Kingdom of Poland (1916-1918)
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The Kingdom of Poland (generally called Regency Kingdom of Poland, Królestwo Regencyjne) was the state proclaimed by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary upon the territory of former Congress Poland (however without defined borders) on November 5, 1916.
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The declaration of both emperors allowed the creation of the Regency Council (Rada Regencyjna) which was to govern the newly-created puppet state and elect a new monarch. The person who had the greatest chances to become King was the Austrian Archduke Charles Stephen (Karl Stephan), who resided in Żywiec in Galicia and spoke good Polish. The Archduke was more than willing to accept the crown, but as a member of Imperial House of Austria he needed a permission from the head of the family, Emperor and King Charles I, who hesitated, having himself planned to assume the Polish Crown. The Polish language was reinstituted in all of the territory of Congress Poland and the educational and political institutions banned by Russia after the Polish uprisings of 1830 and 1863 were reopened. A Central Powers supported army (called the Polnische Wehrmacht) was created in order to help the German war effort, but the recruitement action (led by Colonel Władysław Sikorski) did not develop in a satisfactory way and gave rather insignificant results: in the final stage of the Regency the army counted only about 5,000 officers and men. The Kingdom had its own currency, called Marka polska (Polish mark) and received a Constitution on 12th September 1917 (monarchy, a two-chambers-parliament, no political responsibility of the ministers).
The Regency Council never managed to elect a new monarch and never gained much significance, as its movements were inhibited by the German Governor General, Hans Hartwig von Beseler. On November 11, 1918 it ceded all responsibilities to Józef Piłsudski and dissolved itself three days later.
Regents of the Kingdom (1916-1918)
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- Cardinal Alexander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw
- Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, landowner
- Józef Ostrowski, landowner, former Chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in Saint Petersburg.
Prime Ministers of the Regency Kingdom
- November, 1917-March, 1918 : Jan Kucharzewski
- 1918-1918 : Jan Kanty Steczkowski
- October 23, 1918-November, 1918 : Józef Świerzyński
See also
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