Polish National Committee () was a political organization representing Polish interests during the World War I. It was formed in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

on 15 August 1917 by Polish

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National democratic state, a state formation conceived by the Soviet concept of national democracy * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National De ...

politician

Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski Polish: (9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish right-wing politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement ...

, and was first recognized by the French as the legitimate representative of Poland in September 1917. The British and the Americans were less enthusiastic, but likewise recognized it in 1918. Its aim was to create a Polish Army (the Blue Army under

Józef Haller Józef Haller (''de Hallenburg''; 13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the p ...

) to fight alongside the

Allies of World War I The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

, in exchange for their support for an independent Poland. In addition to Dmowski its chief activists included

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

, August Zaleski, Erazm Piltz, Marian Seyda and Maurycy Zamoyski. In January 1919 the Committee recognized the government of

and dissolved itself.

Historical background

During World War I, many Polish people were determined to regain national independence after 123 years of occupation by Austria, Russia and Prussia, following the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

. Towards the end of the war, a number of Polish organizations were established both within the partitioned state, and across the world. This caused concern for the

Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...

of Germany and the

King-Emperor A king-emperor or queen-empress is a sovereign ruler who is simultaneously a king or Queen regnant, queen of one territory and emperor or empress of another. This title usually results from a merger of a royal and imperial crown, but recognises ...

of Austria Hungary. On November 5, 1916, they passed an act proposing the creation of a

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

which was meant as a

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

under control of the Central Powers. This act is known as the Act of 5th November. After its proclamation, different Polish political groups and organizations began to seek the support of Entente states in the hope rebuilding the Polish state. In August of the following year the Polish National Committee was established.

References

External links

Roman Dmowski
Polish independence organisations Aftermath of World War I in Poland Poland in World War I Polish diaspora organizations Politics of the Second Polish Republic National Democracy 1917 establishments in Poland 1919 disestablishments in Poland Ignacy Jan Paderewski {{Poland-org-stub

Historical background

See also

References

External links