Republic of Poland

The Second Republic of Poland or Polish Commonwealth (pol: 'Rzeczpospolita Polska') came into existence at the end of World War I with the Treaty of Versailles, and reclaimed a fraction of the land owned by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (first Polish republic) from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia - the nations that allied themselves to partition Poland. Its capital became Warsaw. After the German and Soviet invasions that began World War II, the government went into exile in London under General Sikorski in 1940. Although of little importance, it owned Poland's gold reserve and was an alternative to People's Republic of Poland (1945-1989). 2nd Polish Republic dissolved itself in 1989 when the Communist Party of Poland abdicated single party rule, changing the political system thanks to radical economic reforms, or 'Shock Doctrine', and democracy was re-introduced, leading to the creation of modern Poland, also known as 3rd Polish Republic, or '3rd Commonwealth' in the Polish language.

## See also[edit]

* Polish Home Army
* Polish-Soviet War