Polish Statehood and the Jews: Reflections on the Centenary of Polish Independence

Abstract

ABSTRACT The reemergence of the Polish state after 130 years of foreign rule (from 1795 to 1918) was the most obvious example of the triumph of the principle of nationality in the post-First World War settlement. The new state, with a population of nearly 26 million, was the largest and most powerful in East Central Europe, and there was a widespread feeling that, with the shedding of foreign rule, Poland would soon be able to take its place as a highly developed European country. This article reflects on the conditions that made possible the emergence of this state, and what effect independence had on the Polish Jewish community, at the time the world's second-largest Jewish community (after the United States).