Poland Liceum ogólnokształcące, klasa II History

1. The Polish–Lithuanian state under the last Jagiellons

The Polish–Lithuanian state under the last Jagiellons

• Medieval States: How Kingdoms Formed, Split and United – Between about 900 and 1600 CE, many European states took shape in a similar way. A ruling family united tribes, accepted Christianity and won a royal crown. Dividing land among heirs often caused fragmentation; later a strong king reunited the land and built castles, towns and laws. States also joined through marriage (personal and real unions), and nobles gained power through parliaments.

2. Formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

• Constitutional History: How Rules Came to Limit Rulers – A constitution is the supreme law that sets out who holds power, how that power is limited and what rights people have. Limits on rulers grew slowly: Magna Carta (1215), noble parliaments such as the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its elected kings (from 1569–1573), and England's Bill of Rights (1689). Enlightenment thinkers added the ideas of natural rights, the social contract, national sovereignty and separation of powers. The first written national constitutions followed: the United States (1787), Poland–Lithuania's 3 May Constitution and France (1791), and Spain's Cádiz Constitution (1812). In the 19th century liberal regimes were constitutional monarchies with census suffrage; the vote widened to all men and then all adults in the 20th century. Modern constitutions, such as India's (1950) and the post-1989 constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe, add guaranteed rights and constitutional courts.

3. First free elections and their results

First free elections and their results

• Elections in India – Elections let crores of people choose representatives and peacefully change governments. India uses first-past-the-post for Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and a form of proportional representation for Rajya Sabha and the President. Delimitation makes constituencies roughly equal in population. The independent Election Commission prepares voter lists and conducts polls. India has a multi-party system, coalition governments are common, and the anti-defection law stops elected members from switching parties.

4. Renaissance in Poland

Renaissance in Poland

• Changing Cultural Traditions: Renaissance, Reformation and Science – From the 14th to the 17th century, rich Italian trading cities led a new interest in Greek and Roman learning called humanism. Artists aimed for realism, using perspective and the study of the body; architects built great domes. Printing spread ideas. Some educated women wrote and ruled. Luther's challenge in 1517 split the Western Church into Catholic and Protestant groups, and the Catholic Church reformed itself. Copernicus, Galileo and Newton changed how people saw the universe, and sailors found sea routes to the Americas and India.

5. Domestic and foreign policy of the Commonwealth in the 17th century

Domestic and foreign policy of the Commonwealth in the 17th century

• International Relations: How States Deal with Each Other – International relations (IR) studies how states and other actors (international organisations, companies, NGOs) interact. States are sovereign and there is no world government, so each state follows its national interest through foreign policy: diplomacy, trade, aid, alliances and, at worst, force. Conflicts arise from clashing interests over territory, resources, power and identity, and from the security dilemma. Cooperation grows through mutual gain, treaties, international law and organisations. Realism stresses power and security; liberalism stresses cooperation, trade and institutions. Peace is built by negotiation, mediation, peacekeeping and justice.

6. System, society and culture of the 17th-century Commonwealth

System, society and culture of the 17th-century Commonwealth

• Social History: How Ordinary People Lived – Social history studies the lives of ordinary people, not only kings, wars and treaties. It asks how people worked, lived, ate, dressed, married, worshipped, fell ill and had fun, and how society was divided into groups. Before modern times most societies were shaped like a pyramid: a small group of rulers and nobles, priests and rich families, a middle layer of townspeople, merchants and craftsmen, and a huge base of peasants, with some unfree people such as serfs or slaves. Villages ran their own communities; towns were places of markets, guilds and mixing between groups. Industrialisation moved people from farms to factories, created a working class and a growing middle class, and led to unions, new laws and later welfare states. Daily life changed with new light, transport, newspapers, schools and medicine. Social historians also look for 'hidden' people (women, the poor, minorities, migrants) and even at how feelings and customs changed.

7. Europe in the Age of Enlightenment

Europe in the Age of Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment – The Enlightenment (about 1680–1800) was a movement in Europe that said people should use reason and evidence, not only tradition, to understand the world and to run society. It grew out of the Scientific Revolution. Thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Mary Wollstonecraft argued for natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of speech and religion, and government by consent. Ideas spread through books, newspapers, salons and the Encyclopédie. Some monarchs tried reforms (enlightened absolutism); the ideas also fed the American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions and later movements everywhere, including reformers in India.

8. Revolutions of the 18th century

Revolutions of the 18th century

• The Age of Revolutions (c. 1770–1850) – Between about 1770 and 1850, people in the Americas and Europe overthrew or challenged kings, colonial rulers and old privileges. New ideas of liberty, equality and rights met real problems: unfair taxes, debt, hunger and slavery. The American Revolution (1776) created a republic with a written constitution. The French Revolution (1789) ended feudal privilege and declared the rights of citizens. The wave spread to Haiti, Latin America and Europe in 1848. Kings pushed back at Vienna in 1815, but ideas of citizenship, constitutions and the nation lasted.

9. The Commonwealth in the 18th century (Saxon era to 3 May Constitution)

The Commonwealth in the 18th century (Saxon era to 3 May Constitution)

• Constitutional History: How Rules Came to Limit Rulers – A constitution is the supreme law that sets out who holds power, how that power is limited and what rights people have. Limits on rulers grew slowly: Magna Carta (1215), noble parliaments such as the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its elected kings (from 1569–1573), and England's Bill of Rights (1689). Enlightenment thinkers added the ideas of natural rights, the social contract, national sovereignty and separation of powers. The first written national constitutions followed: the United States (1787), Poland–Lithuania's 3 May Constitution and France (1791), and Spain's Cádiz Constitution (1812). In the 19th century liberal regimes were constitutional monarchies with census suffrage; the vote widened to all men and then all adults in the 20th century. Modern constitutions, such as India's (1950) and the post-1989 constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe, add guaranteed rights and constitutional courts.

10. Fall of the Commonwealth

Fall of the Commonwealth

• The Partitions of Poland and the Fall of the Commonwealth – In 1772, 1793 and 1795 Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until it vanished. The state was weakened by noble quarrels, the liberum veto, a small army and foreign interference. A reform constitution (3 May 1791) came too late: the Targowica Confederation brought in Russian armies, and the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794 was defeated. Poland returned as a state only in 1918.

11. Enlightenment culture in the Commonwealth

Enlightenment culture in the Commonwealth

• The Enlightenment – The Enlightenment (about 1680–1800) was a movement in Europe that said people should use reason and evidence, not only tradition, to understand the world and to run society. It grew out of the Scientific Revolution. Thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Mary Wollstonecraft argued for natural rights, separation of powers, freedom of speech and religion, and government by consent. Ideas spread through books, newspapers, salons and the Encyclopédie. Some monarchs tried reforms (enlightened absolutism); the ideas also fed the American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions and later movements everywhere, including reformers in India.

12. The Napoleonic era

The Napoleonic era

Coming soon

13. Europe and the world after the Congress of Vienna

Europe and the world after the Congress of Vienna

• The Rise of Nationalism in Europe – Before 1789, Europe was split into many kingdoms and people were loyal to a king. The French Revolution said power belongs to the people, who form one nation. Napoleon spread equal laws. After 1815 kings came back, but liberals, romantic writers and hungry common people pushed for nation-states in 1830 and 1848. Germany (1871) and Italy (1861) were built by joining many small states. Nations were shown as women figures like Marianne and Germania. By 1914, nationalism mixed with imperial rivalry, and the Balkans tension led to the First World War.

14. Polish lands and their inhabitants 1815–1848

Polish lands and their inhabitants 1815–1848

Coming soon

15. The January Uprising and its consequences

The January Uprising and its consequences

Coming soon

16. Europe and the world, late 19th – early 20th century

Europe and the world, late 19th – early 20th century

• The Rise of Nationalism in Europe – Before 1789, Europe was split into many kingdoms and people were loyal to a king. The French Revolution said power belongs to the people, who form one nation. Napoleon spread equal laws. After 1815 kings came back, but liberals, romantic writers and hungry common people pushed for nation-states in 1830 and 1848. Germany (1871) and Italy (1861) were built by joining many small states. Nations were shown as women figures like Marianne and Germania. By 1914, nationalism mixed with imperial rivalry, and the Balkans tension led to the First World War.

17. Economic and social change; new ideas

Economic and social change; new ideas

• The Industrial Revolution: Causes, Effects and Reform (1760–1914) – Between about 1760 and 1914 work moved from hand tools at home to machines in factories. A first wave (about 1760–1840) began in Britain with coal, iron, steam power and cotton mills. A second wave (about 1870–1914) brought steel, electricity, chemicals and oil, and spread to Western Europe, the United States, Japan and Russia. Towns grew fast; workers faced long hours, child labour and dirty housing. Workers organised in unions, new ideas (liberalism, socialism, conservatism) argued about what to do, and governments slowly passed factory, health and voting reforms.