Stanisław Wojciechowski was a Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic.
Józef Klemens Piłsudski was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland. In the aftermath of World War I, he became an increasingly dominant figure in Polish politics and exerted significant influence on shaping the country's foreign policy. Piłsudski is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic, which was re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final partition of Poland in 1795, and was considered de facto leader (1926–1935) of the Second Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs.
The Kingdom of Poland, also known informally as the Regency Kingdom of Poland, was a short-lived polity that was proclaimed during World War I by the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on 5 November 1916 on the territories of formerly Russian-ruled Congress Poland held by the Central Powers as the Government General of Warsaw and which became active on 14 January 1917. It was subsequently transformed between 7 October 1918 and 22 November 1918 into the independent Second Polish Republic, the customary ceremonial founding date of the latter being later set at 11 November 1918.
Wincenty Witos was a Polish statesman, prominent member and leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), who served three times as the Prime Minister of Poland in the 1920s.
Kazimierz Stanisław Świtalski was a Polish politician, diplomat, soldier, military officer in the Polish Legions and 18th Prime Minister of Poland between April and December 1929.
The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland was a semi-independent and temporarily appointed highest authority in partitioned Poland during World War I. It was formed by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary within historically Polish lands in September 1917 after dissolution of the previous authority – Provisional Council of State, due to the oath crisis.
Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki was a Russian military officer and Polish general, serving with the Imperial Russian and then Polish armies. He was also the military commander of the Greater Poland Uprising.
The Act of 5th November of 1916 was a declaration of Emperors Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria. This act promised the creation of the Kingdom of Poland out of territory of Congress Poland, envisioned by its authors as a puppet state controlled by the Central Powers. The origin of that document was the dire need to draft new recruits from German-occupied Poland for the war with Russia. Even though the act itself expressed very little in concrete terms, its declaration is regarded as one of main factors in the Polish efforts to regain independence. Despite official statements, the German Empire really planned to annex up to 30,000 km² of prewar Congress Poland, with expulsion of between 2 and 3 million Poles and Jews out of these territories to make room for German settlers.
The Polish Legions was a name of the Polish military force established in August 1914 in Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Triple Entente on one side and the Central Powers on the other side, comprising the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. The Legions became "a founding myth for the creation of modern Poland" in spite of their considerably short existence; they were replaced by the Polish Auxiliary Corps formation on 20 September 1916, merged with Polish II Corps in Russia on 19 February 1918 for the Battle of Rarańcza against Austria-Hungary, and disbanded following the military defeat at the Battle of Kaniów in May 1918, against Imperial Germany. General Haller escaped to France to form the Polish army in the West against the anti-Polish German-Bolshevik treaty.
The May Coup was a coup d'état carried out in Poland by Marshal Józef Piłsudski from 12 to 14 May 1926. The attack of Piłsudski's supporters on government forces resulted in an overthrow of the democratically-elected government of President Stanisław Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Wincenty Witos and caused hundreds of fatalities. A new government was installed, headed by Kazimierz Bartel. Ignacy Mościcki became president. Piłsudski remained the dominant politician in Poland until his death in 1935.
Walery Jan Sławek was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish leader, Józef Piłsudski.
Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski was a Polish aristocrat, landowner, lawyer, a conservative politician and social activist. The Prince was chairman of the "Central Civil Committee" in 1915. From 1916 to 1917 mayor of Warsaw. He was an activist of the "Real Politics Party" and from 1917 to 1918 member of the Regency Council. From 1928 until 1935 member of the Senate and chairman of the "Council of Landowner Organisations" from 1931 to 1935.
The Oath crisis was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions.
Zalavas is a small village in Švenčionys district municipality, Lithuania. It is located on the Mera River near the Lithuanian state border with Belarus. According to the Lithuanian census of 2011, it had 140 residents. It is the birthplace of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, who later became Chief of State of Poland.
The Union of Active Struggle, also translated as Union for Active Struggle and Union for Active Resistance, was a Polish secret military organization founded in June 1908 in Lwów by Józef Piłsudski, Marian Kukiel, Kazimierz Sosnkowski and Władysław Sikorski, all members of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party in the Kingdom of Poland.
Włodzimierz Zagórski of the Clan of Ostoja was a Polish brigadier general, military intelligence soldier of the Austro-Hungarian Army, staff officer and aviator.
The Polish Coup of early January 1919 was an unsuccessful coup d'etat in Poland. On 4–5 January 1919, right-wing National Democrats attempted to overthrow the government of Jędrzej Moraczewski and Józef Piłsudski. The coup's leaders included Marian Januszajtis-Żegota and Prince Eustachy Sapieha.
National Independence Holiday is a national day in Poland celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland's sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918 from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. Following the partitions in the late 18th century, Poland ceased to exist for 123 years until the end of World War I, when the destruction of the neighbouring powers allowed the country to reemerge. It is a non-working day and a flag flying day in Poland.
While Poland did not exist as an independent state during World War I, its geographical position between the fighting powers meant that much fighting and terrific human and material losses occurred on the Polish lands between 1914 and 1918.
The Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland, also known as the Government of Ignacy Daszyński, was established on 7 November 1918 in Lublin in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. It was a precursor government of a sovereign Poland following World War I. It proclaimed the creation of a constitutional republic with the right to parliamentary elections, nationalization of key industries, as well as social, labour, and land reforms. Prominent personalities of the provisional government included Stanisław Thugutt as Minister of Internal Affairs, Tomasz Arciszewski as Minister of Labour, as well as Col. Edward Rydz-Śmigły as the Minister of War and Supreme Commander of the Polish Armed Forces. Ignacy Daszyński became Prime Minister. The Provisional Government dissolved itself after several days when Józef Piłsudski became Head of State on 14 November 1918 in Warsaw.
