Two rival protest marches have brought tens of thousands of people onto the snowy streets of the Polish capital as the country marks Independence Day.
ADVERTISEMENTTwo rival protest marches have brought tens of thousands of people onto the snowy streets of Warsaw.
50,000 people were expected to turn out for a nationalist march in Warsaw, under the banner “Poland, the bastion of Europe”.
7,000 police were deployed.
The marches were timed to coincide with Poland’s Independence Day.
Today is #Poland's #IndependenceDay! It commemorates the country's regained independence on Nov 11th 1918 after 123 years of partitions. pic.twitter.com/9ryD59TCfO
— Poland.pl (@Poland) November 11, 2016
POLAND INDEPENDENCE – Polish nationalists march through Warsaw's streets on Independence Day https://t.co/hYwRKdJFPC
— WORLD NEWS (@WorldNews7777) November 11, 2016
The “Independence March”
Demonstrators say, in the end, the nationalist “Independence March” drew 100,000 people.
The police say the number was nearer 75,000.
The “Democracy March”
Officials say 10,000 people turned out for the rival “Democracy March” in the Polish capital.
The route of both marches was organised to prevent them clashing in the streets.
There have been no reports of clashes.
Poland's Independence Day marked with a large nationalist march and a smaller-but-far-more-colorfull anti-fascist one pic.twitter.com/8IwDMatSLz
— Ido Liven (@IdoLiven) November 11, 2016
President calls for harmony
Polish President Andrzej Duda called for harmony.
“Harmonious celebrations will be a sign that we, as a nation, can rise above unnecessary divides and disputes,” Duda said.
Have there been problems in the past?
Yes.
In recent years, the Independence March on 11 November has often ended with outbreaks of violence and clashes with the police.
What happened last year?
Around 70,000 people took part in the nationalist rally in Warsaw.
It was held under the banner, “Poland for the Poles, Poles for Poland”, in reference to the refugee crisis.
History remembered
National Independence Day is marked in Poland on 11 November.
This is the date the country regained its independence in 1918, after 123 years of partition by the Russian empire, the kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg empire.
A concert of patriotic Polish songs was due to take place at the Warsaw Uprising Museum in the evening.
ADVERTISEMENT98 years ago today, in 1918, Poland regained independence after 123 years of foreign domination. #MyPolskapic.twitter.com/OWapPGfyE7
— Jakub Krupa (@JakubKrupa) November 11, 2016
11 November #Polish National Independence Day.
In 1918 Poland regained its independence after 123 years of partitions and slavery #OnThisDaypic.twitter.com/nKW0V5X8Rr— Poland MOD (@Poland_MOD) November 11, 2016
Huge Catholic shrine
The day has also been marked with the opening of a huge Catholic shrine, first proposed more than 200 years ago.
The first stone of the Temple of Divine Providence was laid in 1792.
Progress was stalled, however, by invasions and world wars.
Work resumed in 2003 with 50 million euros in private donations.
Poland marks Independence Day by opening huge Catholic shrine first proposed more than two centuries agohttps://t.co/sovQuoESaApic.twitter.com/6ppukTiFYT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 11, 2016