Second Republic (1918-1939)
November 11, 1918 — Poland independent again. Piłsudski as Chief of State. Polish-Soviet War, "Miracle on the Vistula" (1920). 21 years of independence before September 1939.
Part of Poland
8 moments in this segment.
- — Polish-Soviet War. 1919-1921. Soviet Russia tries to push the revolution west through Poland to Germany. Polish forces under Piłsudski stop them outside Warsaw.
- — Miracle on the Vistula. August 13-25, 1920. Polish counter-offensive at the Battle of Warsaw repels the Red Army from the suburbs of the Polish capital. ~25,000 Soviet dead, 60,000+ captured. Stopped the Bolshevik westward push; preserved interwar European order for 19 years.
- — Gdynia Built from Scratch. 1922-1939. Poland builds the port city of Gdynia on the Baltic — a substitute for Gdańsk (Danzig) which remained a Free City under League of Nations rule. Symbol of interwar Polish national construction.
- — May Coup. May 12-15, 1926. Piłsudski stages a military coup against the elected government. ~300 dead in three days of street fighting. Begins the Sanation regime — authoritarian government under Piłsudski's personal authority until his death in 1935.
- — Death of Piłsudski. May 12, 1935. Józef Piłsudski dies; Poland mourns. The state-funeral procession from Warsaw to Wawel becomes one of the largest mass-mourning events in 20th-century Polish history.
- — Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. August 23, 1939. Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact with a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Sealed Poland's fate; Soviet invasion would follow the German one within 17 days.
- — German Invasion. September 1, 1939, 4:45 AM. Battleship Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on Polish positions at Westerplatte, Gdańsk. Luftwaffe bombs Wieluń. World War II begins. Polish defence collapses in 35 days under Blitzkrieg + Soviet rear-attack.
- — Soviet Invasion. September 17, 1939. USSR invades eastern Poland per the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop protocol. The Polish government flees to Romania. Polish state collapses; territory divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
