Republika Ostrowska
| Republic of Ostrów | ||||||||||
| Republika Ostrowska | ||||||||||
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| Capital | Ostrów Wielkopolski | |||||||||
| Government | Republic | |||||||||
| Historical era | World War I | |||||||||
| • | Established | 10 November 1918 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 26 November 1918 | ||||||||
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The Republic of Ostrów (Polish: Republika Ostrowska) was a short-lived autonomous republic in the Polish area of Ostrów Wielkopolski. The republic, declared on 10 November 1918, intended to liberate Poles from Prussia and the German Empire. It was formed about a month before the Greater Poland Uprising.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria during the 18th century. In the second partition, the Greater Poland region, including the town of Ostrów were annexed by Prussia. Throughout the 19th century and into the start of the 20th, the town and the region were a center of the Polish independence movement.
During the autumn of 1918, the imminent defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War and the dissolution of the Russian Empire following the Russian Revolution raised the possibility that an independent Polish state could be restored. Although the Second Polish Republic was established in early November, the question of the Greater Poland region remained unresolved. As a consequence, various Polish organizations began planning for an armed uprising to ensure that the area would become part of the new Polish state.
In Ostrów, a Citizens' Committee was formed by local Poles in September 1918, which then prepared for a takeover of the city's administration. After the outbreak of revolution in Germany, local German workers began to form their own committees and a Soldiers' Council was created on November 10 by the German troops stationed locally. On the same day, Poles in Ostrów created two organizations of their own: the People's Committee and a youth group called the Emergency Communication Services. These were joined by the 1st Regiment of Polish Infantry based in the city.
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Wikipedia