In 1999, during his second to last pastoral trip to Poland John Paul II visited 21 localities. The Holy Father came to Poland, which after the difficult transformation period in the early 1990s was begining to feel an economic upturn and had a relatively stable democracy. A year before the Pope’s visit Poland joined NATO… Continue reading John Paul II’s Speech to the Polish Parliament
The first free election in Poland’s post-war history was held on June 4, 1989 and brought victory to the Solidarity movement and defeat to the governing camp. In fact, the election was only partly free, as – in accordance with the Round Table agreements jointly reached earlier that year by the democratic opposition and the… Continue reading Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki
In 1918, after 123 years of captivity, Poland was reborn as an independent state. Its largest neighbours – Germany and the Soviet Union – were adverse to it. Both of these countries made it their goal to reclaim part of the territories they had lost as a result of the war. German efforts to bring… Continue reading Speech made by Józef Beck, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Sejm
The Nihil novi Constitution was adopted by the General Sejm (parliament) convened in the city of Radom in 1505. Its passage entailed one of the stages in the conflict between the magnates of the royal council and the representation of the szlachta (gentry) gathered in the Chamber of Deputies – i.e., the lower house of… Continue reading Nihil novi constitution
The treatise by Jan Ostroróg (ca. 1430-1501), castellan and voivode of Poznań, is a collection of reform ideas and postulates concerning the recovery of the state and ecclesiastical relations in Poland. It might have been created in connection with one particular Sejm that took place in the times of king Casimir Jagiellon (1447-1492), as a… Continue reading Jan Ostroróg, Memorial on organising Rzeczpospolita
