Regency Council (Poland)

The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland (Polish: Rada Regencyjna, or Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego) was a semi-independent and temporarily appointed highest authority (head of state) in partitioned Poland during World War I.

It was formed by Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary within historically Polish lands in September 1917 after dissolution of the previous authority – Provisional Council of State (January – August 1917), due to the oath crisis.

[1] That same month, the council took over the command of the Polska Siła Zbrojna armed forces.

The members of the Regency Council included: Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski, archbishop of Warsaw; Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski, president (mayor) of Warsaw; and landowner Józef Ostrowski, conservative politician, former chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in St. Petersburg.

In spite of this, Council made some crucial decisions, like creation of Dziennik Ustaw - most important Polish publication of legal acts, still functioning.