Crisis Phase (November 3, 1918-March 17, 1921): The Republic of Poland was proclaimed in Warsaw on November 3, 1918. Josef Pilsudski was named provisional head-of-state on November 11, 1918, and President Pilsudski appointed Jedrzej Moraczewski as prime minister on November 18, 1918. The Communist Worker’s Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Polski – KPP) was established on December 16, 1918, but the government banned the KPP in January 1919. Government troops suppressed a right-wing rebellion in Warsaw on January 4, 1919. Ignacy Jan Paderewski formed a government as prime minister on January 17, 1919, and Josef Pilsudski was formally appointed as provisional president by the National Assembly on January 17, 1919. The US provided diplomatic assistance (diplomatic recognition) to the government on January 22, 1919. Parliamentary elections were held on January 26, 1919, and the National Assembly convened on February 14, 1919. President Pilsudski was elected as chief-of-state by the National Assembly on February 20, 1919. France provided diplomatic assistance (diplomatic recognition) to the government on February 24, 1919, and Britain provided diplomatic assistance (diplomatic recognition) to the government on February 27, 1919. Prime Minister Paderewski resigned on December 9, 1919, and Leopold Skulski formed a government as prime minister on December 13, 1919. Prime Minister Skulski resigned on June 9, 1920, and Wladyslaw Grabski formed a government as prime minister on June 24, 1920. Wincenty Witos, leader of the Polish Peasant Party (PPP), formed a government as prime minister on July 24, 1920. A new constitution was adopted on March 17, 1921.
Post-Crisis Phase (March 18, 1921-November 5, 1923): Prime Minister Witos’ government collapsed on September 10, 1921, and Antoni Ponikowski formed a government as prime minister on September 19, 1921. Prime Minister Ponikowski resigned on June 6, 1922, and Artur Sliwinski formed a government as prime minister on June 28, 1922. The government of Prime Minister Sliwinski collapsed on July 7, 1922, and Julian Nowak formed a government as prime minister on July 31, 1922. Parliamentary elections were held on November 5-12, 1922. Gabriel Narutowicz was elected president by the National Assembly on December 9, 1922, and he was inaugurated as president on December 11, 1922. President Narutowicz was assassinated by a right-wing nationalist on December 16, 1922. General Wladyslaw Sikorski formed a coalition government as prime minister on December 17, 1922, and Stanislaw Wojciechowski was elected president by the National Assembly on December 20, 1922. Prime Minister Sikorski’s government collapsed on May 26, 1923, and Wincenty Witos formed a government on March 28, 1923.
Crisis Phase (November 6, 1923-December 31, 1943): Government troops and laborers clashed during a general strike in Kracow on November 6-8, 1923, resulting in the deaths of 32 individuals. The government of Prime Minister Witos collapsed on December 14, 1923, and Wladyslaw Grabski formed a government as prime minister on December 19, 1923. On January 3, 1924, the government was granted emergency powers to deal with the economic crisis in the country. Prime Minister Grabski resigned on November 13, 1925, and Count Aleksander Skrzynski formed a government as prime minister on November 20, 1925. Prime Minister Skrzynski resigned on May 5, 1926, and Wincety Witos formed a center-right coalition government as prime minister on May 10, 1926. Prime Minister Witos was deposed in a military rebellion led by Marshal Josef Pilsudski and General Lucjan Zeligowski on May 12-15, 1926, resulting in the deaths of some 500 individuals. President Stanislaw Wojciechowski resigned on May 15, 1926, and Ignace Moscicki was elected president by the National Assembly on June 1, 1926. Marshal Pilduski assumed the position of minister of war. Marshal Pilsudski appointed Kazimierz Bartel as prime minister on May 15, 1926. Prime Minister Bartel resigned on September 30, 1926, and Marshal Pilsudski assumed the position of prime minister on October 2, 1926. Prime Minister Pilsudski dissolved the National Assembly, and ordered the arrest of 54 opposition political leaders on November 28, 1927. Parliamentary elections were held on March 4-11, 1928. Prime Minister Pilsudski resigned due to ill-health on June 27, 1928, and Kazimierz Bartel formed a government as prime minister on June 28, 1928. Prime Minister Bartel resigned on April 3, 1929, and Major Kazimierz Switalski formed a government as prime minister on April 14, 1929. Prime Minister Switalski resigned on December 7, 1929, and Marshal Pilsudski appointed Kazimierz Bartel as prime minister on December 8, 1929. Prime Minister Bartel resigned on March 14, 1930, and Colonel Walery Slawek formed a government as prime minister on March 29, 1930. Some 20,000 individuals demonstrated against the government in Krakow on June 29, 1930. Prime Minister Slawek resigned on August 23, 1930, and Marshal Pilsudski formed a government as prime minister on August 24, 1930. Prime Minister Pilsudski dissolved the National Assembly on August 30, 1930. Parliamentary elections were held on November 16-23, 1930, and the Non-Party Bloc headed by Marshall Pilsudsky won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly. Prime Minister Pilsudski resigned on November 28, 1930, and Kazimierz Bartel was reappointed prime minister on December 29, 1930. Government police and peasants clashed in February 1932, resulting in the deaths of six individuals. President Moscicki was re-elected by the National Assembly on May 8, 1933. A new constitution was adopted on April 23, 1935, which ended the democratic, parliamentary system of government. Marshal Pilsudski died on May 12, 1935, and he was replaced as commander-in-chief of the armed forces by General Edward Smigly-Rydz. Parliamentary elections were held on September 8-15, 1935, and the Non-Party Bloc won 75 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. Most opposition political parties had boycotted the parliamentary elections. Marian Zyndram-Koscialkowski formed a government on November 15, 1935, and General Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski formed a government on May 15, 1936. Government police and peasants clashed during a nationwide strike on August 15-27, 1937, resulting in the deaths of some 40 individuals. President Moscicki dissolved the National Assembly on September 13, 1938, and the Non-Party Bloc won 75 percent of the seats in parliament elections held on November 6-13, 1938. Most opposition political parties boycotted the parliamentary elections. On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded western Poland after the Polish government rejected Germany’s demand for the cession of Danzig and access through the Polish corridor. Soviet troops invaded eastern Poland on September 17, 1939. Warsaw surrendered to German troops on September 27, 1939. General Wladyslaw Sikorski formed a government-in-exile as prime minister in Paris on September 30, 1939. Some 140,000 Jews were confined to the Warsaw Ghetto between October 2 and November 15, 1940. The Communist Party of Poland (Polska Partia Robotnicza – PPR) was reorganized on January 5, 1942. Jews rebelled against German troops in the Warsaw Ghetto on January 18-21, 1943, resulting in the deaths of some 600 Jews and 20 German soldiers. Jews again rebelled against German troops in the Warsaw Ghetto between April 19 and May 16, 1943, resulting in the deaths of some 7,000 Jews and 300 German soldiers. Prime Minister Sikorski was killed in a plane crash near Gibraltar on July 4, 1943, and Stanislaw Mikolajczyk of the PPP formed a government-in-exile as prime minister on July 5, 1943. Some six million individuals, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the crisis.
Conflict Phase (January 1, 1944-January 17, 1945): The Polish National Council (PNC) was formed in Moscow on January 1, 1944. Soviet troops and Polish troops invaded Poland, and captured Rokitno on January 6, 1944. German officials executed 102 Poles in Warsaw on January 28, 1944, and executed 300 Poles in Warsaw on February 3, 1944. German troops executed 40 partisans in the village of Pikule on June 10, 1944, and killed some 700 partisans in the Lublin region on June 18, 1944. Polish partisans commanded by General Tadeusz Komorowski Bor rebelled against German troops in Warsaw between August 1 and October 2, 1944, resulting in the deaths of 200,000 Polish civilians, 15,000 Polish partisans, and 10,000 German soldiers. Boleslaw Bierut established the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PCNL) on July 21, 1944, and Boleslaw Bierut assumed the presidency of a provisional government on September 11, 1944. Soviet troops captured Warsaw on January 17, 1945. Some 600,000 individuals were killed during the conflict.
Post-Conflict Phase (January 18, 1945-July 22, 1952): A provisional government headed by Boleslaw Bierut as provisional president and Edward Osobka-Morawski as prime minister was established in Warsaw on June 28, 1945. Britain and the US provided diplomatic assistance (diplomatic recognition) to the Polish government on July 5, 1945. Deputy Prime Minister Stanislaw Mikolajczyk established the Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe – PSL) on August 22, 1945. Parliamentary elections were held on January 17-19, 1947, and the communist-dominated Democratic Bloc (DB) won 382 out of 444 seats in the National Assembly. The US and Britain protested that the parliamentary elections were not free and fair. Boleslaw Bierut was elected president by the National Assembly on February 4, 1947, and Jozef Cyrankiewicz formed a government as prime minister on February 6, 1947. Deputy Prime Minister Mikolajczyk was accused of treason on October 12, 1947, and he fled into exile in London on November 3, 1947. Wladyslaw Gomulka was forced to resign as general-secretary of the communist Polish Worker’s Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza – PPR) on September 3, 1948. The PPR merged with other socialist parties to form the Polish United Worker’s Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza – PZPR) as the country’s only legal political party on December 22, 1948, and Boleslaw Bierut was chosen as First Secretary of the PZPR. Wladyslaw Gomulka was expelled from the PZPR on November 14, 1949. A new constitution went into effect on July 22, 1952, which established the Polish People’s Republic and abolished the office of the presidency. Some 9,000 individuals were killed in political violence between January 1945 and July 1952, and some 1.2 million ethnic-Germans died as a result of their expulsion from Poland between 1945 and 1947.
Post-Crisis Phase (July 23, 1952-December 12, 1970): Parliamentary elections were held on October 26, 1952, and the PZPR won 99 percent of the vote. Boleslaw Bierut formed a government as prime minister on November 20, 1952. Prime Minister Bierut resigned on March 19, 1953, and Jozef Cyrankiewicz formed a government as prime minister. Edward Ochab was elected First Secretary of the PZPR Central Committee on March 20, 1956. Government troops suppressed a demonstration by some 50,000 workers in Poznan on June 28, 1956, resulting in the deaths of some 50 individuals. Wladyslaw Gomulka was named First Secretary of the PZPR Central Committee on October 21, 1956. Parliamentary elections were held on January 20, 1957, and the National Front (NF) headed by Wladyslaw Gomulka won a majority of the votes. Jozef Cyrankiewicz formed a government as prime minister on February 27, 1957.
Crisis Phase (December 13, 1970-December 22, 1970): The Polish government announced increases in food prices on December 13, 1970, but the increase was opposed by workers in Gdansk and other cities. Some 50 individuals were killed in riots in Gdansk and other cities beginning on December 15, 1970. The Polish government declared a state-of-emergency on December 17, 1970. Wladyslaw Gomulka was replaced by Edward Gierek as First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP) on December 20, 1970. Marshal Spychalski resigned as head-of-state on December 20, 1970, and he was replaced by Jozef Cyrankiewicz on December 23, 1970. The government lifted the state-of-emergency on December 22, 1970. Some 50 individuals were killed during the crisis.
Post-Crisis Phase (December 23, 1970-December 12, 1981): Parliamentary elections were held on March 19, 1972, and the National Unity Front (NUF) won 460 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The NUF included the PUWP, which won 255 seats, the United Peasant Party (UPP), which won 117 seats, and the Democratic Party (DP), which won 39 seats in the National Assembly. Piotr Jaroszewicz was re-elected as prime minister on March 28, 1972. Parliamentary elections were held on March 23, 1980, and the National Unity Front (NUF) won 460 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The National Assembly convened on April 2, 1980, and approved the appointment of Edward Babiuch as prime minister . Some 17,000 Polish workers went on strike in Gdansk and Szczecin on August 14-31, 1980. Prime Minister Babiuch resigned, and Jozef Pinkowski formed a government as prime minister on August 24, 1980. The government and Lech Walesa, a labor leader, signed the Gdansk Agreement on August 31, 1980. Under the agreement, the government pledged to recognize trade unions and the right to strike. Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the PUWP, resigned on September 6, 1980, and he was replaced by Stanislaw Kania. The National Confederation of Independent Trade Unions and the Committee of Solidarity were established by representatives of 35 trade unions in Gdansk on September 18, 1980. Solidarity was officially recognized by the government on November 10, 1980. Prime Minister Pinkowski resigned on February 9, 1981, and General Wojciech Jaruzelski formed a government as prime minister on February 11, 1981.
Crisis Phase (December 13, 1981-July 22, 1983): Lech Walesa, leader of Solidarity, and other trade union leaders were arrested by government police on December 13, 1981. Prime Minister Jaruzelski declared a state-of-emergency, and established the Military Council for National Salvation (MCNS) on December 13, 1981. Eight individuals were killed during clashes with government troops near Katowice on December 17, 1981. The US imposed economic sanctions (suspension of food shipments) against the government on December 14, 1981. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers condemned the government for human rights violations on January 11, 1982. Several thousand individuals demonstrated in Gdansk and other cities on August 13, 1982. The National Assembly dissolved all trade unions and outlawed Solidarity on October 8, 1982. Lech Walesa was released from prison on November 12, 1982. The government suspended martial law on December 31, 1982. The government formally lifted martial law on July 22, 1983.
Post-Crisis Phase (July 23, 1983-present): The U.S. government lifted some of the economic sanctions against the Polish government on January 20, 1984. Solidarity boycotted elections held on October 18, 1985. Zbigniew Messner was chosen as prime minister on November 6, 1985, and General Jaruzelski became the chairman of the State Council on November 12, 1985. The U.S. government lifted remaining economic sanctions against the Polish government on February 19, 1987. On April 5, 1989, Polish government and Solidarity representatives signed an agreement regarding economic reforms and democratic elections. On April 7, 1989, the National Assembly approved constitutional amendments creating a presidential political system and restoring the upper house of parliament. Parliamentary elections were held on June 4 and June 18, 1989, and Solidarity won 161 out of 161 contested seats in the 460-seat National Assembly. General Jaruzelski was elected as president by the National Assembly on July 19, 1989. Tadeusz Mazowiecki of Solidarity was elected as prime minister by the National Assembly on August 24, 1989. On November 25, 1990, Prime Minister Mazowiecki resigned his office in order to run for president. Lech Walesa was elected president on December 9, 1990, and he was inaugurated as president on December 22, 1990. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki was appointed as prime minister on December 29, 1990, and he was approved by the National Assembly on January 4, 1991. Parliamentary elections were held on October 27, 1991, and the Democratic Union (DU) won 62 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej-SLD) won 60 seats in the National Assembly. Jan Olszewski formed a coalition government as prime minister on December 5, 1991. The Council of Europe (COE) Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the elections, and reported that the elections were free and fair. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly (PA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) sent observers to monitor the parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections were held on September 19, 1993, and the SLD won 171 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The Polish People’s Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe-PSL) won 132 seats in the National Assembly. Presidential elections were held on November 5 and November 19, 1995. Aleksander Kwasniewski of the SLD defeated Lech Walesa with 51.7 percent of the vote in the second round of the presidential elections. Aleksander Kwasniewski was inaugurated as president on December 23, 1995. Parliamentary elections were held on September 21, 1997, and the Solidarity Electoral Action (Akcja Wyborcza Solidarnosc-AWS) won 201 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The SLD won 164 seats in the National Assembly. President Kwasniewski of the SLD was re-elected with 53.9 percent of the vote on October 9, 2000, and he was sworn in for a second term as president on December 23, 2000. Parliamentary elections were held on September 23, 2001, and the SLD won 216 out of 460 seats in the National Assembly. The Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska-PO) won 65 seats in the National Assembly. Poland joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
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