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Autumn" occurs during thc sunny and dry rnonths of Scptcmhcr and Octoher. Nowember is thc month of ihc pre-wintcr, which prccedcs thc jałowy wintcr. The avcrągc annual leinpcraturcs rangę bctwccn 5 and 8.5 degrees Cclsius. depending on thc pan of thc country. In thc summer lempcniurcs can cxcccd 30 degrees Cclsius in thc shadc, whilc in wintcr they rarcly fali below -20 degrees Cclsius.

HISTORY ANI) POLITICS

The landmark in thc proccss thoi lcd to thc crcation of thc Polish stale was thc adoption of Christianily in 966 by Princc Mieszko 1. Mieszko United thc SUwonic tribes which inhabited thc arca roughly corrcsponding to Poland’s present icrritory. His son, Bolesław Chrobry, Consolidated thc ncw State and bccamc ils first king, crowncd in 1025. His succcssors madc up thc Piast dynasty, which ruled till thc 14th ccntury, at first from Gniezno, and latcr from Kraków. After its demisc, thc Polish thronc went to thc Lithuanian Jagicllonian dynasty. Poland and Lithuania wcrc joincd by a pcrsonal Union, superseded by a rcal union in thc 16th ccntury. After their victory over thc Teutonic Order, thc Jagiellonians began to cxpand their State castwards and becomc thc most powcrful ruling family in Continental Europę: their dominions includcd Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia and Hungary, and extcnded from thc Baltic to thc Black Sca.

After thc dcath of thc last member of thc dynasty Poland bccome an clcctivc monarchy. Kings wcrc clcctcd by thc gcnlry and thc throne went to Polish aristocrals or members of European royal familics. The 17th ccntury was a period of wars which sapped thc country's strength in spite of a number of great victories. Attempts at reforming thc stale, undertoken by thc last king in the sccond half of the 18th ccntury. were brought to an end by the partitions of Poland between Austria, Prussia and Russia. After thc finał partition, Poland's king Stanisław August Poniatowski abdicatcd and Poland ceased to exist as an independent State.

Poles did not givc up hope of regaining independence. They raised a large army which fought alongside Napoleon, took part in the Spring of Nations of 1848 and twice rebelled against Russian domination, mccting defeat in both cases. The independent Republic of Poland was finally rebom (for a brief period of 21 years) in 1918 after the defeat of the partitioning po wers. Its borders, the result of wars with Germans, Ukrain i ans and Soviel Russia, were confirmed by the Treaties of Vcrsailles and Riga.

In 1939 Poland stood up to Hitler and was defeated after a short strugglc and Soviet invasion from the East. In spite of a double occupation, Poles creatcd thc structures of an underground State and a rcsistancc movcmcnt. A govcmment in cxile resided in London and Polish soldicrs fought on almost all fronts of the war. 6 miilion citizens of Poland lost their livcs between 1939 and 1945.

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