Józef Piłsudski was born on December 5, 1867, in today’s Lithuania. A former part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at that time under Russian occupation, since 1795. Piłsudski was a worker’s activist, one of the leaders of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and one of the founding fathers of modern Polish independence.
“Referring to [Polish Romantic poet] Słowacki, he believed that without dreams it was impossible to realise great goals. Such a dream was to bring about Poland’s independence, treated by a large part of society as a fad,” Professor Andrzej Chojnowski of the Historical Institute of the University of Warsaw stated.
🇵🇱 #OTD 155 years ago Józef #Piłsudski was born. He was the founder of the Polish Legions (the first Polish military formation in the 20th century) and the legendary victorious commander in the Polish-Bolshevik war of 1920. pic.twitter.com/jGI80DrJJR
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) December 5, 2022
Piłsudski’s life
At the outbreak of World War I, Piłsudski was the leader of a small military unit, the First Cadre Company, comprising Polish soldiers serving within the structures of the Austrian army. Soon afterwards he officially established the Polish Legions, taking personal command of their First Brigade, which he would lead successfully into several victorious battles. For his effort towards Polish independence and refusing to swear an oath to the Austrian authorities, Piłsudski was arrested and spent the final months of the war in prison.
In November 1918, he was officially appointed as the Chief of State of the newly reborn Poland. He then led Poland against the military invasion of Russia in 1920 and strived to establish its Eastern borders.
Despite retiring from his duties in 1923, he returned to power in a coup d’état in 1926. During the coup, 215 soldiers and 164 civilians were killed. He then led the so-called ‘Sanation regime’, at times employing authoritarian methods and suppressing the opposition.
Piłsudski died of liver cancer in May 1935 at the Belweder Palace in Warsaw. In the aftermath, ceremonies, masses and a large-scale funeral were held in Poland.
Some of Piłsudski’s political moves remain controversial, such as the May 1926 coup d’état, the suppression of opposition, the establishment of the Bereza Kartuska detention camp for his opponents, and the failure to formulate a coherent policy towards the country’s minorities.
In spite of that, Piłsudski continues to be viewed by most Poles as a crucial figure in the efforts required to restore independence after 123 years of occupation and then in providing the basis for the construction of a law-abiding European state.
source: TVP World, PAP
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