Poland regained its independence after World War 1 and was led by Jozef Pilsudski from 1918 to 1922. Gabriel Narutowicz was elected as the first President of Poland in 1922 but was assassinated after only 5 days in office. Stanislaw Wojciechowski then served as President from 1922 to 1926 until he resigned after a coup by Pilsudski. The new nation struggled with political instability, a poor economy damaged by World War 1, and tensions between ethnic groups.

1. Poland 1919-1925

2. Where Is Poland? During WW1, all the allies agreed on the reconstitution of Poland. Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic- Il Rzeczpospolita Polska . Poland was made up of land taken from Imperial Russia and the Austria- Hungary empire.

3. 1918-1922 Jozef Pilsudski In 1918, he was appointed the first Chief of State of Poland. He was entrusted with creating a national government for the newly independent country. He proclaimed Polish independence. Pilsudski was very popular with much of the Polish public but he had a reputation of a loner. This led to strained relations with other Polish politicians. On 20th Feb 1919, he declared he would return his powers to the newly selected Polish government- Sejm. He remained in office until 9 th Dec 1922 when Narutowicz was elected the 1 st President of Poland.

4. 1922 Gabriel Narutowicz He served as the Minster of Public Works 1920-1921 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs 1922. On 9 th Dec 1922 he was elected by the Sejm as the first President of Poland. Narutowicz was popular as he had support from national minorities, the left and peasant deputies. On 16 th Dec 1922, 5 days after his inauguration he was shot by a sympathiser of the National Democrats Eligiusz Niewiadomski.

5. 1922-1926 Stanislaw Wojciechowski From 1919 to 1920, he served as Minister of the Interior for three different Polish governments. During this time, Wojciechowski also participated in the drafting of the Polish constitution. In 1922, Wojciechowski was elected to the Sejm as a member of the Polish Peasant Party. Only a month later he was chosen by the National Assembly as President of the Polish Republic. After the 1926 coup by Pilsudski, he resigned from office.

6. Main Economic Product Due to the allies’ attribution of land and the destruction of WW1, some areas of Poland were rich whereas some were poor. For example areas like Silesia were industrialised and produced lots of manufacturing. This meant they could export lots of products. Whereas most of the country was in ruins and couldn’t produce anything that could be exported.

7. Problems faced by Poland As Poland had been formally been 2 different empires, there were many ethnic groups now in one country. This meant each ethnic group wanted a voice and it was hard to please each ethnic group. Many minorities felt increasingly alienated especially the Jewish.There was a rise in anti-Semitism in the general population and the Jews became poorer. Nationalism Austria Hungary Imperial Russia

8. Political Instability 1921- Poland adopted a constitution modelled after the French 3 rd Republic. This meant there was more power in legislation. The 2 nd Republic was an erratic and unstable government due to the government’s efforts to polarise between the left and right wing factions. Economy The economy in Poland was in shambles as there was hyperinflation. The government was unable to find a quick solution and this lead to high levels of unemployment,various economic crises and public unrest.

9. WW1 had caused massive destruction in former Russian Poland. This reduced the nations’ wealth by at least 10%. This meant Poland wasn’t able to become prosperous quickly as it had to repair all the damage and this used vast amounts of money. A British diplomatic who visited Warsaw in 1919 said “ I have nowhere seen anything like the evidence of extreme poverty and wretchedness that meet one's eyes at almost every turn.” Destruction by WW1