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Poland (Former kingdom situated)

a former kingdom situated in the N. E. of Europe. It was bounded on the N. by the Baltic, S. by Wallachia, Moldavia and Hungary, W. by Germany, and E. by Russia, and was the most level country in Europe, the Carpathian Mountains on the S. and W., as a boundary from Hungary, being the only mountain range of any height in the kingdom.

The principal mineral products are iron, lead, gold, silver, and salt. Cattle and wheat are still the chief a agricultural products. Poland was anciently divided into 12 provinces, each of which was governed by a chief, called a "Palatine."

The Poles were originally a tribe of Vandals, whose history is quite unknown before the 6th century. About the year 750, the people, oppressed by their petty chiefs, were resolved to shake off the tyranny of their rulers, and elected a chief magistrate to govern them, under the title of duke. This state of things endured till the year 999, when reigning duke, Boleslass, having made himself illustrious by his conquests and military genius, was dignified with the title of king by Otho III., Emperor of Germany, from which time the title became established in Poland, and, though the crown was elective, it often continued in the same family for many years, passing from father to son. From the 13th century, the Poles became the most warlike nation in Europe, and from the time when the Turks first crossed the Hellespont and settled in Greece, Poland was denominated the shield of eastern Europe. In 1674, John Sobieski was advanced to the kingly dignity, and under him the Polish arms acquired a glory that eclipsed all other nations of that age. Sobieski formed a league with the Emperor Leopold, and when that monarch had been defeated, and his capital on the point of falling into the hands of the Turks, Sobieski advanced to Vienna, raised the siege, and, defeating the invaders, drove them back in rout to Constantinople. The War of Succession that succeeded, between Charles XII. of Sweden and Frederick Augustus of Saxony, almost ruined the kingdom, espont POLAR BEAR