Pierwszy projekt ustanowienia dnia 11 listopada Narodowym Świętem Niepodległości
The first proposal of establishing November 11 as the National Independence Day

Summary/Abstract: The proposal of establishing November 11 as the Polish Liberation Day, stored in the Central Military Archives of the Military Historical Bureau of Lieutenant-General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, is the first document clearly determining on which day the Republic of Poland regained independence. Although the project fell through after heated debates on the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, it indicates that already then – little more than eight months after 11th November 1918 – the significance of the historic events that had happened was recognized. In view of the abundance of other proposals presented by various political parties and options, the one discussed here is important inasmuch as its actual realization – although initially unofficial – took place in the whole interwar period and was continued through anniversary articles in illegal underground pamphlets in the period of World War II and the so-called Polish People’s Republic. Nowadays – since 1989 – National Independence Day is celebrated festively on November 11. On the centenary of the historic events of 1918, it is therefore necessary to refer to the first proposal of establishing that day as a public holiday and remind the historic role of General Sosnkowski – the author of the project.

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