Polish Independence Day
| National Independence Day | |
|---|---|
|
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| Observed by | Poland |
| Significance | To commemorate the recovery of a sovereign state by the Poles in 1918 |
| Celebrations | fireworks, family reunions, concerts, parades |
| Date | 11 November |
| Next time | 11 November 2017 |
| Frequency | annual |
National Independence Day (Polish: Narodowe Święto Niepodległości) is a national day in Poland celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland's sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918, after 123 years of partition by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Empire. It is a non-working day in Poland.
The restoration of Poland's independence was gradual. The 11 November date chosen is the one on which Józef Piłsudski assumed control of Poland. The holiday was constituted in 1937 and was celebrated only twice before World War II. After the war, the communist authorities of the People's Republic removed Independence Day from the calendar, though reclamation of independence continued to be celebrated informally on 11 November. The holiday was officially replaced by the National Day of Poland's Revival as Poland's National Day, celebrated on the 22 July anniversary of the communist PKWN Manifesto under Josef Stalin. As Poland emerged from Soviet-influenced communism in 1989, the original holiday—on its original 11 November date—was restored.
The date corresponds to the date of other countries' Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, or Veterans Day. All of these holidays and Polish Independence Day are indirectly related because they all emerged from the circumstances at the end of World War I. In other countries, holidays were established in the spirit of grief and horror at the enormous human cost of the war, and they mark the sacrifices of those who fought. For Poland, however, the tragedy of the war was tempered by what had been accomplished at its end: the restoration of a sovereign Polish state that had been lost entirely in the partitions of Poland, after 123 years of struggle. The Polish holiday is therefore simultaneously a celebration of the reemergence of a Polish state and a commemoration of those who fought for it.
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Wikipedia