CHANGES IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL STRUCTURE OF THE SECOND POLISH- LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH: THE FORMATION OF THE VOLHYNIAN VOIVODESHIP

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical generalization about the issues of the restoration of Poland (the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) as a new European state, which emerged in the political space of the world on November 11, 1918. The emphasis is laid on the institutional changes in the structure of Poland. These changes concern firstly, the formation of new administrative structures and administrative-territorial division of the new state caused by the three empires’ collapse. The national and state policy of the Polish Republic, formed in difficult socio-political conditions, is considered not only in the context of internal but also general European circumstances that had determined its future development, prospects, and borders. The author highlights the issue of the formation process of a new administrative-territorial structure (voivodeship), which was previously part of the Russian zaimanshchina (land ownership acquired by the right of the first occupation of free land), in particular the lands of Western Volhynia, Polissia, and the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. The role and significance of the newly-attached voivodship structures for the final administrative-territorial structure formation of the Second Polish Republic are clarified. The study reveals and argues the essence of the concepts of Russian zaimanshchina and eastern kressy (boundaries). The research scope is the period of establishment of the Polish governmental bodies in Volhyn through the functioning of such structure as the Volhynian County Administration, which operated within the Civil Administration of the Volhynian Land and the Podolsk Front. The author highlights the importance of the Polish state police and other police structures of Volhynian Voivodeship, the sources of their recruitment in the context of socio-political processes in the region. The responsibility of the Polish State Police in the Volhynian Voivodeship was guarding the Volhynia section of the eastern border of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the period of 1921-1925, the Volhynian region became the scene of subversive and terrorist activities by Bolshevik armed forces, which constantly provoked a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and the Bolshevik state. The police were subordinated to the representatives of the state administration, elders and voivodes, representatives of the prosecutor’s office, representatives of the judiciary, and others.