Wartime Management of the Government of National Defense Headed by Wincenty Witos during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920

Abstract

Wincenty Witos is one of the undisputed Fathers of Independence of Poland, reborn in November 1918 after 123 years of partition. An outstanding statesman, leader of the people’s movement. Three-time Prime Minister of the Polish government in 1920–1921, 1923, 1926. During the Polish-Soviet War, Witos headed the Government of National Defense, which lasted 433 days, including 254 during the war. When analyzing his management as Prime Minister, two stages should be distinguished. In the first one, he was absorbed in matters of war. He was in favor of concluding peace as soon as possible, which he expressed in his exposé in 1920. In his second exposé, he worked on the reconstruction of the country after the war and the further development of the Republic of Poland as a democratic state. During the war, Witos’s role in mobilizing peasants to participate in the defense of threatened borders, as well as defending independence in the war with Bolshevik Russia in 1920, was particularly important. The article discusses the decisions made regarding management during the war: mobilizing society to rally around the authorities of the reborn Poland and defend the country’s independence, to reject Bolshevik propaganda and fight for the future of the Polish nation and state. The practice of war management was manifested in frequent field trips, organizing support and supplies for the population. Witos paid particular attention to the Borderlands. He emphasized that the presence of the head of the government and this direct contact made it possible to learn about many difficult problems of the reborn state, and at the same time, direct contact with the authorities was an element that bound the population to this state, and the people did not feel alone in solving these problems.