Warsaw is the capital
of Poland situated in the very heart of the country. In 2001 Warsaw had 1,615,000
inhabitants.
In order to better understand Warsaw and Poland, one ought
to go back and take look at its history. It is rich, fascinating, and often very
tragic. For those of you who do not have the time to read lengthy history books
I am including this shortened version of Warsaw's history.
The
beginnings:
Although almost 700 years old, Warsaw is considered
to be a young city by Polish standards. Warsaw  was
only starting to emerge as a city from the Mazovian forest, when cities such as:
Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw or Kalisz were celebrating their quincentenaries. First
traces of settlement in the Warsaw area date from the 10th century. The first
notable structure does not come in until the beginning of the 14th century, when
the dukes of Mazovia built a stronghold on the site where the Royal Palace stands
today, thus starting a township. The city's outlay closely followed that of many
other medieval Polish towns: central square with a nearby church and the whole
town surrounded by fortified walls for protection. In 1413 Warsaw became the seat
of the Mazovian dukes, and the city experiences a wave of development. At about
this period we see the emergence of the New Town along the northern walls of the
Old Town. In 1526 the last duke of Mazovia died without an heir, thus putting
Warsaw along with the whole of Mazovia under the direct rule of the Polish king
in Krakow.
Warsaw-The capital of Poland:
In
1569 Warsaw became the seat of the Sejm (Polish parliament), due to its central
location in the new union between Poland and Lithuania. Four years later the city
became the seat of the royal elections, however the King still resided in Krakow.
In 1596 Warsaw became the capital after a fire in the King Zygmunt III Waza's
residence in Krakow. During the 1655-1660 Swedish invasion of Poland, Warsaw suffered
heavy damage this included physical and cultural losses. The 18th century saw
some of the most splendid growth of the city. It was during this period that many
of the palaces, churches and monasteries were erected and the cultural life flourished,
especially during the reign of the last Polish king Stanislaw August Poniatowski.
 Partition
of Poland:
By 1795 Poland had been totally partitioned by three
empires: Prussia, Russia and the Habsburg Empire. Warsaw found itself under the
Prussian rule and its role was diminished to that of a small provincial town.
However in 1807 Warsaw became the capital when Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw.
With the collapse of Napoleonic France in 1830, however, Warsaw fell to the Russian
rule. Despite the Russian occupation, Warsaw continued in its steady development
along with a steady population increase. By 1900 Warsaw had 700,000 inhabitants.
Polish
Independence and WWII:
In 1918 Poland regained her independence
and Warsaw became the capital of the Second Republic of Poland. Between the wars
a deliberate development of the city was undertaken. Already in 1939 the population
of Warsaw had risen to over 1.3 million. When World War II broke out in 1939 the
capital heroically defended itself until the 27th of September, 1939. During the
five years of German occupation that followed the city's population lived in terror.
The
Jewish citizens were forced to live in a walled-in ghetto. From there they were
sent to the gas chambers of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and other death camps. When the
Germans decided to clear the Warsaw ghetto in the spring of 1943 the Jews resisted
the Germans in an armed battle rather than to give up without a fight. In an unequal
battle than ensued thousands of Jewish fighters and civilians were brutally wiped
out. Picture right: The Warsaw Ghetto Burns. Intellectuals were also persecuted.
Virtually everyone was in constant danger of getting arrested in a round up and
getting sent to work or to a concentration camp.
On the 1st of August,
1944 the Warsaw Uprising broke out. From the beginning the fighters of the  Home
Army (Armia Krajowa) were doomed, because of lack of help from the outside. After
63 days of heroic resistance the Warsaw uprising was brutally suppressed. This
was the largest act of rebellion in Nazi occupied Europe and contributed to a
quicker end of the war. However the human costs were incredible. Over 200,000
Poles, soldiers and civilians alike perished. After the suppression of the uprising
all inhabitants were expelled from the city and the Nazis systematically burned
and blew up the remaining buildings of the capital. In August, 1944 Warsaw was
no more.
The Aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Old Town lays
in ruins. The statue of King Zygmunt after the column with his statue was blown
up following the Warsaw Uprising.
Warsaw from
1945 to today:
Warsaw was finally liberated on the 17th of January,
1945, altogether 800,000 of its inhabitants had perished during the war. The survivors
came back to their city almost immediately and started to rebuild it. Warsaw again
became the capital of Poland. But once more its fate was really determined by
Moscow, a fact symbolized by the Palace of Culture (originally named in honor
of Joseph Stalin) towering over the city center since 1955. In 1981 the communist
rulers had to rely on the army to defend their power against the Solidarity movement
of Lech Walesa, announcing martial law on 13th of December. With the crumbling
economy and the transformations going on in the Soviet Union, the communists finally
had to allow free elections in 1989. These ended in a complete defeat for the
Communist Party.
The new government right away began extensive democratic
and economic reforms, and for Warsaw a great economic boom began. Today, with
1.6 million inhabitants, Warsaw is trying to catch up with the western capitals.
Despite many problems, the city is growing. Every year the face of the city changes
in a dramatic and surprising way. The city has also opened up to tourists whom
it hopes to attract in large numbers. Most importantly the city is again free
after decades of foreign rule and influence. |
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