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Poland's present voivodships (since 1999)
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A voivodship (in Polish województwo) is a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland since the 14th century. As a result of Local Goverment Reogranization Act of 1998, 16 new voivodships were created (effective January 1 1999) and replaced the 49 voivodships which had existed since 1 July 1975. Today's provinces are largely based on the country's historical regions, whereas those of 1975-1998 were centered on and named for individual cities. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 (Opole Voivodship) to over 35,000 km2 (Masovian Voivodship), and in population from one million (Lubusz Voivodship) to over five million (Masovian Voivodship). |
Polish voivodships 1975-1998 (49)  |
This reorganisation of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of local government reform acts of 1973-1975. In place of three level administrative division (voivodship, county, commune), new two-level administrative division was introduced (49 small voidships and communes). Three smallest voivodships of Warsaw, Cracow and Lodz had special status of city voivodship; the city president (mayor) was also province governor. |
Polish voivodships 1950-1975 (17+5)  |
In 1950 new voivodships created: Koszalin - previously part of Szczecin, Opole - previously part of Katowice, and Zielona Góra - previously part of Poznan, Wroclaw and Szczecin voivodships. 1950-1975 2 cities with voivodship status: Warsaw and Lodz, |
Polish voivodships 1945-1950 (14+2)  |
Newly acquired teritories in the west and north organized into the voivodships of Szczecin, Wroclaw, Olsztyn and partly joined to Gdansk, Katowice and Poznan voivodships. |
Poland under German occupation 1939-1945  |
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Polish voivodships 1921-1939 (16+1)  |
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The Second Polish Republic is an unofficial name applied to the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II.
Polish Government
Local government actually operates at three levels. The smallest "gmina" (district/commune) is more or less at the level of village or small town administration. The next level, "powiat" (county), is a bit broader with wider responsibilities, say for a large town or city. The biggest level of local government though is the "województwo" (region).
- On July 27, 1998, President Aleksander Kwasniewski signed into law a bill dividing Poland into 16 new provinces.
- On August 7, 1998, the government decided there will be 308 counties (powiaty) in Poland.
A Voivodship (Romanian: Voievodat, Polish: Województwo, Serbian: Vojvodstvo or Vojvodina) was a feudal state in medieval Romania, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Serbia, ruled by a Voivod. Since the Voivod was initially the military commander next to the ruler, a voivodship meant the whole territory of Poland. During the feudal partition, each from small prinicpalities had its own voivod, and therefore after the reunification the territory was called a voivodship.
A teritorry over which a voivod rules is called Voivodship. The term is often translated into English as "duke".
"Wojewoda" is a current name of the governor of a province (voivodship - "województwo") in Poland.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
| The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, actually called the "Republic of the Two Nations" or "Commonwealth of Both Nations", was a federal monarchic republic that was formed in 1569 by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and lasted until its final partition in 1795.
( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth) |
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The Commonwealth at its greatest extent (ca. 1630) |
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland happened in the 18th century and ended the existence of a sovereign state of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They involved Prussia, Russia and Austria dividing up the Polish-Lithuanian lands between themselves. The three partitions occurred in:
- February 17, 1772
- January 21, 1793
- October 1795
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| The First Partition (1772) | The Second Partition (1793) | The Third Partition (1795) |
Kingdom of Poland of the Piasts
Early Piast dynasty
| 9th c. | Siemowit (disputable) |
| 9th c.-10th c. | Lestko (disputable) |
| 10th c. | Siemomysł (disputable) |
| ca 960-992 | Mieszko I (duke) |
| 992-1025 | Bolesław I the Brave (king in 1025) |
| 1025-1031 | Mieszko II Lambert (1st reign, as king) |
| 1031-1032 | Bezprym |
| 1032-1034 | Mieszko II Lambert (2nd reign, as duke) |
| 1039-1058 | Casimir I the Restorer |
| 1058-1079 | Bolesław II the Generous (king 1076-1079; deposed) |
| 1079-1102 | Władisław I Herman |
| 1102-1107 | Zbigniew of Poland |
| 1102-1138 | Bolesław III the Wrymouth |
| 1138-1146 | Władisław II the Exile (overlord; exiled by his brothers) |
| 1146-1173 | Bolesław IV the Curly (overlord) |
| 1173-1177 | Mieszko III the Old (overlord) |
| 1177-1194 | Casimir II the Just (duke of Kraków) |
| 1194-1202 | Leszek I the White (1st reign, duke of Kraków) |
| 1202-1206 | Władisław III Spindleshanks (1st reign) |
| 1206-1210 | Leszek I the White (2nd reign, duke of Kraków) |
| 1210-1211 | Mieszko IV Tanglefoot |
| 1211-1227 | Leszek I the White (3rd reign, assassinated) |
| 1227-1229 | Władisław III Spindleshanks (2nd reign) |
| 1229-1232 | Konrad I of Masovia (1st reign) |
| 1232-1238 | Henry I the Bearded (duke of Kraków) |
| 1238-1241 | Henry II the Pious (duke of Kraków; killed in the Battle of Legnica) |
| 1241-1243 | Konrad I of Masovia (2nd reign, duke of Kraków) |
| 1243-1279 | Bolesław V the Chaste (duke of Kraków) |
| 1279-1288 | Leszek II the Black |
| 1288-1290 | Henry IV Probus (duke of Kraków) |
| 1290-1296 | Przemysł II (duke of Kraków 1290-1291, king 1295-1296) |
Premyslid Dynasty
| 1291-1305 | Wenceslaus II (king 1300-1305) |
| 1305-1306 | Wenceslaus III (king; assassinated before crowning) |
Piast Unification
| 1306-1333 | Władisław I the Elbow-high (duke of Kraków 1305-1320; king 1320-1333; all of his successors were kings) |
| 1333-1370 | Casimir III the Great |
Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons
Angevin dynasty
| 1370-1382 | Louis of Hungary |
| 1384-1399 | Jadwiga of Poland (crowned King of Poland; reigned together with her husband Wladislaus from 1386) |
Jagiellon dynasty
| 1386-1434 | Władisław II Jagiełło (reigned together with his wife Jadwiga until 1399) |
| 1434-1444 | Władisław III of Varna (killed in the Battle of Varna) |
| 1447-1492 | Casimir IV the Jagiellonian |
| 1492-1501 | John I Olbracht |
| 1501-1506 | Alexander the Jagiellonian |
| 1506-1548 | Sigismund I the Old |
| 1548-1572 | Sigismund II Augustus |
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Valois dynasty
| 1573-1574 | Henry Valois (abandoned the throne) |
House of Bathory
| 1575-1586 | Stephen Bathory |
Vasa dynasty
| 1587-1632 | Sigismund III Vasa |
| 1632-1648 | Władisław IV Vasa |
| 1648-1668 | John II Casimir (abdicated) |
House of Wiśniowiecki
| 1669-1673 | Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki |
House of Sobieski
| 1674-1696 | John III Sobieski |
Wettin dynasty
| 1697-1706 | Augustus II the Strong (1st reign, renounced the throne in the Treaty of Altranstadt) |
House of Leszczyński
| 1704-1709 | Stanisław I Leszczyński (1st reign, emigrated after the Swedish defeat in the Battle of Poltava) |
Wettin dynasty
| 1709-1733 | Augustus II the Strong (1st reign) |
House of Leszczyński
| 1733-1736 | Stanisławs I Leszczyński (2nd reign, abdicated) |
Wettin dynasty
| 1734-1763 | Augustus III |
House of Poniatowski
| 1764-1795 | Stanisław II Augustus Poniatowski (abdicated after the Third Partition of Poland) |
Partitions
Duchy of Warsaw
Wettin dynasty
| 1807-1815 | Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (the Duchy was abolished at the Congress of Vienna) |
Congress Kingdom
Romanov dynasty
| 1815-1825 | Alexander I of Russia |
| 1825-1831 | Nicholas I of Russia (deposed) |
Grand Duchy of Poznan
Hohenzollern dynasty
| 1815-1840 | Frederick William III of Prussia (represented by Duke-Governor Antoni Radziwiłł until 1831) |
| 1840-1849 | Frederick William IV of Prussia (the autonomy of the Grand Duchy was abolished in 1849) |
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