Cracow City Guide: History of Poland

Poland is roughly square, reaching a maximum of about 680km from west to east and 650km from north to south. It's bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north-west, by Germany to the west, the Czech and Slovak republics to the south and Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia to the east. The northern part of Poland is varied and gently undulating, relatively well forested and covered by several thousand post-glacial lakes. The flat central belt is the main agricultural area, watered by Poland's longest river, the Vistula, which, like all Poland's rivers, runs towards the north, draining into the Baltic Sea. Moving south, the terrain rises, culminating in the west with the Sudeten Mountains and to the east with the Carpathian Mountains which run along the southern frontier. The highest peak is Mt. Rysy 2499 m in the Carpathian's Tatra Mountains, Poland's alpine range.
 
Forests cover just over a quarter of Poland's territory, and are populated by hare, deer and wild boar, mostly in duplexes. Some brown bears and wildcats live in the mountain forests and elks can be found in the woods of the far north-east. Several hundred European bison, brought to the brink of extinction early this century, live in the Bialowieza National Park. Airborne creatures have proved more resilient in urbanized and polluted Europe, as a cursory glance at the Polish sky will attest.

Storks, which build their nests on the roofs and chimneys of the houses in the countryside are much loved. Poland's national parks are scattered evenly throughout the country, with a concentration in the mountainous regions of the south-east. 'Landscape parks' can be found throughout Poland; these are scenic regions but not so strictly preserved.

  

Poland's climate is influenced by a continental climate from the east and a maritime climate from the west. As a result, the weather is changeable, with significant differences from day to day and from year to year. Winter one year can be almost without snow, whereas another year heavy snows can paralyze transport for days. Generally, central Poland is the driest, while the mountains receive much more rain (and snow in winter). Summer is usually warm and the most pleasant time to visit, but the plentiful sunshine is interspersed with heavy rains.

There's obviously something about the borders of Poland which say 'hey, come and get it'. All of the great (and many of the lesser) European empire builders have been bingeing and purging here since the Polanie ('people of the fields') parked themselves in the 10th century.

But war and subjugation is not Poland's only story. One of Europe's cultural powerhouses, as well as its erstwhile granary, Poland has flourished under some enlightened and energetic rulers. Casimir III the Great (1333-70) was a monarch of some renown, bestowing one of Europe's first universities on Krakow, and an extensive network of castles and fortifications on the country at large. Through the ensuing centuries of territorial expansion and contraction, and of wealth and poverty, the infrastructures bequeathed by Casimir held firm - most of Poland's troubles blew in from outside.

Internal stability faltered in the 17th century. With the parliament crippled by a stipulation that any legislation could be vetoed by any one member, decades stumbled by without one law being passed and Poland was frustrated into dissent. While the nobles took things into their own hands, usurping political rights and ruling their vast estates as virtual suzerainties, foreign invaders systematically carved up Poland. Russia exerted the most influence but telling battles were also conducted with Tatars, Ukrainians, Cossacks, Ottomans and Swedes.

By the late 19th century, Poland was in disarray. Four million people had succumbed to war, famine and bubonic plague, and Russia, Prussia and Austria were experimenting with various ways of splitting the Polish booty. Despite steady economic recovery on paper, poverty was still very much the go in rural areas and about one fifth of Poland's 20 million people emigrated, mostly to the USA.

Just when it seemed like Poland was a working definition of `worst', history kicked in with WW I. With Poland's three occupying powers at war, most fighting took place on territories inhabited by Poles, who were often conscripted into opposing occupying armies and forced to fight one another. The loss of life and livelihood was staggering. In the confusion following the war, particularly Russia's preoccupation with the October Revolution, Poland was able to consolidate its bedraggled selves into a sovereign identity and attempted to build up its nation and nationhood practically from scratch. This monumental project was going along pretty well until WW II when Germany, and then the Soviet Union, gobbled up Poland, viciously subduing the population at large - Nazis paying particular attention to the Jews.

The Polish government in exile slipped into a de facto relationship with Stalin, a sordid alliance with little to offer Poles still in Poland. Particularly charming was the Soviet trick of sending under equipped Polish bodies to soak up Nazi ammunition, then sending in the Red Army to clean up, grab the glory and a bit more Polish territory in the process. By 1945, Poland was ruined (again), having lost over six million of its population, half of whom were Jews. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin decided to leave Poland under Soviet control (yeah thanks guys) and Poland became a site of repression and victimization Stalin-style. Poles never embraced Stalinism (well, it wasn't so cuddly), and the communist period featured waves of strikes.

As hopes for prosperity dwindled, labor organization increased, backed by a committed intelligentsia. The triumphal visit of Pope John Paul II to his homeland in 1978 dramatically increased political ferment. The organization and articulation of the labor movement became superior to that of the demoralized Communist government and, by 1980, the government was no longer in a position to use force against its opponents. Initial demands for wage rises soon took on more general political and economic overtones. Poland's workers' delegations convened under the Solidarity trade union banner, led by Lech Walesa. Solidarity had a dramatic effect on the whole of Polish society, garnering a membership of 10 million in its first month, a million of these coming from Communist Party ranks. After more than a generation of restraint, the Poles launched themselves into a spontaneous and chaotic sort of democracy. Although the government had ceded to the workers the right to organize and the right to strike all this was proving a bit much to take: martial law was introduced in 1981, Solidarity was suspended and its leaders interned, including Walesa. The brutalities of martial law were gradually relaxed but Solidarity was forced to operate as an underground organization until Gorbachov-instigated perestroika filtered through to Poland.

Cracow City Guide: Culture

Poland's first cultural crop was tended by Sigismund I the Old (1506-48). Through his cultivation, Latin was gradually supplanted by Polish, a national literature was born and architectural expertise blossomed. Scientific endeavor was also a feature of this period. In 1543, the patently bonkers Nicolaus Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, proposing that the earth moves around the sun. Poland's next king, Sigismund II Augustus (1548-72) continued his father's patronage of arts and culture, and the two reigns came to be referred to as Poland's golden age.

Sculpture and painting in Poland is typically religious, with Gothic and Renaissance representations of the Madonna and Christ evident in most churches. Ornate tomb decoration was a particular specialty of Polish stone-workers, their anonymous artistry also evident in the bas-relief facades of many Renaissance houses. Secular work has been largely documentary, even until well into this century. Zdzislaw Beksinski is an exception. Born in 1929, he is a creator of a striking and mysterious world of dreams and is thought by many to be the best artist Poland has produced.

Artists in Poland today are still shaking off the hideous legacy of Communism under Stalin. During this period, Socialist Realism became the dominant style, bequeathing an abominable body of visual arts, architecture, literature and music. Poland has spawned fine fiction writers, many of them emigrants like Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose work recreates in Yiddish the vanished milieu of Jewish Poland. Among the current prominent exponents of Polish culture are writers such as Ryszard Kapuscinski, and the composer Henryk Gorecki, whose third symphony achieved world-wide success a couple of years ago.

Polish food is hearty and filling, with thick soups and sauces, abundant in potatoes and dumplings, rich in meat but not in vegetables. Characteristic ingredients are dill, marjoram, caraway seeds and wild mushrooms; favorite dishes include bigos (sauerkraut and meat) and barszcz (beet soup). There are four daily meals in Poland: an early breakfast, a light snack for second breakfast, a substantial lunch taken after work, and a small supper before bed. Tea and vodka are the favored Polish beverages, both consumed with fervor, but to somewhat differing effect.

Cracow City Guide: Entry Requirements for Poland

A valid passport is required. U.S. citizens do not need visas for stays up to 90 days for tourist, business, or transit purposes. Americans should ensure that their passports are date-stamped upon entry. Persons planning to stay in Poland for longer than 90 days or who will be employed in Poland must obtain a visa in advance. Polish law requires every traveler to be able to show means of support, if asked. For persons above 16 years of age, this has been defined as 100 Polish zloty per day or the equivalent in foreign currency or other negotiable instruments. For further information on entry requirements, please contact the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Consular Section, at 2224 Wyoming Ave N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008, tel. (202) 232-4517 or 232-4528, or the Polish consulates in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.