National Independence Day (Narodowe Święto Niepodległości) is a national holiday in Poland celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland's sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918, after 123 years of partition by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Empire.
The restoration of Poland's independence was gradual. The 11 November date chosen is the one on which Jozef Piłsudski assumed control of Poland. The holiday was constituted in 1937 and was celebrated only twice before World War II. After the war, the communist authorities of the People's Republic removed Independence Day from the calendar, though reclamation of independence continued to be celebrated informally on 11 November. The holiday was officially replaced by the National Day of Poland's Revival as Poland's National Day, celebrated on the 22 July anniversary of the communist PKWN Manifesto under Josef Stalin. As Poland emerged from Soviet-influenced communism in 1989, the original holiday (on its original 11 November date) was restored.
The date corresponds to the date of other countries' Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, or Veterans Day. All of these holidays and Polish Independence Day are indirectly related because they all emerged from the circumstances at the end of World War I. In other countries, holidays were established in the spirit of grief and horror at the enormous human cost of the war, and they mark the sacrifices of those who fought. For Poland, however, the tragedy of the war was tempered by what had been accomplished at its end: the restoration of a sovereign Polish state that had been lost entirely in the partitions of Poland, after 123 years of struggle. The Polish holiday is therefore simultaneously a celebration of the reemergence of a Polish state and a commemoration of those who fought for it.
Jozef Klemens Pilsudski, (5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman—Chief of State (1918–22), "First Marshal" (from 1920), and authoritarian leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland´s politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene. He is considered largely responsible for Poland´s regaining its independence in 1918, after 123 years of partitions. Pilsudski successfully annexed Vilnius from Lithuania following Zeligowski´s Mutiny but was unable to incorporate most of his Lithuanian homeland into the newly resurrected Polish State.
Early in his political career, Pilsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Concluding, however, that Poland´s independence would have to be won by force of arms, he created the Polish Legions. In 1914 he anticipated the outbreak of a European war, the Russian Empire´s defeat by the Central Powers, and the Central Powers´ defeat by the western powers. When World War I broke out, he and his Legions fought alongside the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires to ensure Russia´s defeat. In 1917, with Russia faring badly in the war, he withdrew his support from the Central Powers.
From November 1918, when Poland regained independence, until 1922 Pilsudski was Poland´s Chief of State. In 1919–21 he commanded Poland´s forces in the Polish-Soviet War. In 1923, with the Polish government dominated by his opponents, particularly the National Democrats, he withdrew from active politics. Three years later, he returned to power with the May 1926 coup d´état, and became the de facto dictator of Poland. An Italian fascist ambassador to Warsaw described him as "a liberal democrat in the clothes of an old-world knight". From then until his death in 1935, he concerned himself primarily with military and foreign affairs.
For at least thirty years until his death, Pilsudski pursued, with varying degrees of intensity, two complementary strategies, intended to enhance Poland´s security: "Prometheism", which aimed at breaking up, successively, Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union into their constituent nations; and the creation of an Intermarum federation, comprising Poland and several of her neighbors. Though a number of his political acts remain controversial, Pilsudski´s memory is held in high esteem by his compatriots.
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SOLIDARITY STAMPS WERE PRINTED ON WHATEVER PAPER WAS AVAILABLE AS BETWEEN 1982 AND 1990 EVERYTHING WAS SCARCE IN POLAND. THIS GIVES RISE TO VARIETIES WHICH ARE DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN BY THE DISCERNING SPECIALIST.
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THIS PROPAGANDA STAMP SET WAS ISSUED BY THE POLISH UNDERGROUND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT AS A DIVERSIFICATION STATEMENT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW WHICH HAD BEEN DECLARED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES IN POLAND. IT IS A VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE ITEM . THE UNDERGROUND MEMBERS WHO ISSUED THIS STAMP RISKED A LOT, BECAUSE IF CAUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL.
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General Wojciech Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law in a speech first broadcast on radio and television at 6:00 am on December 13, 1981. In order to isolate members of the opposition (from the Solidarity movement), 52 internment centers were created. A total of 10,132 internment orders were issued against 9,736 people during the period of martial law.
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