The outbreak of World War I gave Poland chance to regain freedom. All three of the occupying powers experienced defeat in the Big War. Russia was plunged into the confusion of revolution and civil war, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and went into decline, and the German Empire bowed to pressure from the forces of the Entente. For Poles, this was a unique opportunity to reclaim their independence. First the Polish Liquidation Committee was formed on the 28 October 1918 in Kraków. It seized power from the Austrians in Galicia and parts of Silesia. On the 6 and 7 of November the Provisional Government of the People’s Republic of Poland was formed in Lublin with representatives from different parties.
On 11th November 1918 general Józef Piłsudski was appointed Commander in Chief and Poland reappeared on the map of Europe after 123 years. The Second Polish Republic was established. In 1920 the young state stopped the massive Soviet invasion aimed at Western Europe in the battle of Warsaw.