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Edward Rydz-Śmigły (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish military commander and popular statesman.

Birth and family
Edward Rydz-Śmigły was born on 11 March 1886 in the Polish village of Łapszyn (now in Ukraine) near Brzeżany, Galicia, Austria-Hungary. Little is known about his early life since few sources have survived. He was the son of Tomasz Rydz, a non-commissioned officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army who died when his son was two, and his wife Maria Babiak. Growing up in rather humble and modest circumstances, Rydz was orphaned at the age of 13. He was then raised by his maternal grandparents and, after their deaths, by the family of Dr. Uranowicz, the town physician at Brzeżany, who treated him like their adopted son.

Education
The Uranowicz family arranged for Rydz to attend Saint Anne's Gymnasium, an expensive school known for its high level of education. By most accounts, Rydz was an "average student", excelling primarily in history and the Polish language. He easily made friends in school thanks to an innate directness and a willingness to help.

It was during his school years that Rydz deleveoped a great passion for painting. A drawing he made of the Virgin Mary was even incorporated into the altar of the Armenian Church in Brzeżany. After graduating, Rydz went to Kraków where he completed studies in philosophy and history of art at the Jagiellonian University. He then studied to be a painter at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts and later in Vienna and Munich.

Training
Between 1910-12, Rydz attended the reserve officers' academy in Vienna and received military training at the famous Austrian 4th Infantry Regiment "Deutschmeister" (called so after Archduke Eugene, a cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I who was Grand Master of the Teutonic Order). He finished his military education with distinction and served as an instructor in an officers' school in Kraków.

Riflemen's Association
During his military studies, Rydz also became a foundering member of the Polish paramilitary organisation Związek Strzelecki ("Riflemen's Association"). At the same time he completed his art studies. He was regarded as a very promising talent in landscape and portrait painting, and praised by his professors and critics, who foresaw a great future for him. Even so, Rydz decided that art was only a hobby which could not interfere with his fight for Polish independence.

World War I
Drafted into the Austrian Army in July 1914, Rydz was transferred in August to the Polish Legions and fought in World War I in the famous Polish 1st Brigade under the command of Józef Piłsudski. He took part in numerous engagements against the Russian Army in the region of the southern Vistula, and rose quickly in rank. By 1916, he was already a full colonel.

In 1917, after their refusal to swear an oath to the Austrian and German authorities, the Polish Legions were disbanded, their soldiers interned and Piłsudski, the leader, imprisoned in Magdeburg fortress. By Piłsudski's appointment, Rydz (who was released from prison on grounds of ill health) became commander of the Polska Organizacja Wojskowa ("Polish Military Organization"), which would play an influential role in future Polish tactics.. At the same time he adopted the nom de guerre Śmigły ("Fast" or "Agile"), which he later added to his surname.

Second Polish Republic
In October 1918, Rydz entered the Second Polish Republic of Ignacy Daszyński in Lublin. The position of minster of war had been reserved for Piłsudski, but in his absence, Rydz was entrusted with military matters. The idea of assuming command of the entire Polish Armed Forces were so tempting that he hastened to Warsaw to engage in negotiations. Having been promoted to brigadier general, he underlined that upon his acceptance of the office he was to be seen as a deputy of Piłsudski. It was at this time he began using the name "Rydz-Śmigły". On 11 November 1918, the Government relinquished all power to Piłsudski who became Provisional Head of State. After some hesitation, Piłsudski (initially displeased by Rydz cooperation with the socialists) confirmed him as a brigadier general.

Polish-Soviet War
During the Polish-Soviet War which took place from 1919 to 1921, Rydz commanded Polish armies in several offensives. Among the victorious engagements, he captured Wilno and Dünaburg. After that, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Latvian armed forces and soon liberated Latgale from the Red Army. Subsequently, he annihilated the Red Army's 12th Division and took Kiev. After the Bolshevik counterattack led the Red Army to the gates of Warsaw, Rydz would commanded the Central Front of the Polish forces during the Battle for the Capitol, also known as the Miracle on the Vistula. In this decisive battle Rydz-Śmigły's Central Front held against the Soviet attack, and later blocked the escape routes for the defeated Bolshevik 4th and 15th Armies, as well as the 3rd Cavalry Corps of Soviet General Gayk Bzhishkyan, which in the end retreated to East Prussia to be interned by the Germans.

"Second Man" in the State
After the 1919–21 war he was appointed Inspector General of the Polish Army in the Vilna district and later in Warsaw. In 1926, during Piłsudski's May Coup, he took the Marshal's side and sent troops from Wilno to reinforce anti-government troops in Warsaw. Piłsudski never forgot this fidelity and in 1929 Rydz was appointed the Marshal's deputy on all matters concerning the East. On 13 May 1935, following Piłsudski's death, Rydz was nominated by the President and the Government of Poland to serve in the capacity of the Inspector-General of the Polish Armed Forces (the highest Polish military office). This was done in accordance with Piłsudski's wishes. Piłsudski's death saw his followers (the Sanacja), divide themselves into three main factions: those supporting President Ignacy Mościcki as Piłsudski's successor, those supporting Rydz, and those supporting prime minister Walery Sławek. Mościcki in the end would conclude a power-sharing agreement with Rydz-Śmigły, which saw Slawek marginalised as a serious political player by the end of the year. As a result of this agreement, Rydz-Śmigły was to become the de facto leader of Poland, until the outbreak of the war, whilst Mościcki remained influential through continuing in the highest office of president. From 1935, Rydz saw himself rapidly elevated in rank and position. On 15 July 1936 he was officially awarded the title of "Second Man in the State after the President", by the Polish prime minister. On 10 November, he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Poland. Rydz's image as Piłsudski's anointed successor was popularized by the Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego movement, but alienated many of Piłsudski's supporters, offended by what they saw as Rydz's acts of self-promotion.

The period of Rydz's rule, 1935–39, was often referred to as "a dictatorship without a dictator". Rydz lacked the moral authority of Piłsudski, and the piłsudskites were bitterly divided after 1935. The ruling regime was also divided between the Mościcki faction (known as the 'president's men' or the 'castle group'), made up mainly of civilians, and Rydz's group, known as the 'marshal's men', made up mostly of old comrades of Piłsudski and professional officers. Besides these two major groups, there were also supporters of Sławek and other disgruntled piłsudskite groups, which were marginalized after the Rydz-Mościcki pact.

The regime became increasingly authoritarian. This was exemplified by the creation of the Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego (Ozon) movement. However, Ozon never achieved its goal of developing popular mass appeal and transforming Rydz into "Poland's second great leader" (after Piłsudski himself). Several of Poland's most prominent politicians, including foreign minister Józef Beck and Mościcki himself, made a point of distancing themselves from this movement.

1939
In March 1939, Hitler occupied Bohemia and Moravia and created the satellite client-state of Slovakia. This encircled Poland with an iron ring on all sides except the east. Rydz was the only member of the government who clearly saw the impending danger of a conflict with Germany. However, the time remaining was too short for the creation of completely new army operational plan in the west. During negotiations in Moscow during August 1939, Rydz refused all attempts by the Western Powers to obtain Polish permission for the Red Army to march westward, stating that "there is no guarantee that the Soviets will really take active part in the war; furthermore, once having entered Polish territory, they will never leave it".

On 1 September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, and Śmigły-Rydz was named Commander-in-Chief of all Polish forces. On 7 September, along with most of the government, he evacuated Warsaw as it came under attack. Soon afterwards, Polish coordination began to suffer from communications problems, which impaired Rydz's ability to command the forces. In Brest (Brześć) on 11 September he ordered that the Polish capital be defended at all costs. In his plan, Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress were to become two redoubt-citadels in central Poland, fighting on for months while the bulk of the Polish forces were to defend the Romanian bridgehead and await the counterattack promised by Poland's French and British allies. Unknown to Śmigły-Rydz, the Western Allies had no such plans and expected Poland's fall. His plan was further crippled when Soviet forces attacked Poland from the east on 17 September. Realizing that defence against both neighbours was impossible, Śmigły-Rydz issued orders for Polish forces to retreat towards Romania and avoid fighting the Soviet aggressors.

On 18 September 1939, after avoiding capture by Soviet and German troops, Śmigły-Rydz, escaped to Romania and was interned. The Polish government's crossing into Romania prevented Poland from having to officially surrender, and allowed Polish soldiers to carry on fighting against Nazi Germany, though Rydz's flight sparked some controversy because of his position as supreme commander of the armed forces. Large numbers of Polish soldiers and airmen escaped into southern Europe and regrouped in France, and after her surrender, in Britain.

The last years and death
Marshal Śmigły-Rydz, as the Commander-in-Chief of Polish Armed Forces, took complete responsibility for Poland's military defeat in September 1939. Rydz had proven himself an extremely able commander on smaller fronts in earlier wars, but was not an experienced strategist in a great conflict. Indeed in 1922, in an evaluation of Polish generals, Piłsudski had written about him: "in operational work he displays healthy common sense and a lot of stubborn energy. I could recommend him to everybody as a commander of an army, I am however not sure if he possesses sufficient abilities to function as commander-in-chief in a war between two states."

During his internment in Romania, Śmigły-Rydz initiated the creation of the Polish underground. This was based on officers who were loyal to the memory of Piłsudski. Still in Romania, on 27 October, he relinquished his function as the Commander-in-Chief and Inspector-General of the Armed Forces. This role was assumed by Władysław Sikorski, who was serving in the new Polish government in exile in France (and after 1940 in the United Kingdom). Śmigły-Rydz was transferred from the internment camp to the villa of a former Romanian prime minister in Dragoslavele, from where he escaped on 10 December 1940 and crossed illegally into Hungary. In the autumn of 1939, Polish journalist Melchior Wańkowicz met with Beck, and managed to talk to him for a few hours. This is what Wańkowicz wrote about this meeting: "It was completely impossible to get to Rydz, as he was kept in wild mountains, in summer villa of Patriarch Miron, closely guarded by a special unit of Romanian police. I managed to get to his villa after bribing a Romanian officer, with the help of Rydz's physician, Dr. Cianciara (...) The Marshal spoke with a charming smile, but there was no spark in this smile. He said that after Piłsudski's death, the condition of the army was catastrophic: "The cost of the construction of modest fortifications along our western border was equivalent to an 18-month budget of Poland, and at the same time, we were working on fortifications in the East. A modest armament plan was up to 5 billion zlotys. What was I supposed to do? I am not an economist, minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski told me that we only had 180 million (...) We began partial mobilization in the spring 1939. The nation hated it, more than 1000 Silesians deserted to Germany. We were unable to keep Poland mobilized for so long, we could not afford it (...) They say that I am a coward. I had three options: to surrender, to kill myself, and to be captured. It was impossible to fight, as I had only half a company of soldiers with me. To kill myself meant failure. To fly to Warsaw?"

His flight to Hungary and rumours about his planned return to Poland were a source of considerable displeasure to his rival Sikorski, now Prime Minister. Sikorski had been in opposition to Śmigły-Rydz and Piłsudski from the time of the 1926 May Coup. Sikorski declared in a telegram to General Stefan Grot-Rowecki, leader of the Armia Krajowa (AK) underground resistance in Poland: "the Polish Government will regard a sojourn of the Marshal in Poland as a sabotage of its work in the country. The Marshal must as soon as possible move to some country of the British Empire". However Śmigły-Rydz left Hungary on 25 October 1941, and travelling through Slovakia reached Poland. On 30 October, in strict secrecy, Śmigły came back to Warsaw to participate in the resistance movement as a common underground soldier, thus voluntarily suspending his rank as Marshal of Poland. He managed to contact Grot-Rowecki, but remained incognito. He died suddenly of heart failure at the age of 55, on 2 December 1941, only five weeks after his arrival in Warsaw. He was buried in Warsaw under his alias "Adam Zawisza". His tombstone at the Powązki Cemetery bore this assumed name until 1991. A new tombstone inscribed with the Marshal's full name was placed over his grave by the people of Warsaw in 1994.

Rydz was married to Marta Zaleska, née Thomas; they had no children.

Legacy
Edward Rydz-Śmigły's reputation after World War II was mixed. In the Soviet Union and its communist puppet, the People's Republic of Poland, he was decried for his participation in the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, the political repression of far-left elements under his military government of the late 1930s, and his key role in the Polish defeat of 1939. In the West, due to the influence of anti-Piłsudski circles (with Władysław Sikorski as their foremost representative), he was seen as having fled the battlefield in 1939, and little recognition was given to the actual circumstances of Poland's invasion and defeat by the Germans and Soviets.

Awards and tributes
Polish Decorations

Order of the White Eagle, Commander and Knight of Virtuti Militari, Grand Cross, Grand Officer and Officer of Order of Polonia Restituta, four times Cross of Valour, Golden Cross of Merit (Złoty Krzyż Zasługi), and Cross of Independence with Swords.

Foreign decorations

Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Cross, Grand Officer and Commander of the French Order of the Legion of Honour, Grand Officer of the Finnish Order of the White Rose, Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle (Yugoslavia) and Order of Saint Sava of Yugoslavia, Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit, Grand Cross of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Knight of Latvia's highest military award, Order of Lāčplēsis (the Order of the Bearslayer), 2nd class, Pulaski Medal (USA) and Italian Cross of Military Merit.

Honorary Titles

Rydz was Honorary Doctor of the Universities of Warsaw and (then-Polish) Vilnius and the Warsaw University of Technology, as well as an Honorary Citizen of several Polish cities.

Tributes

Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Park is a large tree-covered public park in Warsaw, established after World War II on the eastern side of the Polish parliament building.

Works

 * On military tactics and theory


 * Walka na bagnety (Bayonet Fight), Lwów 1914;
 * W sprawie polskiej doktryny (Poland's Military Doctrine), Warsaw 1924;
 * Kawaleria w osłonie (Cavalry in protection of troops), Warsaw 1925;
 * Byście o sile nie zapomnieli -Rozkazy, Artykuły, Mowy (Do not forget the Might – Orders, Articles and Speeches), Warsaw 1936;
 * Wojna polsko-niemiecka (The Polish-German War), Budapest 1941.
 * Poetry


 * Dążąc do końca swoich dróg (Toward My Path's End), Paris, 1947; London, 1989.
 * Paintings and Graphics


 * Illustrations to Piłsudski's book 22 January 1863, Lwów 1920;
 * Contributions to Art Exhibitions in Kraków (1916) and Warsaw (1917). Most of his paintings are irretrievably lost.

Online


Category:1886 births Category:1941 deaths Category:People from Berezhany Raion Category:People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Category:Polish nobility Category:Marshals of Poland Category:Polish generals Category:Camp of National Unity politicians Category:Polish Military Organisation members Category:Polish resistance fighters Category:Polish painters Category:Polish poets Category:Polish military personnel of World War II Category:Commanders of the Virtuti Militari Category:Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Cross of Independence Category:Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Category:Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Eagle (Serbia) Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Sava Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Category:Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Category:Polish military writers Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Category:Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Burials at Powązki Cemetery