In 1914 Warsaw became a great base for the supply of the Russian armies. In 1915 it was occupied by the Germans, who made it the capital of a Polish State, which possessed no real power. With the break-up of the German army in 1918 the Poles made themselves masters of the town and set up a government.
The streets of Warsaw are adorned with many fine buildings, partly palaces exhibiting the Polish nobility's love of display, partly churches and cathedrals, and partly public buildings erected by the municipality or by private bodies. Fine public gardens and several monuments further embellish the city. The university founded in 1816 but closed in 1832, was again opened in 1869 as a Russian institution, and is now again Polish ; it has a remark able library of more than 5oo,000 vols., rich natural history col lections, a fine botanic garden and an astronomical observatory. The medical school enjoys high repute in the scientific world. The school of arts, the academy of agriculture and forestry, and the conservatory of music are all high-class institutions. The Association of the Friends of Science and the Historical and Agri cultural societies of Warsaw were once well known, but were suppressed after the insurrections, though they are revived.
The theatre for Polish drama and the ballet is a fine building, which includes two theatres under the same roof ; but the pride of Warsaw is its theatre in the Lazienki gardens, which were laid out (1767-88) in an old bed of the Vistula by King Stanislaw Ponia towski, and have beautiful shady alleys, artificial ponds, an ele gant little palace with ceilings painted by Bacciarelli, several imperial villas and a monument (1788) to John Sobieski, king of Poland, who delivered Vienna from the Turks in 1683. Here an artificial ruin on an island makes an open-air theatre. Two other public gardens, with alleys of old chestnut trees, are situated in the centre of the city. One of these, the Saski Ogrod, or Saxon garden (17 acres), which has a summer theatre and fine old trees, is one of the most beautiful in Europe; it is the resort of the Warsaw aristocracy. The Krasinski garden is the promenade of the Jews.
The central point of the life of Warsaw is the former royal castle (Zamek Krolewski) on Sigismund square. It was built by the dukes of Mazovia, enlarged by Sigismund III. (whose me morial stands opposite) and Wladyslaw IV., and embellished by John Sobieski and Stanislaw Poniatowski. Most of its pictures and other art treasures were removed to St. Petersburg and Mos
cow but have been restored. Four main thoroughfares radiate from it ; one, the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, the best street in Warsaw, runs southward. It is continued by the Nowy Swiat and the Ujazdowska Aleja avenue, which leads to the Lazienki gardens. ..Many fine buildings are found in and near these two streets: the church of St. Anne (1454), which belonged formerly to a Bernardine monastery; the agricultural and industrial mu seum, with an ethnographical collection; the monument (1898) to the national poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) ; the former Saxon palace, once the residence of the Polish kings ; the Lutheran church, finished in 1799, one of the most conspicuous in Warsaw; the buildings of the Art Association, erected in 1898-190o; the university (see above) ; the church of the Holy Ghost (1682-96), with the heart and monument of the musician F. F. Chopin ; a monument (183o) to the astronomer N. Kopernik (1473-1543) the palaces of the Zamoyski family (now the conservatory of music) ; the building of the Philharmonic Society (1899-1901) ; and the church of St. Alexander, built in 1826 and splendidly restored in 1891. The Ujazdowska Aleja avenue, planted with lime-trees and bordered with cafés and places of amusement, is the Champs Elysees of Warsaw. It leads to the Lazienki park and to the Belvedere palace (1822), and farther west to the Mokotowski parade ground, which is surrounded on the south and west by the manufacturing district. Another principal street, the Marszalkowska, runs parallel to the Ujazdowska from the Saxon garden to this parade ground, on the south-east of which are the barracks. The above-mentioned streets are crossed by another series running west and east, the chief of them being the Senators, which begins at Sigismund square and contains the best shops. The palace of the archbishop of Warsaw, the Bank of Poland; the town hall (1725), burned in 1863, but rebuilt in 1870 ; the small Pod Blacha palace, the theatre (1833) ; the old mint ; the beautiful Reformed church (1882); the Orthodox Greek cathedral of the Trinity, rebuilt in 1837; the Krasinski palace (1692), burned in 1782 but rebuilt; the church of the Trans figuration, a thank-offering by John Sobieski for his victory of 1683, and containing his heart and that of Stanislaw Poniatowsld ; and palaces are on or near Senators' Street and Miodowa Street.