Brief resurgence

An independent Poland re-emerged under Józef Pilsudski at the end of World War I (after 123 years of occupation). During the following 21 years, it struggled to recreate internal unity and rebuild a fragmented infrastructure inherited from its three separate invaders. A major achievement was the building of a modern port and city – Gdynia – which was the only such undertaking in recent European history. In 1920, Poland's army stopped the USSR from invading Europe.