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The rise of the Polish state in 1918 greatly changed the geographical position of present Podlaskie Voivodeship. However, the liberation of our voivodeship proceeded in a differently compared to the rest of Poland. In November 1918, only the west part of Podlaskie attained Voivodeship independence. The remaining parts were gradually, as the German Army withdrew from the east, retrieved by the Polish Army. This process ended in the summer of 1919.
By virtue of a seym act, on August 2 Bialostockie Voivodeship was established. It covered almost the entire territory of three provinces: Grodzienska, Łomzynska and Suwalska. The capital of the voivodeship was the largest city – Bialystok. Within the area of the voivodeship there were 15 administrative districts and 3 province cities: Grodno, Lomza and Suwalki. On November 19 1919 head of state Józef Piłsudski appointed Stefan Bądzyński Voivode of Białystok. The period of the II Republic of Poland was characterized by progressive reconstruction and economic development of the voivodeship. Also in the cultural field destruction caused by war as well as the invader policy were eliminated. Theaters were introduced, debates were organized and publishing activity was revived in our voivodeship. The press and cinema experienced particular growth.
World War II is the most tragic period in the history of our region. On September 1 1939 Germans attacked Poland. From the early hours on the area of Podlaskie voivodeship the battles began. In Podlasie the defense was led by the Independent Operation Group “Narew”. German domination was so extensive that the Polish Army was forced to withdraw to the southeasterly direction. The toughest battles were fought near Wizna, Nowogard and Lomza. Unfortunately, already on September 12, Germans took over the capital of the voivodeship – Bialystok. An additional blow to our army was the Red Army invasion. By virtue of a Russian-German agreement ( The “Ribentrop – Mołotow” Pact ) from the, September, 17 the eastern lands of the Republic of Poland became an object of aggression of the Russian army. On the September 22, 1939 the Germans directed Bialystok city to the Russian authorities after which a common procession took place. The voivodeship was incorporated into the Belarussian Socialist Russian Republic. Only the suwalskie area was made part of Germany.
Despite an only two year Russian regime tragic consequences were observed in the history of this region. This period was characterized by the powerful regime of NKWD – an everlasting process of arrests and sentencing people to Siberia. On the June 22, 1941 Germany attacked the USRR. After a couple of days, the Russian Army was displaced from the area of the present voivodeship by the Germans. One month later by virtue of Hitler’s decrees Bezirk Bialystok was established. It covered almost the whole area of Podlaskie voivodeship except Suwalki which was earlier made part of Eastern Prussia. After the end of the war Bialystok was also supposed to join Eastern Prussia and undergo germanization. The years between 1941 – 1944 were characterized by ruthless economic exploitation, terror among civilians and the complete extermination of Jewish people.
Both invaders, aimed at the destruction and limitation of Polish culture development, perceived it as a great threat to their authority. Occupation caused great loss among people connected with culture. Many of them were murdered and others were forced to leave the country for several years.
From the first days of the Russian occupation, in autumn 1939, the first conspiracy organizations were created, whose main goal was to defeat the invaders. The Home Army played the most important role. Apart from the Home Army, other military organizations, such as the National Armed Forces, the Peasant Battalions and other smaller organizations operated in the area.
On July 27, 1944, after a two day struggle, Bialystok was occupied by the Russian Army and by the end of October, the German Army left our region. Only lands to the north of Narwia were left under German occupation, until the January offensive in 1945.
After World War II, eastern lands, lying outside the newly established eastern border, did not return to bialostockie voivodeship. At the same time the voivodeship was extended by such administrative units from Eastern Prussia as: Goldap, Olecko and Elk. The voivodeship existed in this configuration until the administrative reform in 1975, when the borders of the voivodeship were moved once again. As a result of this division three new voivodeships were created: Bialostockie, Suwalskie and Lomzynskie.
In 1999, a following administrative change took place. With reference to the historical name of the region Podlaskie Voivodeship was created. The present voivodeship consists of the following previously existing voivodeships: Bialostockie, almost all of Lomzynskie and some parts of Suwalskie. The new voivodeship has many advantages. One of the most important is its ability to link together subregions of a different economic, agricultural, tourism and cultural character.
Sources: wrotapodlasia.pl; kochamyzulawy.wordpress.com;
