HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
and
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World War. The Second Republic ceased to exist in 1939, when Poland was invaded by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and the Slovak Republic, marking the beginning of the European theatre of the Second World War. In 1938, the Second Republic was the sixth largest country in Europe. According to the 1921 census, the number of inhabitants was 27.2 million. By 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, this had grown to an estimated 35.1 million. Almost a third of the population came from
minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
s: 13.9%
Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sou ...
; 10%
Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
; 3.1% Belarusians; 2.3%
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
and 3.4%
Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
and Lithuanians. At the same time, a significant number of ethnic Poles lived outside the country's borders. When, after several regional conflicts, the borders of the state were finalised in 1922, Poland's neighbours were
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, the Free City of Danzig,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. It had access to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
via a short strip of coastline either side of the city of Gdynia, known as the Polish Corridor. Between March and August 1939, Poland also shared a border with the then- Hungarian governorate of Subcarpathia. The political conditions of the Second Republic were heavily influenced by the
aftermath of the First World War The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...
and conflicts with neighbouring states as well as the emergence of Nazism in Germany. The Second Republic maintained moderate economic development. The cultural hubs of interwar Poland
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 officiall ...
,
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
,
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
,
Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
and Lwówbecame major European cities and the sites of internationally acclaimed universities and other institutions of higher education.


Name

The official name of the state was the ''Republic of Poland''. In the
Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In ad ...
, it was referred to as ''Rzeczpospolita Polska'' (
abbr. An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
''RP''), with the term '' Rzeczpospolita'' being a traditional name for the ''republic'' referred to in various Polish states, including the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
, and later, the current
Third Polish Republic Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...
. In other regionally-used official languages, the state was referred to as: ''Republik Polen'' in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, ''Польська Республіка'' ( transcription: ''Polʹsʹka Respublika'') in
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, ''Польская Рэспубліка'' ( transcription: ''Poĺskaja Respublika'') in Belarusian, and ''Lenkijos Respublika'', in Lithuanian. Between 14 November 1918 and 13 March 1919, the state was referred to in Polish as ''Republika Polska'', instead of ''Rzeczpospolita Polska''. Both terms mean the ''Republic''; however, ''republika'' is a general term, while ''Rzeczpospolita'' traditionally refers exclusively to Polish states. Additionally, between 8 November 1918 and 16 August 1919, the ''Journal of Laws of the Polish State'' referred to the country as the ''Polish State'' ( Polish: ''Państwo Polskie''). After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the establishment of the later states of the
Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...
and the
Third Polish Republic Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...
, the state was referred to as the ''Second Polish Republic''. In the Polish language, the country is traditionally referred to as ''II Rzeczpospolita'', which means the ''Second Republic''.


Background

After more than a century of partitions between the
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
, the Prussian, and the Russian imperial powers, Poland re-emerged as a sovereign state at the end of the First World War in Europe in 1917–1918.Norman Davies. ''Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present''.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
. 2001. pp. 100-101.
The victorious Allies of the First World War confirmed the rebirth of Poland in the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
of June 1919. It was one of the great stories of the
1919 Paris Peace Conference Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the co ...
. Poland solidified its independence in a series of border wars fought by the newly formed Polish Army from 1918 to 1921. The extent of the eastern half of the interwar territory of Poland was settled diplomatically in 1922 and internationally recognised by the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...
.


End of the First World War

Over the course of 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, ...
(1914-1918), the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
gradually dominated the Eastern Front as the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
fell back. German and Austro-Hungarian armies seized the Russian-ruled part of what became Poland. In a failed attempt to resolve the Polish question as quickly as possible, Berlin set up the puppet Kingdom of Poland on 14 January 1917, with a governing Provisional Council of State and (from 15 October 1917) a Regency Council (''Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego''). The Council administered the country under German auspices (see also Mitteleuropa), pending the election of a king. More than a month before Germany surrendered on 11 November 1918 and the war ended, the Regency Council had dissolved the Provisional Council of State and announced its intention to restore Polish independence (7 October 1918). With the notable exception of the
Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
-oriented Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''SDKPiL''), most Polish political parties supported this move. On 23 October the Regency Council appointed a new government under
Józef Świeżyński Józef Świeżyński (; 19 April 1868 – 12 February 1948) was the prime minister 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 p ...
and began conscription into the Polish Army.


Formation of the Republic

In 1918–1919, over 100 workers' councils sprang up on Polish territories; on 5 November 1918, in Lublin, the first Soviet of Delegates was established. On 6 November socialists proclaimed the Republic of Tarnobrzeg at Tarnobrzeg in Austrian
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
. The same day the Socialist,
Ignacy Daszyński Ignacy Ewaryst Daszyński (; 26 October 1866 – 31 October 1936) was a Polish socialist politician, journalist, and very briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic's first government, formed in Lublin in 1918. In October 1892 he co ...
, set up a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland (''Tymczasowy Rząd Ludowy Republiki Polskiej'') in Lublin. On Sunday, 10 November at 7 a.m., Józef Piłsudski, newly freed from 16 months in a German prison in
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
, returned by train to Warsaw. Piłsudski, together with Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski, was greeted at Warsaw's railway station by Regent
Zdzisław Lubomirski Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski (; 1865–1943) was a Polish aristocrat, landowner, lawyer, a conservative politician and social activist. The Prince was chairman of the "Central Civil Committee" (Centralny Komitet Obywatelski) in 1915. From 1916 to ...
and by Colonel
Adam Koc Adam Ignacy Koc (31 August 1891 – 3 February 1969) was a Polish politician, MP, soldier, journalist and Freemason. Koc, who had several ''noms de guerre'' (Witold, Szlachetny, Adam Krajewski, Adam Warmiński and Witold Warmiński), fought ...
. Next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the Regency Council appointed Piłsudski as Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On 14 November, the Council dissolved itself and transferred all its authority to Piłsudski as Chief of State ('' Naczelnik Państwa''). After consultation with Piłsudski, Daszyński's government dissolved itself and a new government formed under Jędrzej Moraczewski. In 1918, the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
became the first country in Europe to recognise Poland's renewed sovereignty. Centres of government that formed at that time in
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
(formerly Austrian-ruled southern Poland) included the National Council of the Principality of Cieszyn (established in November 1918), the Republic of Zakopane and the
Polish Liquidation Committee The Polish Liquidation Committee of Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia ( pl, Polska Komisja Likwidacyjna Galicji i Śląska Cieszyńskiego) was a temporary Polish government body that operated in Galicia at the end of World War I. Created on 28 October ...
(28 October). Soon afterward, the Polish–Ukrainian War broke out in Lwów (1 November 1918) between forces of the Military Committee of Ukrainians and the Polish irregular units made up of students known as the Lwów Eaglets, who were later supported by the Polish Army (see Battle of Lwów (1918), Battle of Przemyśl (1918)). Meanwhile, in western Poland, another war of national liberation began under the banner of the
Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919) Greater Poland Uprising (also Wielkopolska Uprising or Great Poland Uprising) may refer to a number of armed rebellions in the region of Greater Poland: * Greater Poland Uprising (1794) * Greater Poland Uprising (1806) Greater Poland uprising ...
. In January 1919, Czechoslovak forces attacked Polish units in the area of Zaolzie (see Polish–Czechoslovak War). Soon afterwards, the
Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War (in Polish historiography, Polish–Lithuanian Conflict) was an undeclared war between newly-independent Lithuania and Poland following World War I, which happened mainly, but not only, in the Vilnius and Suwałki ...
(ca 1919–1920) began, and, in August 1919, Polish-speaking residents of Upper Silesia initiated a series of three Silesian Uprisings. The most critical military conflict of that period, however, the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
(1919-1921), ended in a decisive Polish victory. In 1919, the Warsaw government suppressed the Republic of Tarnobrzeg and the workers' councils.


Politics and government

The Second Polish Republic was a
parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...
from 1919 (see Small Constitution of 1919) to 1926, with the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
having limited powers. The
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
elected him, and he could appoint the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
as well as the government with the ''
Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
s (lower house's) approval, but he could only dissolve the ''Sejm'' with the Senate's consent. Moreover, his power to pass decrees was limited by the requirement that the Prime Minister and the appropriate other Minister had to verify his decrees with their signatures. Poland was one of the first countries in the world to recognise
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
. Women in Poland were granted the right to vote on 28 November 1918 by a decree of
General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Józef Piłsudski. The major political parties at this time were the Polish Socialist Party, National Democrats, various Peasant Parties,
Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
, and political groups of ethnic minorities (German:
German Social Democratic Party of Poland German Social Democratic Party (german: Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Partei, DSDP) was a political party in Poland, founded on March 26, 1922.Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra. Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918–1939. ...
, Jewish: General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland, United Jewish Socialist Workers Party, and Ukrainian: Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance). Frequently changing governments (see 1919 Polish legislative election,
1922 Polish legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 5 November 1922, with Senate elections held a week later on 12 November.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1491 The elections were governed by the March ...
) and other negative publicity the politicians received (such as accusations of corruption or the 1919 Polish coup attempt), made them increasingly unpopular. Major politicians at this time, in addition to General Piłsudski, included peasant activist Wincenty Witos (Prime Minister three times) and right-wing leader
Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski (Polish: , 9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement. He saw th ...
. Ethnic minorities were represented in the ''Sejm''; e.g. in 1928 – 1930 there was the Ukrainian-Belarusian Club, with 26 Ukrainian and 4 Belarusian members. After the Polish – Soviet war, Marshal Piłsudski led an intentionally modest life, writing historical books for a living. After he took power through a military coup in May 1926, he emphasised that he wanted to heal Polish society and politics of excessive partisan politics. His regime, accordingly, was called '' Sanacja'' in Polish. The 1928 parliamentary elections were still considered free and fair, although the pro-Piłsudski
Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem, ; abbreviated ''BBWR'') was a "non-political" organization in the interwar Second Polish Republic, in 1928–35. It was closely affiliated with ...
won them. The following three parliamentary elections (in 1930,
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
and 1938) were manipulated, with opposition activists sent to
Bereza Kartuska prison Bereza Kartuska Prison (, "Place of Isolation at Bereza Kartuska") was operated by Poland's Sanation government from 1934 to 1939 in Bereza Kartuska, Polesie Voivodeship (today, Biaroza, Belarus). Because the inmates were detained without tri ...
(see also
Brest trials The Brest trials ( pl, Proces brzeski) were among the most famous trials conducted under the Second Polish Republic. Lasting from 26 October 1931 to 13 January 1932, they were held at the Warsaw Regional Court where leaders of the ''Centrolew'', a ...
). As a result, the pro-government party Camp of National Unity won huge majorities in them. Piłsudski died just after an authoritarian constitution was approved in the spring of 1935. During the last four years of the Second Polish Republic, the major politicians included President Ignacy Mościcki, Foreign Minister Józef Beck and the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły. The country was divided into 104 electoral districts, and those politicians who were forced to leave Poland founded
Front Morges The Front Morges was a political alliance of centrist political parties (Polish Christian Democratic Party, National Workers' Party, Związek Hallerczyków) of interbellum Poland. It was founded in 1936 in the Swiss village of Morges by General ...
in 1936. The government that ruled the Second Polish Republic in its final years is frequently referred to as
Piłsudski's colonels Piłsudski's colonels, and in the Polish Army (particularly during the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920, prior to Piłsudski's 1923 resignation as Chief of the Polish General Staff). They had held key, if not necessarily the highest, military ...
.


Military

Interwar Poland had a large army of 950,000 soldiers on active duty: in 37 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, and two armored brigades, plus artillery units. Another 700,000 men served in the reserves. At the outbreak of the war, the Polish Army was able to put in the field almost one million soldiers, 4,300 guns, around 1,000 armored vehicles including in between 200 and 300 tanks (the majority of the armored vehicles were outclassed tankettes) and 745 aircraft (however, only around 450 of them were bombers and fighters available to fight as of September 1st, 1939). The training of the Polish Army was thorough. The non-commissioned officers were a competent body of men with expert knowledge and high ideals. The officers, both senior and junior, constantly refreshed their training in the field and in the lecture hall, where modern technical achievement and the lessons of contemporary wars were demonstrated and discussed. The equipment of the Polish Army was less developed technically than that of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and its rearmament was slowed down by confidence in Western European military support and by budget difficulties. The Polish command system at the level of the entire Polish military and the armies was obsolete. The generals in command of the armies had to ask permission from the high command. The Polish military attempted to organize fronts made of armies' groups only when it was already too late during the Polish Defensive War in 1939.


Economy

After regaining its independence, Poland was faced with major economic difficulties. In addition to the devastation brought by the First World War, the exploitation of the Polish economy by the German and Russian occupying powers, and the sabotage performed by retreating armies, the new republic was faced with the task of economically unifying disparate economic regions, which had previously been part of different countries and different empires. Within the borders of the Republic were the remnants of three different economic systems, with five different currencies (the
German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
, the Imperial Russian rouble, the Austrian crown, the Polish mark and the Ostrubel) and with little or no direct infrastructural links. The situation was so bad that neighbouring industrial centres, as well as major cities, lacked direct
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
links because they had been parts of different jurisdictions and different empires. For example, there was no direct railway connection between Warsaw and
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
until 1934. This situation was described by Melchior Wańkowicz in his book ''
Sztafeta ''Sztafeta'' (English: ''Relay Race'') is a 1939 compendium of literary reportage written by Melchior Wańkowicz. It was published in the year of the German-Soviet invasion of Poland. Popular demand caused it to be reprinted four times by the ''Bib ...
''. In addition to this was the massive destruction left after both the First World War and the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
. There was also a great economic disparity between the eastern (commonly called ''Poland B'') and western (called ''Poland A'') parts of the country, with the western half, especially areas that had belonged to
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 e ...
and the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, being much more developed and prosperous. Frequent border closures and a customs war with
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
also had negative economic impacts on Poland. In 1924, Prime Minister Władysław Grabski, who was also the Economic Minister, introduced the '' złoty'' as a single common currency for Poland (it replaced the Polish mark), which remained a stable currency. The currency helped Poland to control the massive hyperinflation. It was the only country in Europe able to do this without foreign loans or aid. The average annual growth rate ( GDP per capita) was 5.24% in 1920–29 and 0.34% in 1929–38.Stephen Broadberry, Kevin H. O'Rourke. ''The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe: Volume 2, 1870 to the Present''.
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
. 2010. pp. 188, 190.
Hostile relations with neighbours were a major problem for the economy of interbellum Poland. In the year 1937, foreign trade with all neighbours amounted to only 21% of Poland's total. Trade with Germany, Poland's most important neighbour, accounted for 14.3% of Polish exchange. Foreign trade with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
(0.8%) was virtually nonexistent.
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
accounted for 3.9%,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
for 0.3%, and
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
for 0.8%. By mid-1938, after the ''
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...
'' with
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, Greater Germany was responsible for as much as 23% of Polish foreign trade. The basis of Poland's gradual recovery after the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
was its mass economic development plans (see
Four Year Plan The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...
), which oversaw the building of three key infrastructural elements. The first was the establishment of the Gdynia seaport, which allowed Poland to completely bypass Gdańsk (which was under heavy German pressure to boycott Polish coal exports). The second was construction of the 500-kilometre rail connection between Upper Silesia and Gdynia, called the Polish Coal Trunk-Line, which served freight trains with coal. The third was the creation of a central industrial district named COP – '' Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy'' (
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
: Central Industrial Region). Unfortunately, these developments were interrupted and largely destroyed by the German and Soviet invasion and the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Other achievements of interbellum Poland included Stalowa Wola (a brand new city, built in a forest around a steel mill), Mościce (now a district of
Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn� ...
, with a large nitrate factory), and the creation of a central bank called the
Bank of Poland The Bank of Poland (Bank Polski) is the name of two former banks in Poland, each of which acted as a central bank. The first institution was founded by Prince Francis Xavier Drucki-Lubecki in 1828 in the Kingdom of Congress Poland. The second was ...
. There were several trade fairs, with the most popular being
Poznań International Fair The Poznań International Fair (PIF, pl, Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie, MTP) is the biggest industrial fair in Poland. It is held on the Poznań fairground in Poland. Poznań International Fair is located in the centre of the city opposite ...
, Lwów's '' Targi Wschodnie'', and Wilno's ''
Targi Północne Targi Północne (''The Northern Trade Fair'') was a trade fair in interbellum Poland. It was established in 1928 and held in Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania). The Fair was designed to attract businesses from the area of northeastern Poland, as we ...
''. Polish Radio had ten stations (see Radio stations in interwar Poland), with the eleventh one planned to be opened in the autumn of 1939. Furthermore, in 1935, Polish engineers began working on TV services. By early 1939, experts of the Polish Radio built four TV sets. The first movie broadcast by experimental Polish TV was '' Barbara Radziwiłłówna'', and by 1940, a regular TV service was scheduled to begin operation. Interbellum Poland was also a country with numerous social problems. Unemployment was high, and poverty in the countryside was widespread, which resulted in several cases of social unrest, such as the
1923 Kraków riot The 1923 Kraków riot was a violent riot that took place during a strike on 6 November 1923 in Kraków, Poland. The incident is also called the 1923 Kraków uprising, particularly by Marxist sources. Demonstrators took control of the Main Mark ...
, and
1937 peasant strike in Poland 1937 peasant strike in Poland, also known in some Polish sources as the Great Peasant Uprising ( pl, Wielki Strajk Chłopski) was a mass strike and demonstration of peasants organized by the People's Party and aimed at the ruling ''sanacja'' gover ...
. There were conflicts with national minorities, such as the Pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia (1930), relations with Polish neighbours were sometimes complicated (see
Soviet raid on Stołpce Soviet raid on Stołpce refers to the events of the night of August 3/4, 1924, when a group of 150 Soviet agents, commanded by Lieutenant Boryshkevich, raided the town of Stołpce (now Stowbtsy, Belarus), which back then was a railroad border cro ...
,
Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts 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 the 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania). On top of this, there were natural disasters, such as the
1934 flood in Poland 1934 flood in Poland ( pl, Powódź w Polsce, 1934) 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 t ...
.


Major industrial centres

Interbellum Poland was unofficially divided into two parts – better developed "Poland A" in the west, and underdeveloped "Poland B" in the east. Polish industry was concentrated in the west, mostly in Polish Upper Silesia, and the adjacent
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
's province of
Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Zagłębie in Polish means coalfield. It can refer to: * Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, a mining region * Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, a mining region *Zagłębie Sosnowiec, an association football club *Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. ...
, where the bulk of coal mines and steel plants was located. Furthermore, heavy industry plants were located in Częstochowa (''Huta Częstochowa'', founded in 1896), Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (''Huta Ostrowiec'', founded in 1837–1839), Stalowa Wola (brand new industrial city, which was built from scratch in 1937 – 1938), Chrzanów ('' Fablok'', founded in 1919), Jaworzno, Trzebinia (oil refinery, opened in 1895),
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...
(the seat of Polish textile industry),
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
(
H. Cegielski – Poznań H. Cegielski – Poznań S.A. is a Polish manufacturing company from the city of Poznań. The company is locally known as ''Ceglorz'', and since 1923 has also used the HCP symbol. After the fall of communism, Cegielski became a joint stock company ...
), Kraków and Warsaw ( Ursus Factory). Further east, in Kresy, industrial centres included two major cities of the region – Lwów and
Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
(
Elektrit Elektrit Radiotechnical Society ( pl, Towarzystwo Radiotechniczne „ELEKTRIT”) was the largest privately owned company in Wilno, Second Republic of Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) (1925–39). With over 1100 workers, the society produced appro ...
). Besides coal mining, Poland also had deposits of oil in Borysław, Drohobycz, Jasło and Gorlice (see
Polmin Polmin (English: State Factory of Mineral Oils, Polish: Państwowa Fabryka Olejów Mineralnych) was an interwar Polish petroleum company. The company was founded in 1909 and nationalized in 1927. Crude run in 1930 reached over 731 thousand barrels ...
), potassium salt ( TESP), and
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
(
Janowa Dolina The Janowa Dolina massacre took place on 23 April 1943 in the village of Janowa Dolina, (now Bazaltove, Ukraine) during the occupation of Poland in World War II. Before the Nazi-Soviet invasion of the Polish Second Republic, Janowa Dolina was a ...
). Apart from already-existing industrial areas, in the mid-1930s an ambitious, state-sponsored project called the Central Industrial Region was started under Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski. One of the characteristic features of the Polish economy in the interbellum was the gradual nationalisation of major plants. This was the case for the Ursus Factory (see Państwowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne) and several steelworks, such as ''Huta Pokój'' in
Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica Riv ...
– Nowy Bytom, ''Huta Królewska'' in
Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...
– Królewska Huta, ''Huta Laura'' in Siemianowice Śląskie, as well as ''Scheibler and Grohman Works'' in Łódź.


Transport

According to the 1939 ''Statistical Yearbook of Poland'', the total length of the railways in Poland (as of 31 December 1937) was . Rail density was per . Railways were very dense in the western part of the country, while in the east, especially Polesie, rail was non-existent in some counties. During the interbellum period, the Polish Government constructed several new lines, mainly in the central part of the country (see also
Polish State Railroads Summer 1939 In the summer of 1939, weeks ahead of the Nazi German and Soviet invasion of Poland the map of both Europe and Poland looked very different from today. The railway network of interwar Poland had little in common with the postwar reality of dramati ...
). Construction of the extensive Warszawa Główna railway station was never finished due to the war, while Polish railways were famous for their punctuality (see Luxtorpeda, Strzała Bałtyku, Latający Wilnianin). In the interbellum, the road network of Poland was dense, but the quality of the roads was very poor – only 7% of all roads were paved and ready for automobile use, and none of the major cities were connected with each other by a good-quality highway. In 1939 the Poles built only one highway: 28 km of straight concrete road connecting the villages of Warlubie and Osiek (mid-northern Poland). It was designed by Italian engineer Piero Puricelli. In the mid-1930s, Poland had of roads, but only 58,000 had a hard surface (gravel, cobblestone or sett), and 2,500 were modern, with an asphalt or concrete surface. In different parts of the country, there were sections of paved roads, which suddenly ended, and were followed by dirt roads. The poor condition of the roads was the result of both long-lasting foreign dominance and inadequate funding. On 29 January 1931, the Polish Parliament created the State Road Fund, the purpose of which was to collect money for the construction and conservation of roads. The government drafted a 10-year plan, with road priorities: a highway from Wilno, through Warsaw and Kraków, to Zakopane (called Marshal Piłsudski Highway), asphalt highways from Warsaw to Poznań and Łódź, as well as a Warsaw ring road. However, the plan turned out to be too ambitious, with insufficient money in the national budget to pay for it. In January 1938, the Polish Road Congress estimated that Poland would need to spend three times as much money on roads to keep up with
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
. In 1939, before the outbreak of the war, LOT Polish Airlines, which was established in 1929, had its hub at Warsaw Okęcie Airport. At that time, LOT maintained several services, both domestic and international. Warsaw had regular domestic connections with Gdynia- Rumia, Danzig-
Langfuhr Wrzeszcz (pronounced , german: Langfuhr; csb, Wrzészcz) is one of the boroughs of the Northern Polish city of Gdańsk. With a population of more than 65,000 in an area of (population density 6,622), Wrzeszcz is the most populous part of Gda� ...
, Katowice-Muchowiec, Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny, Lwów-Skniłów, Poznań-Ławica, and Wilno-Porubanek. Furthermore, in cooperation with
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...
, LARES,
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...
, and Malert, international connections were maintained with
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
,
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Berlin,
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
,
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
,
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Kaunas, London, Paris,
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, Riga, Rome, Tallinn, and
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
.


Agriculture

Statistically, the majority of citizens lived in the countryside (75% in 1921). Farmers made up 65% of the population. In 1929, agricultural production made up 65% of Poland's GNP. After 123 years of partitions, regions of the country were very unevenly developed. The lands of the former
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
were the most advanced; in
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest cit ...
, Upper Silesia and Pomerelia, farming and crops were on a Western European level. The situation was much worse in parts of Congress Poland, the Eastern Borderlands, and what was formerly
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
, where agriculture was quite backward and primitive, with a large number of small farms, unable to succeed in either the domestic or international market. Another problem was the overpopulation of the countryside, which resulted in chronic unemployment. Living conditions were so bad in several eastern regions, such as the counties inhabited by the Hutsul minority, that there was permanent starvation. Farmers rebelled against the government (see:
1937 peasant strike in Poland 1937 peasant strike in Poland, also known in some Polish sources as the Great Peasant Uprising ( pl, Wielki Strajk Chłopski) was a mass strike and demonstration of peasants organized by the People's Party and aimed at the ruling ''sanacja'' gover ...
), and the situation began to change in the late 1930s, due to the construction of several factories for the Central Industrial Region, which gave employment to thousands of rural and small town residents.


German trade

Beginning in June 1925, there was a customs' war, with the revanchist Weimar Republic imposing a trade embargo against Poland for nearly a decade; it involved tariffs and broad economic restrictions. After 1933 the trade war ended. The new agreements regulated and promoted trade. Germany became Poland's largest trading partner, followed by Britain. In October 1938, Germany granted a credit of 60,000,000,
Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...
s to Poland (120,000,000 ''zloty'', or £4,800,000 stg) which was never realised, due to the outbreak of war. Germany would deliver factory equipment and machinery in return for Polish timber and agricultural produce. This new trade was to be ''in addition'' to the existing German-Polish trade agreements.Wojna celna (German–Polish customs' war)
(Internet Archive), Encyklopedia PWN, Biznes.


Education and culture

In 1919, the Polish government introduced compulsory education for all children aged 7 to 14, in an effort to limit illiteracy, which was widespread, especially in the former Russian Partition and the Austrian Partition of eastern Poland. In 1921, one-third of citizens of Poland remained illiterate (38% in the countryside). The process was slow, but by 1931 the illiteracy level had dropped to 23% overall (27% in the countryside) and further down to 18% in 1937. By 1939, over 90% of children attended school. Norman Davies (2005), ''God's Playground A History of Poland: Volume II: 1795 to the Present''. Oxford University Press, p. 175. . In 1932, Janusz Jędrzejewicz, the Minister for Religion and Education, carried out a major reform which introduced two main levels of education: ''common school'' (''szkoła powszechna''), with three levels – 4 grades + 2 grades + 1 grade; and ''middle school'' (''szkoła średnia''), with two levels – 4 grades of comprehensive middle school and 2 grades of specified high school (classical, humanistic, natural and mathematical). A graduate of middle school received a ''small matura'', while a graduate of high school received a ''big matura'', which enabled them to seek university-level education. Before 1918, Poland had three universities:
Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...
, the
University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
and
Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...
. The
Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...
was established in 1918; Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, in 1919; and finally, in 1922, after the annexation of the
Republic of Central Lithuania The Republic of Central Lithuania ( pl, Republika Litwy Środkowej, ), commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania ( pl, Litwa Środkowa, , be, Сярэдняя Літва, translit=Siaredniaja Litva), was an unrecognize ...
,
Wilno University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow an ...
became the Republic's sixth university. There were also three
technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
s: the Warsaw University of Technology, Lwów Polytechnic and the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, established in 1919. Warsaw University of Life Sciences was an agricultural institute. By 1939, there were around 50,000 students enrolled in further education. Women made up 28% of university students, the second highest proportion in Europe. Polish science in the interbellum was renowned for its mathematicians gathered around the Lwów School of Mathematics, the Kraków School of Mathematics, as well as the Warsaw School of Mathematics. There were world-class philosophers in the Lwów–Warsaw school of logic and philosophy. ''Also in:'' Florian Znaniecki founded Polish sociological studies. Rudolf Weigl invented a vaccine against typhus.
Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthro ...
counted among the most important anthropologists of the 20th century. In
Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Lati ...
, the 1920s were marked by the domination of poetry. Polish poets were divided into two groups – the Skamanderites (
Jan Lechoń Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (pen name: Jan Lechoń; 13 March 1899 in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – 8 June 1956 in New York City) was a Polish poet, literary and theater critic, diplomat, and co-founder of the Skamander literary movem ...
,
Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied law ...
,
Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justi ...
and
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz, also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter (20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJaros ...
) and the
Futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...
(
Anatol Stern Anatol Stern (24 October 1899 in Warsaw – 19 October 1968 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and art critic. Born 24 October 1899 to an assimilated family of Jewish ancestry, Stern studied at the Polish Studies Faculty of the University ...
,
Bruno Jasieński Bruno Jasieński , born Wiktor Bruno Zysman (17 July 1901 – 17 September 1938), was a Polish poet, novelist, playwright, Catastrophist, and leader of the Polish Futurist movement in the interwar period.Dr Feliks TomaszewskiBruno Jasieński. Biog ...
,
Aleksander Wat Aleksander Wat was the pen name of Aleksander Chwat (1 May 1900 – 29 July 1967), a Polish poet, writer, art theoretician, memorist, and one of the precursors of the Polish futurism movement in the early 1920s, considered to be one of the more im ...
,
Julian Przyboś Julian Przyboś (5 March 1901 – 6 October 1970) was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of the Kraków Avant-Garde. Life Przyboś was born in Gwoźnica near Strzyżów to a peasant family. From 1912, he ...
). Apart from well-established novelists ( Stefan Żeromski, Władysław Reymont), new names appeared in the interbellum – Zofia Nałkowska, Maria Dąbrowska,
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz, also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter (20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJaros ...
, Jan Parandowski, Bruno Schultz, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz,
Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his fi ...
. Among other notable artists there were sculptor Xawery Dunikowski, painters Julian Fałat, Wojciech Kossak and
Jacek Malczewski Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) was a Polish symbolist painter who is one of the most revered painters of Poland, associated with the patriotic Young Poland movement following a century of Partitions. He is regarded as the ...
, composers Karol Szymanowski, Feliks Nowowiejski, and Artur Rubinstein, singer Jan Kiepura. Theatre was immensely popular in the interbellum, with three main centres in the cities of Warsaw, Wilno and Lwów. Altogether, there were 103 theatres in Poland and a number of other theatrical institutions (including 100 folk theatres). In 1936, different shows were seen by 5 million people, and main figures of Polish theatre of the time were Juliusz Osterwa,
Stefan Jaracz Stefan Jaracz (24 December 1883 – 11 August 1945) was a Polish actor and theater producer. He served as the artistic director of Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw during the interwar period (1930–32), and within a short period raised its reputation ...
, and Leon Schiller. Also, before the outbreak of the war, there were approximately one million radios (see Radio stations in interwar Poland).


Administrative division

The administrative division of the Republic was based on a three-tier system. On the lowest rung were the '' gminy'', local town and village governments akin to districts or parishes. These were then grouped together into ''
powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powiat ...
y'' (akin to counties), which, in turn, were grouped as ''województwa'' ( voivodeships, akin to provinces).


Demographics

Historically, Poland was almost always a multiethnic country. This was especially true for the Second Republic, when independence was once again achieved in the wake of 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, ...
and the subsequent
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
, the latter war being officially ended by the
Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet Wa ...
. The census of 1921 shows 30.8% of the population consisted of ethnic minorities, compared with a share of 1.6% (solely identifying with a non-Polish ethnic group) or 3.8% (including those identifying with both the Polish ethnicity and with another ethnic group) in 2011. The first spontaneous flight of about 500,000 Poles from the Soviet Union occurred during the reconstitution of sovereign Poland. In the second wave, between November 1919 and June 1924, some 1,200,000 people left the territory of the USSR for Poland. It is estimated that some 460,000 of them spoke Polish as the first language. According to the 1931 Polish Census: 68.9% of the population was Polish, 13.9% were Ukrainian, around 10% Jewish, 3.1% Belarusian, 2.3% German and 2.8% other, including Lithuanian, Czech, Armenian, Russian, and Romani. The situation of minorities was a complex subject and changed during the period. Poland was also a nation of many religions. In 1921, 16,057,229 Poles (approx. 62.5%) were Roman (Latin) Catholics, 3,031,057 citizens of Poland (approx. 11.8%) were
Eastern Rite Catholics The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
(mostly Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Armenian Rite Catholics), 2,815,817 (approx. 10.95%) were Orthodox, 2,771,949 (approx. 10.8%) were Jewish, and 940,232 (approx. 3.7%) were Protestants (mostly
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
). By 1931, Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, with one-fifth of all the world's Jews residing within its borders (approx. 3,136,000). The urban population of interbellum Poland was rising steadily; in 1921, only 24% of Poles lived in the cities, in the late 1930s, that proportion grew to 30%. In more than a decade, the population of Warsaw grew by 200,000, Łódź by 150,000, and Poznań – by 100,000. This was due not only to internal migration, but also to an extremely high birth rate.


Largest cities in the Second Polish Republic


Prewar population density


Status of ethnic minorities


Jews

From the 1920s, the Polish government excluded Jews from receiving government bank loans, public sector employment, and obtaining business licenses. From the 1930s, measures were taken against Jewish shops, Jewish export firms, '' Shechita'' as well as limitations being placed on Jewish admission to the medical and legal professions, Jews in business associations and the enrollment of Jews into universities. The political movement
National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National Democracy (Poland) * National Democracy (Spain) See also * Civic nationalism, a general concept * ...
(''Endecja'', from the abbreviation "ND") often organised anti-Jewish business boycotts. Following the death of Marshal Józef Piłsudski in 1935, the ''Endecja'' intensified their efforts, which triggered violence in extreme cases in smaller towns across the country. In 1937, the National Democracy movement passed resolutions that "its main aim and duty must be to remove the Jews from all spheres of social, economic, and cultural life in Poland". The government in response organised the Camp of National Unity (OZON), which in 1938 took control of the Polish ''Sejm'' and subsequently drafted anti-Semitic legislation similar to the Anti-Jewish laws in Germany, Hungary, and Romania. OZON advocated mass emigration of Jews from Poland, numerus clausus (see also Ghetto benches), and other limitations on Jewish rights. According to
William W. Hagen William W. Hagen (born 1942) is a historian and professor of history at the University of California-Davis. Hagen's focus is on modern European history, primarily in relation to Germany and Eastern Europe. He obtained his B.A. from Harvard Univer ...
, by 1939, prior to the war, Polish Jews were threatened with conditions similar to those in Nazi Germany.


Ukrainians

The pre-war government also restricted the rights of people who declared Ukrainian nationality, belonged to the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
and inhabited the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic.
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
was restricted in every field possible, especially in governmental institutions, and the term "Ruthenian" was enforced in an attempt to ban the use of the term "Ukrainian". Ukrainians were categorised as uneducated second-class peasants or
third world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
people, and rarely settled outside the Eastern Borderland region due to the prevailing
Ukrainophobia Anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Ukrainophobia or anti-Ukrainianism is animosity towards Ukrainians, Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian language, Ukraine as a nation, or all of the above.Andriy Okara. Ukrainophobia is a gnostic problem.n18texts Okara. Re ...
and restrictions imposed. Numerous attempts at restoring the Ukrainian state were suppressed and any existent violence or terrorism initiated by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists was emphasised to create the image of a "brutal Eastern savage".


Geography

The Second Polish Republic was mainly flat with an average elevation of
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...
, except for the southernmost Carpathian Mountains (after the Second World War and its border changes, the average elevation of Poland decreased to ). Only 13% of territory, along the southern border, was higher than . The highest elevation in the country was Mount Rysy, which rises in the Tatra Range of the Carpathians, approximately south of
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
. Between October 1938 and September 1939, the highest elevation was Lodowy Szczyt (known in Slovak as ''Ľadový štít''), which rises above sea level. The largest lake was
Lake Narach Lake Narach ( be, На́рач, ''Narač'' ; russian: На́рочь, ''Naročj''; lt, Narutis, pl, Narocz) is a lake in north-western Belarus ( Myadzyel District, Minsk Region), located in the basin of the Viliya river. It is the largest lak ...
. The country's total area, after the annexation of Zaolzie, was . It extended from north to south and from east to west. On 1 January 1938, total length of boundaries was , including: of coastline (out of which were made by the
Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...
), the with Soviet Union, 948 kilometers with Czechoslovakia (until 1938), with Germany (together with
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
), and with other countries (Lithuania, Romania, Latvia, Danzig). The warmest yearly average temperature was in Kraków among major cities of the Second Polish Republic, at in 1938; and the coldest in Wilno ( in 1938). Extreme geographical points of Poland included Przeświata River in Somino to the north (located in the Braslaw county of the Wilno Voivodeship); Manczin River to the south (located in the Kosów county of the Stanisławów Voivodeship); Spasibiorki near railway to Połock to the east (located in the
Dzisna Dzisna ( be, Дзісна, russian: Дисна, lt, Dysna, pl, Dzisna) is a town in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus. It is located on the left bank of the Daugava River, near the confluence of Dysna. It has 1,500 inhabitants (2017 estimate) ...
county of the Wilno Voivodeship); and Mukocinek near Warta River and Meszyn Lake to the west (located in the Międzychód county of the Poznań Voivodeship).


Waters

Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was , the Niemen (), the Odra () and the Daugava (). The remaining part of the country was drained southward, into the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
, by the rivers that drain into the
Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...
( Pripyat,
Horyn The Horyn or Haryn ( uk, Горинь ; be, Гарынь ; russian: Горы́нь; pl, Horyń) is a tributary of the Pripyat, which flows through Ukraine and Belarus. The Horyn is long, and has a drainage basin of .Styr, all together ) as well as
Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and t ...
()


German–Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939

The beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in September 1939 ended the sovereign Second Polish Republic. The German
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
began on 1 September 1939, one week after
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
signed the secret
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
. On that day, Germany and
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
attacked Poland, and on 17 September the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...
attacked
eastern Poland Eastern Poland is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. The make-up of the distinct macroregion is based not only of geographical criteria, but also econo ...
. Warsaw fell to the Nazis on 28 September after a twenty-day siege. Open organised Polish resistance ended on 6 October 1939 after the Battle of Kock, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying most of the country.
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
annexed the area of Wilno, and
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
seized areas along Poland's southern border - including Górna Orawa and
Tatranská Javorina Tatranská Javorina ( pl, Jaworzyna Tatrzańska, Hungarian: ''Tátrajavorina'') is a village in Poprad District in the Prešov Region of northern Slovakia. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of 1000 metres and covers an area of 94. ...
- which Poland had annexed from Czechoslovakia in October 1938. Poland did not surrender to the invaders, but continued fighting under the auspices of the
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
and of the Polish Underground State. After the signing of the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation on 28 September 1939, Polish areas occupied by Nazi Germany either became directly incorporated into Nazi Germany, or became part of the
General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
. The Soviet Union, following Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (22 October 1939), annexed eastern Poland partly to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, and partly to the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
(November 1939). Polish war plans (
Plan West Plan West ( pl, Plan Zachód) was a military plan of the Polish Army of the Second Polish Republic, for defence against invasion from Nazi Germany. It was designed in the late 1930s. Background While Józef Piłsudski was the dictator of Po ...
and
Plan East Plan East ( pl, Plan Wschód) was a Polish defensive military plan, created in the 1920s and 1930s in case of war with the Soviet Union. Unlike Plan West (''Plan Zachód''), it was being prepared during the whole interwar period, as the government ...
) failed as soon as Germany invaded in 1939. The Polish losses in combat against Germans (killed and missing in action) amounted to ca. 70,000 men. Some 420,000 of them were taken prisoners. Losses against the Red Army (which invaded Poland on 17 September) added up to 6,000 to 7,000 of casualties and MIA, 250,000 were taken prisoners. Although the Polish Army – considering the inactivity of the Allies – was in an unfavourable position – it managed to inflict serious losses to the enemies: 20,000 German soldiers were killed or MIA, 674 tanks and 319 armored vehicles destroyed or badly damaged, 230 aircraft shot down; the Red Army lost (killed and MIA) about 2,500 soldiers, 150 combat vehicles and 20 aircraft. The Soviet invasion of Poland, and lack of promised aid from the Western Allies, contributed to the Polish forces defeat by 6 October 1939. A popular myth is that Polish cavalry armed with lances charged German tanks during the September 1939 campaign. This often repeated account, first reported by Italian journalists as German propaganda, concerned an action by the Polish 18th Lancer Regiment near Chojnice. This arose from misreporting of a single clash on 1 September 1939 near Krojanty, when two squadrons of the Polish 18th Lancers armed with sabers surprised and wiped out a German infantry formation with a mounted saber charge. Shortly after midnight the 2nd (Motorized) Division was compelled to withdraw by Polish cavalry, before the Poles were caught in the open by German armored cars. The story arose because some German armored cars appeared and gunned down 20 troopers as the cavalry escaped. Even this failed to persuade everyone to reexamine their beliefs—there were some who thought Polish cavalry had been improperly employed in 1939. Between 1939 and 1990, the
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
operated in Paris and later in London, presenting itself as the only legal and legitimate representative of the Polish nation. In 1990, the last president in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, handed the presidential insignia to the newly elected
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, Lech Wałęsa, signifying continuity between the Second and
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...
republics.


See also

*
History of Poland (1918–39) The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...
* 1938 in Poland *
1939 in Poland Political incumbents On September 30, 1939, the last government of the Second Polish Republic which resided in Warsaw was dissolved. The government was originally designed on May 15, 1936, by president of Poland Ignacy Mościcki under prime minis ...
*
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
, also known as the "First Polish Republic" and described as a "republic under the presidency of the King"


Notes


References


Further reading

*
Davies, Norman Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professo ...
. '' God's Playground. A History of Poland.'' Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. pp 393–434 *Latawaski, Paul. ''Reconstruction of Poland 1914–23'' (1992) *Leslie, R. F. et al. ''The History of Poland since 1863.'' Cambridge U. Press, 1980. 494 pp. *Lukowski, Jerzy and Zawadzki, Hubert. ''A Concise History of Poland.'' Cambridge U. Press, 2nd ed 2006. 408pp
excerpts and search
*Pogonowski, Iwo Cyprian. ''Poland: A Historical Atlas.'' Hippocrene, 1987. 321 pp. new designed maps *Stachura, Peter D. ''Poland, 1918–1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic'' (2004
online
*Stachura, Peter D. ed. ''Poland Between the Wars, 1918–1939'' (1998) essays by scholars *Watt, Richard M. ''Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918–1939'' (1998
excerpt and text search
comprehensive survey


Politics and diplomacy

*Cienciala, Anna M. "The Foreign Policy of Józef Pi£sudski and Józef Beck, 1926–1939: Misconceptions and Interpretations," ''The Polish Review'' (2011) 56#1 pp. 111–15
in JSTORearlier version
*Cienciala, Anna M. (1968),
Poland the Western Powers, 1938–1939. A Study in the Interdependence of Eastern and Western Europe
'. PDF, Kansas U. Press. *Cienciala, Anna M., and Titus Komarnicki (1984),
From Versailles to Locarno, Keys to Polish Foreign Policy, 1919–1925
' PDF, Kansas U. Press. *Drzewieniecki, Walter M. "The Polish Army on the Eve of World War II," ''Polish Review'' (1981) 26#3 pp 54–64. *Garlicki, Andrzej. ''Józef Piłsudski, 1867–1935'' (New York: Scolar Press 1995), scholarly biography; one-vol version of 4 vol Polish edition *Hetherington, Peter. ''Unvanquished: Joseph Pilsudski, Resurrected Poland, and the Struggle for Eastern Europe'' (2012) 752p
excerpt and text search
*Jędrzejewicz, W. ''Piłsudski. A Life for Poland'' (1982), scholarly biography *Kantorosinski, Zbigniew.

'' Washington, DC:
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
(1997) *Polonsky, A. ''Politics in Independent Poland, 1921–1939: The Crisis of Constitutional Government'' (1972) *Riekhoff, H. von. '' German-Polish Relations, 1918–1933'' (Johns Hopkins University Press 1971) *Rothschild, J. ''Piłsudski's Coup d'État'' (New York: Columbia University Press 1966) *Wandycz, P. S. ''Polish Diplomacy 1914–1945: Aims and Achievements'' (1988) *Wandycz, P. S. ''Soviet-Polish Relations, 1917–1921'' (Harvard University Press 1969) *Wandycz, P. S. ''The United States and Poland'' (1980) *Zamoyski, Adam. ''Warsaw 1920: Lenin's Failed Conquest of Europe'' (2008
excerpt and text search


Social and economic topics

*Abramsky, C. et al. eds. ''The Jews in Poland'' (Oxford: Blackwell 1986) *Blanke, R. ''Orphans of Versailles. The Germans in Western Poland, 1918–1939'' (1993) *Gutman, Y. et al. eds. ''The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars'' (1989). *Landau, Z. and Tomaszewski, J. ''The Polish Economy in the Twentieth Century'' (Routledge, 1985) *Moklak, Jaroslaw. ''The Lemko Region in the Second Polish Republic: Political and Interdenominational Issues 1918–1939'' (2013); covers Old Rusyns, Moscophiles and National Movement Activists, & the political role of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches *Olszewski, A. K. ''An Outline of Polish Art and Architecture, 1890–1980'' (Warsaw: Interpress 1989.) *Roszkowski, W. ''Landowners in Poland, 1918–1939'' (Cambridge University Press, 1991) *Staniewicz, Witold. "The Agrarian Problem in Poland between the Two World Wars," ''Slavonic and East European Review'' (1964) 43#100 pp. 23–3
in JSTOR
*Taylor, J. J. ''The Economic Development of Poland, 1919–1950'' (Cornell University Press 1952) *Wynot, E. D. ''Warsaw Between the Wars. Profile of the Capital City in a Developing Land, 1918–1939'' (1983) *Żółtowski, A. ''Border of Europe. A Study of the Polish Eastern Provinces'' (London: Hollis & Carter 1950)
Eva Plach, "Dogs and dog breeding in interwar Poland,"
Canadian Slavonic Papers 60. no 3-4


Primary sources


''Small Statistical Yearbook, 1932'' (''Mały rocznik statystyczny 1932'')
complete text (in Polish)
''Small Statistical Yearbook, 1939'' (''Mały rocznik statystyczny 1939'')
complete text (in Polish)


Historiography

*Kenney, Padraic. "After the Blank Spots Are Filled: Recent Perspectives on Modern Poland", ''Journal of Modern History'' (2007) 79#1 pp 134–61
in JSTOR
*Polonsky, Antony. "The History of Inter-War Poland Today," ''Survey'' (1970) pp143–159.


External links


Bbs.keyhole.com: Google Earth map with borders of the Second Republic of PolandPolish Tangos: The Unique Inter-War Soundtrack to Poland's IndependencePolish Cinema's Golden Age: The Glamour & Progress Of Poland's Inter-War Films‘Pakty i Fakty’: The Last-Ever Polish Interwar Cabaret RevueMap of Poland (March 1920)
from the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonwea ...
{{Authority control Modern history of Poland Former countries in Europe Poland, Second Republic 1918 in Poland 1919 in Poland 1920s in Poland 1930s in Poland Józef Piłsudski Political history of Poland States and territories established in 1918 States and territories disestablished in 1939 1918 establishments in Poland 1939 disestablishments in Poland 20th century in Poland History of Ukraine (1918–1991) Polish Republic, Second Polish Republic, Second Polish Republic, Second Former countries