A Polish government-in-exile nonetheless functioned throughout the war, and the Poles contributed to the Allied victory through participation in military campaigns on both the eastern and western fronts. Millions of Polish citizens of different faiths or identities perished in the course of the Nazi occupation of Poland between 19 through planned genocide and extermination. The Second Polish Republic was established in 1918 and existed as an independent state until 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. The opportunity to regain sovereignty only materialized after World War I, when the three partitioning imperial powers were fatally weakened in the wake of war and revolution. From 1795 until 1918, no truly independent Polish state existed, although strong Polish resistance movements operated. The existence of the Commonwealth ended in 1795 after a series of invasions and partitions of Polish territory carried out by the Russian Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Prussia in the west and the Habsburg monarchy in the south. Significant internal reforms were introduced in the late 18th century, such as Europe's first Constitution of, but neighboring powers did not allow the reforms to advance. From the mid-17th century, however, the huge state entered a period of decline caused by devastating wars and the deterioration of its political system. The Commonwealth was able to sustain the levels of prosperity achieved during the Jagiellonian period, while its political system matured as a unique noble democracy with an elective monarchy. The period of the Jagiellonian dynasty in the 14th–16th centuries brought close ties with the Lithuania, a cultural Renaissance in Poland and continued territorial expansion as well as Polonization that culminated in the establishment of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, one of Europe's largest countries. The most successful and the last Piast monarch, Casimir III the Great, presided over a period of economic prosperity and territorial aggrandizement before his death in 1370 without male heirs. Mieszko's dominion was formally reconstituted as a medieval kingdom in 1025 by his son Bolesław I the Brave, known for military expansion under his rule. Duke Mieszko I is considered the de facto creator of the Polish state and is widely recognized for his adoption of Western Christianity in 966 CE. The first ruling dynasty, the Piasts, emerged in the 10th century AD. The Lechitic Western Polans, a tribe whose name means "people living in open fields", dominated the region and gave Poland - which lies in the North-Central European Plain - its name. However, it was the West Slavic Lechites, the closest ancestors of ethnic Poles, who established permanent settlements in the Polish lands during the Early Middle Ages. The roots of Polish history can be traced to ancient times, when the territory of present-day Poland was settled by various tribes including Celts, Scythians, Germanic clans, Sarmatians, Slavs and Balts. The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, communism, and the restoration of democracy.
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