On 27 December 1918 in Poznań, during the visit of Ignacy Jan Paderewski returning to Poland, the Greater Poland Uprising broke out — the only successful insurrection of this scale in the history of our homeland.
Yesterday afternoon, shortly before four o’clock, detachments of armed German soldiers from the barracks in Jeżyce of the 6th Grenadier Regiment, numbering about 200, led by an officer, singing German songs, burst into the building of the Supreme People’s Council, tearing down British, American and French banners there. Continuing their march through Święty Marcin, Wiktorii Street, Berlińska Street and Wilhelmowski Square, they did the same, breaking into private houses particularly on Berlińska Street and tearing down coalition, American and Polish flags from balconies, which they trampled underfoot. The provocative behaviour of the German aggressors drew out the Polish population, unprepared for the attack and provocation, who poured out into the streets. Meanwhile, the German soldiers reached the Union Bank, where they tore down and desecrated British and American banners, and there the first shot was fired at the directors, which fortunately missed (…). As darkness fell, the German soldiers began firing from the direction of the Police Presidium. The Germans set up two machine guns there and amid the general panic of the startled population opened fire towards the “Bazar” Hotel, among other targets at the windows where Paderewski was staying, bedridden after contracting the Spanish flu on the ship (…). On the Polish side, there was initially no response; attempts were made to reach some agreement and avoid bloodshed. However, when the shots did not cease, when a number of people were wounded, the People’s Guard began to return fire and took security measures to protect passers-by — this is how the events of those days were reported in the Kurier Poznański No. 298 of 29 December 1918.
Thanks to the Greater Poland Uprising, which ended with the Armistice of Trier extending the principles of the Armistice of Compiègne to the insurgent front, the western border was secured and the cradle of Polish statehood was incorporated into the reborn homeland.
The moral significance of this victory proved to compatriots from other territories that the effort put into fighting for the homeland could end in spectacular success. Furthermore, the experience, valour and equipment of the Greater Poland Army provided a solid foundation for the later defence of the western border and also made it possible to send units to the fronts of the Polish-Bolshevik War (1919–1921). The people of Greater Poland bravely participated in these operations, fighting both for the maintenance of independence and for the shaping of the eastern border.
It is impossible to overlook the fact that during the Battle of Ławica in 1919, the insurgents captured the largest war booty in the thousand-year history of the Polish military.
One of the key battles of the Greater Poland Uprising was the capture of the German military airfield at Ławica on 6 January 1919. The insurgents achieved a swift victory in an assault lasting just 20 minutes. Aviation equipment worth 200 million German marks fell into their hands.
The capture of the airfield had been a strategic objective from the very beginning of the uprising. A key role in the preparations was played by Sergeant Wiktor Pniewski, who organised the conspiracy within the military unit on the orders of the Polish Combat Organisation of the Prussian Partition. After the capture of Ławica, the insurgents seized aircraft, bomb supplies and other equipment, which became the foundation for Polish military aviation.
Already in January, the German markings on the aircraft were replaced with the white-and-red chequerboard, four squadrons were formed, and some of the machines were sent to Warsaw.
The captured aircraft played an important role in subsequent fighting, including the Polish-Bolshevik War. The memory of these events is commemorated by a monument at the present-day Ławica Airport.
The Greater Poland Uprising in numbers:
