The role of the Act of 5 November 1916 in starting the process of rebuilding Polish statehood

Abstract

The following text is devoted to the issues of the fate of Polish lands being decided during World War I. Above all it discusses the Act of 5 November 1916 issued by two of the partitioning powers – the Second German Reich and Austria-Hungary – and assesses its role in the future revival of Polish statehood. This legal act led to the establishing of semi-sovereign central Polish administration bodies, which prepared a draft constitution for the future state (monarchist), a draft electoral law for the Sejm, and took many steps to establish local Polish authorities, the judiciary, and the education system. The authors analyse the establishment of the two main central bodies under the auspices of Germany and Austria-Hungary (the Provisional Council of State, and the Regency Council), describe the monarchist project of the Polish constitution created thanks to the Provisional Council of State, and the electoral law designed at that time. They also question to what extent the acts of 5 November can be associated with the concept of “Mitteleuropa” – the creation of an economic and political union in Central and Eastern Europe of states that were to function under strict German control. This concept, created in the second half of the 19th century, was redefined during World War I. The historical-legal method was used in work on this article, supplemented with the dogmatic-legal and comparative methods.