– These words uttered by Marshal Józef Piłsudski testify to the nature of the struggle for the Polish borders during 1918–1921. The reinstatement of Polish independence was followed by a time of difficult decisions. The fight was waged not only over the shape of a specific portion of the border, but also over regions’ state affiliation. Poland was fighting with Bolshevik Russia for its survival as a state.
Read more
A center of Polish culture and art for centuries, before World War I Lvov was a hub of Polish national life. But Ukrainians also lay claims to the city. On 1 November 1918 the latter proclaimed the West Ukrainian People’s Republic with the capital in Lvov. The Ukrainian troops took control of the most important objects in the city. That led to spontaneous Polish self-defense, in which participated school and university students, who went down in history as the Lvov Eaglets.
Germany consented to Poland’s existence as a separate political structure on the territory of the former Russian partition. The Prussian partition — Greater Poland and Pomerania — was considered an integral part of the Reich. The armistice which ended the war was signed on 11 November in line with that conception.
Read more
In response to the very tumultuous welcome given to Paderewski — patriotic manifestations and the flying of Polish, English, American, and French flags — the Germans had their troops march through the city. The German soldiers tore down national decorations and shot at the windows of the hotel where the pianist was staying, which was the immediate cause of the outbreak of the Greater Poland Uprising.
Read more
On 28 June 1919 Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Roman Dmowski signed the Treaty of Versailles, which introduced a new world order after the German defeat in World War I. The Treaty gave Greater Poland and a part of Pomerania (with the exclusion of the Free City of Gdańsk) to Poland. Less than a month later, on 14 July, the Polish troops took part in the victors’ parade in Paris.
Read more
As a result of the 1917 October Revolution power in Russia was taken over by the Bolsheviks. The German troops quickly seized the territories of the revolution-stricken state: Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and the terrains of the later states of Latvia and Estonia. In line with the armistice of 11 November 1918, the ultimate defeat of Germany in the west resulted in its loss of the territories it captured in the east.
Read more
In connection with the aspirations of Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia the National Polish Committee demanded during the Paris Peace Conference that those terrains be included in the Republic of Poland. That postulate met with German protests. In consequence, the powers decided to conduct a referendum. The German authorities responded with a wave of repressions aimed against the Polish activists.
Read more
During World War I the Sejny-Suwałki region was occupied by German troops. Those terrains were an object of Polish-Lithuanian disputes on national grounds. In November 1918 the German occupation authorities consented to the establishment of the Interim Civic Council of the Suwałki Region, that is, the Polish civilian administration in the Augustów, Sejny, and Suwałki counties.
Read more
The incorporation of Pomerania and a part of Western Kuyavia into Poland was sanctioned by the Treaty of Versailles. Contrary to Polish hopes for swift realization of its postulates, it was not ratified by Germany until 10 January 1920. Just a week later Polish troops arrived in Gniewkowo, Działdowo, and Golub (17 January), and Toruń, Brodnica, and Lidzbark (18 January). The takeover of civilian authority in the individual localities in the region was coordinated by local people’s councils and authorized general commissioners. The military authority was taken over by units of the Pomeranian Front, commanded by General Józef Haller, and the Greater Poland Front, commanded by General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki. .
Read more
Lunched on 25 April 1920, the Kiev Offensive was personally commanded by Józef Piłsudski. Between the Pripyat River and the Dniester River it was to crush the southern concentration of the Bolshevik troops before the arrival of reinforcements from the interior of Russia and their reaching combat readiness to strike in the west. The allied forces consisted of approx. 60,000 Polish soldiers and approx. 4,000 Ukrainian ones.
Read more
Until 1918 Orava, Spiš, and Cieszyn Silesia belonged to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. After its fall they became an object of a dispute between two emerging countries — Poland and Czechoslovakia. On 5 November, Cieszyn Silesia was divided according to the ethnic criterion as a result of an agreement reached by the Polish National Council of the Cieszyn Duchy and the Czech National Council of Silesia. Most inhabitants of Cieszyn Silesia were Polish (55 percent), while Czechs and Germans constituted 27 and 18 percent respectively.
Read more
Because of the delay in Germany’s ratification of the Treaty of Versailles the Allied Powers called an international conference in Spa, Belgium, in July 1920. On the front line of the Polish-Soviet War the Bolsheviks launched an offensive which threatened the existence of the Republic of Poland. Consequently, Polish Prime Minister Władysław Grabski went to Spa to ask the West for help.
Read more
Poland began efforts to incorporate Eastern Prussia because Warmia, Mazuria, and Powiśle had a large Polish population as well as to gain wide access to the sea. Announced in November 1918, the parliamentary election law provided that the election would take place also in Warmia and Masuria.
Read more
In the summer of 1920 the Bolshevik counteroffensive was gathering momentum. In that dire situation Józef Piłsudski planned the main battle against the Bolsheviks. In line with that plan, in mid-August 1920 Polish troops commanded by General Józef Haller stopped the main forces of the enemy on the outskirts of Warsaw, for instance, during bloody battles at Radzymin and Ossów. At the same time troops commanded by General Edward Rydz-Śmigły launched an effective counteroffensive from the River Wieprz on the Bolsheviks’ flank.
Read more
In line with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, in January 1920 power in Upper Silesia was taken by the Inter-allied Administrative and Plebiscite Commission, composed of representatives of France, Great Britain, and Italy. The German troops were withdrawn but the police, despite its formal subordination to the Commission, retained its German character and acted against the Polish movement. To prepare the referendum both sides established referendum commissariats. The Polish commissar was Wojciech Korfanty and the German one the mayor of Rossbark, Kurt Urbanek.
Read more
The Polish victory in the Battle of Warsaw dealt a strategic blow to the Red Army, becoming a turning point in the war and enabling the Polish armed forces to take over the initiative. The final blow was the Battle of the Niemen River fought in September. The main Soviet forces gathered around Grodno. As the troops were exhausted on both sides, it was of key importance who would attack first.
After the Battle of Warsaw the Bolsheviks transferred Vilna to Lithuania. In early October 1920 Piłsudski prepared a plan to return the Vilna region to Poland. In line with that plan the detachments, composed mostly of Poles coming from the disputed territories, led by General Lucjan Żeligowski, conducted a ‘mutiny’ and on 9 October 1920 took Vilna from the Lithuanians. Three days later General Żeligowski announced the establishment of the Republic of Central Lithuania, led by him.
Read more
20 March 1921 saw a referendum in Silesia. 707,393 people voted for Germany, mainly urban dwellers, plus more than 180,000 people who came to Silesia exclusively to vote. 479,365 people (40.3 percent) voted for Poland. Due to Italy and Great Britain’s position Poland was to receive only scraps on the region’s border. As a result of that decision Poles started another uprising, with Korfanty proclaiming himself its dictator on the night of 2–3 May 1921.
Read more