Why Poland Has A Complicated History

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[vvilczur]

As a native Pole I can say, that this is very interesting and reliable description of Polish situation. Of course very simplified, but good for start :)

[invisiblehandofadamsmith]

Most respect for Poland from London 😊my grandfather worked with poles in battle of britain. he always like them a lot and even met with them in krakow in poland after 2 ww

[parrotraiser]

Poland had the misfortune to be a nice flat land between 2 hostile nations who kept running backwards ad forwards over it.

[kma]

And it was this situation that gave rise to the large Polish population in Chicago! There are still people today who speak only Polish there. It's very interesting to see how history connects to all sorts of things. Dr. Sowell is truly a gem of an historian. The economic focus he brings to bear puts so many "great man" stories that we traditionally learn in history classes into totally different perspective.

[ralphgreenjr.]

Excellent overview of the history of Poland. I am 50% Polish and first born American. My Grandfather was from the Russian partitioned part of Poland and my Grandmother was from the Prussian partitioned part of Poland. Suppression of culture, language, religion, and life were common to all in partitioned Poland. Poland a nation today, part of the EU and NATO, will never be partitioned again.

[RZakelis]

Not a Polish Commonwealth, but Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

[MitzvosGolem]

Poland was the only country to fight both Nazi Germany and Soviet union during WW2.
Heros..

[robertjanicki]

Since I am 25% Polish, this video was very interesting and revealing of my heritage.
Thank you Dr. Sowell for another superlative historical tutorial.

[polishenglishnorwegiandutch]

Polish contribution to the world is amazing. Frederic Chopin, Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Nicolaus Copernicus, Daniel Fahrenheit, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Kazimierz Pułaski, Marian Rejewski, John Paul II, Lech Wałęsa, Stefan Banach, Joseph Conrad were Poles. Mine detector, bulletproof vest, oil well, sound in movies, movie maker devices, first mini computer (XYZ), first lamp, toothpaste, cotton swap, bomb slip, first underwater missiles, audiorecorder, periscope, Bomba used to solve Enigma code, vodka are Polish inventions.

[bhaerava]

History: no one can fight both -nazis and communists simultaneously.
Poland: hold my beer.

[penguinsfan]

The history of Poland as a nation goes back more than a thousand years. The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of modern day Poland, Lithuania and oarts of Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia and even a little bit of Russia. The PLC had freedom of religion, while Western Europe did not.
The Prussians and Russians sought to stamp out any trace of Poland and the Polish people. My greatgrandfather left Warsaw because, as a young man, he had had enough of Russia and Russians.
Ignacy Paderewski got Woodrow Wilson's attention as an advocate of the reestablisment of the Republic. David Lloyd George was never a fan.
Germany had no intention of giving up Wielkopolska after WWI and the Poles rose up to kick them out. Poland fought with its neighbors to reclaim Wilno and Lvov. Then there was the Polish Soviet War, which, if enough Western help were provided, Poland could have marched to Moscow and put an end to Lenin.
Pilsudski wanted to establish the Intermarium, Dmowski did not. Poland's quest for lost territory earned the insult from Churchill, who referred to Poland as a hyena, which was a load considering England stuck.its nose in everyone's business.
Poland had a difficult time of it in the interwar period. Poland had no real hope of defending itself against two massive armies.
Poland was abandoned to Stalin in 1945..20% of its population killed. Yet, the Poles never gave up the hope and struggle for freedom.
My grandmother's family came from the Krakow region.

Bog
Honor
Ojczyzna

Kocham Polska

[halthammerzeit]

If you count democracy by % of voting citizens., Commonwealth had around 13%, while absolutists countries of Europe had 0%.

[ekimaulthar]

As a Polish American, I approve this video.

[Pyrokan]

This is a great summary of how Polish situation looked like in general under each occupation. There is even a phrase for how bizzare reunification after Great War was: "Kraj z trzech połówek" - "A country made of three halves"

[killjanPL]

One note for other viewers: Map in this clip is 1991 map of Europ. And so it is very different from accurate to the topic 1918 map including shape of resurected Poland

[karlthefox]

A calming narrative, as is, this is a welcome dialogue

[johnadams]

Thank you dr Sowell for this intetesting presentation. Good to learn Polish history. 🙂👍

[dominik]

An interesting fact about WW1 and independence. Despite the fact that Poland did not exist as an independent state, a lot of patriotic Poles banded together into an army that acted independent of the mayor powers involved in the war. The leader of this army Józef Piłsudski reasoned that unless all empires that partitioned Poland collapse or at least loose the independence of Poland will not be possible as an victorious empire would have enough political power to prevent it. For this reason the Poles first sided with Germany against Russia and after Russia collapse they switched sides and joined the allies against Germany and Austro-Hungary. In the end Germany lost, Russia and Austro-Hungary collapsed and Poland regained its independence.

[barryon]

One of those countries that make too much history to be consumed locally.

[PaulTheBeav]

I love this channel. I had no idea I wanted to learn about Poland but I really enjoyed this video.