By Jacqueline San Diego Polish Flag ( Image Source Wikimedia Commons ) While Poland might be best known for its beer and many delicious flavors of pierogi, few of us are aware of the strong connection of the Polish people to their state language, Polish, which they call 'polszczyzna'. Tracing back the long and eventful history of Poland, we find evidence that explains this overpowering pride in the language that spreads across borders and seas. Poland has endured a very long journey of hardship in its struggle for independence. Although it seems unimaginable today, Poland did not exist as a sovereign state for over 120 years. Erased from the map of Europe, it was partitioned until 1918 between three Empires: Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia. Poland’s hard-fought independence was also short-lived after World War I and barely two decades later, the aggression against the Polish state by Nazi Germany in 1939 effectively signaled the beginning of World War II. Fears o...