Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)
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Polish Statehood  |
The Kingdom of Poland, also informally called Regency Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Regencyjne), was the state proposed by the Act of November 5 issued by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary. It was to be created within the former Russian territory of Congress Poland (however with no defined borders) in 1916 and would exist as a satellite state of Germany. The proposal never gained much support in Germany and in reality was aimed only at gaining a Polish Army for the Central Powers[1].
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[edit] Creation of the kingdom
The declaration of both emperors allowed the creation of the Regency Council (Polish: Rada Regencyjna) which was given limited administration on territories taken by Germany and was to elect a new monarch. The person who had the greatest chance to become its king was the Austrian Archduke Charles Stephen (Polish: Karol Stefan), whose two daughters were married to Polish aristocrats: prince Olgierd Czartoryski and Hieronim Radziwill, who spoke fluent Polish who resided in Żywiec in Galicia. The Archduke was more than willing to accept the crown, but as a member of Imperial House of Austria he needed a permission from the head of the family, Emperor and King Charles I, who hesitated, having himself planned to assume the Polish Crown. Polish language was reinstituted in all of the territory of the former Congress Poland and the educational and political institutions banned by Russia after the Polish uprisings of 1830 and 1863 were re-created. A Central Powers supported army (called in German: Polnische Wehrmacht) was created in order to help the German war effort, but the recruitement action (led by Colonel Władysław Sikorski) didn't receive the support of Polish people and gave rather insignificant results: in the final stage of the Regency the army counted only about 5,000 men. The Kingdom would have its own currency, called Marka polska (Polish mark) and a Constitution was drafted on 12th September 1917 (monarchy, a two-chambers-parliament, no political responsibility of the ministers).
[edit] German aims
The aim of the German policy was to create a region that could be easily exploited and in proper time Germanised by reduction of Polish population through famine and forced labour with the final goal of making Poland a German province[2] During German control Poles were subject to forced labour and confiscation of food and property[2].
Although early plans called for Austro-Polish solution, they were abandoned in February in face of growing dependence of Austro-Hungary on Germany[3] Control over Polish economy and raw resources was to be in Germany hands. Germans would also be in total control over the Polish army. The borders of this "autonomous" Poland were to be changed in favour of Germany. German officials demanded the so-called "Polish Frontier Strip" which would lead to annexation of considerable parts of Polish territories that were part of Russian partition of Poland. By the end of 1916 Germany wanted to annex almost 30,000 square kilometers of Polish territory. These lands were to be settled by ethnic Germans and Polish population was to be removed in ethnic cleansing[4] Such plans were also proposed by members of German minority in Poland in the area of Łódź, who protested the Act of November 5, and demanded in a letter to the German government annexation of western Poland by Germany as well as settlement of ethnic Germans in those areas.[5]
[edit] Regents of the Kingdom (1916-1918)
The Regency Council never managed to elect a new monarch and never gained much significance, as its movements were inhibited by the German Governor General, Hans Hartwig von Beseler. On November 11, 1918 it ceded all responsibilities to Józef Piłsudski and dissolved itself three days later.
- Aleksander Cardinal Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw
- Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, landowner
- Józef Ostrowski, landowner, former Chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in Saint Petersburg.
[edit] Prime Ministers of the Regency Kingdom
- November 20, 1917 - February 27, 1918 : Jan Kucharzewski
- February 27, 1918 - April 3, 1918 : Antoni Ponikowski
- April 4, 1918 - October 23, 1918 : Jan Kanty Steczkowski
- October 23, 1918 - November 5, 1918 : Józef Świeżyński
- November 5, 1918 - November 11, 1918 : Władysław Wróblewski
[edit] Quotes
"Starvation is here," said General von Kries. "Candidly, we would like to see it relieved; we fear our soldiers may be unfavourably affected by the things that they see. But since it is here, starvation must serve our purpose. So we set it to work for Germany. By starvation we can accomplish in two or three years in East Poland more than we have in West Poland, which is East Prussia, in the last hundred years. With that in view, we propose to turn this force to our advantage." "This country is meant for Germany," continued the keeper of starving Poland. "It is a rich alluvial country which Germany has needed for some generations. We propose to remove the able-bodied working Poles from this country. It leaves it open for the inflow of German working people as fast as we can spare them. They will occupy it and work it. "Then with a cunning smile, "Can't you see how it works out? By and by we shall give back freedom to Poland. When that happens Poland will appear automatically as a German province.
German General von Kries quoted from "An Account of Germany's Treatment of Poland by U.S. Member of Commission to Poland, Frederick C. Walcott", Records of the Great War, Vol. IV, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni, 1923 [2]
[edit] The other client states
During the World War I the German State helped to create or created on the former territory of Russia next client, puppet, or satellite, but nominally independent states:
- Ukrainian People's Republic
- Ukrainian State
- Belarusian People's Republic
- Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)
- Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918)
- Baltic State
- United Baltic Duchy
- Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)
- Kingdom of Finland (1918)
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Frederick C. Walcott, An Account of Germany's Treatment of Poland by U.S. Member of Commission to Poland, September 1917
- ^ Hein Erich Goemans, War and Punishment: The Causes of War Termination and the First World War,
Princeton University Press, 2000, ISBN 0691049440, pp. 104-5 - ^ Keith Bullivant, Geoffrey J. Giles and Walter Pape, Germany and Eastern Europe: Cultural Identity and Cultural Differences,
Rodopi, 1999, ISBN 9042006781, pp. 28-9 - ^ Aleksander Kraushar, Warszawa podczas okupacji niemieckiej 1915-1918, Lwów 1921, pp. 39
