() is the official name of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...

of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. '' republic'', in English also rendered as '' commonwealth'' (historic) and '' republic'' (current). In Poland, the word is used exclusively in relation to the Republic of Poland, while any other republic is referred to in Polish as a , e.g., French Republic – pl, Republika Francuska.

Origins

The term has been used in

since the beginning of the 16th century. It was adapted for Poland, as it at that time had a unique republican system, similar to the former Roman . The famous quote by

Jan Zamoyski Jan Sariusz Zamoyski ( la, Ioannes Zamoyski de Zamoscie; 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, and the 1st '' ordynat'' of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Cha ...

, the Lord Chancellor of the Crown, on the importance of education is an example of its use: The meaning of is well described by the term '' commonwealth''. As a result, the literal meaning of is "Polish Commonwealth", or "Republic of Poland". Although the first was an elective monarchy, the king had no real power, as most of the state affairs were regulated by the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and senate, known as the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

. The Latin name for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is .

The three

is also used in a series of symbolic names referring to three periods in the

history of Poland The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars ...

: * ( pl, Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita) (sometimes translated as the "First Polish Republic"), in reference to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795). During this period, the commonwealth was ruled ''de facto'' by a privileged class called the , which had (among numerous others) the right to elect both the king and parliament (the

). This political system is known as the

Golden Liberty Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a pol ...

. It began with the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the per ...

in 1569 and ended with the third and final

Partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

in 1795. Sometimes the term is used in reference to the country before the

too, because the started limiting king's autocracy starting in the early 1500s. * ( pl, Druga Rzeczpospolita), in reference to the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939). Used to refer to the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

period, lasting from the regaining of independence in 1918 following the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

up to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-triggering

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939 by both

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The renascent Polish State was initially called the Republic of Poland ( pl, Republika Polska). The title was introduced by the

March Constitution of Poland The Second Polish Republic adopted the March Constitution on 17 March 1921, after ousting the occupation of the German/Prussian forces in the 1918 Greater Poland Uprising, and avoiding conquest by the Soviets in the 1920 Polish-Soviet War. The ...

, the first article of which stated that , meaning "the Polish State is a Commonwealth". * ( pl, Trzecia Rzeczpospolita), in reference to the current Third Polish Republic (1990–present). This is the title of the present-day Polish state, dating from the fall of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

(a satellite state of the

) and the reintroduction of democratic elections in Poland – the 1990 local government elections (27 May 1990) were the first free elections in Poland after World War II.

Other usage

Expressions that make use the concept of include: * – Republic of Nobles (), another name for the ; * – The Commonwealth of the Both Nations, another name for the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

; * – Babin Republic, a satirical literary society, founded by a group of nobles during the second half of the 16th century; * –

Free City of Kraków Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

or Republic of Kraków (1815–1846); * –

Republic of Zakopane The Republic of Zakopane (or Commonwealth of Zakopane; pl, Rzeczpospolita Zakopiańska) refers to an area in Galicia centered on the city of Zakopane that created its own parliament ("National Organisation") on October 13, 1918. The parliament's ...

, a short-lasting form of an independent state, established for about a month in October 1918; * – People's Republic of Poland, a name used formally from 1952 to 1990; was often abbreviated to simply or PRL. Sometimes refers (wrongly) to the post-war period 1944–1952. * –

Fourth Polish Republic The Fourth Polish Republic ( pl, IV Rzeczpospolita or ''IV RP'') was a plan for moral revolution and political change put forth in 1997 by the Polish conservative philosopher Rafał Matyja in the magazine "Nowe Państwo" ("New Country"). "Fourth Re ...

, a slogan used by the political party Law and Justice. Nowadays, the terms and are used interchangeably, so far as they relate to the Polish state by default. Before 1939, was sometimes abbreviated to in written documents, while ''RP'' is still a common abbreviation for . The Lithuanian word is a direct borrowing from Polish. The East Slavic equivalents of the name are: russian: Речь Посполитая, Rječ Pospolitaja; uk, Річ Посполита, Rič Pospolyta; be, Рэч Паспалітая, Reč Paspalitaja.

Notes

References

External links