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Strzelec
The Polish Riflemen's Association, known as ''Związek Strzelecki'' (in the plural, ''Związki Strzeleckie''), was an organization formed in great numbers prior to World War I. One of the better known associations, ''Strzelec'' (Rifleman), was a Polish paramilitary cultural and educational organization created in 1910 in Lwów as a legal front of the '' Związek Walki Czynnej'' (''ZWC'', Union of Active Struggle). It was somewhat reinstated in Poland in 1991, after the fall of communism. An important part of the Association's mission was training young Poles in military skills. Before World War I, the Riflemen's Association provided military training to over 8,000 people, and its trainees subsequently formed an important part of the Polish Legions in World War I. Prominent members and leaders of the Riflemen’s Association included Józef Piłsudski, Henryk Dobrzański, Kazimierz Sosnkowski, Edward Rydz-Śmigły, Władysław Sikorski, Marian Kukiel, Walery Sławek, Julian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish Rifle Squads
The Polish Rifle Squads () was a Polish pro-independence paramilitary organization, founded in 1911 by the Youth Independence Organization in the Austro-Hungarian sector of partitioned Poland. Among its founders were Norwid Neugebauer, Marian Januszajtis-Żegota, Henryk Bagiński and Eugeniusz Homer. The organization was similar in spirit to, and closely cooperated with, the Riflemen's Association. It too was supported by the Austro-Hungarian government, which wanted to raise a Polish army for use in World War I. By 1914 the organization numbered 6,000 members. Most of them joined Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions in World War I. Before its legalization, the PDS operated as an underground organization called Polish Military Alliance (). Its objective was to prepare the Polish nation for fight for independence, with emphasis on training of officer corps of the future army. In October 1910, the PZW took the name (Polish Army), organizing paramilitary courses in Austrian Gal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Związek Walki Czynnej
The Union of Active Struggle (; ZWC), also translated as Union for Active Struggle and Union for Active Resistance,Thus rendered in Richard M. Watt, ''Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918 to 1939'', p. 37. Watt writes: "Soon after Piłsudski's return to Galicia from the Bezdany raid, a new type of Polish military organization appeared.... Its name was the "Union for Active Resistance" and it was first formed in Lwów under the direct leadership of one of Piłsudski's closest disciples... Kazimierz Sosnkowski. The function of the organization was to secretly train Poles in guerrilla warfare. When the PPS refused to supply funds for such an operation, Piłsudski himself took over its direction and partly funded it with money from the Bezdany raid." was a Polish secret military organization founded in June 1908 in Lwów by Józef Piłsudski, Marian Kukiel, Kazimierz Sosnkowski and Władysław Sikorski, all members of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polish Legions In World War I
The Polish Legions () was a name of the Polish military force (the first active Polish army in generations) established in August 1914 in Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Triple Entente on one side (comprising the British Empire, the French Third Republic, French Republic and the Russian Empire) and the Central Powers on the other side, comprising the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. The Legions became "a founding myth for the creation of modern Poland" in spite of their considerably short existence; they were replaced by the Polish Auxiliary Corps () formation on 20 September 1916, merged with Polish II Corps in Russia on 19 February 1918 for the Battle of Rarańcza against Austria-Hungary, and disbanded following the military defeat at the Battle of Kaniów in May 1918,WIEM Encyklopedia (2015)Polski Korpus Posiłkowyat PortalWiedzy.onet.pl against Imperial Germany. Józef Haller, General Haller escaped to F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Józef Piłsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he became an increasingly dominant figure in Polish politics and exerted significant influence on shaping the country's foreign policy. Piłsudski is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic, which was re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final partition of Poland in 1795, and was considered ''de facto'' leader (1926–1935) of the Second Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs (Poland), Minister of Military Affairs. Seeing himself as 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. Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazimierz Sosnkowski
General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (; 19 November 1885 – 11 October 1969) was a Polish independence fighter, general, diplomat, and architect. He was a major political figure and an accomplished commander, notable in particular for his contributions during the Polish–Soviet War and World War II. After the death of General Władysław Sikorski in July 1943, Sosnkowski became Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces. Sosnkowski was an intellectual who was able to speak Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian, and Russian. Early years Born in Warsaw, Sosnkowski grew up in the Russian Partition of Poland. His father, Józef Sosnkowski of the Godziemba coat of arms, was a wealthy nobleman and owner of several villages. His mother was Zofia Drabińska. In 1896 he attended the V Gimnasium (secondary school) in Warsaw, where he participated in a secret organization of progressive youth. To avoid persecution he moved in 1904 to Saint Petersburg, where in 1905 he fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Władysław Sikorski
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions in World War I, Polish Legions during World War I, and later in the newly created Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic), Polish Army during the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. In the latter war, he played a prominent role in the decisive 1920 Battle of Warsaw (1920), Battle of Warsaw. In the early years of the Second Polish Republic, Sikorski held government posts including Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister (1922–1923) and Minister of Military Affairs of Poland, minister of military affairs (1923–1924). Following Józef Piłsudski's May Coup (Poland), May 1926 Coup and the installation of the Sanation government, he fell out of favor with the new régime. During Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walery Sławek
Walery Jan Sławek (; 2 November 1879 – 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish leader, Józef Piłsudski. Early years Walery Sławek was born on 2 November 1879 into an impoverished szlachta, noble family, in the village of in the region of Podolia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was one of four children: two of his older sisters died early of Tuberculosis. His father, Bolesław Sławek, worked at a sugar plant owned by Count House of Potocki, Józef Mikołaj Potocki. His mother was Florentyna née Przybylska, and the Sławek family was distinctly related to the family of composer and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Between 1888 and 1894, he attended an elementary school in Nemyriv. In 1899, Sławek graduated from a trade school in Warsaw and began working for an insurance company. At that time, he became invo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596, and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Kraków Old Town, Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status. The city began as a Hamlet (place), hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of King of Poland, Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian dynasty, Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and poet. Born in 1886, he came from humble beginnings and was raised by his maternal grandparents after he became an orphan at age 13. He graduated with distinctions from the local Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium. He completed his studies in philosophy and history of art at the Jagiellonian University. During the interwar period, he was an exceptionally admired public figure in Second Polish Republic, Poland and was regarded as a hero for his exemplary record as an army commander in the Polish Legions in World War I, Polish Legions of World War I and the ensuing Polish–Soviet War in 1920. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief and General Inspector of the Armed Forces, Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic), Polis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marian Kukiel
Marian Włodzimierz Kukiel (pseudonyms: ''Marek Kąkol'', ''Stach Zawierucha''; 15 May 1885 - 15 August 1973) was a Polish major general, historian, social and political activist. One of the founders of Związek Walki Czynnej in 1908 and prominent member of Związek Strzelecki; he fought in the Polish Legions in First World War. Kukiel served from 1919 until 1920 as Deputy Head of Section III, Polish General Staff and took part in the Polish-Soviet War. Then in 1920 he became the Commanding Officer of the 20th Brigade and Head of Section III. From 1923 until 1925 he served as General Officer Commanding the 13th Infantry Division; after Piłsudski's May Coup he entered the reserves. From 1927 he was a professor of military history at Jagiellonian University. Since 1932 he became a member of PAU. From 1930 until 1939 he was director of the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. In 1939 he took part in the defence of Lwów. From 1939 until 1940 he was Vice-Minister of War of the Pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congress Poland
Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established when the French ceded a part of Polish territory to the Russian Empire following France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1915, during World War I, it was replaced by the German-controlled nominal Regency Kingdom until Poland regained independence in 1918. Following the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, Poland ceased to exist as an independent nation for 123 years. The territory, with its native population, was split among the Habsburg monarchy, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Russian Empire. After 1804, an equivalent to Congress Poland within the Austrian Empire was the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also commonly referred to as " Austrian Poland". The area incorporated into Prussia initially also held autonomy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
