National Independence Day (Poland)

in Warsaw to celebrate National Independence Day (2013) The restoration of Poland's independence was gradual. On 1916 the Act of 5th November was released in order to create the Regency Kingdom of Poland. On 1917 the Provisional Council of State had started its activity. On 12 November 1917 the Regency Council took over the head of state duties. Following the defeat of the occupying forces, the Poles seized military and civil power, building the foundations of their future state. On 7 October 1918 the Regency Council announced Poland's independence. On 23 October 1918 the government with the prime minister Józef Świeżyński was established, without approval by the German authorities. On 28 October 1918 the Polish Liquidation Committee was formed in Kraków. The Committee seized power from the Austrians in Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia. A few days later they succeeded in disarming the Austrian forces using members of the secret Polish Military Organisation as well as legionnaires and young people. In the branches of the Polish Military Organization began disarming German and Austrian soldiers. On 6/7 November 1918 in Lublin, Ignacy Daszyński established the Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland. The government was made up of representatives from the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), the Polish Social Democratic Party (PPSD) and the Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" (Liberation). At the same time the Government troops disarmed the occupying forces around the city of Kielce and Lublin. It was at this point that the country's future head of state, Józef Piłsudski, returned to Poland after incarceration by the Germans. Crucial to restoring independence was the defeat in the war of all three of the occupying powers. Russia was plunged into the confusion of revolution and civil war, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and went into decline, and the German Empire bowed to pressure from the forces of the Entente. For Poles, this was a unique opportunity to reclaim their independence. On 10 November Józef Piłsudski came to Warsaw, previously released from prison in Magdeburg, where he was enthusiastically met by the population of the capital and saw the mass disarmament of the occupying forces across the whole of Poland. On 11th was appointed Commander in Chief by the Regency Council and was entrusted with creating a national government for the restored Polish State, forming a new centralized government and soon calling parliamentary elections. On 16 November Józef Piłsudski signed a telegram notifying the creation of an independent Polish State. The telegram was sent by radio to the leaders of the superpowers and to all of the warring or neutral governments three days later with the use of equipment from the Warsaw Citadel, just after exiting the German troops. On 17 November, following the resignation of Ignacy Daszyński, Józef Piłsudski appointed Jędrzej Moraczewski as the prime minister. It was a day of military ceremony since 1920. On 8 November 1926, the Prime Minister of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, issued a circular establishing 11 November as a day off for state officials. A tradition became established that from then on he personally inspected the units of the Warsaw Garrison (last time in 1934), inspected the parade and awarded orders and medals. The holiday was constituted in 1937 and was celebrated only twice before World War II. After the war, the communist authorities of the People's Republic removed Independence Day from the calendar, though reclamation of independence continued to be celebrated informally on 11 November. The holiday was officially replaced by the National Day of Poland's Revival as Poland's National Day, celebrated on 22 July anniversary of the communist PKWN Manifesto under Joseph Stalin. In particular, during the 1980s, in many cities, including Warsaw, informal marches and celebrations were held, with the outlawed Solidarity Movement supporters participating. Typically these marches were brutally dispersed by the communist militarized police forces, with many participants arrested by the security police. During this time 11 November Independence Day marches, alongside the Constitution Day on 3 May celebration gatherings, also banned by the communist authorities, were the customary dates of demonstrations by the opponents of the communist regime. As Poland emerged from communism in 1989, the original holiday—on its original 11 November date—was restored. The date coincides with the celebration of the Armistice in other countries. All of these holidays and Polish Independence Day are indirectly related because they all emerged from the circumstances at the end of World War I. In other countries, holidays were established in the spirit of grief and horror at the enormous human cost of the war, and they mark the sacrifices of those who fought. For Poland, however, the tragedy of the war was tempered by what had been accomplished at its end: the restoration of a sovereign Polish state that had been lost entirely in the partitions of Poland, after 123 years of struggle. The Polish holiday is therefore simultaneously a celebration of the reemergence of a Polish state and a commemoration of those who fought for it. , before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , 2010 == National celebrations ==