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Edward Śmigły-Rydz

Marshal of Poland
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Marshal Rydz-Smigly LOC hec 27123.jpg
Edward Śmigły-Rydz Signature.jpg
Marshal of Poland
In office
10 November 1936 – 2 December 1941
Preceded by Ferdinand Foch
Succeeded by Michał Rola-Żymierski
Personal details
Born (1886-03-11)11 March 1886
Łapszyn near Brzeżany, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Died 2 December 1941(1941-12-02) (aged 55)
Warsaw, Occupied Poland
Awards Order of the White Eagle Virtuti Militari Virtuti Militari Polonia Restituta Polonia Restituta Polonia Restituta Cross of the Valorous Cross of the Valorous Cross of the Valorous Cross of the Valorous Cross of Merit Cross of Independence with Swords Star of Romania Order of the White Rose (Finland) Order of Saint Sava (Yugoslavia) Order of Merit (Hungary) Lacplesis Order (Latvia) Order of the Crown of Italy Order of the Rising Sun (Japan) Cross of Military Merit (Italy)
Military service
Nickname(s) Adam Zawisza, Tarłowski
Allegiance  Austria-Hungary (1914–1917)
 Second Polish Republic (1918–1939)
Years of service 1914–1939
Rank Marshal of Poland
Commands C-i-C of the Polish Army
Battles/wars First World War
Polish-Ukrainian War
Polish-Soviet War
Invasion of Poland
Second World War

Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły [ˈɛdvard ˈrɨdz ˈɕmiɡwɨ] (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941; nom de guerre Śmigły, Tarłowski, Adam Zawisza), also called Edward Śmigły-Rydz, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a talented painter and poet.

During the interwar period, he was an exceptionally admired public figure in Poland and was regarded as a hero for his exemplary record as an army commander in the Polish Legions of World War I and the ensuing Polish-Soviet War of 1920. His popularity grew upon his appointment as Commander-in-Chief and Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces following Marshal Józef Piłsudski‘s death in 1935. Rydz served in this capacity at the start of World War II during the 1939 German invasion of Poland.

His military positions gave Rydz-Śmigły de facto command over all matters of national defense in time of war. Initially, he did not surround himself with any organized political grouping, but over time, he gave up the role of a disinterested observer and became more public in his views and pronouncements, and his speeches increasingly took on a political tone. Having few political connections and taking advantage of the feuds within the ruling elite following Piłsudski‘s death, he gradually emerged at the pinnacle of the nation's politics, but his tenure was characterised by grave domestic problems and failures in foreign policy. The ruling elite attempted to draw attention away from these problems by promoting Rydz-Śmigły as Piłsudski‘s heir and a natural patriotic magnet for all of society, with its own propaganda and sloganeering, giving rise to the notion that his leadership would lead Poland out of its nearly impossible geopolitical situation.


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Wikipedia

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