Józef Piłsudski facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Józef Piłsudski
GCTE
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| Chief of State of the Second Republic of Poland |
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| In office 14 November 1918 – 11 December 1922 |
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| Preceded by | Independence (eventually Regency Council) |
| Succeeded by | Gabriel Narutowicz (President) |
| 21st Prime Minister of Poland 20th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland |
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| In office 15 August 1930 – 4 December 1930 |
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| President | Ignacy Mościcki |
| Preceded by | Walery Sławek |
| Succeeded by | Walery Sławek |
| 16th Prime Minister of Poland 15th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland |
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| In office 2 October 1926 – 27 June 1928 |
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| President | Ignacy Mościcki |
| Preceded by | Kazimierz Bartel |
| Succeeded by | Kazimierz Bartel |
| General Inspector of the Armed Forces 1st General Inspector of the Armed Forces |
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| In office 27 August 1926 – 12 May 1935 |
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| President | Ignacy Mościcki |
| Preceded by | (post created) |
| Succeeded by | Edward Śmigły-Rydz |
| 7th Minister of Military Affairs | |
| In office 16 May 1926 – 12 May 1935 |
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| President | Maciej Rataj (acting) Ignacy Mościcki |
| Preceded by | Juliusz Tarnawa-Malczewski |
| Succeeded by | Tadeusz Kasprzycki |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Józef Klemens Piłsudski
5 December 1867 Zułów (Lithuanian: Zalavas), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) |
| Died | 12 May 1935 (aged 67) Warsaw, Poland |
| Political party | None (formerly PPS) |
| Spouses | Maria Koplewska (m.1899-d.1921) Aleksandra Szczerbinska (m.1921–1935) |
| Children | Wanda Jadwiga |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Second Polish Republic |
| Branch/service | Polish Legions Polish Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1923 1926–1935 |
| Rank | Marshal of Poland |
| Battles/wars | World War I Polish–Ukrainian War Polish–Lithuanian War Polish–Soviet War |
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–22) and First Marshal of Poland (from 1920). He was considered the de facto leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs. From World War I he had great power in Polish politics and was a distinguished figure on the international scene. He is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic re-established in 1918, 123 years after the 1795 Partitions of Poland by Austria, Prussia and Russia.
Deeming himself a descendant of the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Piłsudski believed in a multi-ethnic Poland—"a home of nations" including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities that he hoped would establish a robust union with the independent states of Lithuania and Ukraine.
Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Concluding that Poland's independence would have to be won militarily, he formed the Polish Legions. In 1914 he correctly predicted the outbreak of a major war, the Russian Empire's defeat by the Central Powers, and the Central Powers' defeat by the western Allies.
When World War I began in 1914, Piłsudski's Legions fought alongside Austria-Hungary against Russia. In 1917, with Imperalist Russia faring poorly in the war, he withdrew his support for the Central Powers and was imprisoned in Magdeburg by the Germans.
From November 1918, when Poland regained its independence, until 1922, Piłsudski was Poland's Chief of State. In 1919–21 he commanded Polish forces in six border wars that re-defined the country's borders. His forces seemed on the verge of defeat in the Polish–Soviet War when, in the August 1920 Battle of Warsaw, they threw back the invading Soviet Russian forces.
In 1923, with the government dominated by his opponents, in particular the National Democrats, Piłsudski retired from active politics. Three years later he returned to power in the May 1926 coup d'état and became Poland's strongman. From then on until his death in 1935, he concerned himself primarily with military and foreign affairs.
Early years
Born in Zulow (Lithuania) in a noble patriotic Polish family and brought up in austere circumstances. First he attended a grammar school in Vilnius. Then he studied at the University of Kharkov and then he joined a clandestine revolutionary and anti-tsarist organization "The People's Will". In 1887 he was arrested by Tsarist authorities and sent into exile in Siberia for five years. His brother, Bronislaw Pilsudski, also was in a revolutionary plot, and he was an associate of Lenin's brother.
After his release he got to know the socialist movement and in 1892 he founded PPS, The Polish Socialist Party. In 1900 he was arrested again for being the editor of an underground leftist daily "Robotnik" (The Worker). He managed to escape and organized a military groups of the party. At that time he carried out bank and train raids. With the money he seized he slowly built up a new revolutionary army. The goal of his army was to gain independence from Russia.
Legacy
In the years before the WW I Pilsudski was a leading figure that linked and helped several military, paramilitary or guerrilla groups. All those groups aimed at Polish independence from the oppressive powers.
In 1914 he establised the Polish Legion (the predecessor of the Polish Army) and fought with Austrian and German troops against Russia. However he was unwilling to take orders from the German and Austro-Hungary Command and he got arrested. With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Russia had to renounce claims to what was until then Polish-Russia and a kingdom of Poland was announced by Germany and Austria.
1918 Pilsudski was released and on the November 11 he was appointed the provisional head of the newly formed Polish state. Pilsudski represented Poland at the Versailles Treaty.
The Polish army led by Pilsudski put a stop to successful march of the Red Army towards the Western Europe. He defeated the Bolshevik Army and won considerable gains for Poland in Treaty of Riga (1921).
He remained the military leader until 1923. After three year long retirement he came back and staged a military coup in 1926. Later he played an overwhelming role in Polish political life.
Pilsudski's death in 1935 left a political vacuum and many unresolved problems for the newly re-established Polish state.
Honorary doctorates
- Jagiellonian University (28 April 1920)
- Adam Mickiewicz University (11 November 1933)
- University of Warsaw (2 May 1921)
- Stefan Batory University in Vilnius (September 1921)
Images for kids
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Piłsudski as a schoolboy
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Piłsudski in 1899
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"Lingwood", Leytonstone, where Piłsudski stayed in 1900
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Józef Piłsudski with Supreme Command of Polish Military Organisation in 1917
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Piłsudski. Painting by Jacek Malczewski, 1916
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Ulica Mokotowska 50, Warsaw, where Piłsudski stayed 13–29 November 1918, after his release from Magdeburg
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Piłsudski improvised armored car, 1919, named after Piłsudski
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Statue of Piłsudski before Warsaw's Belweder Palace, Piłsudski's official residence during his years in power
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Piłsudski in Poznań in 1919
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In March 1920, Piłsudski was made "First Marshal of Poland".
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Piłsudski (left) and Edward Rydz-Śmigły (right), 1920, during Polish-Soviet War
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At Warsaw's Hotel Bristol, 3 July 1923, Piłsudski announced his retirement from active politics.
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Piłsudski on Warsaw's Poniatowski Bridge during the May 1926 coup. At the right is General Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer.
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Grave of Piłsudski's mother in Vilnius, Lithuania. The huge black tombstone is inscribed: "Matka i serce syna" ("A mother and the heart of [her] son") and bears evocative lines from a poem by Słowacki.
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Statue of Piłsudski on Warsaw's Piłsudski Square—one of many statuary tributes throughout Poland
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Contemporary caricature of Józef Piłsudski by Jerzy Szwajcer
See also
In Spanish: Józef Piłsudski para niños
