The history taught in schools is not as much a history of countries but rather that of people, processes and events, and even though the Poland ceased to exist as a sovereign state, it was still populated by its inhabitants who were either continuing or forming new political and social entities.

This said, the period of 1795-1918 in the history of Poland is usually taught in detail, focusing on the activities of Poles both within the territory that previously was there country and abroad, with the attempts to regain independence or keep at least partial autonomy whenever possible as a common background. The late 18th and early 19th century history usually focuses on the role of Poland in the Bonaparte's plans and the history vestigial, semi-autonomous Duchy of Warsaw, Free City of Danzig and Free City of Krakow as well as actions of Polish military serving under Napoleon in various campaigns, from Apeninian Peninsula, to Spain to the fateful intervention at Santo Domingo. Then there is the whole independence angle that encompasses operation of various organizations trying to make Poland a sovereign country again, what culminated in Polish-Russian War of 1830-1831 (and the formation of Kingdom of Poland within Russian partition) and later was the cause behind January Uprising, what is usually taught against the backdrop of the nationalist revolutions in Europe in 1830s and later wave of revolutions in the late 1840s commonly referred to as 'Spring of Nations' and the policies of the Polish emigrants in the West who played a role of emissaries of the Polish cause.

In the second part of the 19th century the focus is usually shifted to the reaction of the Polish populace to the occupant's jurisdiction, especially that directed against specific Polish groups, such as the Peasant's Uprising of 1846 or the operation of German Eastern Marches Society and German Liquidation Commission. Second half of the 19th century is also the period when the modern Polish political groups and parties start to form, initially as the representative organization of the Poles or as the groups popularizing Polish culture and language in opposition to the attempts at Russification of Germanization but later coalescing into actual parties that allowed Poland to quickly create a democratic government right after regaining independence in 1918. Given that the parties were representing almost an entire spectrum of political policies, the political life in the former Polish territories and the emergence of a modern national identity that became particularly visible during the revolution of 1905 and in the times of the Great War, the politics itself is an important topic of the history of Poles and in extension, also history of Poland as it was linked directly to the country's independence proclaimed in 1918.

Of course, the history of Poland in the discussed period would never be complete without history of the countries that partitioned Poland as the political differences caused by the varying policies of the respective governments caused the Polish population to face different challenges and significantly influenced the economic and political development of the respective partitions. These are also presented as the reasons behind various actions of the Polish organizations and individuals and they are covered so that the latter are not portrayed in a vacuum.