Poland in World War I and the Inter-War Period (1914–1939)

Poland at the Start of World War I

Poland throughout its history has periodically disappeared from the face of the map only to re-emerge phoenix-like, mainly due to the dogged perseverance and strong sense of national identity exhibited by the Polish people — a spirit that has transcended prolonged periods of foreign domination. At the start of the First World War in 1914, Poland had been under one of the periodic partitions it has suffered in its tragic history, having been divided among the three neighboring powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia for over a century. The events that followed during the war proved to be another turning point in the history of Poland and the Polish people. Although the war resulted in untold suffering, it also provided an unexpected opportunity for independence. This essay describes the fortunes of the nation during the First World War, assesses the post-war peace settlement that restored independence to Poland, and analyzes the political, economic, and social developments in the country during the inter-war period until the outbreak of the Second World War.

When the First World War started in 1914, Poland was partitioned and under the rule of three different powers — Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany — with Russia ruling over the largest portion. All three were involved in the war, with Germany and Austria-Hungary pitted against Russia on the eastern front and against France and Britain (later joined by Italy and the United States) on the western front. The Polish question had not been a live issue for generations, because all three partitioning powers shared a common interest in avoiding it. For the other Western powers, Poland was insufficiently important to risk confrontation with any of the three occupying powers; hence the Poles were left to their fate. Events during the war were to bring the Polish question to the forefront of the world's attention (Biskupski, p. 38).

The Poles in all three parts of the partitioned country had anticipated the start of the war, and their leaders considered ways of exploiting the situation. They were, however, divided into different groups — the "pro-Entente" faction, who wished for victory of the Western powers and Russia, and the pro-Central Powers group, who hoped for victory of Austria-Hungary and Germany. The former regarded Germany as their principal antagonist and expected that France and Britain would be more sympathetic to the Polish cause after their victory. The most influential representatives of this faction were the flamboyant pianist and politician Jan Paderewski and the statesman Roman Dmowski, considered by many as the father of modern Polish nationalism. The pro-Central Powers group was led by the "independence faction" of the charismatic Józef Piłsudski, who advocated strategic cooperation with Austria "as a sword against Russia; a shield against Berlin" (quoted in Biskupski, p. 39). Piłsudski also pressed for the formation of a separate Polish military army — a policy considered by some at the start of the war as foolish and quixotic.

Poland During World War I

At the start of World War I, Russia attempted to garner Polish support by promising unity and broad autonomy. The overture was still-born, however, because the Russian armies suffered catastrophic reverses on the eastern front against the Germans.

Piłsudski organized a small force of Polish legions — which eventually grew into a large Polish Army by 1916 — with Austrian support and fought against the Russians on the eastern front. Their heroic exploits made Piłsudski a national hero among the Polish people. Austria's weak position within its alliance with Germany, however, prevented it from offering the significant concessions to the Poles that Piłsudski had hoped for.

Dmowski, who led the Entente faction, had initially hoped that by cooperating with the tsar, Polish lands could be reunited after being wrested from German and Austrian control (Dziewanowski, pp. 63–64). His hopes were dashed by the declining fortunes of the Russian army and Russia's reluctance to allow the formation of separate Polish military units. By 1915, most of the historically Polish territory under Russian control had been overrun by the German-Austrian armies. Moreover, the retreating Russians adopted a ruthless "scorched earth" policy, destroying everything in the path of the enemy advance by burning villages, slaughtering livestock, and eliminating all food supplies. This destruction created immense suffering for the Polish people. Dmowski eventually left Russia to live in exile in Western Europe, where he worked to gather support for an anti-German coalition among the Poles (Biskupski, p. 39).

Paderewski, the celebrated pianist, composer, and Polish patriot, traveled to the United States intending to organize the large Polish-American community into a lobby capable of winning the support of President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. government. Owing to his fame as a musician and his effective powers of persuasion, Paderewski succeeded in focusing the attention of the American public and government on the Polish question. American sympathy, initially directed toward the humanitarian suffering of the Polish people, was skillfully channeled by Paderewski into political support for Polish aspirations to a homeland (Biskupski, pp. 43–44).

While the Germans were particularly opposed to granting any concessions of autonomy or independence to the Poles, staggering casualties and the Allied blockade eventually forced them to reconsider their policy in order to tap into the manpower resources of east-central Europe. German attempts to recruit soldiers from among the Poles were stonewalled by Polish leaders, including Piłsudski, in the absence of a meaningful quid pro quo. The Central Powers were thus compelled to make concessions, and on November 5, 1916, they proclaimed the formation of a "Kingdom of Poland" under the protection of the Austrian and German emperors. Although the declaration was a modest tactical gesture, it proved to be a turning point in the story of Poland's reappearance on the map of Europe as a sovereign state. Shortly thereafter, two other vital developments took place: the Russian Revolution, which removed the tsarist regime, and the entry of the United States into the war. The Soviet government almost immediately recognized the right of the Polish people to full independence, as did the rival provisional government. This encouraged the Western powers, now led by the United States, to treat the Polish question as a serious matter of international importance.

Conclusion

In the heroic and tragic history of Poland, the First World War and the inter-war period constitute a unique chapter in which the nation re-emerged from more than a century of partition and foreign domination, and overcame enormous devastation and deprivation in a remarkably short time. It proved to be a short-lived interlude before the wheels of history turned full circle, bringing the country once again under the yoke of brutal foreign rule. This essay has been a brief review of that turbulent yet epochal period during which the Polish nation gained the opportunity to express its independent national aspirations to the fullest.