Poland has recently made reforms to its educational system. This is an important step as this country rebuilds its national independence.
Poland scores late goals in education
Here is the history behind the importance of this article.
In the 1600's, the great Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a large and dominating country within Europe that introduced an early form of a republic as it looked for a method to lessen the King's power. This early republic was governed by the Sejm, their Senate, which was originally ruled by the Polish Magnate nobility in the 1500's and earlier. The Sejm's purpose was to govern domestic affairs while electing the King for life to handle foreign affairs. As the middle nobility, or Szlachta, gained control of the Sejm from the Magnates, various foreign interests were able to exert their influence by bribing individual members of the Szlachta.
The Szlachta introduced the concept of the liberum veto or “the free veto”, which allowed a single person to halt and disrupt all negotiation and decision making with a simple universal veto of the proceedings. Each member of the Szlachta possessed this universal veto ability. The various foreign interests used this to their advantage through their individual Szlachta minions to eventually disrupt the Polish government. Chaos developed as people's frustrations grew both in government and in society, the Commonwealth weakened in the 1750's. Change was needed. The Polish Noble, Stanisław August Poniatowski, became romantically involved with the twenty-six-year-old future Empress Catherine Alexeievna (Catherine the Great). She helped him get elected as King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. King Poniatowski is recognized as a great patron of the arts and sciences, and a supporter of reforms. Unfortunately, his reforms were not for the best of Poland.
Constitutional reform was initiated to abolish the veto. Foreign interests moved to stop this reform, namely St. Petersburg, Russia and Berlin, Germany; which both threatened war if the Polish liberum veto was abolished. The liberum veto being a useful tool of foreign interests to disrupt Polish self-governance.
In order to maintain control of the chaos within the Sejm and to appease his (former) Russian lover, King Poniatowski invited the Russian military within its borders to control the Sejm and the capital. This allowed Empress Catherine to use her soldiers to gain control over the Sejm by removing dissenting Szlachta in the night in the year 1767. By 1772, Russian armies gained such control that the Polish Magnates (high nobility) hid in self-exile as Russia captured over 5,000 szlachta (minor nobility) and sent them to Siberia. This led to war, which resulted in The First Partition of Poland between Austria and Russia.
In 1788, Polish leaders formed the Great Sejm to politically regain control over its governance. This led to the formation of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, that is still celebrated to this day. On May 3 of each year, we observe the annual parade of Polish independence in downtown Chicago. Of course, this declaration of Independence again led to war with the Polish-Russian War of 1792. This war resulted in the Second partition of Poland, giving pieces of Poland to the Austrian Hapsburg Empire, Prussia (northern Germany), and Russia. The term “Prussia” being an obvious collaboration of Germany with Russia.
To return to modern times, Poland has been occupied and under Russian control for most of the last 200 years. With exception after the Polish-Russian fight for independence in 1918-1921 after WWI, through the beginning of WWII with the invasion of Germany in 1939, in which Poland had briefly enjoyed its independence. With further exception of this period after 1989, in which the Solidarity movement regained independence with assistance from Catholic Pope John Paul II and Russian over-expansion through its southern regions.
The assistance from the Catholic church has not been trivial. Over the last 200 years during foreign control, the Catholic church has galvanized the Polish community. Covertly pulling them together into a single people with the common interest of independence. The Catholic church taught the common Polish illiterate farmers the need to prove their ability to govern themselves by proving they were people rather than peasants, humans instead of animals. The Polish Catholic church taught the importance of education, a clean home, and being a good host as methods towards impressing Russia and the world that Poland is populated with intelligent, hard-working people able to govern themselves.
For these reasons, the Polish people highly value education, a clean home, and guests. Nowhere will a person be treated better than as a guest in the average Polish home. Nowhere in the world is the whole nation as well educated as the citizens of Poland are.
This background history stresses the importance of this article. Poland has waited over 200 years for the ability to govern itself and reform its educational system. To remove Communist propaganda from its educational system is the momentous realization of a long-desired dream.
The rest of the world can watch and learn how to properly educate its people by the changes Poland is making now.
As an example, Polish students wear uniforms through high school as a way to remove outside influence towards student inequality. Without this crucial foothold, capitalist marketing is unable to force itself upon the unsuspecting country's youth by indoctrinating the need to possess the best clothing and the latest technical gadgets. This provides the primary function of the nation's schools to be that of educating its students, instead of social acceptance as we see here in the U.S..
Previously, the Polish educational system was equal for all communities, rich and poor, city and rural. This provided educational equality for all Polish citizens that removed inequalities such as we see here in the U.S. between rich suburban schools and relatively poor inner city schools. Now, Poland seems to be updating this concept by decentralizing scholastic decision making. This makes me wonder if they will remove the uniforms under pressure from foreign corporate interests.
This article shows an important step in Poland's continued struggle for independence. Poland may be “independent” now but they continue to be influenced by foreign control covertly working to regain control of Poland. An example of Russia's effort to regain control of Poland was recently seen in the controversial airplane crash in 2010 that lost all of the Polish government that was in opposition to Russian control.
One important lesson to learn from Poland's struggles is the vulnerability of any republic to foreign influence. This is something our U.S. government similarly struggles with.
I hope this history has helped to promote understanding of the struggles happening in Poland. The rest of the world can learn from the internal change Poland is creating towards rebuilding itself as a world power renewing full control of its own nation.
References:
Wikipedia.com - History of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Wikipedia.com - Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Liberum Veto
Wikipedia.com - Great Sejm
Wikipedia.com - Stanisław August Poniatowski
Wikipedia.com - History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795)
Wikipedia.com - First Partition of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Constitution of May 3, 1791
Wikipedia.com - Polish–Russian War of 1792
Wikipedia.com - Second Partition of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Solidarity (Polish trade union)
Wikipedia.com - Pope John Paul II
Wikipedia.com - 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
Amazon.com - The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture
Poland scores late goals in education
Here is the history behind the importance of this article.
In the 1600's, the great Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a large and dominating country within Europe that introduced an early form of a republic as it looked for a method to lessen the King's power. This early republic was governed by the Sejm, their Senate, which was originally ruled by the Polish Magnate nobility in the 1500's and earlier. The Sejm's purpose was to govern domestic affairs while electing the King for life to handle foreign affairs. As the middle nobility, or Szlachta, gained control of the Sejm from the Magnates, various foreign interests were able to exert their influence by bribing individual members of the Szlachta.
The Szlachta introduced the concept of the liberum veto or “the free veto”, which allowed a single person to halt and disrupt all negotiation and decision making with a simple universal veto of the proceedings. Each member of the Szlachta possessed this universal veto ability. The various foreign interests used this to their advantage through their individual Szlachta minions to eventually disrupt the Polish government. Chaos developed as people's frustrations grew both in government and in society, the Commonwealth weakened in the 1750's. Change was needed. The Polish Noble, Stanisław August Poniatowski, became romantically involved with the twenty-six-year-old future Empress Catherine Alexeievna (Catherine the Great). She helped him get elected as King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. King Poniatowski is recognized as a great patron of the arts and sciences, and a supporter of reforms. Unfortunately, his reforms were not for the best of Poland.
Constitutional reform was initiated to abolish the veto. Foreign interests moved to stop this reform, namely St. Petersburg, Russia and Berlin, Germany; which both threatened war if the Polish liberum veto was abolished. The liberum veto being a useful tool of foreign interests to disrupt Polish self-governance.
In order to maintain control of the chaos within the Sejm and to appease his (former) Russian lover, King Poniatowski invited the Russian military within its borders to control the Sejm and the capital. This allowed Empress Catherine to use her soldiers to gain control over the Sejm by removing dissenting Szlachta in the night in the year 1767. By 1772, Russian armies gained such control that the Polish Magnates (high nobility) hid in self-exile as Russia captured over 5,000 szlachta (minor nobility) and sent them to Siberia. This led to war, which resulted in The First Partition of Poland between Austria and Russia.
In 1788, Polish leaders formed the Great Sejm to politically regain control over its governance. This led to the formation of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, that is still celebrated to this day. On May 3 of each year, we observe the annual parade of Polish independence in downtown Chicago. Of course, this declaration of Independence again led to war with the Polish-Russian War of 1792. This war resulted in the Second partition of Poland, giving pieces of Poland to the Austrian Hapsburg Empire, Prussia (northern Germany), and Russia. The term “Prussia” being an obvious collaboration of Germany with Russia.
To return to modern times, Poland has been occupied and under Russian control for most of the last 200 years. With exception after the Polish-Russian fight for independence in 1918-1921 after WWI, through the beginning of WWII with the invasion of Germany in 1939, in which Poland had briefly enjoyed its independence. With further exception of this period after 1989, in which the Solidarity movement regained independence with assistance from Catholic Pope John Paul II and Russian over-expansion through its southern regions.
The assistance from the Catholic church has not been trivial. Over the last 200 years during foreign control, the Catholic church has galvanized the Polish community. Covertly pulling them together into a single people with the common interest of independence. The Catholic church taught the common Polish illiterate farmers the need to prove their ability to govern themselves by proving they were people rather than peasants, humans instead of animals. The Polish Catholic church taught the importance of education, a clean home, and being a good host as methods towards impressing Russia and the world that Poland is populated with intelligent, hard-working people able to govern themselves.
For these reasons, the Polish people highly value education, a clean home, and guests. Nowhere will a person be treated better than as a guest in the average Polish home. Nowhere in the world is the whole nation as well educated as the citizens of Poland are.
This background history stresses the importance of this article. Poland has waited over 200 years for the ability to govern itself and reform its educational system. To remove Communist propaganda from its educational system is the momentous realization of a long-desired dream.
The rest of the world can watch and learn how to properly educate its people by the changes Poland is making now.
As an example, Polish students wear uniforms through high school as a way to remove outside influence towards student inequality. Without this crucial foothold, capitalist marketing is unable to force itself upon the unsuspecting country's youth by indoctrinating the need to possess the best clothing and the latest technical gadgets. This provides the primary function of the nation's schools to be that of educating its students, instead of social acceptance as we see here in the U.S..
Previously, the Polish educational system was equal for all communities, rich and poor, city and rural. This provided educational equality for all Polish citizens that removed inequalities such as we see here in the U.S. between rich suburban schools and relatively poor inner city schools. Now, Poland seems to be updating this concept by decentralizing scholastic decision making. This makes me wonder if they will remove the uniforms under pressure from foreign corporate interests.
This article shows an important step in Poland's continued struggle for independence. Poland may be “independent” now but they continue to be influenced by foreign control covertly working to regain control of Poland. An example of Russia's effort to regain control of Poland was recently seen in the controversial airplane crash in 2010 that lost all of the Polish government that was in opposition to Russian control.
One important lesson to learn from Poland's struggles is the vulnerability of any republic to foreign influence. This is something our U.S. government similarly struggles with.
I hope this history has helped to promote understanding of the struggles happening in Poland. The rest of the world can learn from the internal change Poland is creating towards rebuilding itself as a world power renewing full control of its own nation.
References:
Wikipedia.com - History of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Wikipedia.com - Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Liberum Veto
Wikipedia.com - Great Sejm
Wikipedia.com - Stanisław August Poniatowski
Wikipedia.com - History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795)
Wikipedia.com - First Partition of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Constitution of May 3, 1791
Wikipedia.com - Polish–Russian War of 1792
Wikipedia.com - Second Partition of Poland
Wikipedia.com - Solidarity (Polish trade union)
Wikipedia.com - Pope John Paul II
Wikipedia.com - 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
Amazon.com - The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture
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