Poland

The Kingdom of Poland is a landlocked nation in Central Europe bordering Germany, Russia, and Czechoslovakia.

History

Poland had been a prominent power in Central Europe for Centuries as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, their prominence diminished and was eventually partitioned between the powers of Prussia, Russia, and Austria. A Polish power was briefly reinstated during the reign of Napoleon as the Duchy of Warsaw, leading to a dissolution of treaties between France and Russia. Polish nationalists had been prominent in all three powers. During the reign of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Russdia cracked down on such nationalistic fervor, leading to his mental decline. During the Great War, the Polish regions of Austria, Germany, and Russia were all displaced to other fronts of the conflict as to remove any percieved threat to loyalty. However, following the war, Polish nationals within Austria joined the calls for greater autonomy with the other ethnic minorities within the empire. Emperor Leopold II reformed the empire into the Hapsburg Confederation, and the region of West Galicia was formed out of the Austrian Polish regions, gaining it's own parliament. During the subsequent uprisings against Austrian rule later in the Confederation, West Galicia declared its independence as a new Polish state. Archduke Charles Stephen was nominated to be king, having been a major proponent of Polish identity among the Austrian court. Emperor Franz Karl of Austria, seeing the downfall of the empire, reluctantly approved, and Charles Stephen was proclaimed Charles I of Poland in 1931. Following the proclamation, German Emperor Wilhelm II attempted to pressure Polish minorities in Germany to move to the new nation. This was done in order to homogenize the German identity. Meanwhile, Tsar Ivan VII attempted to quell calls for unification from his own Polish regions and cracked down on dissent.