1919 Polish parliamentary election

January 2024 none Second Polish Republic 1919 1922 All 394 seats in Legislative Sejm 198 1919 1 26 yes yes Wojciech Korfanty Popular National Union 140 28.96 Błażej Stolarski Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" new 59 15.05 Izaak Grünbaum ŻRN #9A535B New 11 10.80 Ignacy Daszyński Polish Socialist Party New 35 9.23 Wincenty Witos Polish People's Party "Piast" (1913–1931) New 46 4.17 Józef Ostachowski pl Polish People's Union New 35 3.80 Jan Stapiński pl Polish People's Party "Left" New 12 3.54 Leon Wałęga pl Catholic People's Party (Poland) New 18 1.83 − German lists black New 2 1.73 Stanisław Nowicki pl Stanisław Nowicki (drukarz) National Workers' Union (Poland) New 32 1.21 − Independents New 4 15.47 400px Results by constituency President of Ministers Ignacy Jan Paderewski Independent politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski Independent politician Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 26 January 1919, electing the first Sejm of the Second Polish Republic. The elections, based on universal suffrage and proportional representation, was the first free election in the country's history. It produced a parliament balanced between the right, left and centre, although the elections were boycotted by the Polish communists and the Jewish Bund. In the territories where the election took place, voter turnout was from 70% to 90%. Right-wing parties won 50% of votes, left-wing parties around 30%, and Jewish organisations more than 10%. Background In 1919, the borders of the newly restored Polish state were not yet established. As a result, the government of Poland led by Jozef Pilsudski had problems creating the electoral districts. Upon a decree, signed by Pilsudski on 28 November 1918, Poland was divided into several districts, some of whom were not even part of the country. The list of these districts presents a declaration of Polish territorial claims rather than real situation of late 1918. It covers the whole territory of the Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918), formerly Russian Belostok Oblast, as well as whole former Austrian province of Galicia, even though its eastern part was area of a conflict between Poles and Ukrainians (see Polish–Ukrainian War). The situation was even more complicated in the West, in territories which had belonged to the German Empire. Polish legislators created there several electoral districts, even in lands that never became part of the Second Polish Republic. Thus, apart from districts of Poznań, Toruń, Kartuzy, Katowice, and Gostyń, the government stipulated creation of districts in such locations, as Bytom (Beuthen), Nysa, Złotów (Flatow), Gdańsk (Danzig), and Olsztyn (Allenstein). The 1919 election was not organised in these areas, as they remained part of Germany until 1945. Furthermore, Polish legislators wanted the election to be organised in whole Cieszyn Silesia (see also Trans-Olza). Therefore, districts were created there in Cieszyn and Frýdek-Místek. Also, the Nowy Targ district covered several communes of Orawa, and Spisz, with such towns, as Kežmarok, Stará Ľubovňa, and Spišská Nová Ves (these locations had been part of Poland until the late 18th century). Results File:Poland Sejm 1919.svg Popular National Union 1616157 140 #808080 Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" 839914 59 Jewish National Council 602927 11 Polish Socialist Party 515062 35 Peasants' Lists 234399 0 Polish People's Party "Piast" 232983 46 Polish People's Union 212097 35 Polish People's Party "Left" 197838 12 Catholic People's Party 102292 18 German National Minority 96677 2 National Workers' Union 67285 32 Local lists and independents 863349 4 Independent Nohlen & Stöver Aftermath The resulting parliament came to be known as the Legislative Sejm (Sejm Ustawodawczy). Among the first tasks of the Sejm was creation of the constitution, and the Small Constitution of 1919 was ratified ten days after the first session, on 20 February 1919. In 1921 parliament ratified the more comprehensive but also more controversial—supported by the Right, opposed by the Left—March Constitution of PolandJuly 2019. References Dieter Nohlen Philip Stöver Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook https://books.google.com/books?id=zUbQRQAACAAJ 6 November 2012 31 May 2010 Nomos 978-3-8329-5609-7 1491 80th Anniversary of inauguration of the Polish ParliamentMarch 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes Sejm of Poland Further reading A. J. Groth, Polish Elections 1919-1928, Slavic Review, Vol. 24, No. 4 (December 1965), pp653–665 Hubert Zawadzki A Concise History of Poland p223 External links results https://archive.today/20130113121005/http://wiadomosci.polska.pl/kalendarz/kalendarium/article.htm?id=35296 Wybory do Sejmu Ustawodawczego Data: 26 stycznia 1919 el pl Category:Parliamentary elections in Poland Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Poland Parliamentary