As early as 1386, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were united by a personal union. Poland-Lithuania existed as a multi-ethnic state and a great power in Eastern Europe from 1569 to 1795. In the state, also called Rzeczpospolita, the king was elected by the nobles.
The Second Polish Republic (Polish: II. Rzeczpospolita) is the common name for the Polish state (Republic of Poland) after it regained independence on 11.11.1918 in connection with the end of the First World War, following 123 years of partition. The territorial extent of the Second Polish Republic, especially to the east, was considerably smaller than that of the so-called 1st Republic (Republic of Nobles), which ceased to exist in 1795 with the third partition of Poland between the Habsburg Monarchy, Prussia and Russia.
The borders of the Second Polish Republic with the neighboring states were not established until 1921 and as a result of armed conflicts, although they remained controversial even afterwards (and in some cases for the entire existence of the Second Polish Republic). The German aggression on Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939 were followed by the capitulation in Warsaw on September 28, 1939, which was the functional end of the Second Republic. The withdrawal of recognition of the Polish government-in-exile by the British and US governments on 5 July 1945 is often regarded as its formal end, although the organs of the later People's Republic of Poland were already recognized by the Soviet Union as the official representation of Poland on 24 June 1944. The President of the Polish government-in-exile in London, Ryszard Kaczorowski, handed over the insignia of the Second Republic to the then President in Warsaw, Lech Wałęsa, on 22.12.1990 as the last symbolic act of the Second Polish Republic.
Katowice (population 2023: 279,190) is the largest city in Upper Silesia and the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. The village of Katowice, first mentioned in 1598, developed around a hammer mill. In addition to the iron ore deposits, hard coal provided the basis for the development of the settlement, but the decisive boost came in 1846 with the construction of the railroad link, which initially connected the Upper Silesian industrial region with Berlin via Katowice and also made it possible to transport coal and steel products from the surrounding area to distant markets. The town's rapid population growth led to it being granted city rights 1865. Due to its location close to the Prussian borders with Russia and Austria-Hungary, Katowice quickly developed into an international transportation hub. After the division of Upper Silesia between Germany and the restored Polish state, Katowice became the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in 1922. It was regarded as an important center of German culture in Polish East Silesia, and at the same time as a place where a Polish cultural tradition with modern tendencies manifested in architecture. After the German invasion in 1939, Katowice became the capital of the newly founded Gau of Upper Silesia in 1941. In 1945, a significant part of the city center was destroyed, mainly in the course of the liberation campaign by Soviet troops. After the war, the Polish authorities expelled most of the inhabitants to Germany who could not provide proof of their Polish origin. Katowice continued to expand its role as a multifunctional center, with the 1970s being crucial.
Paraná is a federal state in the south of Brazil. It stretches from the borders with Paraguay and Argentina in the west to the narrow coastal strip on the Atlantic Ocean in the east. Its name comes from the river of the same named, which forms the western border of the state. By 1853, the southern part of the province of São Paulo had been separated to become the province of Paraná, which, like all other provinces, became a federal state in 1889. From 1943 to 1946, its eastern part belonged to the short-lived Federal Territory of Iguaçu. The capital of Paraná is Curitiba. In the 19th century, numerous immigrants from Italy, Poland, Germany, Russia and Ukraine settled particularly in the coastal area of the state.
The Republic of Liberia is a West African country (population in 2022: 5,250,127) located between the Atlantic coast in the west and Sierra Leone in the north, Guinea in the northeast and Côte d'Ivoire in the east. Since the 13th century, its present-day territory has served as a refuge for refugees from the warring empires on the Niger. Since the exploratory voyages of the Portuguese in the late 15th century, the coastal area of present-day Liberia was known as the Guinea Coast, later also as the Pepper Coast. From about 1820, the American Colonization Society, led by white Americans, bought the coastal strip and founded several settlements there in order to settle freed slaves from the United States and employ them as cheap workforce. However, this plan failed and the former slaves established a repressive system of government based on forced labor. From 1839, most of these colonies formed the state of Liberia, with the Republic of Maryland in Liberia being the last to be incorporated in 1857. It was not until 1907 when some of the male population not originating from the former US slaves were granted the right to vote. Liberia declared its independence in 1847, making it one of the few independent states on the continent at the time. However, the USA only recognized this in 1862, long after a number of European states.
Thanks to the continued strong influence of the USA, Liberia only had to cede parts of the country to France after the Berlin Congo Conference of 1884/1885 (parts of the former Maryland in Liberia, now part of Côte d'Ivoire). By leasing large areas of land for rubber cultivation to US companies in particular for many years, Liberia became heavily economically dependent on the USA and its chemical companies (mainly tire manufacturers) on the one hand and on the rubber economy on the other. After the years of political instability from 1979, and above all the military coup of 1980 and the civil war of 1989-2003, democracy was restored in Liberia. From 2006-2018, the country was ruled by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman to be freely elected to lead an African country. In addition to rubber cultivation, the timber industry and diamond mining are now playing an increasingly important role in the country's economy.
In 1929, Liberia hit the international headlines after it became known that officials there were profiting from the shipment of forced laborers to the Spanish colony of
Fernando Po was a Spanish colony on the same-named island (now Bioko), which also included surrounding islands. It was named after the Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó. After earlier, failed attempts at colonization, including by Portugal, Great Britain and the Netherlands, and the cession of the island by the Portuguese king to Spain in 1778, the latter began to subjugate the local population from the 1860s and brought the island completely under its control in 1904. From 1778 to 1780, the colony was officially called the Governorate of Fernando Poo and Annobón. In 1909, Fernando Póo was merged with neighboring islands and the nearby mainland area of Rio Muni (today: Mbini) to form the Spanish Territories in the Gulf of Guinea (Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea, from 1926, the name Spanish Guinea became established). In 1956, Spanish Guinea was initially renamed Provincia del Golfo de Guinea (Province of the Gulf of Guinea) as part of the conversion of the colonies into provinces, and in 1959 Fernando Póo split off as a separate province. In 1963, the two provinces were reunited as the Territory of Equatorial Guinea and were soon granted internal autonomy. Equatorial Guinea was finally granted independence in 1968.
Monrovia (population 2022: 1,761,032) is the capital of Liberia in West Africa. The city is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast. The town was founded in 1822 as Christopolis and was renamed to its current name in 1824 in honor of the US President at the time James Monroe. The settlement was laid out in the style of US cities. The rapid population growth led to the expansion of urban development into the mangrove areas, where illegal slums were created. Despite the destruction during the two civil wars in the country (1989-1997 and 1999-2003), the city remains the economic, financial and cultural center of Liberia, with the seaport playing a prominent role.
The British were critical of Poland's involvement in Liberia from the very beginning. Although Poland emerged after the First World War as a state allied with Great Britain, a negative image of Poland dominated the London Foreign Office for a long time. There were many reasons for this, including a general Slavophobia and a rejection of the
Warsaw is the capital of Poland and also the largest city in the country (population in 2022: 1,861,975). It is located in the Mazovian Voivodeship on Poland's longest river, the Vistula. Warsaw first became the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian noble republic at the end of the 16th century, replacing Krakow, which had previously been the Polish capital. During the partitions of Poland-Lithuania, Warsaw was occupied several times and finally became part of the Prussian province of South Prussia for eleven years. From 1807 to 1815 the city was the capital of the Duchy of Warsaw, a short-lived Napoleonic satellite state; in the annexation of the Kingdom of Poland under Russian suzerainty (the so-called Congress Poland). It was not until the establishment of the Second Polish Republic after the end of World War I that Warsaw was again the capital of an independent Polish state.
At the beginning of World War II, Warsaw was conquered and occupied by the Wehrmacht only after intense fighting and a siege lasting several weeks. Even then, a five-digit number of inhabitants were killed and parts of the city, known not least for its numerous baroque palaces and parks, were already severely damaged. In the course of the subsequent oppression, persecution and murder of the Polish and Jewish population, by far the largest Jewish ghetto under German occupation was established in the form of the Warsaw Ghetto, which served as a collection camp for several hundred thousand people from the city, the surrounding area and even occupied foreign countries, and was also the starting point for deportation to labor and extermination camps.
As a result of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from April 18, 1943 and its suppression in early May 1943, the ghetto area was systematically destroyed and its last inhabitants deported and murdered. This was followed in the summer of 1944 by the Warsaw Uprising against the German occupation, which lasted two months and resulted in the deaths of almost two hundred thousand Poles, and after its suppression the rest of Warsaw was also systematically destroyed by German units.
In the post-war period, many historic buildings and downtown areas, including the Warsaw Royal Castle and the Old Town, were rebuilt - a process that continues to this day.
Poland’s unofficial commitment to Liberia was soon accompanied by official diplomacy: in January 1935, the British envoy in Monrovia reported to London that a Polish career diplomat was taking up the post of his country's first consul in Liberia. Until then, the French representative had represented the Poles in the country. By sending their own diplomat, the Poles were able to act more independently in Liberia from then on.
In addition to the advisory activities and economic involvement, there was also a typical settlement project: six months later, the British envoy Yapp Yapp A. E. Yapp (dates unknown) was the British diplomatic representative in the Liberian capital Monrovia. reported from Monrovia that Polish colonizers had taken over 700 hectares of land and were planting castor beans and cocoa on this land. According to him, the settlement was in an "embryonic status", but the colony enjoyed "a certain degree of official support" from Warsaw.13
In the British perception, Polish involvement in the West African country had already reached its zenith: in his annual report for 1936, Yapp wrote that just a year earlier it had appeared that Polish-Liberian relations were growing to a "disturbing extent". However, the following year, as part of a retrospective analysis, he reported that Polish influence had collapsed, and that Poland was now only playing a subordinate role in the country. The plantations were only developing slowly and a "lack of enthusiasm" on the part of the governments in Monrovia and Warsaw would not help to expand Polish influence in Liberia. He concluded that relations between the two countries were "dying".14
Poland's colonial involvement in Liberia shows how the young states of Central Eastern Europe also integrated themselves into a "still colonial world"18 after the First World War: for leading representatives of Poland's political elite, becoming a nation state and playing the role of a medium-sized power included the acquisition of colonies. Striving for independence as a state did not exclude the possibility of contesting the independence of non-European states. Without support from London, however, these ambitions were hopeless from the outset in the case of Liberia. At the time, the British political elite was convinced that the British Empire was the pinnacle of civilization. Colonial projects of dominions such as Australia and South Africa were unanimously supported by politicians and businessmen in London. However, Britain was already reserved when it came to US annexations in the Pacific. The prospect of Polish colonial ambitions gaining support was extremely unrealistic due to the complicated British-Polish relations.
