Regency Council (Poland)


The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland was a semi-independent and temporarily appointed highest authority in the Partitioned Poland during World War I. It was formed by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary within the war-torn, and historically Polish lands around September 1917. The Council was supposed to stay in office until a new monarch or the Regent would be appointed. On October 7, 1918, the Regency Council of Kingdom of Poland declared independence for Poland. Also in October 1918 the Council took over the command of the Polska Siła Zbrojna.

History

The members of the Regency Council included: Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw; Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, the President of Warsaw; and landowner Józef Ostrowski, conservative politician, former Chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in St. Petersburg.
Together with the State Council and the formed governments it exercised limited administrative powers, mainly in education and justice areas. On October 7, 1918, it declared the independence of Poland from Germany. On November 14 of the same year it passed all authority to Józef Piłsudski – from November 22, 1918, the newly appointed Supreme Head of the State.

First Prime Ministers of Poland