Protokoły i raporty zebrań wojewodów i starostów - województwo wileńskie

ENThe creation of a new political entity (Central Lithuania) necessitated organizing its administrative units differently from other areas of the north-eastern territories of the Second Republic of Poland, which in February 1921 started to be divided into provinces and smaller administrative units (starostwo). Central Lithuania had the Temporary Ruling Commission of Central Lithuania led by Witold Abramowicz. This short-lived entity was not a state according to an international law and in the international arena it was represented by Poland. At the turn of 1920 and 1921 a political crisis led to abandoning further attempts to build a separate state and instead, a gradual incorporation of Central Lithuania into the Second Republic of Poland became a priority. General Lucjan Żeligowski scheduled elections to the Vilnius Parliament on January 8 1922. As a result, supporters of full inclusion gained an overall advantage. On March 24 1922 the Parliament of the Second Republic of Poland adopted a resolution that authorized the incorporation of Vilnius Region to Poland. On November 7, 1922 the Vilnius Administrative District and its leader, the Government Delegate for Poland were established. Although the Delegate and the province governor exercised the same power, Polish authorities in Warsaw did not decide at this stage to use the words „province” and „province governor”. Officially Vilnius Province was established on December 22 1925. Its creation finished the process of unifying all north-eastern territories within one country.The province was to follow the same administrative rules as other provinces. In the early 1930s the organizational structure of the Vilnius Provincial Office reflected other provinces: I – The General Department, II – The Security Department, III – The Department of the Local Government, IV – The Administration Department, V – The Department of Public Health, VI – The Department of Military Affairs, VII – The Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, VIII – The Department of Industry, IX – The Directorate of Public Works, X – Department of Labour and Social Welfare. The organization of office work in No-Vogrodok and smaller administrative units was very similar. Local administrators regularly met the provincial governor and thus the local administrative work was smooth and effective. Vilnius Province, except for metropolitan Vilnius, in terms of socio-economic development did not differ from the other two north-eastern provinces of the Second Republic of Poland (Novogrodok and Polesye). Additionally, World War I and the Polish-Bolshevik conflict affected them in a similar way. The state authorities were unable to carry out the land reform as this would mean taking farms from Polish landlords and giving them mostly to Belarusian peasants. They sought to improve the economic situation by regrouping, drainage or eliminating easements. Vilnius Province lacked a developed industry that could absorb a surplus of rural population and, consequently, improve its living conditions. Road infrastructure needed to be heavily financed too. [...].