What do you know about Poland?

Kama

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I'm curious what do people know about Poland. Like facts/history/politics/famous places/famous people/customs etc.

Yes, it was partly Maciamo's post that inspired me to write this, but also some people on the other forum.

Sometiems I have a feeling that Japanese know more about Poland than Europeans. :D
 
I've been to Poland a couple of times. Our Scout district has been exchanging camps for several years now with a district by Krasnystaw. I have been to Cracow and Warsaw and visited the camps at Auschwitz. Climbed the Tatra mountains and swam in the Baltic. I can remember a lot on the news when Poland fianlly became a democratic country. The only problem I have with Polish is how to pronounce the language. I know a few words, especially how to order Piwo. I also got my taste for Vodka from my visits to Poland. I know that the Polish regard their vodka superior to Russian vodka. I like Bison vodka. I like the country. A lot of churches and some pipe their sunday services outside. Is this enough for general info? I could name names, but I have problems spelling Polish names, except Chopin. Great composer.
:wave:

Winston Churchill once said about the Polish 'There a few virtues that the Poles do not possess and few mistakes that they ever avoided' :D
 
Hmmm..what I know about Poland, well I have never been to Poland, but what I know much about is its history during WW2 and Cold War. Especially the importance of Lech Walesa... :)
 
I haven't been to Poland yet but I've read something about it. Of course, I was learning about European history in school when Poland was mentioned especually about World War 2 and it's importance about 16-18th century... I've read Henrik Sienkievich's novels: Ogniem i macem (sorry for bad spelling, I don't know the original name), Pan Volodiovski, Potop, Quo vaids etc.) Therefore I've learned about Polish history during the period of it's highest power...
 
I know that Poland was part of Germany and Russia until 1918, although there was a Duchy of Warsaw (?) at the time of the Napoleonic Empire. The country is mostly flat, and the main cities are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Krakowice, Krakow...

Polish language is a Slavic language related to Russian, Czech or Slovak (among others).

The population of Poland is about 39 million, and that it gives Poland enough political weight to cause trouble in the EU constitution talks as they insist on mentioning Christianity. Polish people are mostly Catholics, and Pope John Paul II is from Poland.

Could you be more specific about what kind of knowledge of Poland you are asking ?
 
Maciamo said:
I know that Poland was part of Germany and Russia until 1918, although there was a Duchy of Warsaw (?) at the time of the Napoleonic Empire. The country is mostly flat, and the main cities are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Krakowice, Krakow...
I remember being told this by a Pole about the founding of Poland.
Once three brothers set out to found their own countries. They were called Czech, Lech and Rus. Czech founded the Czech nation when they came to the first good clearing. Later Lech saw a eagle sitting in a tree and saw it as a sign to found his nation. Rus carried on to found his nation. Can't think what that was called. :?
It has also been discribed as an ideal place for a battlefield because it is mainly flat. :D
 
Maciamo said:
I know that Poland was part of Germany and Russia until 1918, although there was a Duchy of Warsaw (?) at the time of the Napoleonic Empire. The country is mostly flat, and the main cities are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Krakowice, Krakow...

Polish language is a Slavic language related to Russian, Czech or Slovak (among others).

The population of Poland is about 39 million, and that it gives Poland enough political weight to cause trouble in the EU constitution talks as they insist on mentioning Christianity. Polish people are mostly Catholics, and Pope John Paul II is from Poland.

Could you be more specific about what kind of knowledge of Poland you are asking ?

Austria, Germany and Russia were occuping Poland since 1772 (Poland was completely occupied since 1795) till 1918. Only for these countries we were part of their countries.

Yes, there was Duchy of Warsaw which lasted 1807-1815. It's land was more than Warsaw actually. (here you can find map: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafika:Ksiestwo_Warszawskie_1809.jpg )

Hmmm... Any knowledge you have about Poland. :D What are the People like too. Or anybody else who is from Poland exceprt for John Pope II?

@ Wow, Mycernius, you did travel a lot, I suppose. So, what do you think about Poland and Polish people? What did you like and what not?

@ Miss Apollo, yes Wałęsa is an important person in our history. And that's good that he was given Peace Nobel Prize in 1983. :)

@ TenMonGakuSha, Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote Ogniem i mieczem, Pan Wołodyjowski, Potop, Quo Vaids (he was given a Nobel Prize in literature for this in 1905) etc. Did you like the books?

There were films based on Pan Wołodyjowski, Potop, Ogniem i Mieczem (this is so called "trylogy") and also on Quo Vadis.

Does somebody know another Polish writer Lem? He wrote among the other things Solaris.

It looks like you know quite something about Poland. :) I hope that's all the truth. :D Not like the things that Poland started the II world war atacking Germans etc.
 
Kama said:
It looks like you know quite something about Poland. :) I hope that's all the truth. :D Not like the things that Poland started the II world war atacking Germans etc.
I've never heard any rumour that Poland attacked Germany. Where did that come from? :? I do know that the UK had signed a treaty with Poland, that if they were attacked Britian would come to their aid. When Germany invaded the UK stood by that treaty and declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939. Hitler didn't think that we would stick by the treaty. A polititcal gamble that didn't pay off for him.
 
Mycernius said:
I've never heard any rumour that Poland attacked Germany. Where did that come from? :?
That was Nazi propaganda at the time. Hitler wanted to have a reason to attack Poland, therefore SS members disguised as Polish fighters attacked a German radio station.
 
I heard today about new research showing many more Poles may have died from the Black Plague of the 14th Century than previously thought....the standard history is that Northeast Europe was too cold for the germs or Poland was too rural (that is where the rodants are, after all) ? but west from Russia and east from Germany were also hit, not like Britain or France, but pretty hard....(sorry, it was just in passing so no numbers :p).
 
not so much, i know about ww2, and i know about a lott of polish guys come to netherlands for working, and car export/import.

but i would like to travel to east europe in the future...
 
Paraphrasing George Bush : "Don't forget Poland!"

Indeed Mr. President, indeed.

:D
 
Kama said:
Hmmm... Any knowledge you have about Poland. :D What are the People like too. Or anybody else who is from Poland exceprt for John Pope II?

@ TenMonGakuSha, Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote Ogniem i mieczem, Pan Wołodyjowski, Potop, Quo Vaids (he was given a Nobel Prize in literature for this in 1905) etc. Did you like the books?

There were films based on Pan Wołodyjowski, Potop, Ogniem i Mieczem (this is so called "trylogy") and also on Quo Vadis.

I was very interested in Polish history when I was younger. I've forgotten a few things now but I still remember that Poland has a rich history although it's not so famous worldwide.
I did like the books! I was reading them at high velocity :cool: but I haven't seen the movies.

The most famous man from Poland that I know is (besides the current pope) NIKOLAUS COPERNICUS! (we call him Nikola Kopernik) I've learned about his work on astronomy. :)
 
Wasn't Marie Curie Polish?
I visited Poland when I was younger - never seen anyone drink Vodka like they can.
Seem to remember reading they had the best kill ratio of any nation during the battle of britain.
 
TenMonGaKuSha said:
The most famous man from Poland that I know is (besides the current pope) NIKOLAUS COPERNICUS! (we call him Nikola Kopernik) I've learned about his work on astronomy. :)
Actually, if I'm correctly informed, Copernicus was of German ethnicity. He was born in Torun (German: Thorn) into a German merchant family. Authority over Torun was ceded in the 2nd Peace of Torun (although not recognised by the Pope & the German Kaiser) to the Polish king Casimir IV, but it kept a certain autonomy as a "free Hanse town" (freie Hansestadt).
Copernicus from Poland? Yes & no.
 
jamosaka said:
Interesting page on that here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus'_nationality

He sounds more Polish to me. His family were involved in war efforts against the Prussians which shows where their loyalties were.
Interesting article, although you don't seem to have read it thoroughly. :p

Quote:
"One can say summarizing, that Copernicus' working language was Latin, his mother tongue was German, his sovereign was Polish and his father tongue was probably Polish. He is undisputedly a Central-European.
[...]
the attempts by much later generations to impose a modern nationality upon a man whose life belonged to the Late Middle Ages, when the modern geopolitical entities "Germany" and "Poland" did not even exist"

That's why I said "German ethnicity." We should always be careful in using modern concepts on not-so-modern times.

Edit:
BTW, modern concepts: the Prussians of those times were no Germans (again in regard to modern concepts, definitions in history can get rather tricky).
 
I also know Tadeusz Kosciuszko from Poland, although one could argue that he was also Lithuanian or Belarus.
 
I know that Poland was totally devastated in the second world war. First the Germans came and destroyed everything and killed everyone, and then the Russians came and did their thing.

I know that the capital city of poland is Warzaw/a (was that right? :))

I know that there are much less safety at the workplaces in Poland than there is in Sweden.

I know that beer is cheap in Poland...at least i think so. :)

That's all i know.
 
sgt. Pepper said:
I know that Poland was totally devastated in the second world war. First the Germans came and destroyed everything and killed everyone, and then the Russians came and did their thing.

I know that the capital city of poland is Warzaw/a (was that right? :))

I know that there are much less safety at the workplaces in Poland than there is in Sweden.

I know that beer is cheap in Poland...at least i think so. :)

That's all i know.
Beer is cheap in Poland, and I can vouch for that. Mind you from what I've heard about beer prices in Sweden most of Europe has cheaper beer. :)
 

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