The aim of this paper is to analyze the provisions of the “draft Constitution of the Polish State” of July 1917 – an original achevement of the Polish doctrine of state law. In the opinion of the majority of contemporary representatives of Polish constitutional law, the activities of the Provisional Council of State of the Kingdom of Poland, as well as the Regency Council – bodies composed of Poles, but appointed by the German occupation authorities in 1916–1917, were meaningless, and the bodies themselves were imposed from outside and pursuing foreign interests. As a consequence, the value of the systemic achievements of these bodies and its meaning is denied. However, the analyzed document developed under the auspices of the Provisional Council of State of the Kingdom of Poland was chronologically the first full draft constitution for Poland after the state regained its independence. It is an interesting and original testimony to the high substantive level of Polish science of constitutional law developing in the absence of Polish statehood. It is also a proof that a mixed (constitutional) monarchy was considered to be the optimal political system for rebuilding statehood after more than 120 years of non-existence. The fact of fully Polish authorship of the project (mainly in the persons of prominent professors of law) may be a counter-argument against the thesis that the idea of a monarchical system for the Polish state reactivated in 1918 was completely foreign and imposed from the outside. Although the Polish political elites in 1918 ultimately gave up the idea of introduction of a constitutional monarchy in Poland, some of the solutions contained in the 1917 draft constitution became an inspiration for later systemic projects, both submitted during the work on the first full constitution of an independent Polish state enacted in 1921 as well as during the subsequent discussions on its revision.

Consistent actions or improvisation? German war plans against Poland during the First World War

The article discusses the issue of German war plans for Poland during the First World War. The author analyses the role and activities of various political centres in Germany pertaining to the Polish cause. The article seeks to assess whether German plans for Poland were as coherent and consistent as they were presented in earlier historiography.

FROM THE ITALIAN LAND TO POLAND. THE ITALIAN MILITARY CEMETERY OF WORLD WAR I IN WROCŁAW

The article deals with a little-known subject of the Italian Military Cemetery in Wrocław with the graves of soldiers from World War I. It is the only preserved Italian necropolis from that period in Poland. It was established in the 1920s in the District of Grabiszyn at the Italian Government’s suggestion. The cemetery includes the collective graves of Italian POWs who had died in German captivity in 1917-1919. The opening ceremony of this necropolis, together with its consecration, took place on November 2nd, 1928. The soldiers’ graves are situated in four sections located around a central point. They are also commemorated in the form of an obelisk. Between 1943 and 1945 another 48 victims of World War II were buried, among them some Italian POWs and a number of civilians. In 1957 their remains were exhumed and transferred to the Italian Military Cemetery in Warsaw. The only graves which remain in Wrocław were the graves of the World War I soldiers, among others of those who fought at Caporetto, the battle which started their prisoners’ way, finally ending in Polish Wroclaw.

Laurence Alma-Tadema (1865–1940) as a popularizer of Polish history and culture

The main goal of the article is to present the activities of the British poet and writer Laurence Alma-Tademy (1865–1940) to popularize Polish history and culture in Great Britain during World War I and in the preceding period. A biographical sketch of Alma-Tedema and the most important threads related to her pro-Polish activities are outlined. Various directions of her activity were presented, as well as her special relationship with the Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Alma-Tademy’s relations with other Polish activists – Roman Dmowski and Henryk Sienkiewicz were also presented. Laurence Alma-Tadema, as she claimed, loved Poland and chose it as her homeland. She tried to familiarize the British with Polish culture and history. Moreover, her commitment to helping Polish victims of the war, now forgotten, is not without significance. The article discusses the most important aspects of Alma-Tademy’s work for the Polish cause.

1st Polish Rifle Regiment in France During the Great War

The article presents a fragment of the history of the 1st Polish Rifle Regiment, the first independent unit that was a part of the Polish Army in France (also known as the Blue Army or the Army of General Józef Haller). The unit was organized in January 1918 and the only Polish formation of Blue Army of that period that participated in the final stages of the Great War on the Western Front. The paper’s chronological scope covers the period from the formation of the regiment in January 1918 to the end of the war in November 1918. The 1st Polish Rifle Regiment together with the Polish Army in France provided enormous support for the Polish Army during the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Soviet wars. The article is divided into parts corresponding to the various stages of regiment’s service in France during the Great War – formation and training, stay at the front in Champagne, joining the 1st Polish Rifle Division, and filling a section of the front in the Vosges. The paper is based on primary sources available in the Central Military Archives in Warsaw, the Archives of Modern Records, memories and diaries, and French regulations and their Polish translations. Critical analysis method was used to analyze the sources.

From November to November. The consensual parting of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Poles

The author of the text analyses the reasons why Poles from Galicia, southern Poland, departed from the so-called Austro-Polish conception and matured towards the ideal of full independence. He draws attention to the significance of the Act of 5 November 1916 for the initiation of emancipation processes among Poles living under the Habsburg rule.