Editing History of Poland (section)

===World War I and the issue of Poland's independence===

{{further|History of Poland during World War I}}

[[File:Pilsudski in Otwock.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|"The Commandant" [[Józef Piłsudski]] with his [[Polish Legions in World War I|legionaries]] in 1915]]

The outbreak of [[History of Poland during World War I|World War I in the Polish lands]] offered Poles unexpected hopes for achieving independence as a result of the turbulence that engulfed the empires of the partitioning powers.  All three of the monarchies that had benefited from the partition of Polish territories (Germany, Austria and Russia) were dissolved by the end of the war, and many of their territories were dispersed into new political units. At the start of the war, the Poles found themselves conscripted into the armies of the partitioning powers in a war that was not theirs.  Furthermore, they were frequently forced to fight each other, since the armies of Germany and Austria were allied against Russia. Piłsudski's paramilitary units stationed in [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] were turned into the [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish Legions]] in 1914 and as a part of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] fought on the Russian front until 1917, when the formation was disbanded.<ref name="playground II xxi"/> Piłsudski, who refused demands that his men fight under German command, was arrested and imprisoned by the Germans and became a heroic symbol of Polish nationalism.<ref name="Lukowski 217–222">{{Harvnb|Lukowski|Zawadzki|2006|pp=217–222}}.</ref><ref name="playground II 279–290">{{Harvnb|Davies|2005b|pp=279–290}}</ref>

[[File:Ignacy Paderewski 02.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Ignacy Jan Paderewski|Ignacy Paderewski]] was a pianist and a statesman]]

Due to a series of German victories on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], the area of [[Congress Poland]] became occupied by the [[Central Powers]] of Germany and Austria;<ref name="playground II xxi"/> Warsaw was captured by the Germans on 5 August 1915. In the [[Act of 5th November]] 1916, a fresh incarnation of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]] (''Królestwo Regencyjne'') was proclaimed by Germany and Austria on formerly Russian-controlled territories,<ref name="playground II xxi"/> within the German ''[[Mitteleuropa]]'' scheme. The sponsor states were never able to agree on a candidate to assume the throne, however; rather, it was governed in turn by German and Austrian governor-generals, a [[Provisional Council of State]], and a [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]].  This increasingly autonomous puppet state existed until November 1918, when it was replaced by the newly established [[Second Polish Republic|Republic of Poland]]. The existence of this "kingdom" and its planned Polish army had a positive effect on the Polish national efforts on the [[Triple Entente|Allied side]], but in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] of March 1918 the victorious in the east [[German Empire|Germany]] imposed harsh conditions on defeated Russia and ignored Polish interests.<ref name="Lukowski 217–222"/><ref name="playground II 279–290"/><ref name="Versailles">{{Harvnb|Henig|2011}}.</ref> Toward the end of the war, the German authorities engaged in massive, purposeful devastation of industrial and other economic potential of Polish lands in order to impoverish the country, a likely future competitor of Germany.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wereszycki|1990|p=276}}.</ref>

[[File:Polish Regents 1916.jpg|thumb|left|The Regency Council of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]] in 1918. The "Kingdom" was established to entice Poles to cooperate with the [[Central Powers]].]]

The independence of Poland had been campaigned for in Russia and in the West by Dmowski and in the West by [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]]. Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]], and then the leaders of the [[February Revolution]] and the [[October Revolution]] of 1917, installed governments who declared in turn their support for Polish independence.<ref name="playground II 279–290"/>{{Ref label|d1|d1|none}} In 1917, France formed the [[Blue Army (Poland)|Blue Army]] (placed under [[Józef Haller]]) that comprised about 70,000 Poles by the end of the war, including men captured from German and Austrian units and 20,000 volunteers from the [[United States]]. There was also a 30,000-men strong Polish anti-German army in Russia. Dmowski, operating from Paris as head of the [[Polish National Committee (1917–19)|Polish National Committee]] (KNP), became the spokesman for Polish nationalism in the Allied camp. On the initiative of [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Fourteen Points]], Polish independence was officially endorsed by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in June 1918.<ref name="playground II xxi"/><ref name="Lukowski 217–222"/><ref name="playground II 279–290"/>{{Ref label|c1|c1|none}}

In all, about two million Poles served in the war, counting both sides, and about 400–450,000 died. Much of the fighting on the Eastern Front took place in Poland, and civilian casualties and devastation were high.<ref name="Lukowski 217–222"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Davies|2001|p=112}}.</ref>

[[File:Ignacy Daszyński 1915.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Ignacy Daszyński]]]]

The final push for independence of Poland took place on the ground in October–November 1918. Near the end of the war, [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] and German units were being disarmed, and the Austrian army's collapse freed [[Cieszyn]] and [[Kraków]] at the end of October. [[Lviv]] was then contested in the [[Polish–Ukrainian War]] of 1918–1919. [[Ignacy Daszyński]] headed the first short-lived independent Polish government in [[Lublin]] from 7 November, the leftist Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland, proclaimed as a democracy. Germany, now defeated, was forced by the Allies to stand down its large military forces in Poland. Overtaken by the [[German Revolution of 1918–19]]19 at home, the Germans released Piłsudski from prison. He arrived in Warsaw on 10 November and was granted extensive authority by the [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]]; Piłsudski's authority was also recognized by the Lublin government.<ref name="playground II xxi"/>{{Ref label|b1|b1|none}} On 22 November, he became the temporary head of state. Piłsudski was held by many in high regard, but was resented by the right-wing National Democrats. The emerging Polish state was internally divided, heavily war-damaged and economically dysfunctional.<ref name="Lukowski 217–222"/><ref name="playground II 279–290"/>