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In this video, we take a deep look at the strange history of the Kingdom of Poland which was proclaimed in the middle of the First World War. It was supposed to become a German puppet state, but eventually went nowhere and destroyed the hopes of many people. We will discuss, how the German Empire developed the idea of an independent Polish state, why it failed to deliver up on its promises and why it still mattered in the creation of an actually independent Poland.

Literature:
Borodziej, Włodzimierz: Geschichte Polens im 20. Jahrhundert, Munich 2010.
Davies, Norman: God's playground. A History of Poland, Volume 2 1795 to the Present, Oxford 1981.
Dowling, Timothy C.: Eastern Front, in: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, https://encyclopedia.19141918online... (accessed on 25.01.2024).
Kauffman, Jesse: Elusive alliance. The German Occupation of Poland in World War I, Cambridge (Mass.) 2015.
Kühn, Hartmut Michael: Polen im Ersten Weltkrieg. Der Kampf um einen polnischen Staat bis zu dessen Neugründung 1918/1919, Berlin 2018.
Lemke, Heinz: Allianz und Rivalität. Die Mittelmächte und Polen im Ersten Weltkrieg, Vienna et al. 1977.
Shubin, Aleksandr: The Treaty of BrestLitovsk. Russia and Ukraine, in: Lithuanian Historical Studies 13 (2008), pp. 75100.
Spät, Robert: Für eine gemeinsame deutschpolnische Zukunft? Hans Hartwig von Beseler als Generalgouverneur in Polen 19151918, in: Zeitschrift für OstmitteleuropaForschung 58 (2009), Nr. 4, pp. 469500.
Steglich, Wolfgang & Winterhager, Wilhelm E.: Die Polenproklamation vom 5. November 1916, in: Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift 23 (1978), Nr. 1, pp. 105146.

Sources:
Deutsche Warschauer Zeitung, 10.11.1916

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:17 Germany and Russia at each other’s Throats
3:30 The Occupation of Poland
5:15 AustroPolish Solution
7:27 Mitteleuropa
8:37 The Proclamation of the Kingdom of Poland
9:57 Hans von Beseler
12:30 Political Problems
16:29 Disappointment
18:30 The End
20:33 The Kingdom of Poland in German Memory
21:50 Outro