 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (November 2009) |
 |
This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. |
|
|
This article may be inaccurate in or unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 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, 1916 issued by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary. It was to be created within the former Russian territory of Privislinsky Krai (however with no defined borders) in 1916 and would exist as a puppet state[1] of the German Empire. The proposal never gained much support in Germany and in reality was aimed only at gaining a Polish Army for the Central Powers. It was succeeded by the Second Polish Republic.
Contents |
Creation of the kingdom
The declaration of the German and Habsburg emperors allowed the creation of the Regency Council (Polish: Rada Regencyjna) which was given limited administration over territories occupied by Germany and was to elect a new monarch. One early candidate was the Austrian Archduke Charles Stephen (Polish: Karol Stefan), whose two daughters were married to Polish aristocrats: prince Olgierd Czartoryski and Hieronim Radziwiłł. He spoke fluent Polish and 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 permission from Kaiser und König Charles I, who hesitated, having planned to assume the Polish Crown himself. As the war progressed and Austro-Hungary became more and more dominated by the German Empire, the likelihood of a Austrian candidates reduced. Germans demanded that one of their own princes rule over the future puppet state.
The German language was instituted in the administration and judicial systems of the territory of former Congress Poland. It was only in educational and political institutions that had been banned by Russia after the Polish uprisings of 1830 and 1863 that the Polish language was to be tolerated. A Central Powers-supported army (German: Polnische Wehrmacht) was created to aid the German war effort, but recruitment actions (led by Colonel Władysław Sikorski) received scant support from Polish people and achieved negligable results: in the final stage of the Regency the army numbered just 5,000 men. The Kingdom had its own currency, the so-called Marka polska (Polish mark). A Constitution was drafted on 12th September 1917 defining a monarchy, a two-chambers-parliament, but no ministerial political responsibility.
German aims
The aim of the German policy was to create a region that could be easily exploited and in proper time Germanised, an American newsreport noted that plans existed to reduce Polish population through famine with the final goal of making Poland a German province[2][unreliable source?] During German control Poles were subject to forced labour and confiscation of food and property.[3][unreliable source?]
Although early plans called for Austro-Polish solution, they were abandoned in February in face of growing dependence of Austro-Hungary on Germany[4] 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 Border 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 so Polish and Jewish population was to be removed in ethnic cleansing[5] 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.[6]
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, Primate of the Kingdom of Poland
- Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, landowner, from 1915 Mayor of Warsaw
- Józef Ostrowski, landowner, former Chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in Saint Petersburg.
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
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]
Other client states
During the World War I the German State helped to create or created on the former territory of Russia other client, puppet, or satellite, but nominally independent states:
- Ukrainian State
- Belarusian People's Republic
- Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918)
- Kingdom of Finland (1918)
- Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)
- United Baltic Duchy
References
- ^ Regency Kingdom of Poland has been referred to as a puppet state by Norman Davies, Europe: A history, Google Print, p.910; Jerzy Lukowski, Hubert Zawadzki, A Concise History of Poland, Google Print, p.218; Piotr J. Wroblel, Chronology of Polish History, in Nation and History, Google Print, p. 454, Raymond Leslie Buell; Poland: Key to Europe, Google Print, p.68 ("[T]he Polish Kingdom... was merely a pawn [of Germany].")
- ^ a b Frederick C. Walcott, An Account of Germany's Treatment of Poland by U.S. Member of Commission to Poland, September 1917
- ^ Primary Documents: Speech by Polish Member of Prussian Legislature Regarding German Rule in Poland, 1917; Source: Source Records of the Great War, Vol. IV, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923
- ^ 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
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
