1916–1917 · Kingdom of Poland (Regency)
The Regency Kingdom
Russia loses its partition in 1915. Germany and Austria-Hungary, looking for Polish recruits, proclaim a Kingdom of Poland by the Act of 5 November 1916 — with no borders, no king, and under occupation. Yet its Regency Council and its Polish offices, schools and courts become the nucleus of the state Piłsudski takes over in November 1918.
Population
- about 11,000,000 (estimate, ±1,000,000) — The lands of the old Congress Kingdom: about 13 million before the war, less those evacuated east in 1915, those taken to work in Germany and the war dead. No census covered the whole area at the time.
Rulers and leaders
- 1848–1916 Franz Joseph I — Emperor of Austria, from 1867 of Austria-Hungary — partitioning power occupying power
- 1888–1918 William II — German Emperor and King of Prussia — partitioning power occupying power
- 1894–1917 Nicholas II — last Emperor of Russia — partitioning power occupying power
- 1915–1918 Hans von Beseler — Governor-General of Warsaw — occupying power occupying power
- 1915–1916 Erich von Diller — Military Governor-General at Kielce, from October 1915 at Lublin — Austrian occupying power occupying power
- 1916–1917 Karl Kuk — Military Governor-General at Lublin — Austrian occupying power occupying power
- 1916–1918 Charles I — last Emperor of Austria — partitioning power occupying power
- 1917–1918 Regency Council — Kakowski, Lubomirski, Ostrowski — the Regency Kingdom head of state
Governed under German and Austrian occupation; handed its power to Piłsudski on 14 November 1918.
- 1917–1918 Jan Kucharzewski — prime minister of the Regency Kingdom head of government
- 1917–1918 Stanisław Szeptycki — Military Governor-General at Lublin — Austrian occupying power occupying power
A Pole in Austrian service; stepped down in protest at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which gave the Chełm Land to Ukraine. Later a general of the Polish Army.
Events
- 1916The Act of 5 November 5 November turning point
Germany and Austria-Hungary proclaim a Kingdom of Poland on the land they have taken from the Russian partition — with no borders, no king, and an eye on Polish recruits. Even so, for the first time in a century great powers had made the Polish question an international one.
Wars, uprisings and longer processes
- 1886–1918Germanisation in the Prussian partition repression
The Settlement Commission buys land for German settlers, school teaches only in German, and a law of 1908 allows Polish owners to be expropriated. The children of Września (1901) and the school strike of 1906–07 defend religion taught in Polish, and the banks and cooperatives of organic work compete with the Commission for land, and hold their own.
- 1914–1918The First World War war
The three partitioning powers fight each other across the Polish lands, and Poles in their armies fight each other. In 1915 Russia pulls out of the Kingdom; Piłsudski’s Legions and the Act of 5 November reopen the Polish question, and the defeat of all three partitioning powers lets it be settled.
People of the age
- 1873–1960 Józef Haller — general; brought the Blue Army home from France, took over Pomerania and performed the Espousal to the Sea at Puck