104 years ago, on November 11, 1918, the County Council handed over to Józef Piłsudski the military authority and supreme command of the Polish troops under him. On the same day, Germany signed the armistice that ended the First World War. After more than 120 years, Poland regained its independence.

At the turn of October and November 1918, in the face of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the announcement of Germany’s imminent defeat, Poland became increasingly clear that the reconstruction of an independent Polish state was imminent.

The international situation is very favorable for Poland. Four years earlier, at the outbreak of World War I, the Poles could only dream that when the war ended, the three partitioned nations would be almost powerless.

Poland did not waste the opportunity presented by history and actively began to take power in Polish lands occupied by the central states. In Cieszyn, since October 19, 1918, the National Council of the Duchy of Cieszyn, headed by Father Józef Londzin, carried out and carried out the functions of government. On October 28, 1918, in Krakow, the Polish deputy to the Austrian parliament appointed the Polish Liquidation Commission, which took power in Galicia two days later. It was led by Wincenty Witos, leader of PSL “Piast”.

On October 31, the struggle for power in the part of the Kingdom occupied by Austria-Hungary began. On the night of November 6-7, in Lublin, which had been occupied a few days earlier, the Provisional People’s Government of the Republic of Poland was established, with Ignacy Daszyński, the socialist leader of Galicia, elected prime minister.

Since September 1917, the District Council created by Germany and Austria-Hungary has operated in Warsaw. Its members are Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, Archbishop Aleksander Kakowski and Prince Józef Ostrowski. In December 1917, the County Council formed a cabinet of ministers led by Jan Kucharzewski.

Prof. Andrzej Garlicki, evaluating his actions, stated:

The County Council, especially at the end of its existence, had a very bad view of Polish society. He was criticized for being too submissive to the power-sharing, for his conservative views, and this opinion is correct. However, it should be appreciated that the expropriation from the hands of the colonizers of the next sphere of social life is an excellent school for the future functionaries of the Polish state. This can be illustrated with dozens of examples, but let’s use just one – the first work on the constitution of an independent Poland was done during the term of the District Council and many of those arrangements were later incorporated into the constitution. The aversion of a large part of society towards the council and its institutions is also due to the rapidly deteriorating economic situation of the population.” (A. Garlicki, “History 1815-1939. Poland and the world”).

In early November 1918, the bupatis realized that their political role was coming to an end and tried to establish a government that would have broad public support and in which they could relinquish power in the belief that it would hold elections for Seym. as soon as possible.

The political situation in Warsaw changed significantly with the arrival of Józef Piłsudski from Berlin by special train from Berlin on 10 November 1918. At the Main Railway Station, he was greeted among others by Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski on behalf of the County Council.

Prof. Tomasz Schramm, evaluating Piłsudski’s position at the time, wrote:

There was a serious political factor in him: a leader, behind whom stood the power of prisoners of war, beaming with memories of years of activity, exile, Tsarist imprisonment, and finally the activities of 1914-1917 and 16 months in prison in Magdeburg, a man considered by the left as his own, on the right – albeit reluctantly – to + security door + protect against revolution; hardly anyone can question his sacrificial patriotism ”(T. Schramm, “Win ​​Poland 1914-1918 ”).

Shortly after arriving in Warsaw, Piłsudski held talks with members of the County Council. As a result, he withdrew from a planned trip to Lublin, where the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, led by Ignacy Daszyński, operated for three days in the liberated territories. Moreover, the government, after the news of his return from Magdeburg, made himself available to him.

Pitsudski’s decision to stay in the capital was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that on the day of his arrival in Warsaw, the German occupation was already in a state of decay and the prospect of establishing a National Government in the capital seemed very close.

The Governor-General, General Hans von Beseler, quietly left the city, and the POWs together with the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces, under the orders of the County Council, began to disarm the German troops stationed in Warsaw. In general, the disarmament action went without a fight, although there were also some sharp clashes. Fierce fights took place, among others, during the capture of the City Hall and the Citadel.

There were about 30,000 German soldiers with officers in Warsaw, and 80,000 throughout the Kingdom. If we add to this the German troops stationed on the Eastern Front, which numbered about 600,000, it is clear that if the German units resisted, then the emerging Polish state would definitely be in a critical situation. Fortunately, most of the German soldiers at that time mainly thought of returning home as soon as possible.

Piłsudski took care of the issue of evacuating German soldiers soon after his arrival in the capital. On November 10, he met with the German Central Army Council. As a result of the agreed agreement, on November 19, German units were evacuated from the Kingdom.

Piłsudski’s arrival to Warsaw sparked the general enthusiasm of the population, and only one day before the news that a delegation from the German government around Compiegne had signed an armistice ending the combat operations of the First World War.

During those days, the Poles realized that they had regained independence after years of captivity. The atmosphere of this special moment is described by Jędrzej Moraczewski:

It is impossible to convey this drunkenness, the frenzy of excitement that was sweeping the Poles at that time. The dividing line breaks after 120 years. There + + them. Freedom! Independence! Unity! Own country! Forever! Chaos? It’s nothing. It will be fine. Everything will happen, because we are free from leeches, thieves, robbers, from hats to bosses, we will rule ourselves. […] Whoever does not survive these short days, who does not go mad with joy at that time together with the whole nation, will not experience the greatest joy of his life “(J. Moraczewski, “Revolution in Poland “).

On November 11, 1918, the County Council “in the face of imminent external and internal danger, for the purpose of unifying all military orders and maintaining order in the country” handed over the military power and supreme command of the Polish troops, his subordinates, to Brigadier Józef Piłsudski.

Three days later, the District Council disbanded, declaring that “from now on, our duty and responsibility towards the Polish nation is in your hands, Mr. Commander-in-Chief, to be transferred to the National Government.”

Piłsudski, gaining universal public support, decided to take power from the bupatis, thereby emphasizing its continuity and legal character. Not everyone was satisfied with this procedure, suggesting that Piłsudski should not be the successor to the institution established by the colonizers. Despite these comments, Piłsudski became the true leader of the emerging Polish state. The Lublin government was dissolved, the County Council resigned, and the Polish Liquidation Commission accepted the situation.

On 13 November, the head of Lublin’s disbanded government, Ignacy Daszyński, entrusted Piłsudski with the mission of creating a new cabinet. However, it ended in failure, mainly due to opposition from right-wing parties, especially National Democracy.

Finally, on 18 November, the first official government of independent Poland was formed by another socialist, Jędrzej Moraczewski, who did not raise the great concerns of the right as Daszyński.

Four days later, on November 22, 1918, a new government was formed and Piłsudski approved the “Decree on the supreme representative authority of the Republic of Poland.” By virtue of this decree, which was a kind of basic law, Piłsudski took, as the Provisional Head of State, the “Supreme Authority of the Polish Republic” and would carry it out until the meeting of the Seym Legislature.

By decree of November 28, 1918, the election of Seym was ordered on January 26, 1919.

November 1918 was only the beginning of the building of an independent Poland and the beginning of the struggle for its borders. On November 29, 1918, Piłsudski, speaking to his closest group of colleagues at the Belvedere Palace, spoke of the regained independence: “

This is the biggest and most significant change that can happen in the life of a nation. A transformation, the consequences of which must be forgotten about the past; old scores must be crossed out with a good cross […] And the time ahead is very short and only by joint efforts can we decide what space, within what limits we will fortify our freedom and how strong we will stand on our feet before our neighbors from east and west regain their full and full strength. sound “(B. Miedziński, “Memoirs”, “Zeszyty Historyczne”, ed. 37, Paris 1976).

Criminal Code/PAP