to organize sports events, which was made more difficult by the martial law imposed by the Germans. In general, the regulations did not allow any kind of meeting or assembly to be held without official permits. Despite these difficulties, in 1914 the second Wielkopolska Championships were held, in which only two teams participated: Warta Poznań and KS Posnania. In this two-legged tie, Warta smoothly defeated Posnania 6–3 and 2–1. There is no reliable information about the 1915 Wielkopolska championship. But Warta also played various friendly matches against Polish and German teams during the war years, including Fever Kościan (1–3 and 5–5) and DSV Posen (2–2) in 1915, and Stella Gniezno (2–2) in 1916. Particularly noteworthy was the 4–0 victory against DSV Posen in 1916 - DSV (Deutscher Sport Verein) was a German football club considered the best football club in Poznań until then. In 1917, Warta celebrated its 5th anniversary year by organising a tournament with the participation of the best football teams from Poznań. Also in 1917, Franciszek Rotnicki became chairman of the club and, during his chairmanship (1917-1924), he laid the structural foundations for Warta's future successes. It was said at the time: "... A man of great authority, energetic and enterprising. It is he, together with a skilfully selected group of associates, who builds solid foundations for the future size of the club in this difficult period.". Interwar period (1918–1939) World War I hostilities caused enormous losses. Out of 100 Warta club members in 1914, 45 fought in the war, and two founding membersEdmund Szyc and Stefan Malinowskidied in the war. During the successful Greater Poland Uprising against German partitioning authorities, many footballers from Poznań volunteered for military service to fight for their country but the restoration of an independent Polish state after 123 years in 1918 also provided new opportunities, as Polish sports clubs were able to function without interference from foreign powers. In 1919, pre-war sports structures were re-activated, and the first post-war Wielkopolska championship was held. Five teams entered the competition, including four teams from Poznań - Unia, Warta, Posnania, and Pogoń - as well as Ostrovia from Ostrów Wielkopolski. Warta won the championship, after beating Ostrovia 7–1, Unia 3–2, Posnania 7–0 and Pogoń 7–0. In the following year, the regional championship was abandoned because of the Polish-Soviet War. In 1921, the first Polish national football championship was successfully held (the championship was previously