Second Polish Republic
The
Second Polish Republic is an unofficial name applied to the
Republic of Poland between
World War I and
World War II.
When the borders of the state were fixed in
1921, it had an area of 388.6 thousand sq. km. (sixth largest in Europe), and 27.2 million inhabitants according to the census of that year. In
1939, just before the outbreak of
World War II, it had an estimated 35.1 million inhabitants. A third of these were national minorities (17%
Ukrainians and
Belarusians, 10%
Jews, 5%
Germans, and 1% percent
Lithuanians,
Russians and
Czechs).
|
Second Polish Republic 1921-1939 |
The beginnings
Occupied by
German and
Austro-Hungarian armies in the summer of
1915, the formerly Russian-ruled part of what was considered Poland was proclaimed an independent kingdom by the occupying powers on
November 5,
1916, with a governing Council of State and (from
October 15,
1917) a Regency Council (
Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego) to administer the country under German auspices pending the election of a king.
Shortly before the end of
World War I, on
October 7,
1918, the Regency Council dissolved the Council of State and announced its intention to restore Polish independence. With the notable exception of the
Marxist-oriented
Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), most political parties supported this move. On
October 23 the Council appointed a new government under
Józef Swierzynski and began conscription into the
Polish Army.
On
November 5, in
Lublin, the first
Soviet of Delegates was created. On
November 6 the
Communists announced the creation of a
Republic of Tarnobrzeg. The same day, a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland was created under the Socialist,
Ignacy Daszynski.
On
November 10,
Józef Piłsudski, newly freed from imprisonment by the German authorities at
Magdeburg, returned to
Warsaw. Next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the
Regency Council appointed Piłsudski
Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On
November 14 the Council dissolved itself and transferred all its authority to Piłsudski as Chief of State (
Naczelnik Państwa).
Centers of government that were created in
Galicia (formerly Austrian-ruled southern Poland) included a National Council of the
Principality of Cieszyn (created on November 19??) and a
Polish Liquidation Committee (created on
October 28). Soon afterward, conflict broke out in
Lviv (Polish
Lwów) between forces of the
Military Committee of Ukrainians and the Polish
"Eagles" of Lwów.
After consultation with Pilsudski, Daszynski's government dissolved itself and a new government was created under
Jedrzej Moraczewski.
|
Polish soldiers displaying captured Soviet battle flags after the Battle of Warsaw. |
Timeline (1919-1939)
 |
Polish armoured car Korfanty in 1920 in the Silesian Uprisings |
* Elections to the Sejm:
January 26,
1919.
*
Treaty of Versailles* War against the Ukrainians:
Polish-Ukrainian War.
* War against the Soviets:
Polish-Soviet War.
Miracle of the Vistula.
Treaty of Riga.
* War against the Lithuanians:
Polish-Lithuanian War.
*
Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia.
* Uprisings in Wielkopolska and Silesia.
Great Poland Uprising,
Silesian Uprisings.
*
July 15,
1920 - Agrarian Reform.
*
March 17,
1921 -
March Constitution.
* 1921 - alliances with
France,
Romania.
* Election to the Sejm (
1922-11-05)and to the Senat -
1922-11-12.
* President
Gabriel Narutowicz, and his assassination (
December 16,
1922).
* 1924 -
Wladyslaw Grabski Government.
Bank Polski. Monetary reform.
* President Wojciechowski -
December 20,
1922, to
Zamach majowy.
*
Coup of May -
Zamach majowy, 1926, May, Józef Piłsudski
coup d'etat (
May Coup). beginning of
Sanacja government.
*
Roman Dmowski,
Obóz Wielkiej Polski (
4 December 1926),
Endecja.
*
16 November 1930 - wybory brzeskie (elections
*
25 July 1932 -
non-aggression pact with Soviet Union*
26 January 1934 -
non-aggression pact with Germany*
14 April 1934 -
Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny*
23 April 1935 -
April Constitution*
12 May 1935 - death of Józef Piłsudski
*
Gdynia,
Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy (1936),
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski*
2 February 1937 - Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego
* October
1938 - annexation of
Zaolzie*
2 January 1939 - death of Roman Dmowski
*
31 March 1939 - military guarantees from United Kingdom and France
*
23 August 1939 -
non-aggression pact between Soviet Union and Germany:
Ribbentrop-Molotow Pact with a secret
military alliance protocol targeting Poland (among several other countries)
*
25 August 1939 - alliance between Poland and United Kingdom
World War II
|
German soldiers destroying Polish border checkpoint on 1 September |
The beginning of the
Second World War put an end to the Second Polish Republic. The "
Polish September Campaign" campaign began 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and ended 6 October 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. Poland did not surrender continued as
Polish Government in Exile and
Polish Secret State.
Chief of State
*
Józef Piłsudski "
22 November 1918 -
9 December 1922Presidents
*
Gabriel Narutowicz "
9 December 1922 -
16 December 1922*
Stanisław Wojciechowski "
20 December 1922 -
14 May 1926*
Ignacy Mościcki "
1 June 1926 -
30 September 1939*
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski -
1 October 1939Premiers
*
Jędrzej Moraczewski "
18 November 1918 -
16 January 1919*
Ignacy Jan Paderewski "
18 January 1919 -
27 November 1919*
Leopold Skulski "
13 December 1919 -
9 June 1920*
Władysław Grabski "
27 June 1920 -
24 July 1920*
Wincenty Witos "
24 July 1920 -
13 September 1921*
Antoni Ponikowski "
19 September 1921 -
5 March 1922*
Antoni Ponikowski "
10 March 1922 -
6 June 1922*
Artur Śliwiński "
28 June 1922 -
7 July 1922*
Wojciech Korfanty "
14 July 1922 -
31 July 1922*
Julian Nowak "
31 July 1922 -
14 December 1922*
Władysław Sikorski "
16 December 1922 -
26 May 1923*
Wincenty Witos "
28 May 1923 -
14 December 1923*
Władysław Grabski "
19 December 1923 -
14 November 1925*
Aleksander Skrzyński "
20 November 1925 -
5 May 1926*
Wincenty Witos "
10 May 1926 -
14 May 1926*
Kazimierz Bartel "
15 May 1926 -
4 June 1926*
Kazimierz Bartel "
8 June 1926 -
24 September 1926*
Kazimierz Bartel "
27 September 1926 -
30 September 1926*
Józef Piłsudski "
2 October 1926 -
27 June 1928*
Kazimierz Bartel "
27 June 1928 -
13 April 1929*
Kazimierz Świtalski "
14 April 1929 -
7 December 1929*
Kazimierz Bartel "
29 December 1929 -
15 March 1930*
Walery Sławek "
29 March 1930 -
23 August 1930*
Józef Piłsudski "
25 August 1930 -
4 December 1930*
Walery Sławek "
4 December 1930 -
26 May 1931*
Aleksander Prystor "
27 May 1931 -
9 May 1933*
Janusz Jędrzejewicz "
10 May 1933 -
13 May 1934*
Leon Kozłowski "
15 May 1934 -
28 March 1935*
Walery Sławek "
28 March 1935 -
12 October 1935*
Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski "
13 October 1935 -
15 May 1936*
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski "
15 May 1936 -
30 September 1939Minorities
After
Poland gained its independence in
1921, a large part of its population was some type of minority or another. The census of that year allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority.
[Marcus, Joseph, Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939, Mouton Publishing, ISBN 9027932395, Google Books, p. 17]In
1931 Poland had the second largest population in the world, and one-fifth of all Jews resided within Poland's borders (approx. 3,136,000, roughly 10% of the entire Polish population).
[Ibid, p. 15]Population
Ludność| Census date ¦¦ Population> | Percentage of
rural population | Population density
(per km²) |
|---|
| 30 September 1921 | 27,177,000 | 75,4% | 69,9 |
| 9 December 1931 | 32,107,000 | 72,6% | 82,6 |
| 31 December 1938 | 34,849,000 | 70% | 89,7 |
Largest cities in early 1939:#
Warszawa " 1289 thousands#
Łódź " 672 thousands#
Lwów " 340 thousands#
Poznań " 272 thousands#
Kraków " 259 thousands#
Wilno " 215 thousands#
Bydgoszcz " 141 thousands#
Częstochowa " 138 thousands#
Katowice " 133 thousands#
Sosnowiec " 130 thousands#
Lublin " 122 thousands#
Gdynia " 120 thousands#
Białystok " 107 thousands
See
Culture of Poland |
Polish voivodeships 1922-1939 |
Polish voivodeships in the interbellum
(data as per April 1, 1937) | car plates
(since 1937) | Voivodeship
Separate city | Capital | Area
in 1000 km² (1930)! Population
in 1000 (1931) |
|---|
| 00-19 | City of Warsaw | Warsaw | 0,14 | 1179,5 |
| 85-89 | warszawskie | Warsaw | 31,7 | 2460,9 |
| 20-24 | białostockie | Białystok | 26,0 | 1263,3 |
| 25-29 | kieleckie | Kielce | 22,2 | 2671,0 |
| 30-34 | krakowskie | Kraków | 17,6 | 2300,1 |
| 35-39 | lubelskie | Lublin | 26,6 | 2116,2 |
| 40-44 | lwowskie | Lwów | 28,4 | 3126,3 |
| 45-49 | łódzkie | Łódź | 20,4 | 2650,1 |
| 50-54 | nowogródzkie | Nowogródek | 23,0 | 1057,2 |
| 55-59 | poleskie | Brześć nad Bugiem | 36,7 | 1132,2 |
| 60-64 | pomorskie | Toruń | 25,7 | 1884,4 |
| 65-69 | poznańskie | Poznań | 28,1 | 2339,6 |
| 70-74 | stanisławowskie | Stanisławów | 16,9 | 1480,3 |
| 75-79 ? | śląskie | Katowice | 5,1 | 1533,5 |
| 80-84 | tarnopolskie | Tarnopol | 16,5 | 1600,4 |
| 90-94 | wileńskie | Wilno | 29,0 | 1276,0 |
| 95-99 | wołyńskie | Łuck | 35,7 | 2085,6 |
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