Genre: Information/Explanation

Despite lacking an overseas empire , Poland maintained a slow but steady level of economic development. The cultural hubs of interwar Poland – Warsaw , Kraków , Poznań , Wilno and Lwów – became major European cities and the sites of internationally acclaimed universities and other institutions of higher education. By 1939, the Republic had become "one of Europe's major powers". [ 1 ] Nevertheless, the Polish economist Witold Gadomski has calculated that the Republic was a much poorer nation than contemporary Poland. According to his estimates, Poland's gross national product in 1929 was between 50 and 60 billion US$s, which compares starkly with an estimate in 2007 of 422 billion dollars. In 2007, Poland's share in international trade was 1.1%, while in 1937, it was 0.8%. [ 2 ] On 5 November, in Lublin , the first Soviet of Delegates was created. On 6 November the Communists announced the creation of a Republic of Tarnobrzeg . The same day, a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland was created in Lublin under the Socialist, Ignacy Daszyński . On Sunday, 10 November at 7 a.m., Józef Piłsudski , newly freed from 16-month imprisonment by the German authorities at Magdeburg , returned by train to Warsaw. Piłsudski, together with Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski , was greeted at Warsaw's rail station by Regent Zdzisław Lubomirski and Colonel Adam Koc . Next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the Regency Council appointed Piłsudski Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. On 14 November, the Council dissolved itself and transferred all its authority to Piłsudski as Chief of State ( Naczelnik Państwa ). After consultation with Piłsudski, Daszyński's government dissolved itself and a new government was created under Jędrzej Moraczewski . In 1918, Italy was the first country in Europe to recognise Poland's sovereignty. [ 4 ] The Polish government-in-exile operated in Paris and later London, between 1939 and 1990, maintaining that it was the only legal and legitimate representative of the Polish nation. In 1990, the last president in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski handed the insignia to Lech Wałęsa , signifying continuity between the Second and Third republics. The Second Polish Republic was a parliamentary democracy from 1919 (see Small Constitution of 1919 ) to 1926, with the President having limited powers. The Parliament elected him, and he could appoint the Prime Minister as well as the government with the Sejm 's (lower house's) approval, but he could only dissolve the Sejm with the Senate 's consent. Moreover, his power to pass decrees was limited by the requirement that the Prime Minister and the appropriate other Minister had to verify his decrees with their signatures. Poland was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Women's suffrage . Women in Poland were granted the right to vote on 28 November 1918, with a decree of Józef Piłsudski. [ 7 ] Poland had a large army, with 283,000 on active duty, in 37 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, and two armored brigades, plus artillery units. Another 700,000 men served in the reserves. [ 9 ] The units were poorly equipped and poorly trained. The high command was not well regarded and planning was inadequate and haphazard. The war plans failed as soon as Germany invaded, as 10 divisions were never mobilized and others were sent to the wrong places. The limited defense budget allowed minimal mechanization; most weapons were purchased abroad, and foreign exchange was scarce. [ 10 ] PZL , the state aviation company, in 1934 developed the PZL P.11 , the most modern fighter in Europe. In the late 1930s its successor the PZL P.24 was even better armed and faster, but Poland exported its entire production to earn currency, forcing the use of obsolete PZL P.7 and P-11 fighters. The PZL.37 Łoś was an excellent twin-engine medium bomber; only a few dozen were available when the war began. After regaining her independence Poland was faced with major economic difficulties. In addition to the devastation wrought by World War I, the exploitation of the Polish economy by the German and Russian occupying powers, and the sabotage performed by retreating armies, the new republic was faced with the task of economically unifying disparate economic regions, which had previously been part of different countries. [ 14 ] Within the borders of the Republic were the remnants of three different economic systems, with five different currencies (the German mark , the Russian ruble , the Austrian crown , the Polish marka and the Ostrubel ) [ 14 ] and with little or no direct infrastructural links. The situation was so bad that neighboring industrial centers as well as major cities lacked direct railroad links, because they had been parts of different nations. For example, there was no direct railroad connection between Warsaw and Kraków until 1934. This situation was described by Melchior Wańkowicz in his book Sztafeta . On top of this was the massive destruction left after both World War I and the Polish–Soviet War . There was also a great economic disparity between the eastern (commonly called Poland B ) and western (called Poland A ) parts of the country, with the western half, especially areas that had belonged to the German Empire being much more developed and prosperous. Frequent border closures and a customs war with Germany also had negative economic impacts on Poland. In 1924 prime minister and economic minister Władysław Grabski introduced the złoty as a single common currency for Poland (it replaced the Polish marka ), which remained a stable currency. The currency helped Poland to bring under control the massive hyperinflation, the only country in Europe which was able to do this without foreign loans or aid. [ 15 ] Average annual growth rate ( GDP per capita ) was 5.24% in 1920–29 and 0.34% in 1929–38. [ 12 ] Hostile relations with neighbours were a major problem for the economy of interbellum Poland. In the year 1937, foreign trade with all neighbours amounted to only 21% of Poland's total. Trade with Lithuania (0% of total) and the Soviet Union (0,8%) was virtually nonexistent. Czechoslovakia accounted for 3,9% of Polish foreign trade, Latvia for 0,3%, Romania for 0,8%, and Germany, Poland's most important neighbour, for 14,3%. By mid-1938, after the Anschluss , Greater Germany was responsible for as much as 23% of Polish foreign trade. The basis of Poland's gradual recovery after the Great Depression were mass economic development plans (see Four Year Plan ), which oversaw the building of three key infrastructural elements. The first was the establishment of the Gdynia seaport, which allowed Poland to completely bypass Gdańsk (which was under heavy German pressure to boycott Polish coal exports). The second was construction of the 500-kilometer rail connection between Upper Silesia and Gdynia, called Polish Coal Trunk-Line , which served freight trains with coal. The third was the creation of a central industrial district, named COP – Central Industrial Region ( Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy ). Unfortunately, these developments were interrupted and largely destroyed by the German and Soviet invasion and the start of World War II. [ 16 ] Among other achievements of interbellum Poland there are Stalowa Wola (a brand new city, built in a forest around a steel mill), Mościce (now a district of Tarnów , with a large nitrate factory), and creation of a central bank . There were several trade fairs, with the most popular being Poznań International Fair , Lwów's Targi Wschodnie , and Wilno's Targi Północne . Polish Radio had ten stations (see Radio stations in interwar Poland ), with the eleventh one planned to be opened in the autumn of 1939. Furthermore, in 1935 Polish engineers began working on the TV services. By early 1939, experts of the Polish Radio built four TV sets. First movie broadcast by experimental Polish TV was Barbara Radziwiłłówna , and by 1940, regular TV service was scheduled to begin operation. [ 17 ] Industry and communications in Poland before the start of World War II According to the 1939 Statistical Yearbook of Poland, total length of railways of Poland (as for 31 December 1937) was 20 118 kilometers. Rail density was 5.2 km. per 100 km 2 . Railways were very dense in western part of the country, while in the east, especially Polesie , rail was non-existent in some counties. During the interbellum period, Polish government constructed several new lines, mainly in central part of the country (see also Polish State Railroads Summer 1939 ). Construction of extensive Warszawa Główna railway station was never finished due to the war, and Polish railroads were famous for their punctuality (see Luxtorpeda , Strzała Bałtyku , Latający Wilnianin ). In the interbellum, road network of Poland was dense, but the quality of the roads was very poor – only 7% of all roads was paved and ready for automobile use, and none of the major cities were connected with each other by a good-quality highway. In the mid-1930s, Poland had 340,000 kilometers of roads, but only 58,000 had hard surface (gravel, cobblestone or sett ), and 2,500 were modern, with asphalt or concrete surface. In different parts of the country, there were sections of paved roads, which suddenly ended, and were followed by dirt roads. [ 18 ] Poor condition of roads was the result of both long-lasting foreign dominance, and inadequate funding. On 29 January 1931, Polish Parliament created State Road Fund, whose purpose was to collect money for construction and conservation of roads. The government drafted a 10-year plan, with road priorities: a highway from Wilno, through Warsaw and Cracow, to Zakopane (called Marshall Pilsudski Highway), asphalt highways from Warsaw to Poznań and Łódź, as well as Warsaw ring road. However, the plan turned out to be too ambitious, as there was not enough money in the national budget. In January 1938, Polish Road Congress estimated that Poland should spend on roads three times more money to keep up with Western Europe. In the Second Polish Republic, the majority of inhabitants lived in the countryside (75% in 1921), and their existence depended on land. Farmers made 65% of the population, while about 1% were landowners. In 1929, agricultural production made 65% of Poland's GNP. [ 20 ] After 123 years of partitions, regions of the country were very unevenly developed. Lands of former German Empire were most advanced – in Greater Poland and Pomerelia , crops were on Western European level. [ 21 ] The situation was much worse in former Congress Poland , Kresy , and former Galicia , where agriculture was most backward and primitive, with a large number of small farms, unable to succeed on both domestic and international market. Furthermore, another problem was overpopulation of the countryside, which resulted in chronic unemployment. Living conditions were so bad that in several regions, such as counties inhabited by the Hutsuls , there was permanent starvation. [ 22 ] Farmers rebelled against the government (see: 1937 peasant strike in Poland ), and the situation began to change in the late 1930s, due to construction of several factories for the Central Industrial Region , which gave employment to thousands of countryside residents. In the 1920s there was a trade war with Germany, involving tariffs and restrictions. After 1933 the trade war ended and new agreements regulated and promoted trade. Germany was Poland's largest trading partner, followed by Britain. In October 1938 Germany granted a credit of Rm 60,000,000 (120,000,000 zloty, or £4,800,000). Germany would deliver factory equipment and machinery in return for Polish timber and agricultural produce. This new trade was to be in addition to the existing German-Polish trade agreements. [ 23 ] In 1919, the Polish government introduced compulsory education for all children aged 7 to 14, in an effort to limit illiteracy, which was widespread, especially in eastern Poland. The process was slow, but by 1939, 90% of children attended school. In 1921, one-third of citizens of Poland was illiterate (38% in the countryside), by 1931, illiteracy level dropped to 23% overall (27% in the countryside), [ 2 ] and fell to 18% in 1937. [ 24 ] In 1932, Minister of Religion and Education Janusz Jędrzejewicz carried out a reform which introduced the following levels of education: middle school ( szkoła średnia ), with two levels – 4 grades of comprehensive middle school and 2 grades of specified high school (classical, humanistic, natural and mathematical). A graduate of middle school received a small matura , while a graduate of high school received a big matura , which enabled them to seek university-level education. Historically, Poland was a nation of many nationalities. This was especially true after independence was regained in the wake of World War I. The census of 1921 allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority. [ 26 ] This was further exacerbated with the Polish victory in the Polish–Soviet War , and the large territorial gains in the east, made by Poland as a consequence. According to the 1931 Polish Census : 68.9% of the population was Polish, 13.9% were Ukrainians, around 10% Jewish, 3.1% Belarusians, 2.3% Germans and 2.8% – others, including Lithuanians , Czechs and Armenians . Also, there were smaller communities of Russians , and Gypsies . The situation of minorities was a complex subject and changed during the period. [ 27 ] Poland was also a nation of many religions. In 1921, 16,057,229 Poles (approx. 62.5%) were Roman (Latin) Catholics , 3,031,057 citizens of Poland (approx. 11.8%) were Eastern Rite Catholics (mostly Ukrainian Greek Catholics and Armenian Rite Catholics ), 2,815,817 (approx. 10.95%) were Greek Orthodox , 2,771,949 (approx. 10.8%) were Jewish, and 940,232 (approx. 3.7%) were Protestants (mostly Lutheran Evangelical ). [ 28 ] By 1931 Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, with one-fifth of all the world's Jews residing within its borders (approx. 3,136,000). [ 26 ] Urban population of interbellum Poland was rising steadily – in 1921, only 24% of Poles lived in the cities, in the late 1930s, the ratio grew to 30%. In more than a decade, the population of Warsaw grew by 200,000, Łódź by 150,000, and Poznań – by 100,000. This was due not only to internal migration, but also extremely high birth rate. [ 2 ] Pillar near the summit of Popadia in Gorgany . During the Second Republic, this marked the Polish-Czechoslovak border. The administrative division of the Republic was based on a three-tier system. On the lowest rung were the gminy , local town and village governments akin to districts or parishes. These were then grouped together into powiaty (akin to counties) which, in turn, were grouped as województwa ( voivodeships , akin to provinces). The Second Polish Republic was mainly flat, with average elevation of 223 m above sea level (after World War II and its border changes, the average elevation of Poland decreased to 173 m). Only 13% of territory, along the southern border, was higher than 300 m. The highest elevation was Mount Rysy , which rises 2,499 m in the Tatra Range of the Carpathians, 95 km south of Kraków . Between October 1938 and September 1939, the highest elevation was Lodowy Szczyt (known in the Slovak language as Ľadový štít ), which rises 2,627 meters above sea level. The largest lake was Lake Narach . The country's total area, after annexation of Zaolzie , was 389,720 km 2 , it extended 903 km from north to south and 894 km from east to west. On 1 January 1938, total length of boundaries was 5,529 km, including: 140 kilometers of coastline (out of which 71 kilometers were made by the Hel Peninsula ), Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km 2 ), the Niemen (51,600 km 2 ), the Odra (46,700 km 2 ) and the Daugava (10,400 km 2 ). The remaining part of the country was drained southward, into the Black Sea , by the rivers that drain into the Dnieper ( Pripyat , Horyn and Styr , all together 61,500 km 2 ) as well as Dniester (41,400 km 2 ) Moklak, Jaroslaw. The Lemko Region in the Second Polish Republic: Political and Interdenominational Issues 1918–1939 (2013); covers Old Rusyns, Moscophiles and National Movement Activists, & the political role of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches