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The Second Polish Republic is an unofficial name applied to the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II.

When the borders of the state were fixed in 1921, it had an area of 388.6 thousand km² (sixth largest in Europe), and 27.2 million inhabitants according to the census of that year. In 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, it had an estimated 35.1 million inhabitants. A third of these were national minorities (17% Ukrainians and Belarusians, 10% Jews, 5% Germans, and 1% percent Lithuanians, Russians and Czechs).

Second Polish Republic 1921-1939

Contents 1 History 1.1 The beginnings 1.2 Timeline (1919-1939) 1.3 World War II 2 Politics and government 2.1 Chief of State 2.2 Presidents 2.3 Premiers 3 Economy 4 Demographics 4.1 Minorities 4.2 Population 5 Culture 6 Administrative division and geography 7 References

History

Polish Statehood

Kingdom of the first Piasts Fragmentation Kingdom of the later Piasts Kingdom of the Jagiellons Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Partitions Kingdom of Galicia Duchy of Warsaw Congress Kingdom Free City of Kraków Grand Duchy of Poznań Regency Kingdom Second Polish Republic Polish Secret State People's Republic of Poland Third Polish Republic

Main article: History of Poland (1918-1939)

The beginnings

Occupied by German and Austro-Hungarian armies in the summer of 1915, the formerly Russian-ruled part of what was considered Poland was proclaimed an independent kingdom by the occupying powers on November 5, 1916, with a governing Council of State and (from October 15, 1917) a Regency Council (Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego) to administer the country under German auspices pending the election of a king.

Shortly before the end of World War I, on October 7, 1918, the Regency Council dissolved the Council of State and announced its intention to restore Polish independence. With the notable exception of the Marxist-oriented Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), most political parties supported this move. On October 23 the Council appointed a new government under Józef Swierzynski and began conscription into the Polish Army.

On November 5, in Lublin, the first Soviet of Delegates was created. On November 6 the Communists announced the creation of a Republic of Tarnobrzeg. The same day, a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland was created under the Socialist, Ignacy Daszynski.

On November 10, Józef Piłsudski, newly freed from imprisonment by the German authorities at Magdeburg, returned to Warsaw. Next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the Regency Council appointed Piłsudski Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On November 14 the Council dissolved itself and transferred all its authority to Piłsudski as Chief of State (Naczelnik Państwa).

Centers of government that were created in Galicia (formerly Austrian-ruled southern Poland) included a National Council of the Principality of Cieszyn (created on November 19??) and a Polish Liquidation Committee (created on October 28). Soon afterward, conflict broke out in Lviv (Polish Lwów) between forces of the Military Committee of Ukrainians and the Polish "Eagles" of Lwów.

After consultation with Pilsudski, Daszynski's government dissolved itself and a new government was created under Jedrzej Moraczewski.

Soldiers of the Army of Greater Poland, 1919 Polish soldiers displaying captured Soviet battle flags after the Battle of Warsaw.

Timeline (1919-1939)

Polish armoured car Korfanty in 1920 in the Silesian Uprisings Roman Dmowski Edward Rydz-Śmigły receiving the Marshal buława from president of Poland Ignacy Mościcki. November 10, 1936, Warsaw.

• Elections to the Sejm: January 26, 1919.
• Treaty of Versailles
• War against the Ukrainians: Polish-Ukrainian War.
• War against the Soviets: Polish-Soviet War. Miracle of the Vistula. Treaty of Riga.
• War against the Lithuanians: Polish-Lithuanian War.
• Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia.
• Uprisings in Wielkopolska and Silesia. Great Poland Uprising, Silesian Uprisings.
• July 15, 1920 - Agrarian Reform.
• March 17, 1921 - March Constitution.
• 1921 - alliances with France, Romania.
• Election to the Sejm (1922-11-05)and to the Senat - 1922-11-12.
• President Gabriel Narutowicz, and his assassination (December 16, 1922).
• 1924 - Wladyslaw Grabski Government. Bank Polski. Monetary reform.
• President Wojciechowski - December 20, 1922, to Zamach majowy.
• Coup of May - Zamach majowy, 1926, May, Józef Piłsudski coup d'etat (May Coup). beginning of Sanacja government.
• Roman Dmowski, Obóz Wielkiej Polski (4 December 1926), Endecja.
• 16 November 1930 - wybory brzeskie (elections
• 25 July 1932 - non-aggression pact with Soviet Union
• 26 January 1934 - non-aggression pact with Germany
• 14 April 1934 - Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny
• 23 April 1935 - April Constitution
• 12 May 1935 - death of Józef Piłsudski
• Gdynia, Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy (1936), Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
• 2 February 1937 - Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego
• October 1938 - annexation of Zaolzie
• 2 January 1939 - death of Roman Dmowski
• 31 March 1939 - military guarantees from United Kingdom and France
• 23 August 1939 - non-aggression pact between Soviet Union and Germany: Ribbentrop-Molotow Pact with a secret military alliance protocol targeting Poland (among several other countries)
• 25 August 1939 - alliance between Poland and United Kingdom

World War II

German soldiers destroying Polish border checkpoint on 1 September

The beginning of the Second World War put an end to the Second Polish Republic. The "Invasion of Poland" campaign began 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and ended 6 October 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. Poland did not surrender continued as Polish Government in Exile and Polish Secret State.

Politics and government

Chief of State

• Józef Piłsudski – 22 November 1918 - 9 December 1922

Presidents

• Gabriel Narutowicz – 9 December 1922 - 16 December 1922
• Stanisław Wojciechowski – 20 December 1922 - 14 May 1926
• Ignacy Mościcki – 1 June 1926 - 30 September 1939
• Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski - 1 October 1939

Premiers

• Jędrzej Moraczewski – 18 November 1918 - 16 January 1919
• Ignacy Jan Paderewski – 18 January 1919 - 27 November 1919
• Leopold Skulski – 13 December 1919 - 9 June 1920
• Władysław Grabski – 27 June 1920 - 24 July 1920
• Wincenty Witos – 24 July 1920 - 13 September 1921
• Antoni Ponikowski – 19 September 1921 - 5 March 1922
• Antoni Ponikowski – 10 March 1922 - 6 June 1922
• Artur Śliwiński – 28 June 1922 - 7 July 1922
• Wojciech Korfanty – 14 July 1922 - 31 July 1922
• Julian Nowak – 31 July 1922 - 14 December 1922
• Władysław Sikorski – 16 December 1922 - 26 May 1923
• Wincenty Witos – 28 May 1923 - 14 December 1923
• Władysław Grabski – 19 December 1923 - 14 November 1925
• Aleksander Skrzyński – 20 November 1925 - 5 May 1926
• Wincenty Witos – 10 May 1926 - 14 May 1926
• Kazimierz Bartel – 15 May 1926 - 4 June 1926
• Kazimierz Bartel – 8 June 1926 - 24 September 1926
• Kazimierz Bartel – 27 September 1926 - 30 September 1926
• Józef Piłsudski – 2 October 1926 - 27 June 1928
• Kazimierz Bartel – 27 June 1928 - 13 April 1929
• Kazimierz Świtalski – 14 April 1929 - 7 December 1929
• Kazimierz Bartel – 29 December 1929 - 15 March 1930
• Walery Sławek – 29 March 1930 - 23 August 1930
• Józef Piłsudski – 25 August 1930 - 4 December 1930
• Walery Sławek – 4 December 1930 - 26 May 1931
• Aleksander Prystor – 27 May 1931 - 9 May 1933
• Janusz Jędrzejewicz – 10 May 1933 - 13 May 1934
• Leon Kozłowski – 15 May 1934 - 28 March 1935
• Walery Sławek – 28 March 1935 - 12 October 1935
• Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski – 13 October 1935 - 15 May 1936
• Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski – 15 May 1936 - 30 September 1939

Economy

Main article: Economy of Poland

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Poland

Minorities

After Poland gained its independence in 1921, a large part of its population was some type of minority or another. The census of that year allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority.[1]

In 1931 Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, and one-fifth of all Jews resided within Poland's borders (approx. 3,136,000, roughly 10% of the entire Polish population).[1] Norman Davies gives the results of Polish 1931 national census as follows[2]

• Poles, 68.9% of the population
• Ukrainians, 13.9%
• Jews, 8.7%
• Belarusians, 3.1%
• Germans, 2.3%

Population

Ludność Census date Population Percentage of
rural population Population density
(per km²)

30 September 1921	27,177,000	75,4%	69,9
9 December 1931	32,107,000	72,6%	82,6
31 December 1938	34,849,000	70%	89,7

Largest cities in early 1939:

1. Warszawa – 1289 thousands
2. Łódź – 672 thousands
3. Lwów – 340 thousands
4. Poznań – 272 thousands
5. Kraków – 259 thousands
6. Wilno – 215 thousands
7. Bydgoszcz – 141 thousands
8. Częstochowa – 138 thousands
9. Katowice – 133 thousands
10. Sosnowiec – 130 thousands
11. Lublin – 122 thousands
12. Gdynia – 120 thousands
13. Białystok – 107 thousands

Culture

See Culture of Poland

Administrative division and geography

Main article: Voivodeships of Poland Main article: Geography of Poland Polish voivodeships 1922-1939 car plates
(since 1937) Voivodeship
Separate city Capital Area
in 1000 km² (1930) Population
in 1000 (1931)

Polish voivodeships in the interbellum (data as per April 1, 1937)
00-19	City of Warsaw	Warsaw	0,14	1179,5
85-89	warszawskie	Warsaw	31,7	2460,9
20-24	białostockie	Białystok	26,0	1263,3
25-29	kieleckie	Kielce	22,2	2671,0
30-34	krakowskie	Kraków	17,6	2300,1
35-39	lubelskie	Lublin	26,6	2116,2
40-44	lwowskie	Lwów	28,4	3126,3
45-49	łódzkie	Łódź	20,4	2650,1
50-54	nowogródzkie	Nowogródek	23,0	1057,2
55-59	poleskie	Brześć nad Bugiem	36,7	1132,2
60-64	pomorskie	Toruń	25,7	1884,4
65-69	poznańskie	Poznań	28,1	2339,6
70-74	stanisławowskie	Stanisławów	16,9	1480,3
75-79 ?	śląskie	Katowice	5,1	1533,5
80-84	tarnopolskie	Tarnopol	16,5	1600,4
90-94	wileńskie	Wilno	29,0	1276,0
95-99	wołyńskie	Łuck	35,7	2085,6

References

1. ^ a b Joseph Marcus, Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939, Mouton Publishing, 1983, ISBN 90-279-3239-5, Google Books, p. 17
2. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground, Columbia University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-231-12819-3, Google Print, p.299