Count Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski (19 May 1866 – 18 October 1928) was a Polish military commander, diplomat, and politician, a general of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

and then the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

Biography

Youth

Jordan-Rozwadowski was born in Babin, near Kałusz, Galicia, which formed part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

(

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

from 1867). The Jordan-Rozwadowski family was a member of the Polish nobility and a part of Traby clan (''see

Trąby coat of arms Trąby (, " Horns") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by many ''szlachta'' (noble) families under the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The origin of the horn motif lies in the extent of lands conceded being ...

''). The family obtained the title of count from the Habsburg Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

in 1783 in the nobility of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and the Austrian nobility. Tadeusz came from a family with a long military tradition. The 'Jordan' byname is a memento of a distant ancestor who during the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

was the first

Pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

to see the Jordan River. General's ancestor, Maciej Rozwadowski, showed bravery at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Tadeusz's great-grandfather, Kazimierz Jordan-Rozwadowski, was a brigadier general under Kościuszko, and who fought against the last

partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

. While his grandfather, Viktor, fought in the November Uprising and was awarded the War Order of

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

. His uncle Tadeusz was killed in the January Uprising, and his father Tomislav, fought in the January Uprising as a commander of the insurgent cavalry.

Officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army

Prior to the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Austro-Hungarian Army as an officer of artillery. He (and subsequently his son) was taught to ride at the famous

Spanish Riding School The Spanish Riding School (german: Spanische Hofreitschule) is an Austrian institution dedicated to the preservation of classical dressage and the training of Lipizzaner horses, based in Vienna, Austria, whose performances in the Hofburg are also ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. For many years, Rozwadowski also served as the Austrian Military

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. In 1914 he became the commanding officer of the 12th Artillery Brigade attached to the

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

-based 12th Infantry Division. A skilled commander, he then became the commanding officer of the 43rd Infantry Division, which he led during the victorious battle of

Gorlice Gorlice ( uk, Горлиці, translit=''Horlytsi'') is a city and an urban municipality ("gmina") in south eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy S� ...

. For his merits in that battle he was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He is also credited with the discovery of an artillery barrage tactic called ''Feuerwaltze'' – "Fire-roller". In the Austro-Hungarian Army he rose to the rank of '' Feldmarschalleutnant''.

Beginnings of the service in Polish forces

On October 26, 1918 Rozwadowski became the

Regency Council A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

-nominated chief of staff of the Polnische Wehrmacht. After Poland regained independence, on November 15 of that year he resigned his post – and was assigned to the same duty within the newly restored

a week later. Until March 19, 1919 he was also the commanding officer of the Polish Eastern Army fighting on the fronts of the Polish-Ukrainian War in Galicia.

Head of the Polish military missions to Paris, London, Rome

He was then dispatched to Paris, where he took part in the Polish delegation to the Peace Conference and was one of the people to sign the

Versailles Peace Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 19 ...

. He also headed numerous Polish military missions to Paris, London and Rome. In June he became the official representative of Polish armed forces in Paris and was influential in obtaining international support for Poland (for example, the volunteers for the Polish-American Kościuszko Squadron). Janusz Cisek, ''Kosciuszko, We Are Here: American Pilots of the Kosciuszko Squadron in Defense of Poland, 1919–1921'', McFarland & Company, 2002,
Google Print, p.9-18 and further
/ref>

Chief of Staff during the Battle of Warsaw

At the height of the Bolshevist Russian offensive in the Polish-Soviet War, on July 22, 1920, he returned to Poland and assumed the post of the Chief of General Staff and a member of the State Defence Council. Opinions among historians vary as to the extent he was responsible for developing the extremely successful plan for the battle of Warsaw that turned the tide of that war, also known as "Miracle at

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

". Janusz Szczepański
KONTROWERSJE WOKÓŁ BITWY WARSZAWSKIEJ 1920 ROKU
(Controversies surrounding the Battle of Warsaw in 1920). ''Mówią Wieki'', online version. Certainly he was considering a similar plan.

John Erickson John Erickson may refer to: * John E. Erickson (Montana politician) (1863–1946), American politician from Montana * John E. Erickson (basketball) (1927–2020), American basketball coach and executive, Wisconsin politician * John P. Erickson ...

, ''The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918–1941'', Routledge,
Google Print, p.95
/ref>Cisek,

op cit ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

Google Print, p.140
/ref> Some argue, however that his input was even more important than that of

Marshal of Poland Marshal of Poland ( pl, Marszałek Polski) is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, Marshal is equivalent to a Field Marshal or General of the Army (OF-10) in other NATO armies. History To ...

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

, most often credited with turning the tide of the war.''Conceptions of National History: Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 78'', Walter de Gruyter, 1994,
Google Print, p.230
/ref> For his part in the war, Rozwadowski was awarded the

(Classes II and V) and the Cross of the Valorous (four times). After the end of hostilities he became the inspector-general of

Polish cavalry The Polish cavalry ( pl, jazda, kawaleria, konnica) can trace its origins back to the days of medieval cavalry knights. Poland is mostly a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment. The knights and heav ...

units and authored the 1924 reform of the

cavalry tactics For much of history, humans have used some form of cavalry for war and, as a result, cavalry tactics have evolved over time. Tactically, the main advantages of cavalry over infantry troops were greater mobility, a larger impact, and a higher pos ...

and organization. He was also one of the early proponents of Polish tanks and airpower. In March 1921, Jordan-Rozwadowski made use of his contacts in

to help start the

Polish–Romanian alliance The Polish–Romanian alliance was a series of treaties signed in the interwar period by the Second Polish Republic and the Kingdom of Romania. The first of them was signed in 1921 and, together, the treaties formed a basis for good foreign rela ...

, by negotiating a ''Convention on Defensive Alliance''.

Imprisoned after Piłsudski's coup

During the May Coup d'État of 1926 he was the commander of the forces loyal to the legal government and assumed the role of the military governor of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. He was responsible for all military actions of the government forces, including airstrikes that resulted in heavy casualties, including many fatal injuries (most victims were civilians). Air raids were ordered by Rozwadowski and organised by gen. Zagórski. After the victory of

Rozwadowski was arrested in Warsaw on May 15, 1926 and transferred with four other detained generals to a military prison on Antokol in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

(Vilnius), where he was jailed in very strict conditions, in an unheated cell, for more than a year, until May 18, 1927. General Zagórski, the most important witness, disappeared in unknown circumstances in 1927. The press of the time repeated imprecise and false accusations of improper financial dealings during his service in the army. These allegations were never presented to him and remained only unsubstantiated rumors. Oleksa Pidlutskyi, ''Postati XX stolittia'', (Figures of the 20th century),

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, 2004, , . Chapter ''"Józef Piłsudski: The Chief who Created Himself a State"'' reprinted in

Zerkalo Nedeli ''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, February 3–9, 2001
in Russian
an
in Ukrainian
.

Death and the aftermath

Soon after his release and retirement general Rozwadowski died under mysterious circumstances in a hospital in Warsaw. He was buried, amid rumors of poisoning, with military honours at the Łyczaków Cemetery in Lwów (Lviv), among his fallen soldiers of the 1918–1919 Polish–Ukrainian War. In the years following his death, the official Polish media sought to erase Tadeusz Rozwadowski's memory. This policy also prevailed during the time of communist rule in Poland after World War II. Only since the fall of communism have historians in Poland been able to objectively question the circumstances of the Battle of Warsaw, as well as Rozwadowski's life and contributions to the history of Poland and Europe.Janusz Szczepański, KONTROWERSJE WOKÓŁ BITWY WARSZAWSKIEJ 1920 ROKU (Controversies surrounding the Battle of Warsaw in 1920). Mówią Wieki, online version.

Family

General Rozwadowski left behind a wife, a daughter, and a son. The greater part of his fortune was lost in a business venture to benefit the soldiers who fought under his command. His daughter, Melania Josefina, seems to have died under mysterious circumstances in the 1970s and never married. The son, Jozef, was an artillery officer in the Polish Army and was also awarded the

. In the 1930s, he was forced to resign his commission and emigrate to the United States due to his continued support for the pro-democratic and anti-Piłsudski forces in Poland. He emigrated to the United States and worked as an engineer and designed the elevators in the Empire State Building. He also contributed to the design of the Polish Pavilion in the 1939 New York World's Fair and the

1964 World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

. He was survived by one daughter, Melanie Josephine, one granddaughter, Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk (see

List of Latvians This is a list of prominent Latvians with Wikipedia articles. It includes: * persons who were born in the historical territory of what is now Latvia, regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, or time period; and * persons of Latvian descent regardles ...

), and one great-grandson, Joseph, all living in the United States.

Honours and awards

* Commander's Cross of the

Order of Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

(previously awarded the Silver Cross – 1921) * Cross of Valour – four times * Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

* Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania * Cross of Liberty, Class I (Estonia) * Star of the

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

Knight's Cross * Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold with war decoration and swords * Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class *

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

Officer * Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with war decoration and swords * Bronze Military Merit Medal with swords * Long Service Crosses for Officers * 1908 Jubilee Cross * 1898 Jubilee Medal *

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

2nd Class

References

* Tadeusz Kryska-Karski, Stanisław Żurakowski, ''Generałowie Polski niepodległej'' (Generals of independent Poland), Warszawa 1991 * Andrzej Suchcitz, ''Generałowie wojny polsko-sowieckiej 1919–1920. Mały słownik biograficzny'' (Generals of Polish-Soviet War 1919–1920. Small biographical dictionary), Białystok 1993

External links

Chief of General Staff of Polish Army, General Tadeusz Rozwadowski Papers. Description of archival collection in the Jozef Pilsudski Institute in New York
*
Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski
Extensive site with large gallery. *

(Destroyed during life) by Jan Engelgard *

by Lech Maria Wojciechowski *
Nasz Generał – Tadeusz Jordan Rozwadowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan-Rozwadowski, Tadeusz 1866 births 1928 deaths People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Clan of Trąby Polish generals Polish generals in other armies Austro-Hungarian Army officers Diplomats of the Second Polish Republic Polish people of World War I Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Polnische Wehrmacht personnel Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War People of the Polish May Coup (pro-government side) Commanders of the Virtuti Militari Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa