Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego | |
Rada Regencyjna | |
.svg) | |
 | |
| Predecessor | Provisional Council of State |
|---|---|
| Successor | Józef Piłsudski |
| Formation | 27 October 1917 (1917-10-27) |
| Founder | German Empire andAustria-Hungary |
| Dissolved | 14 November 1918 (1918-11-14) |
| Legal status | Regency |
| Headquarters | Royal Castle, Warsaw |
| Location | |
Official language | Polish |
| None | |
| Aleksander Kakowski,Zdzisław Lubomirski, Józef Ostrowski | |
Main organ | Dziennik Ustaw |
TheRegency Council of theKingdom of Poland (Polish:Rada Regencyjna, or Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego) was a semi-independent andProvisional appointed authority inPoland duringWorld War I. It was formed byImperial Germany andAustria-Hungary within historically Polish lands in September 1917 after the dissolution of the previous authority, theProvisional Council of State, due to theOath crisis.
The council was supposed to stay in office until the appointment of a newmonarch orregent. On 7 October 1918, the Regency Council declared the independence of Poland.[1] That same month, the council took over command of thePolish Armed Forces.
The members of the Regency Council included CardinalAleksander Kakowski,archbishop ofWarsaw; PrinceZdzisław Lubomirski, mayor of Warsaw; and landowner Józef Ostrowski, conservative politician and former chairman of the Polish Club in theImperial Duma.
Together with the State Council and other branches of the government, the Regency Council exercised limited administrative powers, mainly in education and justice. In spite of this, the Council made some crucial decisions, like creation ofDziennik Ustaw, the most important Polish publication of legal acts.
On 7 October 1918, the council declared the independence of Poland from Germany and Austria-Hungary.[1] On 11 November, it transferred its military authority, and on 14 November the rest of its authority, toJózef Piłsudski, which led to the dissolution of the Council on the same day. Piłsudski served from 22 November as temporarychief of state of the newly independentPolish state.[2]