Jozef Pilsudski, King of Poland? Restoring the Elected Monarchy

Polish Eagle · Sep 20, 2016

Is it at all possible for the Second Polish Republic to model itself more explicitly on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, complete with an elected monarchy (in practice, more like a President for Life, but with a title, and much more power over the Sejm)? And, if so, how possible would it be for Jozef Pilsudski to be elected King?

There was some monarchism in the second republic (support for naming Nicholas of Romania as King, according to Wikipedia), but could romantic appeals to the legacy of the Commonwealth have made it stronger?

Insider · Sep 20, 2016

This requires ASB to generate enough support, and then again enough ASB to make Piłsudzski agree to this and live to see coronation. (His socialist buddies from PPS could have some problems with accepting him as a king)

Blackfox5 · Sep 20, 2016

Monarchy would more likely divide the nation than unite it by this time, so I doubt Pilsudski would seek the crown.

GlobalHumanism · Sep 20, 2016

Blackfox5 said:
Monarchy would more likely divide the nation than unite it by this time, so I doubt Pilsudski would seek the crown.

Exactly. plus Pilsudski was working on bigger fish at the time. ..

See Intermarium

yourworstnightmare · Sep 21, 2016

Maybe not king, but could he perhaps take model from Hungary and become Regent.

seraphim74 · Sep 21, 2016

yourworstnightmare said:
Maybe not king, but could he perhaps take model from Hungary and become Regent.

AFAIK such an idea was discussed among Polish monarchists: Piłsudski was to dissolve the Sejm and proclaim himself King of Poland or become Regent of Poland and choose the right candidate for Polish throne. However, the monarchists were quickly disappointed with Piłsudski. Also, among many problems with him as a king was a fact he didn't have a male successor and obviously Polish monarchists were not prepared for a queen as a ruling monarch. The election of another king, after Piłsudski's death, was not a popular concept - monarchists prefered a stable dynasty on the throne.
Generally there were various conceptions concerning restitution of monarchy in Poland. Some proposed offering the crown to a member of some Polish aristocratic family - most popular candidates were from Czartoryski family. Others wanted to invite a foreign dynasty: while a German dynasty were somewhat problematic because of partitions, the most popular choice among them were Wettin family, with 2 kings of Poland in its history; others wanted to offer the crown to a member of a Belgian branch of Coburg dynasty (also of German origin, but respected for its behaviour during WW1) or Italian Savoia dynasty.
Generally, however, IIRC the idea of Polish monarchy was not very popular among Poles themselves. Polish monarchists were relatively small group, which, while quite active, didn't enjoy any major support. Personally I belive that might be because after partitions Poles had to live under 3 foreign monarchs and in many minds king/emperor/tsar was equal to an oppressor.

Polish Eagle · Sep 21, 2016

[QUOTE="seraphim74, post: 13172629, member: 1753]Also, among many problems with him as a king was a fact he didn't have a male successor and obviously Polish monarchists were not prepared for a queen as a ruling monarch. [/QUOTE]

Didn't Anna Jagiellon at least set a precedent for female kings? Both the Pilsudski daughters would still be too young to rule on their own (at least initially), but they could follow her example, couldn't they?

Can you cite some sources on interwar Polish monarchism? Particularly the discussion of crowning Pilsudski?

Zaius · Sep 21, 2016

Polish Eagle said:
There was some monarchism in the second republic (support for naming Nicholas of Romania as King, according to Wikipedia), but could romantic appeals to the legacy of the Commonwealth have made it stronger?

The Commonwealth was remembered for the weakness of the monarchy which made the freedoms of its citizens possible. So the institution of monarchy in itself would not really be seen as a return to the old traditions. Also, as Seraphim says, in Piłsudski's time most Poles lived under oppressive monarchies.

seraphim74 · Sep 21, 2016

Polish Eagle said:
[QUOTE="seraphim74, post: 13172629, member: 1753]Also, among many problems with him as a king was a fact he didn't have a male successor and obviously Polish monarchists were not prepared for a queen as a ruling monarch.

Didn't Anna Jagiellon at least set a precedent for female kings? Both the Pilsudski daughters would still be too young to rule on their own (at least initially), but they could follow her example, couldn't they?

Can you cite some sources on interwar Polish monarchism? Particularly the discussion of crowning Pilsudski?[/QUOTE]

Concerning sources: I can barely remember. There is a book by Jacek Majchrowski "Ugrupowania monarchistyczne w latach Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej" (Kraków, 1988). There is also a decent text on Polish Wikipedia, based on the book, with mentioned articles from inter-war Polish monarchist press.
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukcesja_tronu_w_Polsce
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukcesja_tronu_w_Polsce
About Anna Jagiellon - the precedent was even older. Hedwig (Jadwiga) was crowned as KING of Poland in 1384. However in both cases Polish nobles quickly found them husbands. Those husbands (Władysław II Jagiełło and Stefan Batory) actually ruled, not thier wives. So again, there would be a problem with finding them acceptable husbands. Remember, that from POV of foreign royal families, Piłsudskis would not have been considered royalty.