A fundamental monograph on a current scientific topic was written by historians from a number of institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov and Perm State University on the basis of modern domestic and foreign literature and documents, including new ones, from the archives of Russia and Poland. The book examines the country's political development from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. The process of the birth of Polish political movements and parties in the struggle for an independent state, the formation and evolution of the party-political system from parliamentary democracy to the “sanation” regime in the interwar period are shown; presents the politically diverse Resistance movement of 1939–1945. – confrontation of forces in determining the borders and appearance of post-war Poland. Considerable attention is paid to the role of the USSR in resolving the Polish issue, the inclusion of Poland in the sphere of its interests; participation in the suppression of the underground, promoting the power hegemony of the communists and the creation of a system of people's democracy. The monopolization of power by communists and the features of the Soviet-type regime, attempts to democratize it, the causes and results of the crisis of 1956, the transition of the PUWP to authoritarian methods of governance, the specifics of the party’s course in the 60-70s are considered; shows the birth of the Solidarity movement, its internal evolution, and the peculiarities of Poland’s progress from state socialism to Western-style democracy at the end of the 20th century.