Polish State

Unitary one-party semi-presidential republic under an authoritarian military dictatorship (1926–1935)

Unitary presidential constitutional republic (1935–1939)

Unitary one-party republic under an authoritarian military dictatorship (1939-)

### President

Józef Piłsudski (1918–1922)
Gabriel Narutowicz (1922)

Stanisław Wojciechowski (1922–1926)

Ignacy Mościcki (1926–1939)

Edward Rydz-Śmigły (1939-)

### Prime Minister

Jędrzej Moraczewski (1918–1919)
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (1936–1939)

### Currency

Złoty

The Polish State (Państwo Polskie) is a country in Central/Eastern Europe that was created by Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły on the 1st of September 1939.A coup by the Marshal overthrew Mościcki and his cabinet in favour of a military dictatorship to combat the invading Nazi Army.

The country replaced the Second Polish Republic which lasted from 1919-1939.The Second Polish Republic did make Poland a formidable force to fight against though with successful campaigns against Lithuania,Ukraine and Czechoslovakia.The most famous victory was under Piłsudski with the destruction of Soviet forces at the Battle of Warsaw.

The country compromises of 21 Vojvodeships,the largest being Podlesie and the smallest being Zakopane.The country shares borders with the Republic of Lithuania to the north,the Duchy of Courland to the north-east,the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the east,the Legionary Romanian State to the south-east,the Kingdom of Hungary to the south-east,the State of Bohemia,Moravia and Slovakia to the south and the German Socialist Republic to the west.

## Name

The official name of the state is the Polish State.In the Polish language, it is referred to as Państwo Polskie,with the term Państwo being a somewhat traditional name for the *republic* when referring to various Polish states, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (considered to be the First Polish Republic, *Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita*).In other regionally-used official languages, the state is referred to as: *Polnischer Staat* in German,Польська Держава (transcription: Polʹsʹka Derzhava) in Ukrainian,Польская дзяржава (transcription:Poĺskaja dziaržava) in Belorussian,Lenkijos valstybė in Lithuanian and Poľský štát in Slovak.

## History

### Return to Independence

Before the Great War,Poland had been divided between the Prussians,Austrians and Russians for 123 years.During WW1,Polish legionnaire divisions fought for each side and battles took place on Polish soil,some examples being the Battle of Tannenberg and the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes.In 1916,the Central Powers had promised Poland that after a victory,a Polish state would be established and this kind of did happen with the Regency Council being set up near the end of the war after Russia's capitulation.Polish forces knew that the Central Powers would not win the war however,battles against German forces took place in the final days of the war and independence was declared on the 11th of November,1918.The Treaty of Versailles ratified Polish independence in 1919 and Italy was the first nation to recognise Poland.

### Border conflicts

Not happy with being under the German sphere,the Poles rose up in Poznán against the Germans,who eventually let the Polish join the rest of Poland.In 1918,scared about the Polish minority in Lwów,Polish forces crossed the newly formed Ukrainian border and occupied western Ukraine.Ukrainian forces surrendered and Poland was granted ownership of Galicia and Lwów.Polish forces fought against Czechoslovak forces in the Trans-Olsa region,with a Polish majority,after many casualties,Poland declared victory and occupied Trans-Olsa.The three Silesian uprisings took place in Silesia against the Germans,who sent in the ruthless Freikorps,eventually after 2 defeats,A small area of Silesia was given to Poland.Poland also had a large amount of conflicts against Lithuania for control of Wilno,eventually ending in Polish victory and occupation of Middle Lithuania and Wilno.

Soviet forces then demanded Polish subjectation,when Poland refused,the Polish-Soviet War began.At first it was going amazingly for Poland,marching into Belorussia and Ukraine,capturing Kyiv,but their supply lines were cut and the Poles were forced to retreat,with Soviet armies under Stalin in pursuit.Poland was invaded and the two armies met on the Wisla river in Warsaw,seeing a gap in the Soviet lines,Polish forces scored a major victory against the Soviet army,encircled many and pushed them back to Ukraine and Belorussia.The Treaty of Riga ended the war with Polish land gain once again.

### Interwar Years

Reborn Poland faced a host of daunting challenges: extensive war damage, a ravaged economy, a population one-third composed of wary national minorities, an economy largely under the control of German industrial interests, and a need to reintegrate the three zones that had been forcibly kept apart during the era of partition. Poland's formal political life began in 1921 with the adoption of a constitution that designed Poland as a republic modeled after the French Third Republic.A multitude of political parties emerged, of which there were four major and dozens of minor ones.The major ones were the left-wing Polish Peasant Party(Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe) and on the right side the National Democracy party(Narodowa Demokracja) led by Dmowski.

There were many struggles in Polish politics at this time Roman Dmowski envisioned an ethnically-homogeneous Polish nation, and a pro-Western, anti-German path to modernization; he also espoused strong anti-Semitic attitudes, and emphasized that Poland should be a Catholic and hierarchical state.Piłsudski, however, rooted his ideal in notions about the multi-ethnic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.Gabriel Narutowicz was elected as president of Poland,but he came under nasty attacks from the right and was assassinated after five days in office.

### Piłsudski's coup

After the constitution was adopted, Piłsudski resigned from office, unhappy with the limited role of the executive branch. But he continued to keep a close eye on political developments.By 1926 he was persuaded and launched the coup of May 1926, which succeeded with little violence. For the next decade, Piłsudski dominated Polish affairs as strongman of a generally popular centrist regime, although he never held a formal title except for minister of defense.The marshal portrayed himself as a national saviour who was above partisan politics and gained more popular support by distancing himself from the Polish Socialist Party. In 1935 a new Polish Constitution was adopted, but Piłsudski soon died and his protégé successors drifted toward open authoritarianism. Opposition voices were increasingly harassed or jailed, a situation that was not surprising in view of the regime's growing fears over national security.

### Foundation of the OZN

The Camp of National Unity (Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego) was founded 1937 under Edward Rydz-Śmigły.The party advocated for Rydz-Śmigły to be the successor of Piłsudski and this caused them to win a majority in the 1938 election in the Sejm.Their popularity continued to grow with Mościcki beginning to grow worried as he now believed Rydz-Śmigły could launch a rebellion or coup against himself.Before the election results of 1938 came,Mościcki demanded for the party to be suspended but it was too late.

## Foundation of The Polish State

After Germany had taken over Austria and Czechoslovakia,the Polish foreign minister,Józef Beck,knew that Poland was next on Hitler's radar due to the Polish Corridor.Hitler had believed that because he let Poland take over Zaolzie,it would become friendly and hand over the Polish Corridor,later Hitler even offered Slovakia in exchange for the corridor.Poland refused.Britain and France then vowed to protect Poland from an invasion.German soldiers,disguised as Polish civilians then attacked a radio station in Gliwice.Germany blamed Poland and bombed Wieluń at 4:45AM on the 1st of September,starting the Second World War.

### First Week

The old German battleship "*Schleswig-Holstein"* bombarded the Weserplatte ammo depot.The first battle on ground was the Battle of Mokra which ended in Polish victory against the invading forces,this was a major morale boost and Poland quickly sent all her troops to hold off the German attack.German forces then started the entire "Fall Weiss" operation,von Bock's Army Group North and von Rundstedt's Army Group South.The Battle of Tuchola Forest ended in defeat for Poland in the North,cutting off the Polish corridor from the rest of Poland.At the Battle of Mława,Polish foirces got defeated once again and pushed back towards Warsaw.With the Polish southern armies also defeated,Rydz-Śmigły ordered all troops to fall back to the second defensive line,but that wasnt the only thing he did

### Rydz-Śmigły's coup

On the 7th of September,Rydz-Śmigły,unhappy with the major Polish defeats,marched into Warsaw with his high command.When he met Mościcki,he demanded for him to resign,when Mościcki refused,he was killed by one of Rydz-Śmigły's men.With Mościcki dead,Rydz-Śmigły and the OZN declared the foundation of the Polish State,dissolving the Senate and Sejm in the process.This boosted morale within the Polish forces who were loyal towards Rydz-Śmigły.Rydz-Śmigły started the rapid mobilisation and conscription of Polish men.

### Battle of Warsaw

At the time of the coup however,German forces rapidly approached Warsaw and Rydz-Śmigły had to flee to Białystok.The Battle of Warsaw ensued with all 3 of Germany's thrusts attacking the stubborn city that refused to fall,eventually Polish defenders retreated to the other side of the Vistula river and began a bombardment of the Germans with planes and artillery.The battle of the skies was won by the Poles and their "*Karas*" planes caused German supply lines have South,the Poles had held the Germans at the battle of Przemyśl.The Poles then began a counter-attack into Warsaw under the direct command of Rydz-Śmigły and fought out the Germans,complete victory was achieved by the 12th of September.

### French and Polish Offensives

To the west,French forces under Maurice Gamelin captured the German city of Saarbrücken and eventually all of the Saarland.British bombers then began the bombardment of Northern Germany,hitting cities like Dortmund,Bremen,Hanover and Hamburg.With British air support,the Allies struck a decisive victory over Jodl in Pforzheim,opening the road to Stuttgart.Meanwhile on the eastern front,the southern Polish army under Anders captured the city of Rzeszów and Tarnów whilst the Warsaw divisions charged further into German lines,scoring a victory at Sochaczew.Rydz-Śmigły then demanded Operation Worek to destroy Army Group Centre,now under Dietrich.The operation led to Poland's liberation of Łódź and Płock.From the south,Anders managed to push even further and got within 30km of Kraków which the Germans had laid siege to and captured on the 2nd of September.