Polity · 1919 CE – 1939 CE
Second Polish Republic
Rzeczpospolita Polska · II Rzeczpospolita
- Peak recorded area
- 388,378 km²
- 1921 CE
- Rulers on record
- 1
- from 1918 CE
- Data series
- 65
- 1919 CE–1939 CE
Overview
The Second Polish Republic, officially known at the time as the Republic of Poland, was the Polish state that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939 after being established in the final stage of World War I. The Second Republic was taken over in 1939, after it was invaded by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic, marking the beginning of the European theatre of the Second World War.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
6 dated territorial extents on record from CShapes 2.0. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. Cliopatria holds 5 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1939 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population27 obs · 1820 CE–1939 CE | 31.4Mpersons1939 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Urban Population22 obs · 1918 CE–1939 CE | 3.9Mpersons1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| City Pop Warsaw12 obs · 1750 CE–1925 CE | 1Mpersons1925 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Lvov10 obs · 1750 CE–1925 CE | 230Kpersons1925 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Gdansk8 obs · 1745 CE–1925 CE | 226Kpersons1925 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| Height Men8 obs · 1840 CE–1930 CE | 173cm1930 CE · Clio-Infra |
Economy
4 of 5 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita185 obs · 1719 CE–1938 CE | 3,4782011 int'l $1938 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP per capita PPP140 obs · 1800 CE–1939 CE | 4,695int'l $ (inflation adj.)1939 CE · Gapminder |
| Real Wage100 obs · 1820 CE–1938 CE | 13.61index (1500=1)1938 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Income Inequality Gini6 obs · 1820 CE–1929 CE | 26.29gini (0-1)1929 CE · Clio-Infra |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score22 obs · 1918 CE–1939 CE | 0.0183CINC (share of world capability)1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption22 obs · 1918 CE–1939 CE | 23.9Mcoal-ton equivalents1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production22 obs · 1918 CE–1939 CE | 504Ktons1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel21 obs · 1919 CE–1939 CE | 275Kpersons1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure20 obs · 1920 CE–1939 CE | 968.5Mcurrent USD1939 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production40 obs · 1900 CE–1939 CE | 152.9TWh1939 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production40 obs · 1900 CE–1939 CE | 3.9TWh1939 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production40 obs · 1900 CE–1939 CE | 6.11TWh1939 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Rule Of Law Index89 obs · 1789 CE–1938 CE | 0.812index (0-1)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Electoral Democracy Index87 obs · 1789 CE–1938 CE | 0.28index (0-1)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index87 obs · 1789 CE–1938 CE | 0.107index (0-1)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index86 obs · 1789 CE–1938 CE | 0.214index (0-1)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity222 obs · 1918 CE–1939 CE | 0index (-10 to 10)1939 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type21 obs · 1918 CE–1938 CE | 1RoW index (0-3)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 15 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index89 obs · 1789 CE–1938 CE | 0.495index (0-1)1938 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Mail Items19 obs · 1920 CE–1938 CE | 547items1938 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph19 obs · 1920 CE–1938 CE | 3.8count1938 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Electricity Production17 obs · 1923 CE–1939 CE | 4.1BGWh1939 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm17 obs · 1922 CE–1938 CE | 22.4Ktonne-km1938 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km17 obs · 1922 CE–1938 CE | 20.4Kkm1938 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
1 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Józef Piłsudskichief of state (Poland)1918 CE – 1922 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Polish
- Currency
- złoty (PLZ), Polish marka
Memberships
- France–Poland Defense Pact (1921)Military alliance · member1921 CE – 1939 CE
- Poland–Romania Defense Pact (1921)Military alliance · member1921 CE – 1939 CE
- France–Poland Defense Pact (1925)Military alliance · member1925 CE – 1939 CE
- Poland–Yugoslavia Entente (1926)Historical alliance · member1926 CE – 1939 CE
- Poland–Russia Non-Aggression Pact (1932)Historical alliance · member1932 CE – 1939 CE
- Germany–Poland Non-Aggression Pact (1934)Historical alliance · member1934 CE – 1939 CE
- United Kingdom–Poland Defense Pact (1939)Military alliance · member1939 CE – 1939 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban PopulationChandler 1987 / Modelski 2003
Chandler, T. (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth; Modelski, G. (2003). World Cities: -3000 to 2000.
Compiled from published works (Chandler 1987; Modelski 2003)
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
CShapes 2.02.0
Schvitz, G. et al. (2022). Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset. Journal of Conflict Resolution 66(1).
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Second Polish Republic is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.