Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)
Short-lived polity and client state / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Polskie, German: Königreich Polen), also known informally as the Regency Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Królestwo Regencyjne), was a short-lived polity that was proclaimed during World War I by the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on 5 November 1916 on the territories of formerly Russian-ruled Congress Poland held by the Central Powers as the Government General of Warsaw and which became active on 14 January 1917. It was subsequently transformed between 7 October 1918 and 22 November 1918 into the independent Second Polish Republic, the customary ceremonial founding date of the latter being later set at 11 November 1918.
Kingdom of Poland | |||||||||||||
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1917–1918 | |||||||||||||
Status | Austro-German puppet state | ||||||||||||
Capital | Warsaw | ||||||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Polish, Pole | ||||||||||||
Government | Unitary constitutional monarchy under a directorial regency | ||||||||||||
King | |||||||||||||
• 1917–1918 | Vacant | ||||||||||||
Head of State | |||||||||||||
• 1917 | State Councila | ||||||||||||
• 1917–1918 | Regency Councila | ||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||
• 1917–1918 | Jan Kucharzewski | ||||||||||||
• 1918 | Antoni Ponikowski | ||||||||||||
• 1918 | Jan Kanty Steczkowski | ||||||||||||
• 1918 | Józef Świeżyński | ||||||||||||
• 1918 | Władysław Wróblewski | ||||||||||||
Historical era | World War I | ||||||||||||
5 November 1916 | |||||||||||||
• Established | 14 January 1917 | ||||||||||||
3 March 1918 | |||||||||||||
11 November 1918 | |||||||||||||
Currency | |||||||||||||
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In spite of the initial total dependence of this client state on its sponsors,[1] it ultimately served against their intentions in the aftermath of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 as the cornerstone proto-state of the nascent Second Polish Republic, the latter composed also of territories never intended by the Central Powers to be ceded to Poland, and therefore played a crucial role in the resurrection of Polish statehood.