The Regency Kingdom of Poland on the way to Independence, February – October 1918

The Central Powers’ recognition of the Ukrainian People’s Republic’s right to Chełm Land (Kholmshchyna) on 9 February 1918 prompted a vehement protest in the Polish lands. The government of the Kingdom of Poland, created by Germany and Austria-Hungary in November 1916, resigned. The proponents of a resolution to the Polish question, in collaboration with the central empires (“activists”), who had heretofore determined the tenor in the Kingdom of Poland, endured a significant setback in the public’s perception. Consequently, the Regency Council, established on October 27, 1917, and comprising three prominent public figures – Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw; Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, President of Warsaw; and Count Józef Ostrowski, a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire, a prominent landowner – emerged as a pivotal entity in the development of the Kingdom of Poland. Until October 1917, the Council refrained from seeking political cooperation with either the Austrians or the Germans. The authors examine the process leading to the Kingdom of Poland’s gradual transition from the direct oversight of the occupation authorities, culminating in the proclamation of independence and the unification of all Polish territories into a single state under the Regency Council on 7 October 1918. Furthermore, the study explores the initiation of practical measures that led to this pivotal shift in the political landscape.