Poland is a country inCentral Europe^[1][2] bordered byGermany to the west; theCzech Republic andSlovakia to the south;Ukraine,Belarus, andLithuania to the east; and theBaltic Sea andKaliningrad Oblast, a Russianexclave, to the north. The totalarea of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi),^[3] making it the69th largest country in the world and theninth largest in Europe.

From a nucleus between theOder andVistula rivers on theNorth-Central European Plain, Poland has at its largest extent expanded as far as theBaltic, theDnieper and theCarpathians, while in periods of weakness it has shrunk drastically or even ceased to exist.^[4]

In 1492, the territory of Poland-Lithuania – not counting thefiefs ofMazovia,Moldavia, andPrussia – covered 1,115,000 km² (431,000 sq mi), making it the largest territory in Europe; by 1793, it had fallen to 215,000 km² (83,000 sq mi), the same size asGreat Britain, and in 1795, it disappeared completely.^[4] The first 20th-century incarnation of Poland, theSecond Polish Republic, occupied 389,720 km² (150,470 sq mi), while, since 1945, a more westerly Poland covered 312,677 km² (120,725 sq mi).^[5]

The Poles are the most numerous of theWest Slavs and occupy what some believe to be the original homeland of theSlavic peoples. While other groups migrated, thePolanie remainedin situ along theVistula, from the river's sources to its estuary at theBaltic Sea.^[6] There is no other European nation centred to such an extent on one river.^[7] The establishment of a Polish state is often identified with the adoption of Christianity byMieszko I in 966 CE (seeBaptism of Poland), when the state covered territory similar to that of present-day Poland. In 1025 CE, Poland became akingdom. In 1569, Poland cemented a longassociation with theGrand Duchy of Lithuania by signing theUnion of Lublin, forming thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries in 16th- and 17th-century Europe.^{[8][9][10][11]}

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had many characteristics that made it unique among states of that era. The Commonwealth'spolitical system, often called theNoble's Democracy orGolden Freedom, was characterized by the sovereign's power being reduced by laws and the legislature (Sejm), which was controlled by the nobility (szlachta). This system was a precursor to the modern concepts of broaderdemocracy^[12] andconstitutional monarchy.^[13][14] The two comprising states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, although in reality Poland was a dominant partner in the union.^[15] Its population was hallmarked by a high level of ethnic and confessional diversity, and the state was noted for havingreligious tolerance unusual for its age,^[16] although the degree of tolerance varied over time.^[17]

In the late 18th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth began to collapse. Its neighbouring states were able to slowly dismember the Commonwealth. In 1795,Poland's territory was completely partitioned among theKingdom of Prussia, theRussian Empire, andAustria. Poland regained its independence as theSecond Polish Republic in 1918 after World War I, but lost it in World War II throughoccupation byNazi Germany and theSoviet Union. Poland lost over six million citizens in World War II, emerging several years later as the socialistPeople's Republic of Poland within theEastern Bloc, under strong Soviet influence.

During theRevolutions of 1989,communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is constitutionally known as the "Third Polish Republic." Poland is aunitary state made up of sixteenvoivodeships (Polish:województwo). Poland is a member of theEuropean Union,NATO, and theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Poland currently has a population of over 38 million people,^[3] which makes it the34th most populous country in the world^[18] and one of the most populousmembers of the European Union.

Inthe period following the emergence of Poland in the 10th century, the Polish nation was led by a series of rulers of thePiast dynasty, who converted the Poles toChristianity, created a sizeableCentral European state, and integrated Poland intoEuropean culture. Formidable foreign enemies andinternal fragmentation eroded this initial structure in the 13th century, but consolidation in the 14th century laid the base for the Polish Kingdom.

Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand DukeJogaila, theJagiellon dynasty (1385–1569) ruled thePolish–Lithuanian union. TheLublin Union of 1569 established thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as an influential player in European politics and a vital cultural entity.

Territorial changes before and during theKingdom of Poland (1025–1385), ending with theUnion of Krewo.

Mieszko I of Poland was the first historical ruler of the first independent Polish state ever recorded-Duchy of Poland. He was responsible for the introduction and subsequent spread ofChristianity in Poland.^[19] During his long reign most of the territories inhabited byPolish tribes were added to his territory into a single Polish state. Byc. 967 he includedPomerania up to theOder estuary andWolin island in the west.^[20] The 10th-century western border of Poland in the Pomeranian section was probably based on theRędowa River, i.e. further west than today.^[21] In 981 he lost theCzerwień Cities in the south-east, tribal territory of theLendians, to theKyivan Rus'.^[22] The last of his conquests wereSilesia and south-westernLesser Poland that were incorporated some time before 990.^[23][24]

During the reign ofBolesław the Brave, relations between Poland and theHoly Roman Empire deteriorated, resulting in aseries of wars (1002–1005, 1007–1013, 1015–1018). Poland took control of theLusatia region in the south-west, and brieflyMiśnia. From 1003 to 1004 Bolesław intervened militarily in Czech dynastic conflicts. After his forces were removed fromBohemia in 1018,^[25] Bolesław retainedMoravia.^[26] In 1013, the marriage between Bolesław's sonMieszko andRicheza of Lotharingia, the niece of Emperor Otto III and future mother ofCasimir I the Restorer, took place. The conflicts with Germany ended in 1018 with thePeace of Bautzen accord, on favorable terms for Bolesław, retaining control of Lusatia. In the context of the 1018Kiev expedition, Bolesław retook the Czerwień Cities. In 1019, Poland lostBrześć to theKyivan Rus', but retook it the following year. In 1025, shortly before his death,Bolesław I the Brave finally succeeded in obtaining the papal permission to crown himself, and became the firstking of Poland.^[27][28]

The first Piast monarchy collapsed after the death of Bolesław's son – kingMieszko II in 1034. Deprived of a government, Poland was ravaged by ananti-feudal and pagan rebellion, and in 1039 by the forces ofKingBretislav ofBohemia. The country suffered territorial losses, and the functioning of the Gniezno archdiocese was disrupted.^[29][30]

According to various sources, either in 1042^[31] or 1044^[32] Poland lostBrześć to the Kyivan Rus'.

After returning from exile in 1039,Duke Casimir I (1016–1058), properly known as the Restorer, rebuilt the Polish monarchy and the country's territorial integrity through several military campaigns: in 1047,Masovia was taken back fromMiecław, and in 1050Silesia from the Czechs. Casimir was aided by the recent adversaries of Poland, theHoly Roman Empire andKievan Rus, both of whom disliked the chaos in Poland. Casimir's sonBolesław II the Generous managed to restore most of the country's strength and influence and was able to crown himself king in 1076. By 1076 Bolesław II recaptured Brześć.^[32] In 1079 there was an anti-Bolesław conspiracy or conflict that involved the Bishop of Kraków. Bolesław had BishopStanislaus of Szczepanów executed; subsequently Bolesław was forced to abdicate the Polish throne because of the pressure from the Catholic Church and the pro-imperial faction of the nobility. The rule over Poland passed into the hands of his younger brotherWładysław Herman.

After a power struggle,Bolesław III the Wry-mouthed (son of Władysław Herman, ruled 1102–1138) became the Duke of Poland by defeating his half-brother in 1106–1107. Bolesław's major achievement was the reconquest of all ofMieszko I'sPomerania, a task begun byhis father and completed by Bolesław around 1123.Szczecin was subdued in a bloody takeover and Western Pomerania up toRügen (Polish:Rugia), except for the directly incorporated southern part, became Bolesław'sfief,^[33] to be ruled locally byWartislaw I, the first duke of theGriffin dynasty.^[34]

At this time,Christianization of the region was initiated in earnest, an effort crowned by the establishment of the PomeranianDiocese of Wolin after Bolesław's death in 1140.^[34]

The Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty was a political act by thePiast dukeBolesław III Wrymouth ofPoland,^[35] in which he established rules for governance of thePolish kingdom by his four surviving sons after his death. By issuing it, Bolesław planned to guarantee that his heirs would not fight among themselves, and would preserve the unity of his lands under theHouse of Piast. However, he failed; soon after his death his sons fought each other, and Poland entered a period of fragmentation lasting about 200 years.^[36]

In the first half of the 13th century Silesian dukeHenry I the Bearded, reunited much of the divided Kingdom of Poland (Regnum Poloniae). His expeditions led him as far north as theDuchy of Pomerania, where for a short time he held some of its southern areas.^[37] In the west he regained easternLower Lusatia with the towns ofGubin andLubsko by 1211. He became the duke ofKraków (Polonia Minor) in 1232, which gave him the title of senior duke of Poland (seeTestament of Bolesław III Krzywousty), and came into possession of most of Greater Poland in 1234. Henry failed in his attempt to achieve the Polish crown.^[38] His activity in this field was continued by his son and successorHenry II the Pious, until his sudden death in 1241 (Battle of Legnica). His successors were not able to maintain their holdings outside of Silesia, which were lost to other Piast dukes. Polish historians refer to territories acquired by Silesian dukes in this period asMonarchia Henryków śląskich ("The monarchy of the Silesian Henries"). In those daysWrocław was the political center of the dividedKingdom of Poland.

Few years after the death ofHenry II the Pious his son –Bolesław II the Bald – sold the northwest part of his duchy – theLubusz Land – toMagdeburg's Archbishop Wilbrand von Käfernburg and theAscanian margraves ofBrandenburg. This had far reaching negative consequences for the integrity of the western border, leading to an expansion of Brandenburg possessions into the east ofOdra river. As a result, a wide piece of land was annexed from Poland and Pomerania that together with Lubusz Land formed the newly established Brandenburgian province ofNeumark.^[39] Brandenburg further expanded by gradual annexation of north-westernGreater Poland, includingWałcz,Drezdenko andKalisz Pomorski in 1296,Międzyrzecz in 1297 andCzaplinek byc. 1300.

In 1278, theKłodzko Land passed to theDuchy of Wrocław of fragmented Poland,^[40] and inc. 1290 it passed toBohemia.

In 1295,Przemysł II ofGreater Poland became the first, since Bolesław II, Piast duke crowned as King of Poland, but he ruled over only a part of the territory of Poland (including from 1294Gdańsk Pomerania) and was assassinated soon after his coronation.

A more extensive unification of Polish lands was accomplished by a foreign ruler,Wenceslaus II of Bohemia of thePřemyslid dynasty, who marriedPrzemysł's daughter and became King of Poland in 1300. Václav's heavy-handed policies soon caused him to lose whatever support he had earlier in his reign; he died in 1305.^[41]

After the death ofWenceslaus III of Bohemia – son of Wenceslaus II – in 1306, most of thePolish Lands came under the rule of dukeWładysław I the Elbow-high. However at this points, various foreign states were staking their claims on some parts of Poland.Margraviate of Brandenburg invaded Pomerelia in 1308, leading Władysław I the Elbow-high to request assistance from theTeutonic Knights, who evicted the Brandenburgers but took the area for themselves, annexed and incorporated it into theTeutonic Order state in 1309 (Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) andTreaty of Soldin/Myślibórz). This event caused a long-lasting dispute between Poland and the Teutonic Order over the control ofGdańsk Pomerania. It resulted in a series ofPolish–Teutonic Wars throughout 14th and 15th centuries. 14th-century papal verdicts ordered the restoration of the area to Poland, however, the Teutonic Knights did not comply and continued to occupy the region.^[42]

In the early 14th century, Poland lost northernSpisz with the town ofPodoliniec to theKingdom of Hungary.

During this time, all Silesiandukes accepted Władysław's claims for sovereignty over other Piasts. After acquiringpapal consent for his coronation, all ninedukes of Silesia declared twice (in 1319 before and in 1320 after the coronation) that their realms lay inside the borders of thePolish Kingdom.^[43] However, despite formal papal consent for the coronation, Władysław's right to the crown was disputed by successors ofWenceslaus III (a king of both Bohemia and Poland) on the Bohemian throne. In 1327John of Bohemia invaded. After the intervention of KingCharles I of Hungary he leftPolonia Minor, but on his way back he enforced his supremacy over theUpper Silesian Piasts.

In 1319,Duchy of Jawor, the southwesternmost duchy of fragmented Poland, expanded its western border toLusatia, reaching the towns ofZgorzelec,Zły Komorów,Żytawa,Ostrowiec andRychbach.^{[44][45][46][47]} After the 1319 extinction of Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg, the previously lostLubusz Land andNew March were the subject of rivalry between the Piasts (dukes of Jawor,Żagań and KingWładysław I the Elbow-high),Griffins of Pomerania, the Ascanians ofSaxe-Wittenberg and theWittelsbachs of Bavaria until 1326, with Polish dukes capturing portions of the region at various times, but not permanently, except for theMiędzyrzecz castellany which was decisively restored to the Kingdom of Poland.^[48]

In 1329 Władysław I the Elbow-high fought with theTeutonic Order. The Order was supported by John of Bohemia who dominated the dukes ofMasovia andLower Silesia.

In 1335 John of Bohemia renounced his claim in favour ofCasimir III the Great, who in return renounced his claims to the Silesia province.^[49] This was formalized in theTreaty of Trencin andCongress of Visegrád (1335), ratified in 1339^[50] and later confirmed in the 1348Treaty of Namysłów.

King Casimir, being deprived of historically and ethnically Polish lands of Silesia and Pomerelia sought a compensation of this loses in the east, though in 1341–1356 he regained control of the towns ofByczyna,Kluczbork,Namysłów andWołczyn in Lower Silesia. Through a series of military campaigns between 1340 and 1366 Casimir had retook the previously lostCzerwień Cities and further annexedRed Ruthenia, westernVolhynia withWłodzimierz, and westernPodolia withKamieniec Podolski. The city ofLwów quickly developed to become a main town of this new region.

Allied with Denmark and theDuchy of Pomerania, Casimir was able to impose some corrections on the western border as well. In 1365Drezdenko andSantok became Poland'sfiefs, whileWałcz,Człopa,Tuczno andCzaplinek were in 1368 recovered outright, severing the land connection between Brandenburg and the Teutonic state and connecting Poland withFarther Pomerania.^[51]

Territorial changes during theKingdom of Poland, starting with theUnion of Krewo and ending with theUnion of Lublin.

In 1387,Petru II of Moldavia paidhomage to Polish KingWładysław II Jagiełło and QueenJadwiga of Poland makingMoldavia a vassal principality of Poland.^[52]

In 1402, Poland and Bohemia reached an agreement, by which Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the previously lost territories of north-western Greater Poland, northernLubusz Land and parts of Pomerania, which were since ruled as theNew March,^[53] from 1373 within the Bohemian Crown Lands, but eventually the Bohemian rulers sold the area to theTeutonic Order. The area was briefly partially recaptured by the Poles during thePolish–Teutonic War of 1431–1435.

During thePolish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, in 1410, the bulk of Gdańsk Pomerania with Gdańsk returned to Poland, but it fell back to the Teutonic Knights in 1411.

In 1412, 16 towns ofSpisz were regained fromHungary to Poland.^[54]

In February 1454, the anti-TeutonicPrussian Confederation askedCasimir IV Jagiellon to reincorporate Gdańsk Pomerania andChełmno Land, and also incorporatePrussia, into the Kingdom of Poland, to which the King agreed and signed an act of incorporation inKraków in March 1454.^[55] Various cities, towns, nobles and officials from the region immediately recognized Polish rule and pledged allegiance to Poland, recognizing the previous Teutonic rule as unlawful.^[56][57] This sparked theThirteen Years' War, during which Poland for the most part retained control of the regained Pomeranian territories with the port city of Gdańsk, whereas control over the Prussian territories varied, with Poland retaining control ofElbląg for the entire time, but losingKrólewiec back to the Teutonic Knights in 1455. In thepeace treaty of 1466, Gdańsk Pomerania, Chełmno Land, Elbląg,Malbork andWarmia were recognized as reincorporated to Poland, whereas the remainder of historicPrussia remained with the Teutonic Order as afief andprotectorate of Poland, also considered an integral part of "one and indivisible" Kingdom of Poland.^[58] Poland regained free access to theBaltic Sea. In the meantime, in 1462, the city ofCaffa inCrimea recognized Polish suzerainty.^[59]

In 1494, the Kingdom of Poland bought and regained theDuchy of Zator.^[54]

In 1525, during theProtestant Reformation, theGrand Master of theTeutonic Knights,Albert of Hohenzollern, secularized the order's Prussian territory, becoming Albert, Duke of Prussia. TheDuchy of Prussia, which had its capital inKönigsberg (Polish:Królewiec), was established as a fief of the Kingdom of Poland.^[60]

In the 1560s, Poland has expanded its Baltic dominion during theLivonian War, when it captured most ofLivonia, with the major port city ofRiga (Polish:Ryga). In 1561, theLivonian Confederation was dismantled and theLivonian Order, an order of German knights, was disbanded. On the basis of theTreaty of Vilnius, territories of modernLatvia and southernEstonia were ceded to theGrand Duchy of Lithuania and formed into theDuchy of Livonia. Poland also claimed northern Estonia with the city ofTallinn (Polish:Rewal) as incorporated per the treaty, and demanded the surrender of the territoryconquered by Sweden, but Sweden refused.^[61] TheDuchy of Courland and Semigallia was a vassal state of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom from 1569 to 1726, and incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1726.Lajs^[62] (now Laiuse, Estonia) was the seat of the northernmoststarostwo of the history of Poland.

Territorial changes during thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, starting with theUnion of Lublin and ending with theThird Partition of Poland.

Polish-Lithuanian forces recaptured the towns ofPołock in 1579 andWieliż,Uświat andNewel in 1580, previously annexed byRussia from Lithuania in 1562–1566.^{[63][64][65][66]} The restoration of Połock and Wieliż was confirmed in 1582,^[67] but Newel was lost again to Russia.^[66] In 1581, Poland also demanded the restoration ofSiebież, but to no avail, and regained Siebież and Newel only in 1617–1618.^[68] During the war, Poland also temporarily controlled the more northern towns ofVelikiye Luki,Opochka andOstrov.^[69][70]

During thePolish–Russian War (1609–1618), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth controlled Moscow for two years, from 29 September 1610 to 6 November 1612.

TheTruce of Deulino of 1619 confirmed the recapturedCzernihów andSmolensk regions as part of Poland, and the regaining of the towns ofSiebież andNewel.^[71]

In 1634, the town ofSierpiejsk passed from Poland toRussia.

Sweden, weakened by involvement in theThirty Years' War, agreed to sign theArmistice of Stuhmsdorf (also known as Treaty of Sztumska Wieś or Treaty of Stuhmsdorf) in 1635, favourable to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in terms of territorial concessions.^[72]

In 1644, the town ofTrubczewsk passed from Poland toRussia.^[73]

In the history of Poland andLithuania,the Deluge refers to a series of wars in the mid-to-late 17th century that left the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in ruins.^[74]

The Deluge refers to the Swedish invasion and occupation of the western half of Poland-Lithuania from 1655 to 1660 and theKhmelnytsky Uprising in 1648, which led to Russia's invasion during theRusso-Polish War.^[74]

TheTreaty of Wehlau was a treaty signed on September 19, 1657, in the town of Wehlau (Welawa, nowZnamensk), Ducal Prussia, between Poland and Brandenburg-Prussia during the Swedish Deluge. The treaty renounced Polish suzerainty over Ducal Prussia and recognized sole Brandenburgian rule over the duchy, in recognition of the Brandenburgian Elector help against the Swedish forces during the Deluge.^[75] There was strong opposition to the separation of the region from Poland, especially in Königsberg (Polish:Królewiec).^[76]

In theTreaty of Oliva, the Polish King,John II Casimir, renounced his claims to the Swedish crown, which his fatherSigismund III Vasa had lost in 1599. Poland formally ceded Swedish Livonia and the city of Riga, which had been underde facto Swedish control since the 1620s.^[77] The signing of the treaty ended Swedish involvement in the Deluge.

TheWar for Ukraine ended with theTreaty of Andrusovo of January 13, 1667.^[78] The peace settlement gave Moscow control over theLeft-bank Ukraine with the Polish Commonwealth retainingRight-bank Ukraine.^[78] The signing of the Treaty ended Russian occupation of the Polish confederation and the Deluge war. Since the war started the population of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been nearly halved by war and disease. War had destroyed the economic base of the cities and raised a religious fervour that ended Poland's policy of religious tolerance.^[74]

As a result of thePolish–Ottoman War the Polish commonwealth cededPodolia in the 1672Treaty of Buczacz.^[79][80]

Part ofPodolia restored to Poland under KingJohn III Sobieski.^[81]

TheEternal Peace Treaty of 1686 was a treaty between theTsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth signed on May 6, 1686, in Moscow. It confirmed the earlier Truce of Andrusovo of 1667. The treaty secured Russia's possession of the Left-bank Ukraine,Zaporizhzhia,Seversk lands, the cities ofChernihiv,Starodub, andSmolensk and its outskirts, while Poland retained Right-bank Ukraine.^[82]

TheTreaty of Karlowitz, or Treaty of Karlovci, was signed on January 26, 1699, in Sremski Karlovci, a town in modern-day Serbia, following a two-month congress between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League of 1684, a coalition of various European powers including the Habsburg Monarchy, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Republic of Venice, and the Russia of Peter I Alekseyevich.^[83] The treaty concluded the Austro-Ottoman War of 1683–1697, in which the Ottoman side had finally been defeated at the Battle of Senta. The Ottomans returned the remainder of Podolia to Poland.^[71]

In February 1772, an agreement for the partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was signed inVienna.^[84] Early in August Russian, Prussian and Austrian troops simultaneously entered the Commonwealth and occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves.

By thefirst partition in 1772, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 211,000 square kilometres (81,000 sq mi) (30% of its territory, amounting at that time to about 733,000 square kilometres (283,000 sq mi)), with a population of over four to five million people (about a third of its population of 14 million before the partition).^[85][86] Prussia annexedWarmia,Powiśle, northernGreater Poland and most of Polish Pomerania, except for the city ofGdańsk, which remained a Polishexclave. Austria annexed a large portion of southern Poland with the major city ofLwów. Russia annexed territories in the north-east and east, in historicLatgale andWhite Ruthenia.

By the 1790s the First Polish Republic had deteriorated into such a helpless condition that it was successfully forced into an alliance with its enemy, Prussia. The alliance was cemented with thePolish–Prussian Pact of 1790.^[87] The conditions of the Pact were such that the succeeding and final two partitions of Poland were inevitable. TheMay Constitution of 1791 enfranchised the bourgeoisie, established the separation of the three branches of government, and eliminated the abuses ofRepnin Sejm.

Those reforms prompted aggressive actions on the part of Poland's neighbours, wary of a potential renaissance of the Commonwealth. In the second partition, Russia and Prussia took so much territory that only one-third of the 1772 population remained in Poland.^[88]

Kosciuszko's insurgent armies, who fought to regain Polish territory, won some initial successes but they eventually fell before the forces of the Russian Empire.^[89] The partitioning powers, seeing the increasing unrest in the remaining Commonwealth, decided to solve the problem by erasing any independent Polish state from the map. On 24 October 1795 their representatives signed a treaty dividing the remaining territories of the Commonwealth between their three countries.^[90]

Territorial changes during thetime after the Partitions, starting with theThird Partition of Poland and ending with the creation of theSecond Polish Republic.

Napoleon's attempts to build and expand his empire kept Europe at war for almost a decade and brought him into conflict with the same European powers that had beleaguered Poland in the last decades of the previous century. An alliance of convenience was the result of this situation. Volunteer Polish legions attached themselves to Bonaparte's armies, hoping that in return the emperor would allow an independent Poland to reappear out of his conquests.^[91]

TheDuchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by theKingdom of Prussia under the terms of theTreaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, KingFrederick Augustus I ofSaxony.^[91]

Prussia had acquired the City of Danzig in the course of theSecond Partition of Poland in 1793. After the defeat of KingFrederick William III of Prussia at the 1806Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, according to the Franco-PrussianTreaty of Tilsit of 9 July 1807, the territory of thefree state was carved out from lands that made up part of theWest Prussia province.

In 1809, a short war withAustria started. Although the Duchy of Warsaw won theBattle of Raszyn, Austrian troops entered Warsaw, but Duchy and French forces then outflanked their enemy and capturedKraków,Lwów and much of the areas annexed by Austria in thePartitions of Poland. After the Battle of Wagram, the ensuingTreaty of Schönbrunn allowed for a significant expansion of the Duchy's territory southwards with the regaining of once-Polish and Lithuanian lands.

Following Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia, the duchy was occupied by Prussian and Russian troops until 1815, when it was formally partitioned between the two countries at theCongress of Vienna.^[92]

Congress Poland was created out of the Duchy of Warsaw at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, when European states reorganized Europe following the Napoleonic wars.^[93]

The Grand Duchy of Posen was a region in the Kingdom of Prussia in the Polish lands commonly known as "Greater Poland" between the years 1815–1848. According to the Congress of Vienna, it was to have autonomy. In practice, it was subordinated to Prussia and the proclaimed rights for Poles were not respected. The name was unofficially used afterwards for denoting the territory, especially by Poles, and today is used by modern historians to describe different political entities until 1918. Its capital was Posen (Polish:Poznań).^[93]

The Free, Independent, and Strictly NeutralCity of Cracow with its Territory, more commonly known as either the Free City of Cracow or Republic of Cracow, was a city-state created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.^[94]

After theNovember Uprising, Congress Poland lost its status as a sovereign state in 1831 and the administrative division of Congress Poland was reorganized. Russia issued an "organic decree" preserving the rights of individuals in Congress Poland but abolished theSejm. This meant Poland was subject to rule by Russian military decree.^[95]

In the aftermath of the unsuccessfulKraków uprising, the Free City of Cracow was annexed by the Austrian Empire.^[94]

After the defeat of Congress Poland, many Prussian liberals sympathised with the demand for the restoration of the Polish state. In the spring of 1848 the new liberal Prussian government allowed some autonomy to the Grand Duchy of Posen in the hope of contributing to the cause of a new Polish homeland.^[96] Due to a number of factors, including the outrage of the German-speaking minority in Posen, the Prussian government reversed course. By April 1848, the Prussian army had already suppressed the Polish militias and National Committees that emerged in March. On 3 May 1848, Polish independence was proclaimed inMosina, however, thesmall Polish republic was eventually crushed by the Prussians after their victory over thePolish insurgents at the Battle ofRogalin several days later.^[97] By the end of the year the Duchy had lost the last vestiges of its formal autonomy, and was downgraded to a Province of the Prussian kingdom.^[98]

Territorial changes during theSecond Polish Republic and thejoint German-Soviet occupation of Poland, starting with the formation of the Republic and ending with the end of the occupation.

Since the final stages ofWorld War I in 1918, Poles, organized in various locations into theRegency Council,Polish Liquidation Committee and theProvisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland gradually liberated parts of southern and central Poland, starting with the cities ofTarnów and Kraków on October 31, and reaching the capital Warsaw on November 11. On November 10, 1918, the PolishRepublic of Ostrów centered inOstrów Wielkopolski was proclaimed in the Prussian Partition of Poland. Poland proclaimed independence onNovember 11.

TheWest Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed on November 1, 1918, withLviv (Lwów) as its capital. The Ukrainian Republic claimed sovereignty over Eastern Galicia, including theCarpathians up to the city ofNowy Sącz in the west (despite the Polish majority), as well asVolhynia,Carpathian Ruthenia andBukovina. Although the majority of the population of the Western-Ukrainian People's Republic were Ukrainians, Poles and Jews, large parts of the claimed territory were considered Polish by the Poles. In Lwów (Lviv) the Ukrainian minority supported the proclamation, the city's significant Jewish minority accepted, remained neutral or had a negative attitude towards the Ukrainian proclamation, and the Polish majority was shocked to find themselves in a proclaimed Ukrainian state.^[99] Due to the fact that Poles constituted over 60% of Lviv's inhabitants, almost 30% Jews, and Ukrainians below 10%, the vast majority of the city's inhabitants were against the fact that Lviv belonged to Ukraine and they wanted it to belong to Poland again. This sparked theBattle of Lwów (1918).

In the aftermath of World War I, the Polish people rose up in theGreater Poland Uprising on December 27, 1918, inPoznań after a patriotic speech byIgnacy Paderewski, a famous Polish pianist. The fighting continued untilJune 28, 1919, when theTreaty of Versailles was signed, which recreated the nation of Poland. From the defeated German Empire, Poland received the following:

• Most of thePrussianprovince of Posen was granted to Poland. This territory had already been taken over by local Polish insurgents during the Great Poland Uprising of 1918–1919.^[100]
• 70% ofWest Prussia (Polish Pomerania) was given to Poland to provide free access to the sea, along with a 10% German minority, creating the so-calledPolish corridor.^[7]
• The east part ofUpper Silesia was awarded to Poland after a plebiscite. Sixty percent of residents voted for German citizenship, and 40 percent for Poland; as a result the area was divided.^[7]
• To provide a Polish railway line connectingGdańsk andWarsaw, the area ofDziałdowo inEast Prussia was granted to the new Polish state.^[101]
• From the eastern part of West Prussia and the southern part of East Prussia in the provinces ofWarmia andMasuria, a small area was granted to Poland.^[102]

On July 17, 1919, a ceasefire was signed in thePolish–Ukrainian War with theWest Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). As part of the agreement Poland kept ZUNR territory. The West Ukrainian People's Republic then merged with theUkrainian People's Republic (UNR).^[103] On June 25, 1919, Supreme Allies Council transferred East Galicia (ZUNR territory) to Poland.^[102]

ThePolish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine on the one hand and the Second Polish Republic and the short-livedUkrainian People's Republic on the other. The war was the result of conflicting expansionist ambitions. Poland, whose statehood had just been re-established by theTreaty of Versailles following thePartitions of Poland in the late 18th century, sought to secure territories it had lost at the time of the partitions. The aim of the Soviet states was to control those same territories, which theRussian Empire had gained in the partitions of Poland.^[104]

• 
  March 1919
• 
  December 1919
• 
  June 1920
• 
  August 1920
• 
  Treaty of Riga

TheFree City of Danzig (Gdańsk) was created on 15 November 1920^[105][106] in accordance with the terms of Article 100 (Section XI of Part III) of the 1919Treaty of Versailles. As the Treaty stated, the region was to remain separated fromGermany and fromPoland, but it was not an independent state.^[107] The Free City was underLeague of Nations protection and put into a bindingcustoms union with Poland.

Poland was given full rights to develop and maintain transportation, communication, and port facilities in the city.^[108] The Free City was created in order to give Poland access to a good-sized seaport.

ThePolish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between Lithuania and the Second Polish Republic, lasting from August 1920 to October 7, 1920, in theaftermath of World War I, not long after both countries had regained their independence. It was part of a wider conflict over disputed territorial control of the cities ofVilnius (Polish:Wilno),Suwałki (Lithuanian:Suvalkai) andAugustów (Lithuanian:Augustavas).

In the aftermath of the war theRepublic of Central Lithuania was created in 1920 followingthe staged rebellion of soldiers of the1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Infantry Division of thePolish Army, supported by the Polish air force, cavalry and artillery.^[109] Centered on the historical capital of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania,Vilna (Lithuanian:Vilnius, Polish:Wilno), for eighteen months the entity served as abuffer state between Poland, upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area.^[110]

Soon after theBattle of Warsaw the Bolsheviks sued for peace. The Poles, exhausted, constantly pressured by the Western governments and the League of Nations, and with its army controlling the majority of the disputed territories, were willing to negotiate. The Soviets made two offers: one on September 21 and the other on September 28. The Polish delegation made a counteroffer on October 2. On October 5, the Soviets offered amendments to the Polish offer, which Poland accepted. The armistice between Poland on the one side and Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Russia on the other was signed on October 12 and went into effect on October 18.^[111] Long negotiations ensued, with theTreaty of Riga being signed in March 1921. The assessment of relative advantage is not universally agreed. Outcome assessments vary, mostly between calling the result a Polish victory and being inconclusive, with the latter mostly by Soviet-era Russian historians. However, in his secret report to the 9th Conference of the Bolshevik Party on 20 September 1920, Lenin called the outcome of the war "In a word, a gigantic, unheard-of defeat",^[112] considering he wanted to reach the German communist revolutionaries to aid them and establish a socialist marxist republic there.

During the closing years ofWorld War I Polish andCzechoslovak diplomats met to arrange a common border between the two new countries. By the timearmistice was declared, most of the border was agreed except for three small politically and economically sensitive areas with both Polish and Czechoslovak residents: Cieszyn, Orawa, and Spisz.

The Duchy of Cieszyn

TheCieszyn Silesia or the Duchy of Cieszyn (Czech:Tesin) was a small area that the pre-World War I census showed was predominantly Polish in three districts (Cieszyn, Bielsko and Frysztat) and mainly Czech in the fourth district of Frydek. The economic importance of Cieszyn Silesia lay in the rich coal basin aroundKarvina and in the valuableKošice–Bohumín Railway, which linked Bohemia with Slovakia. In northern Cieszyn Silesia, the railroad junction ofBohumín (Czech:Bohumin) served as a crossroads for international transport and communications.^[113]

Claims over these regions turned violent in 1919 with a brief military conflict, theSeven-day war, between Polish and Czechoslovak units. The Allied governments pressed for a ceasefire and on 3 February 1919 a Polish–Czech border agreement was signed on the basis of the 5 November 1918 ethnic division agreement.^[102] This was later changed at theConference of Ambassadors inSpa, Belgium on 28 July 1920. Cieszyn was divided along theOlza river between the two newly created states ofPoland andCzechoslovakia. The smaller western suburbs of Cieszyn were joined to Czechoslovakia as the new town ofČeský Těšín along with the railroad and the Karvina coal basin.^[114][113] Poland received the portion ofCieszyn east of the Olza river.^[113] TheConference of Ambassadors divided the region just as the Red Army was nearing Warsaw.^[115]

Orawa and Spisz

The county ofOrawa (Slovak:Orava) arose before the 15th century. The county's territory is situated along theOrava River betweenZazriva and theTatra Mountains.Spisz (Slovak:Spiš) is situated between theHigh Tatras and theDunajec River in the north, the springs of theVáh River in the west, theSlovak Ore Mountains and theHnilec River in the south, and a line running from the town of Stara Ľubovňa, via theBranisko Mountains, to the town ofMargecany in the east. While the Orawa and Spisz border was in arbitration, many groups fought to be a part of Poland, including a number of Polish authors. They began to write about an alleged three hundred thousand Poles living in the Orawa territory.^[116]

TheConference of Ambassadors decided that Czechoslovakia would cede to Poland a number of villages from the Orawa and Spisz regions, including the municipalities of Oravy Srnie, Podvlk, Harkabúz, Nižná Zubrica, Vyšná Zubrica, Oravka, Bukovina-Podsklie, Pekelník, Jablonka, Chyžné, Hladovka, Suchá Hora, Vyšná Lipnica, a part of Nižné Lipnice and 4.2% of the rather Belá new communities, with Fridman (Falštin settlement), Krempach, Tribš, Durštín, Čierna Hora, Jurgov, Repiská, Vyšné lapse, Nižné lapse, Nedeca, Kacvín and Lapšanka.^[117]

In late 1921 a border adjustment between theWeimar Republic and Poland took place as a result of theSilesian Uprisings. The uprisings were a series of three armed rebellions that took place between 1919 and 1921 by the Polish people in theUpper Silesia region against the Weimar Republic. The Polish people of the region wanted to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established following World War I. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles had called for aplebiscite in Upper Silesia in 1921 to determine whether the territory should be a part of Germany or Poland.^[118]

The plebiscite took place on March 20, 1921, two days after the signing of theTreaty of Riga, which ended thePolish–Soviet War. In the plebiscite, 707,605 votes were cast for Germany, and 479,359 for Poland.^[118] The Germans had a majority, by 228,246 votes. In late April 1921, rumours flew that Upper Silesia would stay in Germany. This led to the Third Polish Uprising in May–July 1921.^[118] The question of the Upper Silesia problem was turned over to a council of theLeague of Nations. The commission, consisting of four representatives—one each from Belgium, Brazil, Spain, and China. The commission gathered its own data, interviewing Poles and Germans from the region. On the basis of the reports of this commission and those of its experts, in October 1921 the Council awarded the greater part of the Upper Silesian industrial district to Poland.^[118]

After a variety of delays,a disputed election to join Poland took place on January 8, 1922, and theRepublic of Central Lithuania became part of Poland,^[119] finalizing the geography of Poland's easternKresy region until theInvasion of Poland in 1939.

ThePolish government was not satisfied with the Czechoslovakia-Polish border decided from theParis Peace Conference or from theConference of Ambassadors. The conflict was only resolved by the Council of theLeague of Nations'Permanent Court of International Justice on March 12, 1924, which decided that Czechoslovakia should retain the territory of Javorzyna.^[120] and which entailed (in June of the same year) an additional exchange of territories in Orava – the territory aroundLipnica Wielka (Nižná Lipnica) went to Poland, the territory aroundSuchá Hora (Sucha Góra) andHladovka (Głodówka) went to Czechoslovakia.^[121]

As Czechoslovakia was beingabsorbed into the German Reich,Trans-Olza, theCzech half ofCieszyn, was annexed by Poland in 1938 following theMunich Agreement and theFirst Vienna Award. At noon on September 30, Poland gave an ultimatum to theCzechoslovak government. It demanded the immediate evacuation of Czech troops and police from Trans-Olza and gave Prague until noon the following day. At 11:45 a.m. on October 1 the Czech foreign ministry called the Polish ambassador in Prague and told him that Poland could have what it wanted. Poland was accused of being an accomplice ofNazi Germany.^[122]

Poland seized land from northernSpisz and northernOrawa, including territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, around Leśnica in thePieniny Mountains, a small territory aroundSkalité, and some other very small border regions. They officially received the territories on 1 November 1938. Polish military groups began to carry out assimilation of the population. Polish was introduced as the only official language and the Slovak Intelligence were displaced from the territories.^[123]

In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Unioninvaded Poland andpartitioned it pursuant to theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact.^[124]

After the invasion, Germany annexed the lands it lost to reformedPoland in 1919–1922 by theTreaty of Versailles: thePolish Corridor,West Prussia, theProvince of Posen, and parts of easternUpper Silesia. The council of theFree City of Danzig voted to become a part of Germany again, although Poles andJews were deprived of their voting rights and all non-Nazi political parties were banned. Parts of Poland that had not been part ofWilhelmine Germany were also incorporated into theReich.

Two decrees byAdolf Hitler (October 8 and October 12, 1939) provided for the division of the annexed areas of Poland into the following administrative units:

• Reichsgau Wartheland (initiallyReichsgau Posen), which included the entirePoznań Voivodeship, most of theŁódź Voivodeship, five counties of thePomeranian Voivodeship, and one county of theWarszawa Voivodeship;
• Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (initially Reichsgau West Prussia), which consisted of the remaining area of thePomeranian Voivodeship and the Free City of Danzig;
• Ciechanów District (Regierungsbezirk Zichenau), consisting of the five northern counties ofWarszawa Voivodeship (Płock,Płońsk,Sierpc,Ciechanów, andMława), which became a part of East Prussia;
• Katowice District (Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz), or unofficially EastUpper Silesia (Ost-Oberschlesien), which includedSosnowiec,Będzin,Chrzanów, andZawiercie Counties, and parts ofOlkusz andŻywiec Counties.

These territories had an area of 94,000 square kilometres (36,000 sq mi) and a population of 10,000,000 people. The remaining Polish territory was annexed by the Soviet Union or made into the German-controlledGeneral Government occupation zone.Eastern areas of Poland became part of eitherSoviet Belarus (includingBiałystok,Łomża,Baranowicze andBrest) orSoviet Ukraine (includingLwów,Tarnopol,Lutsk,Rowne andStanisławów). The city ofVilnius (Polish:Wilno) with its adjacent area wasseized by the Soviet Union andreturned to Lithuania.

After theGerman attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, thedistrict of Białystok, which included the Białystok,Bielsk Podlaski,Grajewo, Łomża,Sokółka,Volkovysk, andGrodno Counties, was "attached to" (not incorporated into)East Prussia. The former Lwow, Stanislawow and Tarnopol Voivodeships were annexed to theGeneral Government, forming its fifth district,Distrikt Galizien.

At the end of World War II, theAllies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. There wereextensive changes to the territorial extent of Poland, following the decision taken at theTehran Conference of 1943 at the insistence of the Soviet Union. ThePolish territories east of theCurzon Line (known as theKresy), which the Soviet Union had occupied in 1939 along with theBialystok region were permanently annexed, resulting in Poland losing over 20% of itspre-war borders.^[125] While a large portion of this area was predominately populated by Ukrainians and Belarusians,most of their Polish inhabitants were expelled.^[126] Today these territories are part of Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania.

Poland receivedformer German territory east of theOder–Neisse line, which it previously lost in thePartitions of Poland or earlier, consisting of the southern two thirds ofEast Prussia, most ofPomerania andSilesia, right-bankLubusz Land andLusatia, and northern and western outskirts ofGreater Poland. Poland also received the town of Swinemünde (nowŚwinoujście) on the island ofUsedom and the city of Stettin (nowSzczecin) on the western bank of theOder river in accordance with thePotsdam Agreement. TheGerman population was expelled in accordance with the agreement and these territories were repopulated mainly with Poles from central Poland and those expelled from the eastern regions.^[127] Early expulsions in Poland were undertaken by the occupying Soviet and Polish Communist military authorities^[127] even before the Potsdam Conference ("wild expulsions"). The new borders between the two post-war German states and Poland were later reaffirmed in theTreaty of Zgorzelec withEast Germany (1950) and in theTreaty of Warsaw (1970) withWest Germany.

• 
  Poland's borders after World War II.Blue line:Curzon Line of 8 December 1919.Pink areas: Parts of Germany in 1937 borders.Grey area: Territory annexed by Poland between 1919 and 1923 and held until 1939, which after World War II was annexed by the Soviet Union.
• 
  Planned and actual divisions of Europe, according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with later adjustments
• 
  Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact showing the new German-Soviet border Sept 28 1939
• 
  Historical Western Borders of Poland. Polish poster from interwar period

On August 16, 1945, aborder agreement between Poland and the USSR was signed. The western portion of theByelorussian SSR was restored to Poland. TheBelastok Region was divided into SovietBrest Region,Grodno Region and PolishBiałystok Voivodeship.^[128]

Initially, at the end of World War II in 1945, Poland also gained control of the current southern border strip of theKaliningrad Oblast, with Polish administration organized in the towns ofGierdawy andIławka, however, the area was eventually annexed by the Soviet Union and included within the Kaliningrad Oblast by December 1945.^[129]

As a result, Poland lost about 178,000 square kilometres (69,000 square miles) of its pre-war territory in the east, but gained some 101,000 square kilometres (39,000 square miles) in the west and north.^[130]

• 
  Byelorussian SSR before adjustment
• 
  Byelorussian SSR after adjustment

After theSecond World War the Czechoslovak government wanted to return to the 1920 border between the two nations, while Polish inhabitants ofTrans-Olza were in favour of the boundary of August 31, 1939. On May 20, 1945, inTrstena an agreement for a return to the 1938 borders of Poland was signed and the following day the Czechoslovak border guards moved to the old Czechoslovak border. At several places there were fights between Polish and Czechoslovak militias, but the situation calmed with the arrival of Polish troops on July 17, 1945.^[131] The Polish government still did not want to give up Trans-Olza, and on June 16, 1945, MarshallMichał Rola-Żymierski issued directive number 00336, which ordered the1st Armoured Corps of thePolish Army to concentrate in the area ofPrudnik,Rybnik andCieszyn, and to seize Trans-Olza.^[132][133] However, the Soviets decided to hand the region to Czechoslovakia, and the Poles followed the Moscow directive. The Czechs demanded former German areas ofKłodzko,Głubczyce, andRacibórz, but after Soviet mediation, all sides signed a treaty on September 21, 1945, which accepted the December 31, 1937, Polish–Czechoslovak and Czechoslovak–German borderline as the boundary between the two countries.^[134]

Territorial changes during thePolish People's Republic and modernThird Polish Republic, since the end of World War II.

The Polish border underwent a minor correction in 1948, when the village ofMedyka near Przemyśl was transferred to Poland.^[135]

In 1949, there was modest exchange of territory between the Polish People's Republic and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). What is now theB 104/B 113 road junction at Linken,Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to the immediate west of the Polish town of Lubieszyn was transferred from Poland to the GDR in return for a narrow strip of land lying directly on the west side of the road that connected the settlements of Linki andBuk. This move necessitated the creation of a new road linking Lubieszyn to Linki and Buk that mirrored the new shape of the border.^[136]

On February 15, 1951Aleksander Zawadzki (acting in the name of the President of the Polish Republic) andAndrey Vyshinsky (acting in the name of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) signedTreaty No. 6222. Agreement between the Polish Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics concerning the exchange of sectors of their state territories. The treaty was a border adjustment, withPoland and the Soviet Union exchanging 480 square kilometres (190 sq mi).^[137]

In 1951, a small area of land on Usedom Island (Polish: Uznam) was ceded from the German Democratic Republic (Eastern Germany) to Poland. The water pumping station for Świnoujście lies on that land and was therefore handed over to Poland. In return, a similarly-sized area north of Mescherin, including the village of Staffelde (Polish: Staw), was transferred from Poland to the German Democratic Republic.^[138]

On June 13, 1958, theAgreement concerning the final demarcation of the state frontier between Czechoslovakia and Poland was signed in Warsaw.Adam Rapacki signed for Poland andVáclav David signed for Czechoslovakia. The treaty confirmed the border at the line of January 1, 1938, the situation before the Nazi-imposed Munich Agreement transferred territory from Czechoslovakia to Poland.^[139]

East Germany and Poland signed a treaty for the Baltic continental shelf delimitation.

In March 1975 Czechoslovakia and Poland modified their border along the Dunajec to permit Poland to construct a dam in the Czorsztyn region, southeast of Krakow.^[140]

On May 22, 1989, East Germany and Poland completed the delimitation of their territorial waters in the Gulf of Szczecin.

In 2002, Poland andSlovakia made some further minor border adjustments:

Territory of the Republic of Poland with a total area of 2,969 m² (31,958.05 sq ft), including:

a) in the area of a viewing tower on the surface of the saddle Dukielskie about 376 m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2

b) on the nameless island with an area of 2,289m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 3

c) in the Polish village Jaworzynka region with an area of 304 m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 4, including real estate, equipment and plants are transferred to the ownership of the Slovak Republic.

Territory of the Slovak Republic with an area of 2,969 m², including:

a) in the area of a viewing tower on Dukielskie enters an area of 376 m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2

b) Nokiel on the island with an area of 2,289 m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 3

c) in the Slovak village Skalité region with an area of 304 m², according to documents limit referred to in Article 1, paragraph 4, including real estate, equipment and plants are transferred to the ownership of the Republic of Poland.

• Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts
• Polish historical regions
• Borders of Poland
• Geography of Poland
• Treaty of Warsaw (1970)

• Davies, Norman (2005).God's Playground. A History of Poland. Volume I: The Origins to 1795. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 23.
• Górski, Karol (1949).Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni.
• Rąkowski, Grzegorz (2007).Ziemia lwowska (in Polish). Opublikowana przez Oficyna Wydawnicza "Rewasz". p. 577.ISBN 978-83-89188-66-3.
• Tatomir, Lucjan (1868).Geografia ogólna i statystyka ziem dawnej Polski (in Polish). Kraków: Drukarnia "Czasu" W. Kirchmayera.

• Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's HeritageArchived 2011-06-24 at theWayback Machine
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