Regency Kingdom of Poland

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Regency Kingdom of Poland
Królestwo Regencyjne
1916–1918
Flag of Poland Coat of arms of Poland 1917–1918
flag coat of arms
← Military ensign of Vistula Flotilla of Congress Poland.svg navigation Flag of Poland.svg →
Official language Polish , German
Capital Warsaw
Form of government kingdom
Government system Constitutional monarchy
Head of State
- 1916 to 1917
- 1917 to 1918
Crown Marshal Wacław Niemojowski
Regency Council
Head of government Prime Minister
currency Polish mark
Existence period 1916-1918
Time zone UTC + 1 CET

The regency kingdom Poland ( Polish Królestwo Regencyjne ) was de facto in the First World War on 5 November 1916 to 11 November 1918, the under the control of the Central Powers standing field of since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the Russian Empire belonging Province Weichselland or " Congress Poland ".

prehistory

Members of the Regency Council of the Regency Kingdom of Poland, from left: Józef Ostrowski , Archbishop Kakowski and Prince Lubomirski (September or October 1917)
Archduke Karl Stephan with his family (around 1895)

At the beginning of the First World War, the German Emperor Wilhelm II made the decision not to return the conquered area of Congress Poland to Russia in the event of a peace treaty, but to create a Polish state closely linked to the Kingdom of Prussia . The administration of the country was to be in Polish hands, but the German Kaiser and Prussian king were to exercise high military command over the army. The new Poland was to form a railroad community with Prussia and to be guaranteed the sale of its goods via Danzig through trade and shipping agreements. An annexation of the area of Kalisch (Kalisz) by Prussia was considered, as were minor assignments of territory to Austria-Hungary . Poland should be a kingdom . The most promising candidates for the throne were Archduke Karl Stephan of Austria , who lived in Saybusch (Żywiec) , and his eldest son Archduke Karl Albrecht von Habsburg-Altenburg , who had been prepared for the Polish throne by his father. Both spoke fluent Polish .

After the conquest of the whole of Congress Poland by German and Austro-Hungarian troops in the late summer of 1915, the country was divided by the Central Powers into two civilly administered general governments , one administered by Germany and based in Warsaw under Colonel General Hans von Beseler, and another by Austro-Hungarian administration based in Lublin and General Karl Kuk at the head. Smaller northern areas of Poland around Suwałki and Augustów came to the Upper East area , which was under German military administration.
Beseler wrote several memoranda in 1915 and 1916 in which he advocated the establishment of an independent Polish state, but at the same time - under Ludendorff's influence - not insignificant assignments of territory to Prussia (the industrial area east of Upper Silesia and the area around Łomża not far from the East Prussian Border) as well as Lithuania and Austria-Hungary. The important diplomat Gerhard von Mutius , cousin of the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg and representative of the Foreign Office at Beseler, turned against these proposals by emphasizing: “[...] division and even separation, insofar as it is compatible with military interests to avoid. […] Only in this way can the anti-Russian tendency of the new Poland be determined for the foreseeable future ”. At the same time there were strong Habsburg tendencies to take over the country in its entirety and to rule in union with Galicia as a Polish kingdom in personal union with Cisleithania ; However, these considerations aroused the fierce opposition of the German Austrians and the Hungarians because of the feared superiority of the Slavs in a dual monarchy that then became trialistic .

After the failure of the attack on Verdun and the beginning of the Somme battle, Germany was under heavy pressure from the Entente on the Western Front from mid-1916 , and the troops of the Danube Monarchy suffered failures on the Italian front . In addition to the threatening situation on the Eastern Front, the empire had to accept Romania's entry into the war . Therefore, the Supreme Army Command (OHL) changed its original attitude - Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff would have been prepared to return Congress Poland to Russia at the price of a separate peace - and from now on postulated the creation of an independent Poland, probably in the hope that the newly created Polish army could be used to support the Central Powers. Finally, in October 1916, during the negotiations with Austria-Hungary at the headquarters in Pless , an agreement was reached to accelerate the proclamation of the new state. In the meantime, Beseler succeeded in creating a pro-German Polish party, the Club of Supporters of the Polish State under Władysław Studnicki , who decidedly committed to the establishment of a Polish state based on the German Empire.

At first he even won over the Austrophile (Austro-Hungarian-friendly) forces and supporters of Józef Piłsudski for his ideas. After a visit by a Polish delegation led by the scholar Józef Brudziński to the Kaiser and Reich Chancellor in Berlin at the end of October 1916, the final details were finally determined.

Chronicle of events

1916

State formation on the territory of the Russian Empire
Ten Polish marks from the time of the regency
  • 12./13. August: The Supreme Army Command (OHL) proposes that a Polish border strip be incorporated into Prussia.
  • November 5: In the columned hall of the Royal Palace in Warsaw , von Beseler announces the decision of the emperors of Germany and Austria-Hungary to establish a kingdom of Poland - without a king and without a more precise definition of the borders. For the first time since 1831, Polish flags are displayed in the castle . At the same time, the Austrian Governor General Kuk published the same proclamation in Lublin. The extremely anti-German movement Narodowa Demokracja (National Democracy), which has its stronghold in the province of Poznan and whose leader Roman Dmowski is in Paris, continues to reject any cooperation with the Central Powers. The Supreme Army Command decreed the compulsory enlistment of the Polish unemployed in workers' battalions that were to go to Germany to replace German workers who had been called up for military service. Under the impression of the Polish protests, Beseler gives in, but only in Warsaw. There is a ruthless forced collection of the unemployed in the country.
  • November 9th: The authorities make the first attempt to raise an army. A publicity call is posted in the two governorates general. Large protests by the Polish independence organizations, as the appeal was made before the formation of a Polish government.
  • December 1: The Piłsudski Legions (not their 1st, but the 2nd Brigade under General Szeptycki) enter Warsaw. The legions are supposed to provide the officer corps of the new Polish Army, but Beseler wants to lead the high command himself. This month, a provisional government of the reigning kingdom, the Council of State with 25 members, whose chairman is to bear the title of Crown Marshal , is also set up.
  • December 9th : The head of administration Wolfgang von Kries founds a Polish central bank, which introduces a new currency, the Polish mark .

1917

  • January 14: The Council of State is constituted with Waclaw Niemojowski , a large landowner, as Crown Marshal. Józef Piłsudski, who was appointed by the Austrians, is one of the members. In its first proclamation, the Council of State acknowledges the monarchical form of government and calls for an expansion to the east and a volunteer army. A kind of parliament, the National Council , is also created. This month, Dr. Ernst Scholtz , Lord Mayor of Danzig, in the Prussian manor house for the creation of a Polish free port in his city.
  • January 22: President Woodrow Wilson speaks out in the American Senate for a united, independent and autonomous Poland. This message strengthens those Polish forces who refuse to cooperate with the Central Powers.
  • March: The February Revolution breaks out in Russia, the Tsar is deposed. This creates a mood of neutralism in Poland.
  • April 21: Beseler hands over the school system, justice and propaganda to the State Council . This decides by a large majority to issue the German side urgently required advertising call for the Polish Wehrmacht . Piłsudski and Niemojowski abstain from voting. Colonel Władysław Sikorski is appointed head of the reporting inspection . In the in Polish Auxiliary Corps renamed legions should only former Russian subjects, called National Poland remain that are in the Austro-Hungarian imperial be incorporated army. This creates great unrest.
  • May 3: On the Polish national holiday, a student strike breaks out at both Warsaw universities and five smaller private universities. The students demand a real handover of the school administration to the Polish authorities and internal autonomy of the universities. On June 1st, all universities will be closed until called.
  • July 2: Piłsudski and three members of the State Council on the left resign from their mandates due to incorrect handling of army issues.
  • July 3: The Council of State confirms the Army's formula of oath drawn up by Beseler and Kuk: "I swear to God Almighty that I am to my fatherland, the Polish Kingdom and my future King on land and sea and wherever it is, Serve faithfully and honestly, in the current war I will keep a loyal brotherhood in arms with the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary and their allied states [...]. ”The rumor spreads that the Polish legions did not want to take the oath because of the wording about the brotherhood in arms , especially since the oath was to be taken on a person who had not yet been named, namely the Polish king; In addition, only the government was entitled to conclude alliances, and no army would be sworn in to "brotherhood in arms". The legionaries who refuse to take the oath are interned.
  • July 22nd: Piłsudski and his next colleague, who later became General Kazimierz Sosnkowski , were taken into protective custody by the ill-advised Beseler, brought to Germany and interned in the Wesel fortress , later in Magdeburg .
  • August 6: Niemojowski resigns as Crown Marshal. The remains of the legions (600 officers and 10,250 men) are transported to the Eastern Front.
  • September 12th: The first provisional constitution of Poland, called “Patent”, is published: Poland is to become a constitutional monarchy with a democratic House of Representatives and a Senate, without political responsibility of the ministers. The school and judicial system is finally handed over to the Polish authorities, but the German minority is given a separate school system against protests by the Poles. The supreme power of the state is transferred to a regency council until it is taken over by a king .
The Regency Council: Ostrowski, Kakowski, Lubomirski

1918

  • January 6th: The Regency Council comes to Berlin for an official visit to the Kaiser and Reich Chancellor. In addition to solemn speeches and answers, Poland's participation in the peace negotiations with Russia (where the October Revolution took place in the meantime ) in Brest-Litovsk is in the foreground. This question is at the center of Polish politics, but the regents only receive the promise of the new Chancellor Georg von Hertling that the Polish government will be admitted as an adviser and expert. The reception in Berlin is not very honorable, the Polish delegation is not even assigned an apartment in one of the imperial castles, they have to be content with a hotel.
  • January 9th: The delegation travels to Vienna , where princely honors are paid to the regents and they are allowed to live in the Hofburg , but here too the regents do not receive any specific commitments regarding the Brest negotiations. Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks reject the suggestion that a Polish delegation should take part in the negotiations, on the grounds that the Polish state is not independent and its government is illegal, and they demand that Polish communists should also be drawn from Russia.
  • February 9: The peace treaty with Ukraine is signed in Brest-Litovsk. The Polish province of Chełm , separated from Congress Poland in 1913 and converted into a Russian governorate, is to be ceded to Ukraine. In Poland this is seen as the beginning of a fourth division; the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom resigns.
  • February 14: A general political strike breaks out in Warsaw . The Polish club in the Vienna Reichsrat went over to the opposition and thus initiated the fall of the dual monarchy. Part of the Polish Auxiliary Corps of the former legions under the later General Józef Haller von Hallenburg breaks through the front to the Ukraine and unites there with Polish soldiers of the former Tsarist Army (this corps Haller will later play an important role in the Polish-Soviet war ) .
General Haller von Hallenburg with his troops - Blue Army
  • March 5th: August von Mackensen's army defeats Romania , ending the war in the east. The OHL is strengthened in its power, Ludendorff has a free hand to implement his border state policy, which is at the expense of Poland. The Reich Government basically approves the annexation of a “protective strip” on Polish territory. At the same time, for fear of Bolshevism , a turn by Polish politicians towards Germany, the only “bulwark of order”, is becoming apparent. General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki's corps in Belarus , made up of Polish soldiers from the former tsarist army, placed itself under the Regency Council.
  • March 22nd: The German Reichstag passes a resolution demanding that the establishment of the local civil administration in Poland, Courland and Lithuania be initiated immediately.
  • April 13th: In his immediate report to the emperor, Beseler opposes the annexation plans. At the same time, the Prussian mansion demands energetic adherence to the anti-Polish policy in Prussia and an advance of the German eastern border. Jan Kanty Steczkowski takes over the post of Prime Minister in Warsaw .
  • May 10th: For various reasons, the German authorities refuse to allow the Poles to take over the administration and only want to allow Polish civil servant candidates to train with German authorities.
  • July 5th: Ludendorff sends a memorandum to the Chancellor in which he proposes to separate 20,000 km² from Poland as a "border strip". An 8,000 km² part of this area is to be evacuated immediately by the Polish population and settled with German colonists (Russian Germans).
  • August 1st (around): The interned oath-takers from the legions are released, some report to the Polish Wehrmacht, which only has about 5,000 officers and men after the oath crisis. In August the visitor Apostolicus Achille Ratti, who later became Pope Pius XI , comes . , as a kind of nuncio to Warsaw to regulate church affairs. Poland owes its posting to Reich Chancellor Hertling and the Nuncio in Munich , Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII. Two years later, Ratti is said to play a major historical role in the Polish-Soviet war : he remains the only diplomat in Warsaw, which is threatened by the Red Army . In the same month, the Austrian Emperor Karl I declares that under no circumstances will he allow the candidacy of Archduke Karl Stephan as king, that he will definitely oppose all German annexation plans and that he will insist on the unification of the regency kingdom with Austria. Ludendorff then changed his attitude and agreed to the annexation of Wilna to Poland. The handover of Minsk is also in prospect. The Germans are holding onto the "protective strip" along the East Prussian border. The Poles, however, take the acquisition of Vilnius as a matter of course and resolutely reject any cession of congressional land.
  • October 1: Beseler is summoned by Hindenburg to Berlin and learns that the military situation is very threatening. He comes back to Warsaw a broken and sick man. With the German rule in the reigning kingdom, things are going downhill quickly from now on. In the meantime, Reich Chancellor Hertling resigns in Berlin . Prince Max von Baden is appointed to take his place , and in his first speech in the Reichstag he announced that Germany would accept the Wilson program . Prince Max promises immediate dismantling of the military administration in the occupied countries.
  • October 6th: The Regency Council declares the Wilson program to be the basis for the formation of the state in Poland and asks the Chancellor to immediately dismiss Piłsudski. Beseler is now handing the administration over to Polish officials.
  • October 15: The Polish units of the Austro-Hungarian Army declare themselves as the Polish Army.
  • 23 October: Beseler formally places the supreme command of the Polish troops in the hands of the Regency Council.
  • November 6th: In the former Austro-Hungarian occupation area in Lublin, a “provisional people's government of the Polish Republic” is formed under the socialist Ignacy Daszyński . The Colonel of the Legion, Edward Rydz-Śmigły , was given the command of the Polish troops . The Lublin government declares the Regency Council dismissed, causing protests by the moderate forces in Warsaw.
  • November 8: Prince Max sends Harry Count Kessler to Magdeburg , who discusses the details of the release with Piłsudski.
  • November 10th: Piłsudski returns to Warsaw.
  • November 11th: German troops in Warsaw are disarmed by Poles; they refuse to shoot Polish insurgents. The Regency Council and the Lublin government put all state power in the hands of Józef Piłsudski . The era of the reigning kingdom - the fourth and last monarchy in Polish history - has ended.

Other similar states

During the First World War, the German Reich founded several puppet governments on the territory of the former Russian Empire . However, these states were neither fully independent nor sovereign.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius : Occupation (East). In: Gerhard Hirschfeld , Gerd Krumeich , Irina Renz (eds.): Encyclopedia First World War. 2nd, revised edition. Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-506-73913-1 , pp. 379-381.

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