The mark ( pl, marka polska, abbreviated ''Mp'', Polish-language plural declensions: ''marki, marek'') was the currency of the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
and of the
Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924. It was subdivided into 100 ''fenigs'' (phonetic Polish spelling of German "
pfennig
The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages ...
"), like its
German original after which it was modelled.
History
During the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...
, in 1915, after defeating the Russians, the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
occupied the whole territory of the former
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. ...
and appointed two Governors General: a German (
Hans Hartwig von Beseler) in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
and an
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
() in
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...
. The civil administration of the country was laid into the hands of imported German (mostly
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n) and Austrian (mostly Polish) officials. Four currencies circulated: the
Russian ruble
''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay''
, name_ab ...
, the
papiermark
The Papiermark (; 'paper mark', officially just ''Mark'', sign: ℳ) was the German currency from 4 August 1914 when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I. In particular, the Papiermark was ...
, the
ostrubel and the
Austro-Hungarian crown
The crown (german: Krone, hu, korona, it, Corona, pl, korona, sl, krona, sh, kruna, cz, koruna, sk, koruna, ro, coroană) was the official currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 (when it replaced the florin as part of the adoption of the ...
. On December 9 the following year, after consultations with the Austrians, the chief of the German Administration, proclaimed the foundation of a new bank, called the ''Polish Loan Bank'' (''Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa'') and the creation of a new currency unit, the Polish mark, equivalent to the German mark. The stability of the new currency was guaranteed by the German
Reichsbank
The ''Reichsbank'' (; 'Bank of the Reich, Bank of the Realm') was the central bank of the German Reich from 1876 until 1945.
History until 1933
The Reichsbank was founded on 1 January 1876, shortly after the establishment of the German Emp ...
up to the amount of 1 billion marks.
In 1917 new coins (1f, 5f, 10f and 20f) and banknotes (Mp , Mp 1, Mp 2, Mp 5, Mp 10, Mp 20, Mp 50, Mp 100, Mp 500 and Mp 1,000) were introduced and started to replace all the previously used currencies. All the banknotes were white with the
White Eagle of Poland on a red field. At the time of the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
of November 11, 1918, 880 million marks were already in circulation. The new Polish government decided to retain the ''mark'' as the national currency and to allow the Loan Bank to continue operating. The following year the German-made banknotes were replaced in circulation with new locally printed ones. These featured Polish historical motifs. The notes of Mp 1, Mp 10 and Mp 500 depicted Queen
Jadwiga
Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "figh ...
, the notes of Mp 5, Mp 10, Mp 100 and Mp 1,000 depicted
Tadeusz Kościuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish military engineer, statesman, and military leader who ...
. A silver coin of Mp 50 was planned but never issued due to the
galloping inflation.
Poland, already devastated after 123 years of
partitions and by 5 years of war, now entered a series of armed struggles, which crippled the economy even more. In 1920, during the
Polish-Bolshevik War, new banknotes of Mp with Kosciuszko and Mp 5,000 with both the Queen and Kosciuszko came into use. There were now 5 billion marks in circulation. However, the following years the crisis deepened and by 1922 a period of truly ruinous inflation began. By then there were 207 billion marks in circulation. It was necessary to print notes of Mp 10,000 and Mp 50,000. At the beginning of the following year the inflation gained even more momentum and speed, and notes of Mp 100,000, Mp 250,000, Mp 500,000 and Mp 1,000,000 were introduced, only to be followed by notes of Mp 5,000,000 and Mp 10,000,000 later that year.
Early in 1924, financial reforms devised by politician and economist
Władysław Grabski were instituted. The
Bank Polski was proclaimed as the new central bank of Poland. The mark was exchanged for a new, gold-based currency, the
złoty, at the rate of Mp 1,800,000 to 1 zł. One US dollar was then worth 5.18 zł—or Mp 9,324,000.
Exchange rates
Exchange rate of 1 US dollar to the Polish mark:
* 1919 - Mp 90
* 1921 - Mp 6,000
* May 1923 - Mp 52,000
* July 1923 - Mp 140,000
* Beginning of November 1923 - Mp 2,000,000
* End of November 1923 - Mp 5,000,000
* January 1924 - Mp 9,300,000
References
*Tadeusz Kałkowski, ''Tysiąc lat monety polskiej'', Cracow 1981
*
Paweł Zaremba, ''Historia dwudziestolecia 1918-1939'' (1 - 2), Paris 1981
External links
{{Authority control
Currencies of Poland
Economic history of Poland
Second Polish Republic
Modern obsolete currencies
1917 establishments in Poland
1924 disestablishments in Poland