The term
Kresy, meaning
Outskirts or
Borderlands, was first used to define the
Polish eastern frontier. The term Borderlands referred to the eastern frontiers of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the period of the
Second Polish Republic, the Borderlands were roughly equated with the lands to the east of
Curzon line. In September 1939 the Borderlands were annexed by the
Soviet Union and were incorporated iunto the
Soviet republics of
Ukraine,
Belarus and
Lithuania. When the
Soviet Union dissolved these territories remained part of these republics after they gained
independence.
According to the “Dictionary of the Polish Language” by Samuel Bogumil Linde from 1807, Kresy referred to the Polish eastern frontier. The Tatar Horde settled on the Lower Dnieper River in the Borderlands. For the first time in literature, this term was probably used by Wincenty Pol in his poems entitled “Mohort” from 1854 and in “Pieśń o ziemi naszej”. Pol claimed that it was the line from Dniester to Dnieper River so the land of Tatar borderland. At the beginning of the 20th century the meaning of the term Borderlands expanded to include the lands of the former eastern provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to the east of Lviv-Vilnius line, and in the period of the Second Polish Republic the Borderlands were equated with the land to the east of Curzon line. Currently the term Eastern Borderlands describes former, eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Eastern Borderlands were situated on the lower Dnieper River under so-called ‘porohy’ in the then Kijov province. After the Union of Lublin of 1569 the "Wild Fields" were incorporated into the boundaries of the Republic of the Two Nations. At this time these areas were thought to have been uninhabited.
1772 marked the beginning of the partition of the Republic of the Two Nations. This process took place in three stages (annexations). In the first partition (1772) Russia annexed Polish Inflanty, the northern part of Polotsk province, Vitebsk province, Mscislaw province and the southeast part of Minsk province (about 92 thousand km², 1,3 million people). Austria annexed Galicia, regions near Zamosc and northern Lesser Poland (about 83 thousand km² and 2,65 million people). During the second partition in 1793 Russia took Belarusian and Ukrainian lands to the east of Druja-Pinsk-Zbrucz line, i.e. Kiev, Bratslav, part of Podolia, east part of Volhynia and Brest, Minsk and part of Vilnius (about 250 thousand km²) provinces. The third partition took place in 1795 and Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian areas to the east of the Bug River and Niemirow-Grodno line (about 120 thousand km²) were occupied. This period in the history of Poland, especially in its eastern part, was a period of frequent national rebellions (November Uprising, January Uprising), persecutions, deportations to Siberia and denationalization of Poles. The eastern borderlands belonged to the last regions in Europe where serfdom was abolished In 1848 it was eliminated in the Austrian partition and in 1861 in the Russian partition.
