11.11.1918: Poland successfully executing historical chance for regaining independence

November 11th 1918 .... guns fell silent on the western front. Here in the east it was a remarkable day. New-Old countries including Poland emerged from the carnage.

Poland was back in business after 123 years of partition and occupation. It was an amazing day, as much a product of historical chance rather than planning or activism.

The partitions by the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire, and the Habsburg Empire effaced Poland from the world map for 123 years. But regardless of the harsh winter of attempted Germanization and Russification, Polish culture, ideals, and spirit hibernated in the hearts and minds of Polish diasporas abroad as well as the Poles who continued to live in their forefathers’ land.

But saying that Poles toiled away their lives under foreign yoke while indulging in pipe dreams of freedom would be false. The Poles gave their best shots at regaining their independence in a number of 19th-century uprisings, most notably the November Uprising of 1830-1831 and the January Uprising of 1863-1864. Those attempts, however, fizzled out.

On October 7, 1918, Poland’s Regency Council proclaimed the country’s independence, but factual sovereignty would return only with then brigadier Józef Piłsudski - a seasoned Polish military officer, organizer of pro-independence guerilla, and a socialist revolutionary. Piłsudski, having been held captive at Magdeburg for a time, would make a comeback to Warsaw on November 10 amidst Polish servicemen and people of Warsaw disarming German soldiers still present in the city. The day after, on November 11, the Regency Council transferred all powers to Piłsudski, making him the de facto leader of the country – a fact that has been celebrated as the symbolic moment of Poland regaining its independence.

Join Jan Darasz and his guest: Alina Nowobilska – Independant Historian for “How We Got Here”


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