Provisional Council Of State

Tymczasowa Rada Stanu posiedzenie inauguracyjne 1917

The Provisional Council of State ( pl, tymczasowa Rada Stanu; German: ''Provisorische Staatsrat im Koenigreich Polen'') was the first government 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 ...

, a new state created by the military authorities of Germany and Austria on some Polish lands during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Provisional Council was officially created on the basis of

Act of November 5th 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 pup ...

(of 1916), and started meetings on 14 January 1917. The Council had 25 members; 10 from Austrian lands and 15 from German lands. Its president was Wacław Niemojowski, and its vice president was Józef Mikułowski-Pomorski.

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

held authority over military matters. The Council demanded more autonomy from the occupying governments, including in education. After attempts by Austria and Germany to ensure that the Council would be but a puppet body, Piłsudski resigned from it, which led to the

oath crisis The Oath crisis ( pl, Kryzys przysięgowy) was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsuds ...

in the Polish legions in July. In its aftermath, the entire Council disbanded on 25 August 1917. It was followed by the Temporary Committee of the Provisional Council of State (''Komisja Przejściowa Tymczasowej Rady Stanu'') and then by the

Regency Council A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

. Members of the Council were Józef Brudziński, Stanisław Bukowiecki, Stanisław Dzierzbicki, Ludwik Górski, Józef Higersberger, Marian Januszajtis-Żegota, Kazimierz Natanson,

, Franciszek Pius Radziwiłł, Wojciech Rostworowski, Eustachy Sapieha, Stanisław Chaniewski, Stanisław Staniszewski, Władysław Studnicki, and Artur Śliwiński. 1916 establishments in Poland 1917 disestablishments in Poland Poland in World War I Political history of Poland Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918) {{gov-stub