Edward Rydz-Śmigły
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Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły |
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| Marshal of Poland | |
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In office 10 November 1936 – 2 December 1941 |
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| Preceded by | Ferdinand Foch |
| Succeeded by | Michał Rola-Żymierski |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 March 1886 Łapszyn near Brzeżany, Galicia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 2 December 1941 (aged 55) Warsaw, Occupied Poland |
| Awards |
               
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| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | Adam Zawisza, Tarłowski |
| Allegiance |
 Austria-Hungary (1914–1917) Second Polish Republic (1918–1939)
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| 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