Timeline of Polish History
originally posted by the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
 
 
966 Mieszko I Christianizes Poland
1025 Boleslaw Chrobry crowned first Polish king
1139 Boleslaw Krzywousty reunifies the Polish state
1333 Kazimierz III (later called the Great) ascends to the throne
1364 University of Krakow founded
1410 Battle of Grunwald, Teutonic Knights are defeated
1473 First printing press in Krakow
1506 Zygmunt II Stary becomes king
1526 East Prussia becomes a vassal province of Poland
1543 Nicholas Copernicus' theory of a sun centered solar system published
1569 Lublin Union of Poland and Lithuania
1573 Henryk Walezy, first elected king
1576 Stefan Batory becomes king
1655 Swedes invade Poland, in what is known as the Deluge
1660 Defeated Swedes sign a peace treaty at Oliwa
1683 Jan III Sobieski's victory over the Turks at Vienna
1764 Stanislaw August Poniatowski becomes king of Poland
1768 Bar Confederation fights against Russian encroachment
1772 First Partition of Poland
1791 3rd of May Constitution
1793 Second Partition of Poland
1794 Kosciuszko's Insurrection
1795 Third Partition, Stanislaw August Poniatowski dethroned
1807 The Duchy of Warsaw established under Napoleon
1830 November Insurrection
1863 January Insurrection
1914 World War I begins
1918 Poland restored as a European Nation
1920 Poles repel an invasion by the Red Army
1939 German and Soviet armies attack Poland
1940 Polish pilots fight on the Allied side in the Battle of Britain
1943 Ghetto Uprising
1944 Warsaw Uprising
1945 Yalta Conference - End of World War II
1947 Falsified post-war elections bring Communists to power
1956 Workers' protest in Poznan suppressed by force
1966 Poland observes 1,000 years of Christianity
1968 Student unrest over censorship and educational restrictions
1970 Worker protest in port cities, government responds with force
1976 Workers' protests in central Poland
1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla chosen Pope John Paul II
1979 Pope John Paul II makes a pilgrimage to Poland
1980 Shipyard strikes on the Baltic coast Independent trade union "Solidarity" recognized
1981 Martial Law declared, independent trade union activity banned
1983 Lech Walesa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1984 Jerzy Popieluszko, the Solidarity Priest, murdered
1989 Round Table talks lead to reorganization of government and free elections
1990 Solidarity candidates gain positions in government, Lech Walesa elected president
1997 Poland's New Constitution ratified