Lublin Voivodeship (1919–1939)

Lublin Voivodeship
Wojewodztwo lubelskie
Voivodeship of Poland
1919–1939

Location of the Lublin Voivodeship (red)
within the Second Polish Republic, 1938.
CapitalLublin
Area 
• 1921
31,123 km2 (12,017 sq mi)
• 1939
26,555 km2 (10,253 sq mi)
Population 
• 1921
2,087,951
• 1931
2,116,200
Government
 • TypeVoivodeship
Voivode  
• 1919–1926
Stanisław Moskalewski
• 1937–1939
Jerzy Albin de Tramecourt
History 
• Established
14 August 1919
1 April 1938
• Annexed by Germany
September 1939
Political subdivisions16 powiats, 29 cities
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Russian Empire
General Government

Lublin Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Lubelskie) was a unit of administrative division of the Second Polish Republic between the two world wars, in the years 1919–1939. The province's capital and biggest city was Lublin.

Location and area

The Voivodeship was founded by the decree of Polish Parliament Sejm of 14 August 1919.[1] In the years 1919–1939 (unlike today), Lublin Voivodeship covered the central part of interwar Poland – the heartland of the country – bordering Białystok Voivodeship (1919–39) to the north, Warsaw Voivodeship and Kielce Voivodeship to the west, Lwów Voivodeship to the south and Polesie Voivodeship as well as Volhynian Voivodeship to the east. Its area, after April 1, 1938 (see: Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938) was 26,555 km2. Landscape was flat and hilly in the south, forests covered only 16.6% of the area (with nation's average of 22.2%, as for January 1, 1937).

Demographics

According to the Polish census of 1921 which was the First General Census in the Second Polish Republic following World War I (conducted by the Main Bureau of Statistics, see originals),[2] the population of Lublin Voivodeship could be categorized by both location and religious beliefs in the following way.[2][3]

# County Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Jewish Other
1 Biała Podl. 37,239 (62.6%) 9,551 (16%) 11 550 (19.4%) 1 180 (2%)
2 Biłgoraj 65,889 (72.4%) 15,883 (17.5%) 9,056 (9.9%) 188 (0.2%)
3 Chełm 68,770 (56.6%) 24,701 (20.3%) 19,912 (16.4%) 8,092 (6.7%)
4 Garwolin 117,391 (85.2%) 126 (0.1%) 17,772 (12.9%) 2,488 (1.8%)
5 Hrubieszów 50,735 (48.9%) 38,468 (37%) 13,967 (13.5%) 671 (0.6%)
6 Janów 117,368 (89.3%) 697 (0.5%) 13,407 (10.2%) 30 (0.02%)
7 Konstantynów 53,667 (82.5%) 4,012 (6.2%) 7,241 (11.1%) 135 (0.2%)
8 Krasnystaw 102,016 (87.1%) 4,149 (3.5%) 10,493 (9.0%) 422 (0.4%)
9 Lubartów 83,732 (87%) 1,197 (1.2%) 9,669 (10%) 1,645 (1.7%)
10 Lublin (city) 55,610 (58.9%) 514 (0.5%) 37,337 (39.5%) 951 (1%)
11 Lublin (distr.) 128,303 (91.7%) 910 (0.7%) 9,608 (6.9%) 1,079 (0.8%)
12 Łuków 107,604 (87.3%) 932 (0.8%) 14,185 (11.5%) 552 (0.4%)
13 Puławy 129,281 (86.8%) 206 (0.1%) 19,296 (12.9%) 238 (0.2%)
14 Radzyń 70,976 (80.3%) 1,862 (2.1%) 14,765 (16.7%) 778 (0.9%)
15 Siedlce 76,446 (77.6%) 851 (0.9%) 18,821 (19.1%) 2,345 (2.4%)
16 Sokołów 67,224 (88.4%) 420 (0.6%) 8,294 (10.9%) 141 (0.2%)
17 Tomaszów 57,869 (62.4%) 22,389 (24.1%) 12,154 (13.1%) 397 (0.4%)
18 Węgrów 68,985 (83.3%) 185 (0.2%) 9,325 (11.3%) 4,277 (5.2%)
19 Włodawa 40,881 (53.3%) 20,104 (26.2%) 13,562 (17.7%) 2,171 (2.8%)
20 Zamość 119,769 (84%) 5,441 (3.8%) 17,225 (12.1%) 179 (0.1%)
TOTAL 1,619,755 (77.6%) 152,598 (7.3%) 287,639 (13.8%) 27,959 (1.3%)

Population breakdown by religious denomination in the 1931 national census:[3]

# County Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Jewish Other
1 Biała Podl. 82,647 (71.1%) 18,192 (15.6%) 14,288 (12.3%) 1,139 (1%)
2 Biłgoraj 82,614 (70.6%) 20,913 (17.9%) 12,938 (11.1%) 486 (0.4%)
3 Chełm 88,488 (54.5%) 37,530 (23.1%) 22,852 (14.1%) 13,470 (8.3%)
4 Garwolin 139,128 (87%) 67 18,741 (11.7%) 2,006 (1.3%)
5 Hrubieszów 63,365 (48.8%) 49,128 (37.8%) 15 785 (12.1%) 1,679 (1.3%)
6 Janów 135,182 (88.5%) 1,159 (0.8%) 15,317 (10%) 1,060 (0.7%)
7 Krasnystaw 113,442 (84.6%) 4,853 (3.6%) 12,127 (9.0%) 3,737 (2.8%)
8 Lubartów 94,356 (87.4%) 1,544 (1.4%) 9,652 (8.9%) 2,439 (2.3%)
9 Lublin (city) 71,542 (63.7%) 703 (0.6%) 38,937 (34.7) 1103 (1%)
10 Lublin (distr.) 149,192 (91.2%) 125 (0.1%) 12,049 (7.4%) 2,136 (1.3%)
11 Łuków 113,549 (88%) 76 14,736 (11.4%) 722 (0.6%)
12 Puławy 149,060 (86.5%) 182 (0.1%) 21,949 (12.7%) 1,076 (0.6%)
13 Radzyń 80,520 (81.3%) 1,840 (1.9%) 15,548 (15.7%) 1,181 (1.2%)
14 Siedlce 125,018 (82.6%) 657 (0.4%) 23,069 (15.2%) 2,667 (1.8%)
15 Sokołów 74,941 (89.3%) 145 (0.2%) 8,334 (9.9%) 529 (0.6%)
16 Tomaszów 73,021 (60.3%) 33,059 (27.3%) 14,204 (11.7%) 840 (0.7%)
17 Węgrów 76,511 (86.2%) 40 8,888 (10%) 3,349 (3.8%)
18 Włodawa 57,939 (51%) 33,382 (29.4%) 18,188 (16%) 4,057 (3.6%)
19 Zamość 125,249 (83.8%) 6,778 (4.5%) 16,738 (11.2%) 783 (0.5%)
TOTAL 1,895,764 (76.9%) 210,373 (8.5%) 314,340 (12.7%) 44,459 (1.8%)

Ethnic groups

According to the 1931 Polish census, the total population was 2,464,936. Poles made up 85.6% of population, Jews 10.5%, and Ukrainians (in the east and south) 3%. The Jews preferred to live in the cities and towns, especially in Lublin itself.

Due to ruthless Russification policies throughout the preceding century leading to general absence of schools in the Voivodeship, 24.6% of population was still illiterate as of 1931, although rapidly decreasing from 46.8% in 1921.[2][3]

Polish and Ukrainian population in Lublin Voivodeship according to the 1931 census[4]
County Pop. Ukrainian & Ruthenian % Polish % Orthodox

& Uniate

% Roman Catholic %
Biała Podlaska 116266 2250 1.9% 106467 91.6% 18715 16.1% 82647 71.1%
Biłgoraj 116951 2727 2.3% 106100 90.7% 21055 18.0% 82614 70.6%
Chełm 162340 13103 8.1% 120805 74.4% 37875 23.3% 88488 54.5%
Garwolin 159942 68 0.0% 140024 87.5% 147 0.1% 139128 87.0%
Hrubieszów 129957 19066 14.7% 101394 78.0% 49802 38.3% 63365 48.8%
Janów 152718 1009 0.7% 142113 93.1% 1206 0.8% 135182 88.5%
Krasnystaw 134159 1054 0.8% 123204 91.8% 4886 3.6% 113442 84.6%
Lubartów 107991 628 0.6% 99918 92.5% 1583 1.5% 94356 87.4%
Lublin City 112285 227 0.2% 73534 65.5% 863 0.8% 71542 63.7%
Lublin County 163502 57 0.0% 151946 92.9% 186 0.1% 149192 91.2%
Łuków 129083 28 0.0% 120991 93.7% 118 0.1% 113549 88.0%
Puławy 172267 133 0.1% 150022 87.1% 308 0.2% 149060 86.5%
Radzyń 99089 326 0.3% 84174 84.9% 1874 1.9% 80520 81.3%
Siedlce 151411 132 0.1% 129414 85.5% 709 0.5% 125018 82.6%
Sokołów 83949 39 0.0% 75376 89.8% 176 0.2% 74941 89.3%
Tomaszów 121124 20752 17.1% 86612 71.5% 33642 27.8% 73021 60.3%
Węgrów 88788 34 0.0% 79709 89.8% 83 0.1% 76511 86.2%
Włodawa 113566 9663 8.5% 86866 76.5% 33585 29.6% 57939 51.0%
Zamość 149548 2532 1.7% 130530 87.3% 6942 4.6% 125249 83.8%
Total in Lublin Voivodeship 2464936 73828 3.0% 2109199 85.6% 213755 8.7% 1895764 76.9%


Industry

The Voivodeship's biggest industrial center was the city of Lublin. Other than that, it lacked significant industry centers. In mid-1930s Polish government started a huge public works program, called Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy, which was a great boost to overpopulated and poor counties. It covered southwestern part of the Voivodeship, with the town of Kraśnik. The railroad density was 4.0 km. per 100 km2. (with total length of railroads 1 236 km.).

Cities and administrative divisions

Lublin Voivodeship in mid-1939 consisted of 16 powiats (counties) 29 cities and towns and 228 villages. The counties were:

  • Biała Podlaska county (area 2,122 km2, population 116,000)
  • Biłgoraj county (area 1,720 km2, population 116,900)
  • Chełm county (area 1,975 km2, population 162,300)
  • Hrubieszów county (area 1,575 km2, population 130,000)
  • Janów Lubelski county (area 1,960 km2, population 152,700)
  • Krasnystaw county (area 1,521 km2, population 134,200)
  • Lubartów county (area 1,389 km2, population 108,000)
  • City of Lublin county (area 30 km2, population 112,300)
  • Lublin county (area 1,889 km2, population 163,500)
  • Łuków county (area 1,762 km2, population 129,100)
  • Puławy county (area 1,618 km2, population 156,500)
  • Radzyń Podlaski county (area 1,621 km2, population 99,100)
  • Siedlce county (area 1,988 km2, population 151,400)
  • Tomaszów Lubelski county (area 1,397 km2, population 121,100)
  • Włodawa county (area 2,326 km2, population 113,600)
  • Zamość county (area 1,662 km2, population 149,500)

According to the 1931 census, biggest cities were:

  • Lublin (pop. 112,300)
  • Siedlce (pop. 36,900)
  • Chełm (pop. 29,100)
  • Zamość (pop. 24,700)
  • Biała Podlaska (pop. 17,400)
  • Miedzyrzec Podlaski (pop. 16,800)
  • Łuków (pop. 14,000)
  • Hrubieszów (pop. 13,200)
  • Kraśnik (pop. 12,200)
  • Puławy (pop. 12,100)

Voivodes

  • Stanisław Moskalewski, 17 November 1919 – 25 October 1926
  • Antoni Remiszewski, 3 November 1926 – 29 September 1930
  • Bolesław Świdziński, 29 September 1930 – 30 January 1933 (acting till 1 April 1932)
  • Józef Rożniecki, 31 January 1933 – 8 September 1937
  • Jerzy Albin de Tramecourt, 8 September 1937 – 17 September 1939

See also

References

  1. ^ Act of Polish Parliament Sejm (2 August 1919), Dz. U. z 1919 r. Nr 65, poz. 395. Internetowy System Aktow Prawnych. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c ; vol. 18: Województwo Lubelskie (PDF), pp. 35–73.
  3. ^ a b c Sadkowski, Konrad (1998). "From Ethnic Borderland to Catholic Fatherland: The Church, Christian Orthodox, and State Administration in the Chelm Region, 1918-1939". Slavic Review. 57 (4). Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies: 813–839. doi:10.2307/2501048. ISSN 0037-6779. JSTOR 2501048. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  4. ^ "Plik:Woj.lubelskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia" (PDF). commons.wikimedia.org (in Polish). 1938. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  • Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).

51°14′00″N 22°34′00″E / 51.233333°N 22.566667°E / 51.233333; 22.566667