The Polish border has varied greatly over the past 200 years. The major events that took place to influence this are as follows:
- 1795: Poland partitioned between the Russian Empire, Austria and the Kingdom of Prussia (some land won back in 1807 but lost again in 1815)
- 1918: Poland gained status as an independent state at the end of World War I
- 1939: Poland invaded by Nazi Germany to begin World War II
- 1945: Poland became part of the Soviet Union at the end of World War II
- 1989: Poland established as an independent country
During this time there were at least 14 different borders (some very slight). Click the image below for the details of these changes since 1815.
Another excellent source displays a slideshow of the different borders since 1635, with over 20 changes since 1795. Click the image below to view the slideshow and read the explanation.
So there have been quite a few changes over the past 200 years!