dec 1, 1922 - Poland

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1922

Dec 11 Independence for Poland, previously ruled by tsarist Russia, has been taking shape following World War I. Poles have been returning. Today one of them, Gabriel Narutowicz, a professor of hydroelectric engineering, who returned from Switzerland in 1920, takes the oath of office as Poland's first president.

Dec 16 In Poland, Eligiusz Niewiadomski, a fervent rightwing nationalist who had fought for Poland's independence, a modernist painter and art critic, assassinates President Gabriel Narutowicz with a handgun. Rightists were complaining that the president's election had come with the support of Reds (communists), Jews and Germans. The assassination accomplishes nothing for the rightists. The new president will be Stanislaw Wojciechowski, a scientist.

1923

Jan 10 Poland and Lithuania have recently regained their independence and have conducted territorial war against each other. Both have claimed the region around the city of Vilnius, which has a mixed population. Polish occupational forces there have been deeply resented by Lithuanians. Unfruitful negotiations have taken place in the League of Nations, and today Poland annexes the area.

Jun 9 Prime Minister Aleksandar Stamboliyskii has signed the Treaty of Niš with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes – to correct instabilities created by World War I. Today, Stamboliyski and his government are overthrown by right wing factions of the Military League, the National Alliance and the army, with Aleksandar Tsankov, a Professor of Political Economy, as leader. He becomes Prime Minister. In five days, Stamolisyski will be arrested, brutally tortured, his hand that signed the treaty cut off, and his head sent to Bulgaria's capital, Sophia, in a box of biscuits.


1926

May 14 Józef Pilsudski has returned to power with a coup d'etat. He is to refuse the presidency but remain the power "behind the throne." The coup wins the support of the Polish Socialist Party, which calls for a general strike, and it is supported by the Railwaymen's Union, which prevents pro-government military reinforcements from reaching Warsaw. Pilsudski wants to stabilize Poland politically by reducing the influence of political parties, whom he blames for corruption and inefficiency, and he wants to strengthen the army. He will quickly distance himself from his leftist supporters.

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