Relations between Russia and Poland have a long history. These are two neighboring states that have fought more than once throughout history, entered into peaceful alliances, for some time even some Russian regions were part of Poland, and then Poland itself was completely within the borders of the Russian Empire. In this article we will consider the interstate relations of the countries themselves and their historical predecessors.
In the days of Ancient Russia
Relations between Russia and Poland have more than a thousand-year history. One of the earliest events relating to the relationship between the two states was the conquest of the East Slavic Cherven cities from the Poles by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich in the year 981.
Soon after, Russia adopted Christianity, which indicated the dominance of Orthodoxy in the state. Shortly before that (in 966), Poland became Catholic.
Those centuries were caused by prolonged and bloody internecine wars. More than once, Russian princes turned to the Polish rulers for help. One of the first precedents in 1018 was created by Svyatopolk the Cursed, who fled from Kiev to Boleslav I the Brave. The Polish king defeated Yaroslav the Wise in a battle on the Bug River, even managed to occupy Kiev, but decided not to transfer power to Svyatopolk, as was originally agreed, but to rule himself. In response to this, the people of Kiev rebelled. Boleslav hid with the treasury and captive sisters of Yaroslav. Again under the rule of Poland were the Cerven cities, which they managed to return only by 1031.
An almost identical situation arose in 1069, when Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich fled to Poland to Boleslav II the Bold. He also intervened in the dynastic dispute, going on a campaign in Kiev.
It is worth noting that in relations between Poland and Russia there were quite long periods of peaceful coexistence and joint military alliances. For example, in 1042 the Polish king Casimir I entered into an alliance with Yaroslav the Wise, in 1074 Boleslav II entered into a peace agreement with Vladimir Monomakh. Prince of Kiev Svyatopolk Izyaslavich gave his daughter for Boleslav III. At that time, Russian troops came to the aid of the king, when brother Zbigniew came out against him.
Like Russia, Poland suffered from the Mongol invasion. However, it was not possible to establish a yoke on the territory of this country, which allowed it to develop more successfully in terms of culture, trade, social relations.
Russian-Lithuanian war
In the XIV century, a significant part of Russia fell under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which acted as a counterweight to the Golden Horde. Moreover, close relations have developed between Poland and Lithuania, Lithuanians have repeatedly resorted to the help of the Poles in the confrontation with the Moscow principality for the collection of Russian lands. This predetermined relations between Russia and Poland in the post-Mongol period.
Since the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1512-1522, this confrontation was no longer without the participation of the Poles. In the midst of the Livonian War of 1569, relations between Russia and Poland escalated due to the conclusion of the Union of Lublin, which resulted in the formation of the Commonwealth. All the lands of modern Ukraine passed to the Poles. The united state managed to turn the tide of military confrontation, forcing the Russian kingdom to defend itself on several fronts. The Yam-Zapolsky world established the borders that existed before the Livonian war.
Times of Troubles
One of the most famous pages in the history of relations between Russia and Poland is connected with the Time of Troubles of the beginning of the 17th century. In 1605, with the support of Polish mercenaries, False Dmitry I, who had previously converted to Catholicism, promised to transfer part of the Russian lands to the Commonwealth, ascended the throne. He was killed in a coup.
However, soon False Dmitry II appeared, who was also under the influence of the Poles. To overthrow this impostor, Russia had to make peace with Sweden by making territorial concessions. The tense stage has come in the history of relations between Russia and Poland. In response to this alliance, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth besieged Smolensk, officially entering the war. In 1610, the Russian-Swedish army was defeated at Klushin, after which the Poles occupied Moscow. The established Semiboyarschina proposed to ascend the throne to Prince Vladislav.
At this time, two militias opposed the Polish occupation. The second was successful. The army, led by Minin and Pozharsky, forced the Polish garrison to surrender in the Kremlin.
Subsequent attempts by the Poles to win back were not successful, they could no longer prevent the reigning Romanov dynasty.
Smolensk war
In the policy of Poland towards Russia, the border princedom of Smolensk has always played a large role. In 1632, Russia, desiring to return it, besieged the city. However, at that time it was one of the strongest fortresses in Eastern Europe, so it was not possible to take it.
In 1654, new hostilities began. Zemsky Cathedral decided to support Bogdan Khmelnitsky in the national liberation war. For two years, the Russian-Cossack army established control over most of the Commonwealth, reaching ethnic Polish lands. Sweden seized the moment to invade Poland, so the parties had to make peace to prevent a significant increase in the Scandinavians.
Military operations in relations between Russia and Poland resumed in 1658. This time, success was on the side of the Poles, who ousted Russian troops from the Right-Bank Ukraine and Lithuania. But then the Poles began to yield, and the Andrusovo truce was signed in the results. According to it, Left-Bank Ukraine, Smolensk and Kiev went to Russia, and Zaporizhzhya Sich was under the protectorate of two states. After the conclusion of the "Eternal Peace" in 1686, Kiev became a part of Russia.
Division of Poland
Soon after, the policy towards Russia and Poland began to be characterized by a shift in potential in favor of Russia. Under Peter I, the country strengthened and renewed itself, while the Commonwealth, on the contrary, was in decline.
In the war for the Polish inheritance, our country already acted as an external force that exerted a strong influence on domestic politics. These are the relations between Russia and Poland that developed during that period. The decisive Russian influence in Poland was during the time of Catherine II. Catholics and Orthodox Christians were equalized at the Repnino Sejm, Russia was recognized as the guarantor of the Polish constitution, which in fact turned it into a protectorate of the empire.
The pro-Russian king Stanislav was opposed by the Bar Confederation, dissatisfied with this state of affairs. It was defeated, and part of the territory of the Commonwealth was divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia.
Inspired by the French Revolution, the Poles launched an anti-Russian uprising led by Kosciuszko. But this led only to the second and third sections of the Commonwealth.
As part of the Russian Empire
Many Poles hoped that Napoleon would help restore Poland's independence. He created the Duchy of Warsaw, which took part in the campaign against Russia. After the defeat of the aggressor, Russia's foreign policy towards Poland was unfriendly. By decision of the Vienna Congress of 1815, most of the duchy went to Russia. An autonomous Kingdom of Poland was formed.
A completely liberal constitution was established there, the local aristocracy was admitted to the highest state posts, but the patriots still did not give up hope for the restoration of statehood.
An open uprising began in 1830, impressed by the July Revolution in France. Russian troops crushed him, after which Field Marshal Paskevich became viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland. He established a strict regime that lasted until his death in 1856.
From the 60s of the XIX century, new unrest began, which ended in the January 1863 uprising. He was crushed again, and then began a deliberate Russification of Polish lands.
Revival of independence
During the First World War, Russian troops were driven out by the German army in 1915 from the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. For three years it fell under the occupation of the aggressor.
Under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk peace, which was already concluded by Soviet Russia, a refusal of Polish lands was formalized. The Treaty of Versailles approved the formation of a new Polish state, which was headed by Jozef Pilsudski. His plans were to dismember Russia, creating a large Eastern European confederation under the auspices of Poland.
This intention met the plans of the Bolsheviks to spread communist ideas in Western Europe. The first on this path was Poland. In 1919, after armed clashes in Belarus, the parties entered into a full-scale confrontation. At the first stage, the Polish army occupied Kiev, but during the counterattack of the Red Army in the 1920s, the Poles had to not only yield, but already defend Warsaw. Only after the successful defense of its capital did Poland conclude peace with Soviet Russia, according to which the territories of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine departed.
Then tens of thousands of prisoners of war were in Polish captivity, many of whom died due to difficult conditions in the camps. Relations between Russia and Poland still remain aggravated due to an unresolved issue as to whether the maintenance of conditions that led to high mortality was deliberate.
The Second World War
In the post-war period, Poland actively got rid of everything that reminded of its presence in the Russian Empire, remaining equidistant from Germany and the USSR.
In 1932, as a result of negotiations, a non-aggression agreement was signed with the USSR, two years later a similar agreement was signed with Germany.
In 1938, Poland participated in the partition of Czechoslovakia, when, in the midst of the Sudeten crisis, she demanded the return of the Cieszyn region.
September 1, 1939 Poland itself was under attack. German troops entered its territory. Thus began the Second World War. Already on September 17, the Soviet government sent troops to the lands of Western Belarus, Western Ukraine, and part of the Vilnius Voivodeship. It later became clear that the accession of these lands to the USSR was formalized as a secret supplement to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. By order of the Politburo, 21.5 thousand Polish officers were shot. The places of their execution received the collective name Katyn execution. In modern relations between Russia and Poland, this topic remains one of the most painful, despite its condemnation and recognition by the Russian state.
In 1944, the Craiova Army, led by the Polish government in exile, organized the Warsaw Uprising, trying to free the country on its own, not allowing the strengthening of Soviet influence. The Germans crushed him with particular cruelty, killing several hundred thousand civilians. Currently, the question of the extent to which assistance was possible to the rebels from the Red Army was actively being discussed.
In the subsequent counterattack against the Germans, the liberation of Poland and the capture of Berlin, the Polish Army took part, united with the Army Ludova.
Post-war period
After the end of World War II, the Polish People's Republic was formed, which preached socialism, and became an important participant in the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union initiated the transfer to a neighbor of the territory in the west, previously owned by Germany. In particular, the southern part of East Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania. The Germans were expelled, and ethnic Poles, as well as the East Slavic population deported from the southeastern regions as part of Operation Vistula, settled the lands. So there was a shift of its territory to the west, the expansion of ethnic lands.
Socialism in Poland is characterized by an increase in population and industry. In parallel, a one-party dictatorship is being established in political life, and repressions against the opposition begin. As a gift from the Soviet people, the Palace of Science and Culture is being built in Warsaw, which today remains the most visible and tallest building in Poland. An active cultural exchange between states begins, organized at the party level. For example, Soviet performers regularly perform at the International Festival in Sopot, Polish actress Barbara Brylska plays the main role in the cult Soviet New Year comedy “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!”. In Poland, the work of Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Vysotsky was very popular, but only at an unofficial level.
On the territory of Poland itself, meanwhile, Soviet troops were stationed, the status of which was determined by an agreement between the two countries, concluded in December 1956. Formally, he forbade the intervention of the Soviet contingent in any internal affairs of Poland, strictly established its number. His places of deployment were recorded, it was established that servicemen and members of their families are required to comply with Polish law.
In 1968, Poland assisted the USSR in crushing the Czechoslovak uprising. At the same time, some Poles reacted extremely negatively to the Soviet system, which led to systematic attacks on diplomatic missions of the Soviet Union. In December 1956, during the riots in Szczecin, windows were broken at the Soviet consulate. Three years later, a mine was blown up on the way of Khrushchev’s motorcade, who was on a visit to the Polish People’s Republic. No harm done.
In 1980, mass strikes began at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk, which was launched by the Solidarity union and Lech Walesa. They were directed against the socialist regime. The uprising was only possible after the introduction of martial law by Wojciech Jaruzelski. In modern Poland, these events are seen as the beginning of the fall of the entire socialist bloc. Today, in relations between Poland and Russia, the question of how the Soviet government influenced Jaruzelski when he introduced martial law in the country still remains debatable.
The final socialist system was overthrown in 1989. After the abolition of the NDP, the Third Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth officially proclaimed.
Current situation
Currently, the length of the Russian-Polish border is 232 kilometers. A new stage in relations began in October 1990, when the Declaration on Good-neighborly Cooperation and Friendship was signed. A year later, the withdrawal of the Northern Group of Forces from the territory of Poland began, which ended by October 1993.
After the collapse of the socialist bloc between the states, complicated relationships have developed, and relations between Poland and Russia remain tense today. From the very beginning, Poland began to strive in Euro-Atlantic structures to cooperate with America. In relations with Russia, questions about a difficult historical heritage are regularly raised. The politics of memory often comes to the fore in the international relations of Russia with Poland.
The Russian Federation negatively perceived the neighbor’s support for color revolutions in the territory of the post-Soviet republics. In the 2000s, trade and economic relations between Russia and Poland were complicated due to a number of trade disputes, as well as Poles' plans to allow the Americans to deploy missile defense facilities on their territory. The Russian Federation regards this as a threat to its own security.
The states became somewhat closer after the plane crash near Smolensk, in which the Polish head of state, Lech Kaczynski, died with a number of senior officials and military figures. At the same time, conservative Poles appeared among conspiratorial anti-Russian theories based on the neighbor’s involvement in the crash.
Conflicts receiving international publicity arise constantly. In 2012, during the European Football Championship, which took place in Poland, Russian fans organized a “Russian march” in Warsaw, sanctioned by local authorities. At the same time, they were subjected to a massive attack by Polish football hooligans.
In August 2012, the first official visit of the ROC patriarch in the history of relations between the two states took place. Cyril visited Poland, who signed the Message of the people of Russia and Poland, calling on both nations to reconcile.
In 2013, the Russian embassy in Warsaw was attacked by participants in a nationalist rally during the Independence March. The building was bombarded with bottles and fires.
In 2014, trade and economic relations between Russia and Poland deteriorated due to the introduction of the Russian counter-sanctions against the EU countries. As part of the food embargo, the import of a large list of goods into our country was banned. Russia's sanctions against Poland affected local farmers, producers of milk and meat, for which the Russian border regions had previously been points of mass sales of their own products. Currently, the situation remains unchanged, the counter-sanctions regime is regularly extended, in response to increased sanctions by the West due to Russian politics in the Crimea and Ukraine. Poland actively supports them.
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Describing today the trade and economic relations between Russia and Poland, it should be noted that in recent years, trade between the two countries has significantly decreased. At present, 80% of Russian exports to Poland are energy carriers; Polish exports to the Russian Federation are based on mechanical engineering and chemical products. Difficult relations between Russia and Poland today.
Political relations worsened in 2017 after the decommunization law came into force. After that, Poland became the leader in the desecration of Soviet monuments. The situation is aggravated due to the demolitions of the monuments to the soldiers of the Red Army, who died in battle during the liberation of the neighboring republic from Nazism. In Russian society, this causes a clearly negative reaction. Poland seeks to eradicate everything that linked it to the Soviet past.