Table talks produce formula for power sharing between communists and Solidarity; partly free elections result in sweeping Solidarity victories; communist regime crumbles. 1989 August First postcommunist prime minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, forms coalition government. 1990 January "Shock therapy" economic reform program of Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz goes into effect; PZPR formally dissolved and renamed Social Democracy of Republic of Poland (SdRP). December Walesa becomes first popularly elected postcommunist president. 1991 July Warsaw Pact alliance dissolved. Summer Comecon economic grouping dissolved. August Coup fails to take over government of Soviet Union. October Parliamentary elections seat fragmented Sejm; Jan Olszewski chosen compromise prime minister. December Soviet Union officially breaks up. 1992 February Parliament passes strict antiabortion law after bitter social and political struggle. May Sejm rejection of Olszewski economic program leads to Olszewski's ouster; final accord signed on withdrawal of Russian troops from Poland. 1992 August- September Coalition government of Hanna Suchocka oversees economic growth period and continued political fragmentation. 1993 October Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak forms new government dominated by SdPR.
Data as of October 1992