ADVENT POLAND

poland has a harsh history - because it was surrounded by much more powerful countries.

from 1772 onwards poland suffered several "partitions", in which large parts were taken away by prussia, austria and russia, and in 1795 it was extinguished completely. its central part was reinstalled by napoleon, and 1815 at the vienna congress, "congress-polen" was created. but 1831 poland was made a russian province.
after worldwar-1 an independent poland was once more re-established. yet 1940 it was again extinguished - taken half by germany (hitler) and by the sowjetunion (stalin) . however, after worldwar-2, in 1945 poland was recreated by the allies, and moved westwards (getting east-germany, losing east-poland -- see map).

finally, 1989 poland left the sowjet empire and became an independent democratic country. given its rich history, the many famous cities, and the variety of landscapes, from the baltic coast to the mountains in the south, poland is very attractive to travellers.