Encyclopedia > Timeline of Polish history

Article Content

Timeline of Polish history

Timeline of Polish History

Dates and most important events in Polish history from prehistoric times up to the present day.

c.960: Mieszko I assumes rule in Poland
966: Christianization of Mieszko I and Poland
968: First bishopric in Poland - Poznan
972: Mieszko's victorious battle of Cedynia over margrave Hodon
992: Death of Mieszko I
992-1025: Reign of Boleslaw I Chrobry (the Brave)
997: Death of St.Adalbert of Prague during the christianization of Prussians
1000: The Congress of Gniezno with participation of the Emperor Otto III
1000: Bishopric founded in Gniezno
1025: Coronation of Boleslaw I Chrobry as the King of Poland
1034-1058: Reign of Casimir the Restorer
1034-1039: People's rebellion and invasion of the Czech prince, Brzetyslav.
1076: Coronation of Boleslaw the Bold for the king of Poland
1079-1102: Reign of prince Ladislas
1102-1138: Reign of prince Boleslav the Wrymouthed (Boleslav Krzywousty)
1106-1107: War between Boleslav the Wrymouthed and his brother Zbigniew
1138: Following Boleslaw's death, in accordance with his will, Poland is split into five main provinces, one for each of his sons, with the senior holding also the "royal" province between Great and Little Poland. Beginning of regional disintegration which continues until 1320.
1146-1173: Boleslav the Curly[?] is the senior prince in Cracow
1226: Konrad of Mazovia[?] asks Teutonic Knights, recently expelled from Hungary by Andrew II, to settle in Poland and gives them land in northern Mazovia, in addition to any territory they can wrest from the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians. The christianization of Prussia begins
1241: The Mongol invasion cuts a wide swath of destruction through southern Poland; Cracow is besieged.; In July, the host of the Silesian princes is met and routed at Legnica, a defeat accompanied by the death of overlord Henryk Pobozny[?].
1295: Coronation of Przemysl II[?] for the king of Poland in Gniezno; shortly after, he is murdered in a bathhouse.
1300: Coronation of Waclav II, king of Bohemia, as the king of Poland
1305: Death of Waclav II, his son Waclav III becomes the king of Poland
1306: Waclaw III is killed by an assassin while travelling to Cracow to inaugurate his reign in Poland
1306-1333: Reign of Wladyslaw the Elbow High (Wladyslaw Lokietek)
1308-1309: The Teutonic Knights drive out the Brandenburgians who captured Gdansk, but hold the city for themselves. Wladyslaw the Elbow High , caught up with the situation in Little Poland, particularly the conspiracy led by Albert, the Cracow mayor, cannot intervene.
1320: Coronation of Wladislaw the Elbow High and reunion of most of the Polish lands
1327-1332: War against the Teutonic Order
1331: Battle at Plowce
1343: Peace treaty with the Teutonic Order in Kalisz
1370: Death of Casimir the Great ends Piast Dynasty
1370-1382: Reign of Louis I of Hungary
1385: Personal union with Lithuania following marriage of Polish princess Jadwiga with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Wladyslaw Jagiello
1386-1434: Reign of Wladyslaw Jagiello, beginning of Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland
1387: Formal christianization of Lithuania
1409-1411: War with Teutonic Knights
1410 July 15: Victorious battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) with Teutonic Knights
1411 February: First peace treaty of Torun with Teutonic Order
1434-1444: Reign of Wladislaw III
1444: Battle at Varna against Turkey and death of Wladislaw III
1454 February: Prussian Confederation of cities and gentry revolts against rule of Teutonic Knights, and (March) accepts Polish sovereignty
1454-1466: Thirteen Years' War of Poland and Prussian Confederation against Teutonic Knights
1466 October: Second Treaty of Thorn: the Teutonic Order cedes western (henceforth Royal) Prussia to Poland; eastern (later Ducal) Prussia remains under control of the Order, as a Polish fief.
1474: First Polish printed text (in Cracow)
1492-1501: Reign of Jan Olbracht
1569: Administrative union of Lublin creates the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita)
1572: Death of Sigismund II, the last king of the Jagiellonian Dynasty
1573: Election of Henry of Valois as the King of Poland
1575: Stephen Báthory is the King of Poland
1610: Polish-Lithuanian forces occupy Moscow
1620: War with Turkey
1655-1660: Invasion of Poland by the Army of Charles X of Sweden in the Second Northern War[?], known in Poland as "the Deluge"
1683 September 12: Polish king John III Sobieski defeats Turkish Army near Vienna
1768: The Confederation of Bar
1772: The First Partition of Poland: Austria receives Galicia, the kingdom of Prussia gains West Prussia, and Russia gains Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel
1791 May 3: Proclamation of the May Constitution
1793: The Second Partition of Poland: Russia gains Podolia[?], eastern Volhynia[?] and nost of modern Belarus, while Prussia gains Greater Poland
1794 March: The national insurrection lead by Tadeusz Kosciuszko
1795: The Third Partition of Poland: Russia gains Curonia[?], Lithuania, western Belarus and western Volhynia, while Prussia receives the land to the north and west of Warsaw, and Austria the land to the south and east of the city.
1795 November 25: The kingdom of Poland comes to an end with the abdication of Stanislaus II[?]
1807: The Grand Duchy of Warsaw is created under French tutelage from the territories annexed by Prussia in 1793 and 1795
1809: The Grand Duchy gains the area annexed by Austria in 1795
1813: Poland is occupied by Russian troops, bringing the Grand Duchy to an end
1815: Most of the former Grand Duchy (excluding the Poznan and Torun districts) become the Kingdom of Poland under the rule of the Tsar of Russia.
1830 November 29: The November Uprising against occupation of Poland
1832 February 26: Russian-occupied Poland is stripped of its separate administration
1846 February 22: Krakow Uprising: the city is annexed by Austria in November
1863 January 22: The January Uprising against occupation of Poland: fighting continues into 1864
1914 August: Outbreak of World War I: Marshal Pilsudski's troops fight with German and Austrian troops against Russia
1916 November 5: Germany and Austria-Hungary proclaim an independent kingdom of Poland, in practice under German control
1917 July: Pilsudski imprisoned at Madgeburg after supporting Polish soldiers who refused to swear brotherhood with their german and Austrian counterparts
1918 March 3: Russia signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk renouncing sovereignty over Poland
1918 November 11: Poland regains independence
1918-1919: Uprising in Greater Poland region for liberation from German administration
1920 April 25-October 12: Polish-Soviet War
1921 March 17: Proclamation of the March Constitution
1921 March 18: Treaty of Riga
1926 May 12-14: Coup d'etat by Jozef Pilsudski
1935 May 12: Pilsudski dies: Marshal Rydz-Smigly[?] becomes leader of regime
1939 September 1: Germany invades Poland - the beginning of WWII
1939 September 17: Soviet troops invade and then occupy eastern Poland
1944 August 1-October 2: The Warsaw Uprising
1944 July 22: Communist-dominated Polish National Liberation Committee is formed in Lublin on land liberated by Soviet and Polish troops
1944 December 31: National Liberation Committee establishes provisional government
1948 December 20: Communist (Workers) Party merges with left wing of Socialist Party as Polish United Workers Party (PZPR)
1956 October: Gomulka apponted leader of United Workers Party
1970 December: Protests leade to Gomulka's replacement by Edward Gierek
1980 August 31: victory of Solidarity Trade Union strike led by Lech Walesa in Gdansk, a 21-point agreement with the Communist government signed
1981 December 13: Martial law is proclaimed by the Communist authorities led by prime minister General Wojciech Jaruzelski
1983 July: Lifting of the state of martial law in Poland
1989 June 4: The first free postwar general elections (with some reservations) in Poland return a pro-Solidarity majority
1989 September 12: The first non-communist-dominated government in Poland since the war
1990 December 9: Walesa elected President of Poland
1992: The last Soviet troops leave Poland
1997 April 2: New Constitution adopted
1999 March 12: Poland becomes a member of NATO

See also

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!