Poland Szkoła podstawowa, klasa VIII History
Chapters: 11
1. Poland’s defensive war of September 1939
German and Soviet invasion
- World War II (1939–1945) – World War II was the deadliest war in history. Its roots were the anger left by World War I, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan. It began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. The Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) fought the Allies (Britain and its empire, France, the USSR, the USA, China and others). It was a total war and a war of annihilation: about 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and 70–85 million people died. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The war led to the United Nations, the Cold War and the end of empires.
2. Second World War and its stages
Turning points and occupation of Europe · The Holocaust · Big Three and results of the war
- World War II (1939–1945) – World War II was the deadliest war in history. Its roots were the anger left by World War I, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan. It began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. The Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) fought the Allies (Britain and its empire, France, the USSR, the USA, China and others). It was a total war and a war of annihilation: about 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and 70–85 million people died. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The war led to the United Nations, the Cold War and the end of empires.
- The Holocaust – The Holocaust (in Hebrew, the Shoah) was the planned, state-organised persecution and murder of about six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies and helpers between 1933 and 1945. It grew out of old antisemitism and Nazi racist ideology. It went step by step: exclusion and laws (1933–38), ghettos and mass shootings (1939–41), and death camps (1942–45). Roma and Sinti, disabled people, Polish and Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war and others were also persecuted and murdered. Jews resisted in many ways, and some people risked their lives as rescuers, while many others looked away. After the war came trials, the 1948 Genocide Convention and remembrance, so that such a crime is never repeated.
- The Two World Wars Compared: Causes, Costs and the New World Order – World War I (1914–1918) grew out of militarism, rival alliances, imperial competition and nationalism, set off by one assassination in 1914. Its peace settlement, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators led to World War II (1939–1945). Both were total wars that used whole economies and new technology, and WWII killed about four times as many people, more than half of them civilians, including the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. After WWI the League of Nations failed; after WWII the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and decolonisation reshaped the world.
3. Poland under German and Soviet occupation
Two occupations and their crimes · Underground state and Warsaw Uprising
- World War II (1939–1945) – World War II was the deadliest war in history. Its roots were the anger left by World War I, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan. It began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. The Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) fought the Allies (Britain and its empire, France, the USSR, the USA, China and others). It was a total war and a war of annihilation: about 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and 70–85 million people died. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The war led to the United Nations, the Cold War and the end of empires.
- History and Memory: How We Remember the Past – Memory is how people and groups remember the past; history is the careful study of the past using evidence. After an event, witnesses keep living memory for a few generations. Sources such as documents, photos, objects and interviews survive longer. Societies turn memory into memorials, museums, street names and remembrance days. Different groups may remember the same event differently, so historians compare sources to test memory, correct myths and give a fair account. Remembering past wrongs can support justice and reconciliation.
4. The Polish cause during the Second World War
Government in exile and Polish forces
- World War II (1939–1945) – World War II was the deadliest war in history. Its roots were the anger left by World War I, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy and Japan. It began when Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. The Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) fought the Allies (Britain and its empire, France, the USSR, the USA, China and others). It was a total war and a war of annihilation: about 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and 70–85 million people died. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The war led to the United Nations, the Cold War and the end of empires.
5. The world after the Second World War
Post-war world and Cold War · Decolonisation, Middle East and China · 1989–1991 and European integration
- The Cold War (1945–1991) – The Cold War was a long contest (1945–1991) between two superpowers: the USA with its Western allies (capitalism, multi-party elections) and the USSR with its Eastern allies (communism, one-party rule). They never fought each other directly. Instead they formed rival alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact), raced to build nuclear weapons and reach space, backed opposite sides in proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan) and came close to nuclear war in Cuba in 1962. Many new nations, led by India and others, stayed non-aligned. Détente eased tension in the 1970s. Reforms in the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the break-up of the USSR (1991) ended it.
- Decolonisation: How Empires Ended and New Nations Were Born – Decolonisation is the process by which colonies became independent states. It happened mostly between 1945 and the 1970s. The Second World War weakened the ruling countries, freedom movements grew strong, and the United Nations backed the right of peoples to rule themselves. Some colonies won freedom through talks and mass movements (India 1947, Ghana 1957); others through long wars (Algeria 1962). New states then faced poverty, one-crop economies, unfair borders and Cold War pressure, and many chose non-alignment.
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
6. Beginnings of communism in Poland
Communist takeover
- Contemporary History: Our World from 1945 to Today – Contemporary history covers 1945 to the present. After the Second World War the UN was founded and colonies became free nations. The Cold War split the world; in Central and Eastern Europe communist parties took power and ruled as one-party states. Protest movements such as Poland’s Solidarity led to the changes of 1989–91. Since then globalisation, the internet and shared global problems have shaped our world.
7. Stalinism in Poland
Stalinist terror and 1956
- Totalitarianism – A totalitarian regime is a one-party state that tries to control every part of life — politics, the economy, the media, schools and even people's thoughts — using one leader, propaganda and terror. After the First World War and the 1929 depression, such regimes arose in Fascist Italy (1922), Stalin's Soviet Union (late 1920s) and Nazi Germany (1933). Their aims and ideas differed, but their methods were alike, and their rise helped lead to the Second World War.
8. Poland 1957–1981
Life in the Polish People’s Republic · Church, opposition and Solidarity
- Contemporary History: Our World from 1945 to Today – Contemporary history covers 1945 to the present. After the Second World War the UN was founded and colonies became free nations. The Cold War split the world; in Central and Eastern Europe communist parties took power and ruled as one-party states. Protest movements such as Poland’s Solidarity led to the changes of 1989–91. Since then globalisation, the internet and shared global problems have shaped our world.
9. The decade 1981–1989
Martial law and the Round Table
- Democratisation – Democratisation is the process by which a country moves from authoritarian rule to democracy. It usually follows stages: an authoritarian regime; rising pressure from protests, economic crisis and the outside world; negotiation or a break with the old rulers; founding free elections; and consolidation, when courts, a free press, civil society and peaceful changes of government make democracy stable. South Korea (April Revolution 1960, Gwangju 1980, June Struggle 1987, peaceful handover 1997) and Poland (Solidarity 1980, martial law 1981, Round Table and June elections 1989, reforms and free elections by 1991) are two clear cases. The road is not straight: it can stall or go backwards.
10. Birth of the Third Polish Republic
Transformation after 1989
- Democratisation – Democratisation is the process by which a country moves from authoritarian rule to democracy. It usually follows stages: an authoritarian regime; rising pressure from protests, economic crisis and the outside world; negotiation or a break with the old rulers; founding free elections; and consolidation, when courts, a free press, civil society and peaceful changes of government make democracy stable. South Korea (April Revolution 1960, Gwangju 1980, June Struggle 1987, peaceful handover 1997) and Poland (Solidarity 1980, martial law 1981, Round Table and June elections 1989, reforms and free elections by 1991) are two clear cases. The road is not straight: it can stall or go backwards.
11. Poland in the modern world
NATO and EU membership
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.