General Inspector of the Armed Forces Generalny Inspektor Sił Zbrojnych |
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Flag of the GISZ
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Polish Armed Forces | |
Abbreviation | GISZ |
Reports to | The President |
Residence |
Belweder Palace, Warsaw (Piłsudski) |
Appointer | The President |
Term length | No fixed term |
Formation | 27 August 1926 |
First holder | Józef Piłsudski |
Final holder | Bolesław Bronisław Duch |
Abolished | 9 October 1980 |
Succession | Military Council |
General Inspector of the Armed Forces (Polish: Generalny Inspektor Sił Zbrojnych; GISZ) was an office created in the Second Polish Republic in 1926, after the May Coup.
The General Inspector reported directly to the President, and was not responsible to the Sejm (parliament) or the government. In the event of war, the General Inspector was to become the Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces.
Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and the post-war establishment of the Polish People's Republic, the position was retained by the Polish government-in-exile until 1980.
Rydz-Śmigły went into exile on 18 September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland. Afterwards, all General Inspectors were in exile (and increasingly connected with educational activities such as cooperation with the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum).
Duch died on 9 October 1980. Afterwards, in place of the GISZ, a Military Council was created, led by gen. bryg. Klemens Rudnicki.