Poland today occupies a prominent place on the political map, and in the old days its influence on European affairs was even more significant. The modern Republic of Poland appeared as a result of a long and difficult evolutionary path from a medieval kingdom to a democratic state within a united Europe.
The origins of democracy: love of freedom and independence
The history of Poland begins in the distant 10th century, when the first Polish prince named Mieszko converted to Christianity. After a hundred years, the state received the status of a kingdom from the Pope, and after five hundred signed a union with the Principality of Lithuania and went down in history under the name Rzeczpospolita, which is tracing paper from the Latin language and translates as a “common cause”. This moment is extremely important for understanding the entire subsequent history of Poland.
Despite the fact that formally Poland was a monarchy, there was never any absolutism there, and any attempts to limit the freedom of the urban population were faced with strong resistance.
Government Act and the fight against tycoons
The eighteenth century turned out to be not the easiest for the country - here there are internal troubles and tensions with neighbors. However, it was then that the first constitution of the Republic of Poland was adopted, which went down in world history under the name "government act". In the strict sense, the state did not have a republican form of government, but on the European continent it was the first experience to codify the basic law.
This truly revolutionary undertaking was so unexpected for the neighbors that it provoked a war with the Russian Empire, which decided to completely destroy the nascent democracy.
Inside the country, too, not everyone was satisfied with the new law and, united, the Polish magnates started a war against their own government and the Sejm - the country's main representative body, which had been continuously sitting at that time for three hundred years.
Free Poland. Country or Republic
The truly republican principles of the state were enshrined in the constitution only after being liberated from Russian rule in 1919. After the Russian revolution, most countries of the Empire gained sovereignty. The Free Republic of Poland appeared as a result of the declaration of independence and the adoption of the so-called Small Constitution, which established the post of head of state, but sharply limited its powers.
Two years later, a new fundamental law was passed. According to that constitution, the Sejm was endowed with great powers, but executive power was exercised by the President of the Republic of Poland.
Communist period. A new round in the development of Polish law
After the end of World War II, the Republic of Poland fell under the strong influence of the Soviet Union. It was during this period that the new Constitution was adopted, written off, by and large, from the Stalinist one. Although the fundamental rights and freedoms of man were affirmed in that document, the right of personal property for artisans and peasants was retained, but in full all these rights could not be realized. In the same constitution, the separation of powers, traditional for Poland, into branches was abolished, and the Seimas retained all the fullness of power and the right to speak in the name of the people.
A new period in the history of Poland begins after the liquidation of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. After several years, the Sejm will adopt a new constitution, which will be written taking into account all the difficult and unfree past.
The new basic law prohibited confiscation, torture, and the right to inviolability of the person was put in the first place. The inviolability of the home and correspondence was also declared, which, in the conditions of the modern development of technology and the attempts of various states to arrange total surveillance of their citizens, seems especially important.
In 2004, Poland finally achieved one of its important goals and joined the European Union, while retaining, however, partial sovereignty. The traditions of the struggle for independence force politicians to be wary of various associations and unions. Perhaps this is why the Republic of Poland is in no hurry to introduce European currency into circulation and carefully protects its zloty, which has been a means of payment on its territory for several centuries.