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The Polish nation once the most powerful in Europe disappeared as a result of three partitions in the 18th century carried out by Austria, Prussia, and Russia with the major share and Warsaw going to Russia. The Poles resisted these empires and in reaction the Russians in particular set out to destroy Polish national identity and Russify the Poles. Polish nationalism was largely preserved by the nobility and the Church. The Polish peasantry was largely a political. Although there was no Polish state, Poles participated in the War as part of the armies of the three empires that had partioned the country. About 2.0 millions participated in the War. Nearly 0.5 million were killed. Polish nationalists were divided in the conflict. Many right-wing Poles led by Roman Dmowski's National Democrats promoted the Allied cause which on the Eastern Front meant the Russians. Dmowski thought that a grateful Russia might agree to autonomy for Poland, perhaps even independence in the future.
Josef Pilsudski led the Polish Socialists. He also commanded the Polish Legion in the Austrian Army. He thought that Russia might be knocked out of the War. Austria which had gained Galicia in the partition had been the most willing to allow a measure of Polish autonomy. The poor performance of the Austrian Army on the Eastern Front resulted the Germans assuming command. Marshal Pilsudski refused to take an an oath of allegiance to the Kaiser. German authorities arrested him and imprisoned him in Magdenburg Castle. Russian collapse changed the political situation in the East. America had joined the war. President Wilson promoted the 14 Points wgich included national self determination. With Russia no longer in the war Britain and France came out for Polish self-determination. Although the Germans had achieved their goals in the East reverses in the West changed the political landscape. Revolts broke out in German cities. The Kaiser abdigated and fled to Holland. German authorities released Pilsudski Magdenburg (November 10, 1918). He immeditely headed for Warsaw. He arrived there on the same day the Armistice on the Western Front went into effect (November 11). The Germans had set up a Regency Council in Warsaw. Understanding that a Polish national rising was about to take place, the Regency Council turned to Marshal Pilsudski. The German garrison in Warsaw chose to evacuate by train. The Allies recognized the new Polish state set up by Pilsudski. At Versilles the Poles demanded the boundaries of Poland before the 18th century partitions. The boundaries of the new Polish nation were only established by diplomacy and military engagements (1919-21). Inter-war Poland included a German minority in the west and eastern areas where Lithuanians, White Russians, and Ukranians outnimbered Poles.
The Polish nation once the most powerful in eatern Europe disappeared as a result of the three Polish Partitions in the late-18th century carried out by Austria, Prussia, and Russia. The major share and Warsaw going to Russia. The Russian Empire under Tsar Alexander III set out to destroy Polish national identity and Russify the Poles. They received more liberal treatment in Prussia and Austria-Hungry. Polish nationalism was largely preserved by the nobility and the Church. The Polish peasantry was largely apolitical.
Austria-Hungary was determined to punish Serbia for the assaination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Austria-Hungary with German backing declared war on Serbia, Russia was committed to defend the Serbs--fellow Slavs. Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas exchanged telegrams, but ther personal relationship could not restrain the developing tragedy. The Tsar ordered a mobilization. France also began to mobilize its troops. Russia had the largest army in Europe and once moibilized posed a forbidable danger to Germany. Germany thus felt impelled to strike at France before Russia could mobilize. Germany declaring war on Russia (August 1) and France (August 3). The strike at France followed the Schlieffen Plan which meant invading Belgium. German armies crossed the Belgian birder (Aufudy 4). This brought Britain, which had treaty obligations to Belgium, into the War. Britain may have entered the War with out Germany invasion of Belgium, but the invasion provided both the causus bellum and popular support for war. Germany's decession to support Austria's desire to punish Serbia turned a Balkans crisis into a major European war. Germany probably would have prevailed in a war with France and Russia. The invasion of Belgium provided tactical advantages, but at the cost of brining Britain and the Empire with its immenense military and material resources into the War.
Poland was an important battlefield in the first years of the War (1914-15). Although there was no Polish state, Poles participated in the the World War. Poles fought Poles as part of the armies of the three empires that had partioned the country. About 2.0 millions fought in the War. Poles were conscripted in to the Russian Army. Poles were also conscripted into the German and Austrian Armies and fought with the Central Powers. As far as I know, the only Polish units organized were fielded by the Austrains who formned the Polish Legion. Nearly 0.5 million Poles were killed in the War.
Polish nationalists were divided by the conflict. Many right-wing Poles led by Roman Dmowski's National Democrats promoted the Allied cause which on the Eastern Front meant the Russians. Dmowski thought that a grateful Russia might agree to autonomy for Poland, perhaps even independence in the future. Josef Pilsudski led the Polish Socialists. He also commanded the Polish Legion in the Austrian Army. He had no confidence in a Russian victory and thought that Russia might well be knocked out of the War. Austria which had gained Galicia in the Partitions had been the most willing to allow a measure of Polish autonomy. Thus he fought with the Austrians.
After the the German defeated the Russian offensive into East Prussia (1914), the war in the East became a battle over POland. After very difficult fighting, the Germans finally enered Warsaw (1915).
The Cental Powers divided up Poland. The Germans took cintrol of Warsa and the north. The austrians took cointrol of southern Poland. The Germans set up the Government General in their sector. Those readers familiar with the German Government General in World war II, would be surprised at what the Germans did in the Government General during World War I. The Russians had suppressed Polish nationalist movemnts even more severely than the Germans befdore the War. The Germans moved to reopen the University of Warsaw. They allowed the Poles to open Polish language schools that the Russians had supressed after moving against Congress Polans in the early-19th century. The Germans set up municipal governments and permitted elections--something ungeard of in Tsarist Russia. The German military government permitted a Jewish press and permitted Jewish self government at the local level. The German policy was to demonstrate that they were both liberators and enlightened rulers. The Allies in the early stage of the war coild not present themselves as either democratic or promoting natiina; self determination because Tsarist Russia was such an important part of the Allied war effort. This could have stringly turned Poland toward the Central Powers. The behavior of the German Army, however, undermined this effort. German arraogance and rough, treatment of the Poles and other occupied people created a great deal of illwill. While nothingb like the NAZI actions, the Germans did pursue some of the same policies. There were seuzures of oproiperty and land justified by military necessity. There were also forced populaion transfers. The Germans wanted to set up a buffer of German settlement along the eastern marches.
The poor performance of the Austrian Army on the Eastern Front resulted the Germans assuming command. Marshal Pilsudski refused to take an an oath of allegiance to the Kaiser. German authorities arrested Pilsudski and imprisoned him in Magdenburg Castle. The Central Powers primarily as the result of German forces had seized Warsaw (1915) and much of eastern Poland (1916). The Central Powers proceeded to proclaim a Polish Kingdom. While a Council of State was organized, the Germans retained effective control. The Germans with the Russians defeated, formed a Regency Council as the governing authority of the Polish Kingdom they claimed to have created. German military authorities, however, continued to exersise full control. The Russians had been the principal target of Polish resistance. Now the Germans held most of Poland. And the Allies now firmly endorsed Polish self-determination.
Russian collapse changed the political situation in the East. With the fall of the Tsar, the Provisional Government which contuinued to persue the War, recognized the right of Poland to national self-determination.
America by 1917 had joined the war on the Allied side. While the United States only fought on the Western Front, American involvement was very important for Poland. President Wilson promoted the 14 Points which included as a key point national self determination. This of course appealed to the ethnic minorities in the United States that had fled Russian and tom a lesser extent and Austro-Hugarain oppression. Poles were an important ethnic minority in the United States. Most Polish-Americans had emigrated from Russian-controlled areas of Poland. Britain and France were less enthusiastic, because Russia and the Tsar was a key part of the Allied war effort. With Russian knocked out of the War, the British and French also endorsed Polish self-determination. The French then allowed the Poles to form a provisional government in Paris.
Although the Germans had achieved their goals in the East, reverses in the West changed the political landscape. The Germans had hoped that victory in the East would enable to move sizeable forces west and once and for all defeat the British and French. But a new American Army was now reinforcing the Allied lines in the West. The Germans failed in their great spring offensive (1918). The Allied Armies launched the 100 Days Campaign led by the Americans and British. The Allies by the Fall cracked the Siegfried Line and were pushing the Germans back toward the borders of Germany itself. Revolts broke out in German cities. The Allies made it clear that they would not negotiate an armistice with the Kaiser or the German High Command. The High Command informed the the Kaiser that they could no longer guarantee his saftey. The Kaiser abdigated and fled to Holland. A civilian Goverment was formed and an Armistice was finally signed.
The Poles as the German position in the West deterioated moved to seize control of the country. The German established Regency Council in Warsaw became the de facto authority in Poland (October 12). The Poles proclained a new Republic (November 3). German authorities released Pilsudski from Magdenburg Castle (November 10, 1918). He immeditely headed for Warsaw. He arrived there on the same day the Armistice on the Western Front went into effect (November 11). Understanding that a Polish national rising was about to take place, the German-appointed Regency Council resigned in favor of Marshal Pilsudski (November 14). The German garrison in Warsaw chose to evacuate by train. Pilsudski assumed dictatorial powers. The Allies recognized the new Polish state set up by Pilsudski. He proceededc to form a coalition government with the different Polish factins, incluing the provisional government in Paris. A coalition government with Pilsudki as president and famed pianist Ignace Paderewski as primier (January 17, 1919). The Poles than elected a constituent assembly which drafted a provisional constitution.
At Versilles the Poles demanded the boundaries of Poland before the 18th century partitions. They had already seized Galicia and Posen in the west (1918). The Allies at Vrsaiiles were very generous with the Poles (June 28, 1919). The Poles were granted a corridor along the Vistula through former German territory to give them access to the Baltic. They also received substantial areas in Posen and West Prussia. Danzig was made a free city and the Poles given rights they could use it as a port. The border in Silesia was to becdetermined by plebecite. Poland's more difficult eastern border was turned over to the new League of Nations.
The Poles had moved quickly in the east, engaging the Bolshevicks in Lithuanian and Beylorusia. They captured a primary objective--Vilna (April 19, 1919). The League's answer was the Curzon Line (December 8, 1919). This would have left most etnic Poles with in the boundaries of the new Republic. It did not, however, satisfy the Poles. They wanted the pre-partition boundaries even though the population beyiund the Curzon Line was mixed with many non-Poles, including many Ukraines, Beyelorusians, and Lithuanians. The Poles demanded that the Bolshevicks negotiated a new border well east of the Curzon Line (March 1920). Negotiatins got nowhere. Poland declared war (April 25). The Poles with French assistance moved east, even taking Kiev in the Ukraine (May 8). The Bolshevicks launched a counter offensive (June) and drove the Poles back almost to Warsaw. At that point the Franco-Polish Army struck backmand defeated the bolshevicks in several sharp engagements. The two sides reached a cease fire (October 12, 1920). A factor here was the Civil War in Russia and the Bolshevicks need to end the war with Poland so thaey could focus in the White armies. The Treaty of Riga confirmed Polish possession of large areas in the east beyond the Curzon Line (March 18, 1921).
Inter-war Poland included a German minority in the west and eastern areas where Lithuanians, Beylorusians, and Ukranians often out numbered Poles. There was also a sizeable Jewish minority, the largest in Europe outside of Russia.
No country suffered during World War II more than Poland. Of all the terrible situations during World War II, Poland was the worst place to be and the Polish people suffered terribly. Poland was part of an alliance with Britain and France that confronted the NAZIs in World War II. Both Poland and France were defeated and occupied. Unlike the French, Poland continued to resist and was a valiant and valued ally throughout the War. World War II began with the German invasion of Poland (1939). The Soviets of course also invaded Poland in 1939, but Britain and France wisely only declared war on Germany. The subsequent Cold War between the Soviets and the western Allies also had its origins in Poland. Stalin's repressive measures in Poland, especially the murder of Polish officers in the Katyn Forrest was revealed by the NAZIs in 1942. Soon Soviet measures against the Polish Government in exile, the creation of a rival Polish Governmrent, and the abandonment of the Polish Home Army in Warsaw (1944) were some of the major issues which began the separation of the Soviet and Western Allies even before the end of World War II. Poland was a major issue at both Yalta and Potsdam. Many critics hav charged that tht President Roosevelt in particula abandoned Poland to the Soviets. [Olson and Cloud] The simple fact is, however, that the Red Army destroyed the Whermacht. If it had not been for the relentless pressure of the Red Army in the East, D-Day would have never been possible. The Soviet domination of Poland and Eastern Europe after the War was a simple reflection of that basic fact. America and the Western Allies could not have rescued Poland from the Soviets without war. In the end it was the Polish people who would prevail. It was in Poland with Solidarity in the 1980s that the Soviet empire began to unravel.
Olson, Lynne and Stanley Cloud. A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II (Knopf, 2003).
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