Council for Defence of the Nation
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Council for Defence of the Nation (Polish: Rada Obrony Państwa) was an extraordinary and temporary governmental body created by Sejm of the Second Polish Republic with a decree on 1 July 1920.
At that time Poland was facing defeat in the hands of the Bolsheviks, with Red Army approaching Warsaw. The Council was intended to act as a body able to make quicker decision than the Sejm. It was fully authorized to take decisions regarding carrying and ending the war.
Its members consited of:
- Naczelnik państwa (Leader of the State) - Józef Piłsudski, who chaired the Council
- prime minister of Poland - Wincenty Witos - acting as the chair deputy
- marshal of the Sejm
- 10 deputies selected by the Sejm, representing main political parties
- 3 ministers selected by the Council of Ministers
- 3 representatives of the military selected by Naczelnik. They varied depenended on the specific military matter being discuted.
Naczelnik had the competences to call the meetings of the council, chair them, decide the subject.
The council had very general competences, which was a purposeful move in order to give the council wide autonomy and lessen any bureaucratic obstalces on its way. Its decisions were to be carried immediately.
[edit] Further reading
- Piotr Krzysztof Marszałek. Rada Obrony Panstwa z 1920 roku: studium prawnohistoryczne. Wrocław: Wrocław University. ISBN 8322912145.
