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History of Poland (1918–1939)
Encyclopedia
The History of interwar Poland comprises the period from the re-recreation
of the independent Polish state
in 1918, until the joint Invasion of Poland
by Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union
in 1939 at the onset of World War II
. The two decades of Poland's sovereignty between the world wars are known as the Interbellum.
After a century of Partitions
by Austria-Hungary
, the German
, and the Russian Empire
s, Poland
reaffirmed its independence in the Treaty of Versailles
; however, its final borders were not established until 1922. The Polish political scene remained chaotic and shifting until Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935) seized power in May 1926. Fraught with challenges Poland nevertheless had achieved significant economic growth between 1921 and 1939.
struggled to secure and maintain its existence in difficult circumstances, forced to deal with the economic remnants of a century-long exploitation by the three former partitioners
and the impact of the First World War. Germany soon imposed a trade embargo
on Polish goods, mainly agricultural. For many years, there was wide spread poverty among all citizens regardless of ethnicity. New job opportunities emerged only in the mid 1930s with the development of the Central Industrial District. Most Polish leaders of that period wanted to create a larger Polish state; one optimal plan, dating back to the Paris Peace Conference, included the incorporation of East Prussia and the German city of Königsberg being placed in a customs union with Poland. At the same time, the exact boundaries of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
were not desired, though mentioned as an opening gambit by Roman Dmowski
. Much of this land had been controlled by the Russian Empire since the Partitions of Poland and its inhabitants were struggling to create their own states (such as Ukraine
, Belarus
, and the Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The Polish leadership did not aim to restore the nation to its 17th century boundaries. Opinions varied among Polish politicians as to how much of the territory a new, Polish-led state should contain and what form it should take. Józef Piłsudski advocated a democratic, Polish-led federation
of independent states — while Roman Dmowski
leader of the Endecja
movement represented by the National Democratic Party, set his mind on a more compact Poland composed of ethnic Polish or 'polonizable'
territories.
To the southwest, Poland encountered boundary disputes
with Czechoslovakia
over Austrian Silesia
(see: Zaolzie
). More ominously, an embittered Germany begrudged any territorial loss to its new eastern neighbour. The December 27, 1918 Great Poland Uprising
liberated Greater Poland
. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles
settled the German-Polish borders in the Baltic region
. The port city of Danzig was declared a free city
, due to its close ties to both Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia, thus economically vital to Poland as it had been in the 16th century, but with a German majority. Allied arbitration divided the ethnically mixed and highly coveted industrial and mining district of Silesia
between Germany and Poland, with Poland receiving the smaller in size, but more industrialized eastern section in 1922, after series of three Silesian Uprisings
.
The German-Polish borders were so complicated that only close collaboration between the two countries could let the situation persist (1930 km., compared to the 430 km. of the present-day Oder–Neisse line). The unification of the former Prussia
n provinces lasted for many years. Until 1923, these provinces were ruled by a separate administration.
Military conflict
proved the determinant of Poland's frontiers in the east, a theater rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions
and civil war
. Piłsudski envisioned creating a federation with the rest of Ukraine (led by the Polish-friendly government in Kiev
he was to help to install) and Lithuania
, thus forming a Central and East European federation called "Międzymorze
" (literally "between seas"). Lenin, leader of the new communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge over which communism would pass into the labor class of a disorganized postwar Germany. And the issue was further complicated as some of the disputed regions had assumed various economic and political identities since the partition in the late 18th century while some did not have an ethnically Polish majority in the first place they were still viewed by Poles as their historic regions, since they envisioned Poland as a multiethnic state. In the end, the negotiations broke down, sinking Piłsudski's idea of Międzymorze
federation, instead, wars like the Polish-Lithuanian War
or the Polish-Ukrainian War
decided the borders of the region for the next two decades
The Polish-Soviet war
, began in 1919, was the most important of the regional wars, and one of the most important conflicts of the interwar period
. However, it was not until 1920 that its two participants realized they were facing more than a local border dispute. Piłsudski first carried out a major military thrust
into Ukraine
in 1920 and in May Polish-Ukrainian forces reached Kiev. Just a few weeks later, however, the Polish offensive was met with a Soviet counter-offensive, and Polish forces were forced into a retreat by the Red Army
. Poland was driven out of Ukraine and back into the Polish heartland, with the decisive battle of the war
taking place near the Polish capital of Warsaw
. Although many observers at the time marked Poland for extinction and Bolshevization, Piłsudski halted the Soviet advance and resumed the offensive, pushing Soviet forces east. Eventually both sides, exhausted, signed a compromise peace treaty at Riga in early 1921 that divided the disputed territories of Belarus
and Ukraine between the two combatants. These acquisitions were recognized by the international agreement with the Entente
. Poland reluctantly granted local autonomy to the Ukrainian population of Galicia, many of whom were embittered by their incorporation into a Polish state. In 1922, in the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War and Polish-Lithuanian War
, Poland also officially annexed Central Lithuania
following a plebiscite, which was never recognised by Lithuania.
The Riga arrangement influenced the fate of the entire region for the years to come. Ukrainians and Belarusians found themselves without a province of their own, and some Poles
also found themselves within the borders of the Soviet Union
. The condition of those left under Bolshevik
rule as a result of the Treaty was would be later marked by forced collectivistion, state terror, purges, labor camps and famine. The newly-formed Second Polish Republic
, one third of whose citizens were non-ethnic Poles, engaged in promoting Polish identity, culture and language at the expense of the country's ethnic minorities who felt alienated by the process.
Reborn Poland faced a host of daunting challenges: extensive war damage, a ravaged economy, a population one-third composed of wary national minorities, an economy largely under control of German industrial interests, and a need to reintegrate the three zones that had been forcibly kept apart during the era of partition.
Poland's formal political life began in 1921 with adoption of a constitution
that designed Poland as a republic
modeled after the French Third Republic
, vesting most authority in the legislature
, the Sejm. This was mainly to prevent Piłsudski from establishing himself as a dictator. A multitude of political parties emerged, of which there were four major and dozens of minor ones. All had very different ideologies and voter bases, and could scarcely agree on any major issue. There had been no serious consideration of reestablishing a monarchy, and although the great Polish noble families continued to have their names mentioned in newspapers, it was mostly in the society pages.
After the constitution was adopted, Piłsudski resigned from office, unhappy with the limited role of the executive branch. But he continued to keep a close eye on political developments, and the ineffectiveness of the Sejm led some of his inner circle to suggest that he launch a military coup and regain power. However Piłsudski feared the bloodshed that might result, and so refused. But eventually he was persuaded and began the coup of May 1926, which succeeded with little violence. For the next decade, Piłsudski dominated Polish affairs as strongman
of a generally popular centrist regime, although he never held a formal title except for minister of defense. He retained the 1921 constitution, and the noisy, ineffective Sejm continued to operate, but it nearly always gave him what he wanted. Critics of the regime were occasionally arrested, but most were sued for libel. The marshal portrayed himself as a national saviour who was above partisan politics, and gained more popular support by distancing himself from the Polish Socialist Party. In 1935 a new Polish Constitution
was adopted, but Piłsudski soon died and his protégé successors drifted toward open authoritarianism
. Opposition voices were increasingly harassed or jailed, a situation that was not surprising in view of the regime's growing fears over national security.
In many respects, the Second Republic fell short of the high expectations of 1918. As happened elsewhere in Central Europe
, with the exception of Czechoslovakia
, the attempt to implant democracy
did not succeed. Governments polarized between right- and left-wing factions, neither of which was prepared to honor the actions taken by the other.
Typical of these concerns was the issue of the nationalization
of foreign-owned assets. The government retained control of these because there was insufficient domestic capital to buy them, and because it was easier than determining who should get what. Overall, Poland had a higher degree of state involvement in the economy and less foreign investment than any other nation in eastern Europe. This emphasis on economic centralisation hampered Poland's development. Minorities became increasingly alienated, due in part to the government's inability to honour treaty obligations concerning their autonomy
, as neither Germany nor Soviet Union where Poles lived, had signed such bilateral treaties. As the Great Depression
gained momentum in the 1930s, antisemitism began to rise even though Poland was home to over 3 millon Jews (10% of Poland's population), the largest Jewish population in Europe at the time. The impoverished Jewish families relied on their own local charity, which had reached universally unprecedented proportions by 1929, providing services such as religion, education, health and other services to the amount of 200 million złoty a year, thanks in part to Jewish per capita income among the working Jews more than 40% higher than that of Polish non-Jews.
Polish agriculture suffered from the usual handicaps of Eastern European nations: technological backwardness, low productivity, and lack of capital and access to markets. The former German areas in the west had better rainfall and soil quality and were the most productive, while the former Russian and Austrian areas were below-average. As everywhere, the Polish peasantry believed that land reform would solve all their problems, which in practice it could not due to the above-mentioned factors. Land reforms were predictably oriented along ethnic lines. In the west, Germans who had been made foreigners in 1919 quickly lost their property. In the east by contrast, Ukrainian and Belorussian peasants tilled for Polish landowners and no serious moves toward land redistribution were taken.
Interbellum Poland could justifiably claim some noteworthy accomplishments: economic advances, the revival of Polish education and culture after decades of official curbs, and, above all, reaffirmation of the Polish nationhood that had so long been disputed. Despite its defects, the Second Republic retained a strong hold on later generations of Poles as a genuinely independent and authentic expression of Polish national aspirations.
called for Britain and France to both assist in a preemptive attack, but again got nowhere with the idea. At the same time, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia were allied in the Little Entente. Polish membership there could have provided additional security; however, relations with Prague were unfriendly due to border disputes, so they never reached an agreement.
The failure to establish planned alliances in Eastern Europe meant great reliance on the French, whose enthusiasm for intervention in the region waned markedly after World War I
. The Locarno Pact, signed in 1926 by the major West European powers with the aim of guaranteeing peace in the region, contained no guarantee of Poland's western border. Over the next ten years, substantial friction arose between Poland and France over the Polish refusal to submit towards German demands.
The Polish predicament worsened militarily in the 1930s with the advent of Hitler's openly expansionist Nazi
regime in Germany and the obvious waning of France's desire to resist Germany's expansion, as long as it was eastward and not westward. Piłsudski retained the French connection but had progressively less faith in its usefulness. Following a border incident in March, 1938, Poland presented an ultimatum to Lithuania
, demanding the diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania to be re-established and the previously closed border with Poland to be opened http://www.lituanus.org/1984_2/84_2_03.htm. Faced with a threat of war, the Lithuanian government accepted the Polish demands. In October, 1938, after the Munich Agreement
, which ensured British and French approval, allowed Germany the right to take over areas of Czechoslovakia with a significant German minority, the so-called Sudetenland
. Poland demanded Czechoslovakia to give up the Zaolzie
, where Poles made about 36% of inhabitants, or otherwise Poland threatened to take it by force. Faced with an ultimatum from both Poland and Germany, Czechoslovakia gave up the area (about 1% of its territory), which was taken over by Polish authorities and annexed by Poland on October 2, 1938.
Shortly thereafter, the Nazis proceeded to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia
which, in March 1939, then ceased to exist. This aggression did little to repair the tensions between Poland and Germany. Earlier, Germany had proposed that Poland join the Anti-Comintern Pact
and previous attempts were made by Germany to create an extraterritorial highway connecting Germany proper with Danzig and then East Prussia
. Germany also pressed for the incorporation of the Danzig, separated from Germany in 1920 and functioning as a Free City
in a customs union
with Poland ever since. Germany offered compensation for Poland's concessions by promising territory in Lithuania
and Ukraine
, but the Poles refused all offers.
A final German demand was prepared on the eve of hostilities where a plebiscite would be held to determine the ownership of the "Polish corridor
". Only those living in the corridor prior to 1918 would be allowed to vote. The proposal called for a subsequent population exchange that would move all Germans in current Poland out of the final region declared to be "Poland". The same would occur for all Poles living in what was declared, after the vote, to be "Germany". Danzig was to become part of Germany regardless of the vote, but if Germany lost, it was still guaranteed access to East Prussia through an autobahn system that it would administer, stretching from Germany proper to Danzig to East Prussia. If Poland lost the vote, the corridor would go to Germany and the seaport of Gdynia
would become a Polish exclave with a route connecting Poland with Gdynia. Some 421,029 Germans had constituted 42,5% of the population in 1910.
Despite this last minute demands, Germany had already arranged for its attack on Poland. Poland was rushed into signing, which it refused to do. With Poland already isolated on three sides, Hitler's next move was obvious. Germany invaded on September 1, 1939 after the Gleiwitz incident
.
Polish Independence Day
National Independence Day is a public holiday in Poland celebrated every year on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of Poland's assumption of independent statehood in 1918 after 123 years of partition by Russia, Prussia and Austria....
of the independent Polish state
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
in 1918, until the joint Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1939 at the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The two decades of Poland's sovereignty between the world wars are known as the Interbellum.
After a century of Partitions
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
by Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, the German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, and the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
s, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
reaffirmed its independence in the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
; however, its final borders were not established until 1922. The Polish political scene remained chaotic and shifting until Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935) seized power in May 1926. Fraught with challenges Poland nevertheless had achieved significant economic growth between 1921 and 1939.
Formative years (1918-1921)
From its inception: the Second Polish RepublicSecond Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
struggled to secure and maintain its existence in difficult circumstances, forced to deal with the economic remnants of a century-long exploitation by the three former partitioners
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
and the impact of the First World War. Germany soon imposed a trade embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
on Polish goods, mainly agricultural. For many years, there was wide spread poverty among all citizens regardless of ethnicity. New job opportunities emerged only in the mid 1930s with the development of the Central Industrial District. Most Polish leaders of that period wanted to create a larger Polish state; one optimal plan, dating back to the Paris Peace Conference, included the incorporation of East Prussia and the German city of Königsberg being placed in a customs union with Poland. At the same time, the exact boundaries of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
were not desired, though mentioned as an opening gambit by Roman Dmowski
Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski was a Polish politician, statesman, and chief ideologue and co-founder of the National Democracy political movement, which was one of the strongest political camps of interwar Poland.Though a controversial personality throughout his life, Dmowski was instrumental in...
. Much of this land had been controlled by the Russian Empire since the Partitions of Poland and its inhabitants were struggling to create their own states (such as Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, and the Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The Polish leadership did not aim to restore the nation to its 17th century boundaries. Opinions varied among Polish politicians as to how much of the territory a new, Polish-led state should contain and what form it should take. Józef Piłsudski advocated a democratic, Polish-led federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of independent states — while Roman Dmowski
Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski was a Polish politician, statesman, and chief ideologue and co-founder of the National Democracy political movement, which was one of the strongest political camps of interwar Poland.Though a controversial personality throughout his life, Dmowski was instrumental in...
leader of the Endecja
Endecja
National Democracy was a Polish right-wing nationalist political movement active from the latter 19th century to the end of the Second Polish Republic in 1939. A founder and principal ideologue was Roman Dmowski...
movement represented by the National Democratic Party, set his mind on a more compact Poland composed of ethnic Polish or 'polonizable'
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
territories.
Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia
Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia began in 1918 between the Second Polish Republic and First Czechoslovak Republic, both freshly created states. The conflicts centered on the disputed areas of Cieszyn Silesia, Orava Territory and Spiš...
with Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
over Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia , officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire, from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
(see: Zaolzie
Zaolzie
Zaolzie is the Polish name for an area now in the Czech Republic which was disputed between interwar Poland and Czechoslovakia. The name means "lands beyond the Olza River"; it is also called Śląsk zaolziański, meaning "trans-Olza Silesia". Equivalent terms in other languages include Zaolší in...
). More ominously, an embittered Germany begrudged any territorial loss to its new eastern neighbour. The December 27, 1918 Great Poland Uprising
Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)
The Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–1919, or Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918–1919 or Posnanian War was a military insurrection of Poles in the Greater Poland region against Germany...
liberated Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
settled the German-Polish borders in the Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
. The port city of Danzig was declared a free city
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
, due to its close ties to both Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia, thus economically vital to Poland as it had been in the 16th century, but with a German majority. Allied arbitration divided the ethnically mixed and highly coveted industrial and mining district of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
between Germany and Poland, with Poland receiving the smaller in size, but more industrialized eastern section in 1922, after series of three Silesian Uprisings
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...
.
The German-Polish borders were so complicated that only close collaboration between the two countries could let the situation persist (1930 km., compared to the 430 km. of the present-day Oder–Neisse line). The unification of the former Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n provinces lasted for many years. Until 1923, these provinces were ruled by a separate administration.
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
proved the determinant of Poland's frontiers in the east, a theater rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
and civil war
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. Piłsudski envisioned creating a federation with the rest of Ukraine (led by the Polish-friendly government in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
he was to help to install) and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, thus forming a Central and East European federation called "Międzymorze
Miedzymorze
Międzymorze was a plan, pursued after World War I by Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, for a federation, under Poland's aegis, of Central and Eastern European countries...
" (literally "between seas"). Lenin, leader of the new communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge over which communism would pass into the labor class of a disorganized postwar Germany. And the issue was further complicated as some of the disputed regions had assumed various economic and political identities since the partition in the late 18th century while some did not have an ethnically Polish majority in the first place they were still viewed by Poles as their historic regions, since they envisioned Poland as a multiethnic state. In the end, the negotiations broke down, sinking Piłsudski's idea of Międzymorze
Miedzymorze
Międzymorze was a plan, pursued after World War I by Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, for a federation, under Poland's aegis, of Central and Eastern European countries...
federation, instead, wars like the Polish-Lithuanian War
Polish-Lithuanian War
The Polish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between newly independent Lithuania and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The conflict primarily concerned territorial control of the Vilnius Region, including Vilnius , and the Suwałki Region, including the towns of Suwałki, Augustów, and Sejny...
or the Polish-Ukrainian War
Polish-Ukrainian War
The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...
decided the borders of the region for the next two decades
The Polish-Soviet war
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
, began in 1919, was the most important of the regional wars, and one of the most important conflicts of the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
. However, it was not until 1920 that its two participants realized they were facing more than a local border dispute. Piłsudski first carried out a major military thrust
Kiev Offensive
The 1920 Kiev Offensive , sometimes considered to have started the Soviet-Polish War, was an attempt by the newly re-emerged Poland, led by Józef Piłsudski, to seize central and eastern Ukraine, torn in the warring among various factions, both domestic and foreign, from Soviet control.The stated...
into Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in 1920 and in May Polish-Ukrainian forces reached Kiev. Just a few weeks later, however, the Polish offensive was met with a Soviet counter-offensive, and Polish forces were forced into a retreat by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Poland was driven out of Ukraine and back into the Polish heartland, with the decisive battle of the war
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
taking place near the Polish capital of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Although many observers at the time marked Poland for extinction and Bolshevization, Piłsudski halted the Soviet advance and resumed the offensive, pushing Soviet forces east. Eventually both sides, exhausted, signed a compromise peace treaty at Riga in early 1921 that divided the disputed territories of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and Ukraine between the two combatants. These acquisitions were recognized by the international agreement with the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
. Poland reluctantly granted local autonomy to the Ukrainian population of Galicia, many of whom were embittered by their incorporation into a Polish state. In 1922, in the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War and Polish-Lithuanian War
Polish-Lithuanian War
The Polish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between newly independent Lithuania and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The conflict primarily concerned territorial control of the Vilnius Region, including Vilnius , and the Suwałki Region, including the towns of Suwałki, Augustów, and Sejny...
, Poland also officially annexed Central Lithuania
Central Lithuania
Central Lithuania may refer to:*Republic of Central Lithuania, a short-lived puppet state created in 1920 in the Vilnius Region*Geographical region of Lithuania, the central region in Lithuania around Kaunas, Kėdainiai, and Jonava...
following a plebiscite, which was never recognised by Lithuania.
The Riga arrangement influenced the fate of the entire region for the years to come. Ukrainians and Belarusians found themselves without a province of their own, and some Poles
Polish minority in the Soviet Union
The Polish minority in the Soviet Union refers to people of Polish descent who resided in the Soviet Union before its dissolution, and might remain in post-Soviet, sovereign countries as their significant minorities.-1917–1920:...
also found themselves within the borders of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The condition of those left under Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
rule as a result of the Treaty was would be later marked by forced collectivistion, state terror, purges, labor camps and famine. The newly-formed Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, one third of whose citizens were non-ethnic Poles, engaged in promoting Polish identity, culture and language at the expense of the country's ethnic minorities who felt alienated by the process.
From democracy to authoritarian government
Poland's formal political life began in 1921 with adoption of a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
that designed Poland as a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
modeled after the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, vesting most authority in the legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, the Sejm. This was mainly to prevent Piłsudski from establishing himself as a dictator. A multitude of political parties emerged, of which there were four major and dozens of minor ones. All had very different ideologies and voter bases, and could scarcely agree on any major issue. There had been no serious consideration of reestablishing a monarchy, and although the great Polish noble families continued to have their names mentioned in newspapers, it was mostly in the society pages.
After the constitution was adopted, Piłsudski resigned from office, unhappy with the limited role of the executive branch. But he continued to keep a close eye on political developments, and the ineffectiveness of the Sejm led some of his inner circle to suggest that he launch a military coup and regain power. However Piłsudski feared the bloodshed that might result, and so refused. But eventually he was persuaded and began the coup of May 1926, which succeeded with little violence. For the next decade, Piłsudski dominated Polish affairs as strongman
Strongman (politics)
A strongman is a political leader who rules by force and runs an authoritarian regime. The term is often used interchangeably with "dictator," but differs from a "warlord".A strongman is not necessarily always a formal head of government, however...
of a generally popular centrist regime, although he never held a formal title except for minister of defense. He retained the 1921 constitution, and the noisy, ineffective Sejm continued to operate, but it nearly always gave him what he wanted. Critics of the regime were occasionally arrested, but most were sued for libel. The marshal portrayed himself as a national saviour who was above partisan politics, and gained more popular support by distancing himself from the Polish Socialist Party. In 1935 a new Polish Constitution
Polish Constitution of 1935
The April Constitution of Poland was the general law passed by the act of the Polish Sejm on 23 April 1935. It introduced in Poland a presidential system with certain elements of authoritarianism....
was adopted, but Piłsudski soon died and his protégé successors drifted toward open authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
. Opposition voices were increasingly harassed or jailed, a situation that was not surprising in view of the regime's growing fears over national security.
In many respects, the Second Republic fell short of the high expectations of 1918. As happened elsewhere in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, with the exception of Czechoslovakia
First Republic of Czechoslovakia
-Independence:The Czechoslovak declaration of independence was published by the Czechoslovak National Council, signed by Masaryk, Štefánik and Beneš on October 18, 1918 in Paris, and proclaimed on October 28 in Prague...
, the attempt to implant democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
did not succeed. Governments polarized between right- and left-wing factions, neither of which was prepared to honor the actions taken by the other.
Typical of these concerns was the issue of the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
of foreign-owned assets. The government retained control of these because there was insufficient domestic capital to buy them, and because it was easier than determining who should get what. Overall, Poland had a higher degree of state involvement in the economy and less foreign investment than any other nation in eastern Europe. This emphasis on economic centralisation hampered Poland's development. Minorities became increasingly alienated, due in part to the government's inability to honour treaty obligations concerning their autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
, as neither Germany nor Soviet Union where Poles lived, had signed such bilateral treaties. As the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
gained momentum in the 1930s, antisemitism began to rise even though Poland was home to over 3 millon Jews (10% of Poland's population), the largest Jewish population in Europe at the time. The impoverished Jewish families relied on their own local charity, which had reached universally unprecedented proportions by 1929, providing services such as religion, education, health and other services to the amount of 200 million złoty a year, thanks in part to Jewish per capita income among the working Jews more than 40% higher than that of Polish non-Jews.
Polish agriculture suffered from the usual handicaps of Eastern European nations: technological backwardness, low productivity, and lack of capital and access to markets. The former German areas in the west had better rainfall and soil quality and were the most productive, while the former Russian and Austrian areas were below-average. As everywhere, the Polish peasantry believed that land reform would solve all their problems, which in practice it could not due to the above-mentioned factors. Land reforms were predictably oriented along ethnic lines. In the west, Germans who had been made foreigners in 1919 quickly lost their property. In the east by contrast, Ukrainian and Belorussian peasants tilled for Polish landowners and no serious moves toward land redistribution were taken.
Interbellum Poland could justifiably claim some noteworthy accomplishments: economic advances, the revival of Polish education and culture after decades of official curbs, and, above all, reaffirmation of the Polish nationhood that had so long been disputed. Despite its defects, the Second Republic retained a strong hold on later generations of Poles as a genuinely independent and authentic expression of Polish national aspirations.
International relations
Foreign policy proved much easier than domestic, as the major political parties all agreed that Germany was a potential threat, and that France was the natural ally of Poland. In 1925, Berlin formally recognized its post-1918 boundaries in the west, but not the east. An outraged Poland decided to exclude all German imports from its soil. Germany then did likewise for Polish goods. The ensuing trade war had huge support among the Polish population, but ultimately proved harmful to the economy. Relations with the Soviet Union remained hostile, but Pilsudski was willing to negotiate, and in 1932 the two countries finally established diplomatic relations. Shortly afterwards, Hitler came to power. The marshal knew immediately what was coming, and thus proposed that Poland join forces with France and launch a preemptive strike against Germany. The horrified French refused, and so Pilsudski began to write them off as a useless ally. He had no choice but to sign a nonaggression pact with Berlin the following year. After his death in 1935, defense minister Józef BeckJózef Beck
' was a Polish statesman, diplomat, military officer, and close associate of Józef Piłsudski...
called for Britain and France to both assist in a preemptive attack, but again got nowhere with the idea. At the same time, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia were allied in the Little Entente. Polish membership there could have provided additional security; however, relations with Prague were unfriendly due to border disputes, so they never reached an agreement.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Locarno Pact, signed in 1926 by the major West European powers with the aim of guaranteeing peace in the region, contained no guarantee of Poland's western border. Over the next ten years, substantial friction arose between Poland and France over the Polish refusal to submit towards German demands.
The Polish predicament worsened militarily in the 1930s with the advent of Hitler's openly expansionist Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
regime in Germany and the obvious waning of France's desire to resist Germany's expansion, as long as it was eastward and not westward. Piłsudski retained the French connection but had progressively less faith in its usefulness. Following a border incident in March, 1938, Poland presented an ultimatum to Lithuania
1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania
The 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania was an ultimatum delivered to Lithuania by Poland on March 17, 1938. The Lithuanian government had steadfastly refused to have any diplomatic relations with Poland after 1920, protesting the annexation by Poland of the Vilnius Region. As pre-World War II...
, demanding the diplomatic relations between Poland and Lithuania to be re-established and the previously closed border with Poland to be opened http://www.lituanus.org/1984_2/84_2_03.htm. Faced with a threat of war, the Lithuanian government accepted the Polish demands. In October, 1938, after the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, which ensured British and French approval, allowed Germany the right to take over areas of Czechoslovakia with a significant German minority, the so-called Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. Poland demanded Czechoslovakia to give up the Zaolzie
Zaolzie
Zaolzie is the Polish name for an area now in the Czech Republic which was disputed between interwar Poland and Czechoslovakia. The name means "lands beyond the Olza River"; it is also called Śląsk zaolziański, meaning "trans-Olza Silesia". Equivalent terms in other languages include Zaolší in...
, where Poles made about 36% of inhabitants, or otherwise Poland threatened to take it by force. Faced with an ultimatum from both Poland and Germany, Czechoslovakia gave up the area (about 1% of its territory), which was taken over by Polish authorities and annexed by Poland on October 2, 1938.
Shortly thereafter, the Nazis proceeded to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
which, in March 1939, then ceased to exist. This aggression did little to repair the tensions between Poland and Germany. Earlier, Germany had proposed that Poland join the Anti-Comintern Pact
Anti-Comintern Pact
The Anti-Comintern Pact was an Anti-Communist pact concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan on November 25, 1936 and was directed against the Communist International ....
and previous attempts were made by Germany to create an extraterritorial highway connecting Germany proper with Danzig and then East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
. Germany also pressed for the incorporation of the Danzig, separated from Germany in 1920 and functioning as a Free City
Free city
Free city may refer to:* City-state, region controlled exclusively by a sovereign city* Free city a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras* Free City , album by the St...
in a customs union
Customs union
A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
with Poland ever since. Germany offered compensation for Poland's concessions by promising territory in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, but the Poles refused all offers.
A final German demand was prepared on the eve of hostilities where a plebiscite would be held to determine the ownership of the "Polish corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
". Only those living in the corridor prior to 1918 would be allowed to vote. The proposal called for a subsequent population exchange that would move all Germans in current Poland out of the final region declared to be "Poland". The same would occur for all Poles living in what was declared, after the vote, to be "Germany". Danzig was to become part of Germany regardless of the vote, but if Germany lost, it was still guaranteed access to East Prussia through an autobahn system that it would administer, stretching from Germany proper to Danzig to East Prussia. If Poland lost the vote, the corridor would go to Germany and the seaport of Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
would become a Polish exclave with a route connecting Poland with Gdynia. Some 421,029 Germans had constituted 42,5% of the population in 1910.
Despite this last minute demands, Germany had already arranged for its attack on Poland. Poland was rushed into signing, which it refused to do. With Poland already isolated on three sides, Hitler's next move was obvious. Germany invaded on September 1, 1939 after the Gleiwitz incident
Gleiwitz incident
The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany on the eve of World War II in Europe....
.
See also
- PrometheismPrometheismPrometheism or Prometheanism was a political project initiated by Poland's Józef Piłsudski. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and its successor states, including the Soviet Union, by supporting nationalist independence movements among the major non-Russian peoples that lived within the...
- Independent Operational Group SilesiaIndependent Operational Group SilesiaIndependent Operational Group Silesia was an Operational Group of the Polish Army, created in September 1938 to annex Zaolzie from Czechoslovakia.-History:...
- 1934 flood in Poland1934 flood in Poland1934 flood in Poland was the biggest flood in the Second Polish Republic. It began with heavy rains in the Dunajec river basin, which took place between 13 and 17 July 1934. In the following days, the flood spread to the basins of the Raba, Wisłoka, and Skawa, all of which are tributaries to the...