Independence Day in Poland

Polish Independence Day commemorates the re-establishment of the state of Poland at the end of the first world war in 1918.

For 123 years prior to 1918, Poland had been partitioned under the rule of Prussia, Austria, and Russia.

On November 11th 1918, the day that the first world war ended, this partition was removed and Poland was granted its independence.

On this date, the Polish Military Organisation’s secret departments demobilized soldiers and legionnaires disarmed the Germans in Warsaw and other Polish towns. The Regency Government appointed Józef Piłsudski as commander in chief over the Polish forces and three days later he was given complete civil control. He formed a new centralized government, which on November 21st issued key measures including a manifesto of agricultural reforms. Piłsudski also brought in more favourable conditions for the workers and called parliamentary elections.

November 11th was announced a national holiday in 1937. In 1945, when Poland became a communist regime as a result of the Yalta conference, at the request of Stalin following the end of the second world war, the holiday was abolished.

In 1989, following the collapse of the Communist government fell, Independence Day was reinstated as a national holiday.