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88-524: Józef Klemens Piłsudski ( Polish: [ˈjuzɛf ˈklɛmɛns piwˈsutskʲi] ; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I , he became an increasingly dominant figure in Polish politics and exerted significant influence on shaping the country's foreign policy. Piłsudski

176-711: A feeder school for the university. Out of 115 professors who taught at the university in 1803–1832, 15 were graduates of the gymnasium. The secret student societies Philomaths and Filaret Association were discovered when a student of the gymnasium wrote on the blackboard "Long live the Constitution of 3 May 1791 !" in May 1823. Tsarist police launched an investigation that spread to schools in Kaunas , Kėdainiai , Panevėžys , Svislach as well as Kražiai College . Many students were expelled or sentenced to katorga . After

264-881: A parliamentary election was held, in which Piłsudski endorsed two lists: the National-State Union, and the State Unity in the Kresy , neither of which secured any seats in the Sejm. On 9 December 1922, the Polish National Assembly elected Gabriel Narutowicz of Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" ; his election, opposed by the right-wing parties, caused public unrest. On 14 December at the Belweder Palace, Piłsudski officially transferred his powers as Chief of State to his friend Narutowicz;

352-462: A typesetter . In 1895, he became a PPS leader, promoting the position that doctrinal issues were of minor importance and socialist ideology should be merged with nationalist ideology because this combination offered the greatest chance of restoring Polish independence. On 15 July 1899, while an underground organizer, Piłsudski married a fellow socialist organizer, Maria Juszkiewiczowa , née Koplewska. According to his biographer Wacław Jędrzejewicz ,

440-620: A demonstration, and in reprisal, during a demonstration on 13 November, Piłsudski's paramilitary opened fire on Russian police and military. Initially concentrating their attention on spies and informers, in March 1905, the paramilitary began using bombs to assassinate selected Russian police officers. During the Russian Revolution of 1905 , Piłsudski played a leading role in events in Congress Poland . In early 1905 he ordered

528-477: A final decision. He held long working hours, and maintained a simple lifestyle, eating plain meals alone at an inexpensive restaurant. Though he was popular with much of the Polish public, his reputation as a loner (the result of many years' underground work) and as a man who distrusted almost everyone led to strained relations with other Polish politicians. Piłsudski and the first Polish government were distrusted in

616-634: A future Polish Army. In 1910, two legal paramilitary organizations were created in the Austrian zone of Poland, one in Lwów (now Lviv , Ukraine), and one in Kraków, to conduct training in military science . With the permission of the Austrian officials, Piłsudski founded a series of "sporting clubs", then the Riflemen's Association , as cover for the training of a Polish military force. In 1912, Piłsudski (using

704-712: A government dominated by his opponents, in particular the National Democrats , Piłsudski retired from active politics. Three years later he returned to power in the May Coup and became the strongman of the Sanation government. He focused on military and foreign affairs until his death in 1935, developing a cult of personality that has survived into the 21st century. Although some aspects of Piłsudski's administration, such as imprisoning his political opponents at Bereza Kartuska , are controversial, he remains one of

792-672: A leader of the Polish Socialist Party . Believing Poland's independence would be won militarily, he formed the Polish Legions . In 1914, he predicted a new major war would defeat the Russian Empire and the Central Powers . After World War I began in 1914, Piłsudski's Legions fought alongside Austria-Hungary against Russia. In 1917, with Russia faring poorly in the war, he withdrew his support for

880-513: A leader willing to take on all the partitioning powers. On 8 November 1918, three days before the Armistice , Piłsudski and his colleague, Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski , were released by the Germans from Magdeburg and soon placed on a train bound for the Polish capital, Warsaw – the collapsing Germans hoping that Piłsudski would create a force friendly to them. On 11 November 1918, Piłsudski

968-643: A major role in crafting the war strategy, he was aided by others, notably Tadeusz Rozwadowski . Later, some supporters of Piłsudski would seek to portray him as the sole author of the Polish strategy, while his opponents would try to minimize his role. On the other hand, in the West, the role of General Maxime Weygand of the French Military Mission to Poland was, for a time, exaggerated. In February 1921, Piłsudski visited Paris, where, in negotiations with French President Alexandre Millerand , he laid

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1056-704: A meeting in Paris in 1914, Piłsudski presciently declared that for Poland to regain independence in the impending war, Russia must be beaten by the Central Powers (the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires) and the latter powers must in turn be beaten by France , Britain , and the United States. At the outbreak of war, on 3 August in Kraków Piłsudski formed a small cadre military unit called

1144-526: A member of the wealthy Billewicz family. The Piłsudski family, although pauperized, cherished Polish patriotic traditions, and are characterized either as Polish or as Polonized Lithuanians . Józef was the second son born to the family. Józef was not an especially diligent student when he attended the Russian Gymnasium in Vilnius . Along with his brothers Bronisław , Adam and Jan , Józef

1232-642: A single government and to avert civil war, Paderewski met with Dmowski and Piłsudski and persuaded them to join forces, with Piłsudski acting as Provisional Chief of State and Commander-in-Chief, while Dmowski and Paderewski represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference . Articles 87–93 of the Treaty of Versailles and the Little Treaty of Versailles , signed on 28 June 1919, formally established Poland as an independent and sovereign state in

1320-609: A weak spot that had been identified by Polish intelligence between the Soviet Western and Southwestern Fronts . That offensive would separate the Soviet Western Front from its reserves and disorganize its movements. Eventually, the gap between Sikorski's army and the "Strike Group" would close near the East Prussian border, bringing about the destruction of the encircled Soviet forces. Piłsudski's plan

1408-792: Is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic , which was re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final partition of Poland in 1795, and was considered de facto leader (1926–1935) of the Second Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs . Seeing himself as a descendant of the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Piłsudski believed in a multi-ethnic Poland—"a home of nations" including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities. Early in his political career, Piłsudski became

1496-664: The Battle of Warsaw , halting the Soviet advance in one of the worst defeats for the Red Army . Stanisław Stroński , a National Democrat Sejm deputy, coined the phrase "Miracle at the Vistula" ( Cud nad Wisłą ) to express his disapproval of Piłsudski's "Ukrainian adventure". Stroński's phrase was adopted as praise for Piłsudski by some patriotically- or piously minded Poles, who were unaware of Stroński's ironic intent. While Piłsudski had

1584-729: The Entente Cordiale to join the attack on Lenin's struggling Bolshevik government, Piłsudski probably saved it in the summer and the fall of 1919. After the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919 , and a series of escalating battles that resulted in the Poles advancing eastward, on 21 April 1920, Marshal Piłsudski (as his rank had been since March 1920) signed a military alliance called the Treaty of Warsaw with Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura . The treaty allowed both countries to conduct joint operations against Soviet Russia . The goal of

1672-541: The First Cadre Company from members of the Riflemen's Association and Polish Rifle Squads . That same day, a cavalry unit under Władysław Belina-Prażmowski was sent to reconnoitre across the Russian border before the official declaration of war between Austria-Hungary and Russia on 6 August 1914. Piłsudski's strategy was to send his forces north across the border into Russian Poland into an area

1760-572: The Latin as Intermarium , stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea . In addition to Poland and Lithuania, it was to consist of Ukraine , Belarus , Latvia and Estonia , somewhat in emulation of the pre-partition Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Piłsudski's plan met with opposition from most of the prospective member states, which refused to relinquish their independence, as well as

1848-594: The Little Constitution of 1919 , although Piłsudski proclaimed his intention to eventually relinquish his powers to the parliament. "Provisional" was struck from his title, and Piłsudski held the office of the Chief of State until 9 December 1922, after Gabriel Narutowicz was elected as the first president of Poland . Piłsudski's major foreign policy initiative was a proposed federation (to be called "Międzymorze" ( Polish for "Between-Seas"), and known from

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1936-523: The Naczelnik was replaced by the President. Chief of State (Poland) The office of Chief of State was created by a Regency Council decree of 22 November 1918, which established a system of governance for Poland pending its revision by a democratically elected Sejm (parliament). The Naczelnik exercised the highest civil and military power in the country. He was Commander-in-Chief of

2024-591: The Polish Army , with powerful prerogatives in the field of foreign relations . He appointed government ministers , who answered to him, including the Prime Minister . Provisional decrees could be promulgated by the Chief of State with the countersignatures of the Prime Minister and the relevant minister, though any such laws were to be reviewed by the first subsequent Sejm. Józef Piłsudski, who

2112-767: The Polish Liquidation Committee in Kraków) supported Piłsudski. He established a coalition government that was predominantly socialist and introduced many reforms long proclaimed as necessary by the Polish Socialist Party, such as the eight-hour day , free school education and women's suffrage , to avoid major unrest. As head of state, Piłsudski believed he must remain separated from partisan politics. The day after his arrival in Warsaw, he met with old colleagues from his time working with

2200-465: The Polish Socialist Party ( PPS ), and helped organize their Lithuanian branch. Initially, he sided with the Socialists' more radical wing, but despite the socialist movement's ostensible internationalism , he remained a Polish nationalist. In 1894, as its chief editor , he published an underground socialist newspaper called Robotnik (The Worker); he would also be one of its chief writers and

2288-581: The Polish struggle in Lviv . Piłsudski was aware that the Bolsheviks would not ally with an independent Poland and predicted that war with them was inevitable. He viewed their advance west as a major problem, but he also considered the Bolsheviks less dangerous for Poland than their White opponents . The "White Russians", representatives of the old Russian Empire, were willing to accept limited independence for Poland, probably within borders similar to those of

2376-542: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1795. After World War I, the village was part of the Vilnius Region that was contested between Lithuania and Poland throughout the interwar period. From 1922 until 1939, the village was in the Second Polish Republic. During World War II, the village suffered Soviet and German occupations. The estate was part of the dowry brought by his mother, Maria,

2464-564: The Polish–Lithuanian War (1919–1920, culminating in Żeligowski's Mutiny ), Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts (beginning in 1918), and most notably the Polish–Soviet War (1919–21). Winston Churchill commented, "The war of giants has ended; the wars of the pygmies have begun." In the aftermath of World War I , there was unrest on all Polish borders. Regarding Poland's future frontiers, Piłsudski said: "All that we can gain in

2552-621: The Regency Kingdom of Poland , created by the Central Powers, and acted as minister of war in the newly formed Polish Regency government ; as such, he was responsible for the Polnische Wehrmacht . After the Russian Revolution in early 1917 , and in view of the worsening situation of the Central Powers, Piłsudski took an increasingly uncompromising stance by insisting that his men no longer be treated as "German colonial troops " and be only used to fight Russia. Anticipating

2640-464: The Russian Army had evacuated in the hope of breaking through to Warsaw and sparking a nationwide revolution. Using his limited forces in those early days, he backed his orders with the sanction of a fictitious "National Government in Warsaw", and he bent and stretched Austrian orders to the utmost, taking initiatives, moving forward, and establishing Polish institutions in liberated towns, whereas

2728-472: The Uprising of 1863 , the number of students decreased by 271 or 28% as students were expelled or voluntarily left in support of the uprising. In 1880, about 600 students studied at the 1st Gymnasium, about 80% of which were the children of officials and nobles. About 10% of the children were Jews , while the rest were almost evenly split between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxs . The 1st Gymnasium

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2816-589: The Vistula River and to defend the bridgeheads at Warsaw and on the Wieprz River while some 25% of the available divisions concentrated to the south for a counteroffensive. Afterwards, two armies under General Józef Haller , facing Soviet frontal attack on Warsaw from the east, were to hold their entrenched positions while an army under General Władysław Sikorski was to strike north from outside Warsaw, cutting off Soviet forces that sought to envelop

2904-604: The "Young Faction", "Moderate Faction" or " Left " (" Młodzi ", " Frakcja Umiarkowana ", " Lewica "). The "Young" sympathized with the Social Democrats of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania , and believed priority should be given to co-operation with Russian revolutionaries in toppling the Russian Empire and creating a socialist utopia to facilitate negotiations for independence. Piłsudski and his supporters in

2992-419: The "classical" gymnasiums, but its graduates could not apply to universities. The realgymnasiums , including the one in Vilnius, were reorganized into realschules in 1872. The 2nd Gymnasium was reestablished in 1884 after a reorganization of a six-year progymnasium . In the early 20th century, tuition cost 75 Russian rubles at the 2nd Gymnasium. Both gymnasiums lived side by side, separated by

3080-521: The Allied powers, who thought it to be too bold a change to the existing balance-of-power structure. According to historian George Sanford , it was around 1920 that Piłsudski came to realize the infeasibility of that version of his Intermarium project. Instead of a Central and Eastern European alliance, there soon appeared a series of border conflicts, including the Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–19),

3168-694: The Austrians saw his forces as good only for scouting or for supporting main Austrian formations. On 12 August 1914 Piłsudski's forces took the town of Kielce , in Kielce Governorate , but Piłsudski found the residents less supportive than he had expected. On 27 August 1914 Piłsudski established the Polish Legions , formed within the Austro-Hungarian Army , and took personal command of their First Brigade , which he would lead into several victorious battles. He also secretly informed

3256-626: The British government in the fall of 1914 that his Legions would never fight against France or Britain, only Russia. Piłsudski decreed that Legions' personnel were to be addressed by the French Revolution -inspired "Citizen" ( Obywatel ), and he was referred to as "the Commandant" (" Komendant "). Piłsudski enjoyed extreme respect and loyalty from his men, which would remain for years to come. The Polish Legions fought against Russia, at

3344-623: The Central Powers issue a guarantee of independence for Poland. He supported that demand with his own proffered resignation and that of many of the Legions' officers. On 5 November 1916 the Central Powers proclaimed the independence of Poland, hoping to increase the number of Polish troops that could be sent to the Eastern Front against Russia, thereby relieving German forces to bolster the Western Front . Piłsudski agreed to serve in

3432-753: The Central Powers' defeat in the war, he did not wish to be allied with the losing side. In the aftermath of the July 1917 " oath crisis ", when Piłsudski forbade Polish soldiers to swear loyalty to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, he was arrested and imprisoned at Magdeburg . The Polish units were disbanded and the men were incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Army, while the Polish Military Organization began attacking German targets. Piłsudski's arrest greatly enhanced his reputation among Poles, many of whom began to see him as

3520-434: The Central Powers, and was imprisoned in Magdeburg by the Germans. Piłsudski was Poland's Chief of State from November 1918, when Poland regained its independence, until 1922. From 1919 to 1921 he commanded Polish forces in six wars that re-defined the country's borders. On the verge of defeat in the Polish–Soviet War in August 1920, his forces repelled the invading Soviet Russians at the Battle of Warsaw . In 1923, with

3608-455: The Duchy of Lithuania (i.e. Vilnius University ) into a gymnasium. It remained attached to and run by the university. Initially, the education lasted six years. The gymnasium had deep historical traditions and was closely associated with the university. It shared the premises and library, as well as some faculty. Of nine teachers in 1803, five were Vilnius University alumni, two had studied abroad, and two were priests. Therefore, it acted as

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3696-457: The Japanese diplomat Hayashi Tadasu supported the plan, the Japanese government, including Yamagata, was more skeptical. Piłsudski's arch-rival, Roman Dmowski , travelled to Japan and argued against Piłsudski's plan, discouraging the Japanese government from supporting a Polish revolution because he thought it was doomed to fail. The Japanese offered Piłsudski much less than he hoped; he received Japan's help in purchasing weapons and ammunition for

3784-409: The PPS and their combat organisation, and the Japanese declined the Legion proposal. In the fall of 1904, Piłsudski formed a paramilitary unit (the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party , or bojówki ) aiming to create an armed resistance movement against the Russian authorities. The PPS organized demonstrations, mainly in Warsaw . On 28 October 1904, Russian Cossack cavalry attacked

3872-439: The PPS to launch a general strike there; it involved some 400,000 workers and lasted two months until it was broken by the Russian authorities. In June 1905, Piłsudski sent paramilitary aid to an uprising in Łódź, later called June Days . In Łódź, armed clashes broke out between Piłsudski's paramilitaries and gunmen loyal to Dmowski and his National Democrats . On 22 December 1905, Piłsudski called for all Polish workers to rise up;

3960-516: The Poles. In the coming months, over 400,000 in total departed over Polish territories. On 14 November 1918, Piłsudski was asked to supervise provisionally the running of the country. On 22 November he officially received, from the new government of Jędrzej Moraczewski , the title of Provisional Chief of State ( Tymczasowy Naczelnik Państwa ) of renascent Poland. Various Polish military organizations and provisional governments (the Regency Council in Warsaw; Ignacy Daszyński 's government in Lublin ; and

4048-460: The Polish actions as an invasion, successfully generating popular support for their cause at home. The Soviets then launched a counter-offensive from Belarus , and counterattacked in Ukraine, advancing into Poland in a drive toward Germany to encourage the Communist Party of Germany in their struggles for power. The Soviets announced their plans to invade Western Europe; Soviet Communist theoretician Nikolai Bukharin , writing in Pravda , hoped for

4136-441: The Polish capital from that direction. The most important role of the plan was assigned to a relatively small, approximately 20,000-man, newly assembled "Reserve Army" (also known as the "Strike Group", " Grupa Uderzeniowa "), comprising the most determined, battle-hardened Polish units that were commanded by Piłsudski. Their task was to spearhead a lightning northward offensive, from the Vistula-Wieprz triangle south of Warsaw, through

4224-412: The Polish-Ukrainian Treaty was to establish an independent Ukraine and independent Poland in alliance, resembling that once existing within Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The Polish and Ukrainian Armies under Piłsudski's command launched a successful offensive against the Russian forces in Ukraine and on 7 May 1920, with remarkably little fighting, they captured Kiev . The Bolshevik leadership framed

4312-408: The Revolutionary Faction continued to plot a revolution against Tsarist Russia to secure Polish independence. By 1909, his faction was the majority in the PPS, and Piłsudski remained an important PPS leader until the outbreak of the First World War. Piłsudski anticipated a coming European war and the need to organize the leadership of a future Polish army. He wanted to secure Poland's independence from

4400-408: The Russian Narodniks revolutionary movement. In 1886, he was suspended for participating in student demonstrations. He was rejected by the University of Dorpat , whose authorities had been informed of his political affiliation. On 22 March 1887, he was arrested by Tsarist authorities on a charge of plotting with Vilnius socialists to assassinate Tsar Alexander III ; Piłsudski's main connection to

4488-445: The Sejm, formed a Council for Defense of the Nation , chaired by Piłsudski, to provide expeditious decision-making as a temporary supplanting of the fractious Sejm. The National Democrats contended that the string of Bolshevik victories had been Piłsudski's fault and demanded that he resign; some even accused him of treason. On 19 July they failed to carry a vote of no-confidence in the council and this led to Dmowski's withdrawal from

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4576-456: The Tsarist regime. However, the plot was discovered and 191 people were arrested; 74 were current or former gymnasium students. In 1849, the school was prohibited to admit children of tax-paying classes (i.e. non-nobles) without special individual exemptions. At the time, the school had 73 such students, all sons of craftsmen. In 1871, to prevent modern and revolutionary ideas, Minister of Education Dmitry Tolstoy reorganized gymnasiums (including

4664-506: The West because he had co-operated with the Central Powers from 1914 to 1917 and because the governments of Daszyński and Moraczewski were primarily socialist. It was not until January 1919, when pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski became Prime Minister of Poland and foreign minister of a new government, that Poland was recognized in the West. Two separate governments were claiming to be Poland's legitimate government: Piłsudski's in Warsaw and Dmowski's in Paris. To ensure that Poland had

4752-449: The call went largely unheeded. Piłsudski instructed the PPS to boycott the elections to the First Duma . The decision, and his resolve to try to win Polish independence through revolution, caused tensions within the PPS, and in November 1906, the party fractured over Piłsudski's leadership. His faction came to be called the "Old Faction" or " Revolutionary Faction " (" Starzy " or " Frakcja Rewolucyjna "), while their opponents were known as

4840-450: The closure of Vilnius University in 1832, the gymnasium inherited some remnants of its collection, including books, numismatic samples, scientific implements. In 1843, after the closure of the university and Catholic monasteries, several old bequests by nobles were consolidated to establish a dormitory that would provide free housing for 65 students. Inspired by the Revolutions of 1848 , several students started organizing an uprising against

4928-426: The council. On 12 August, Piłsudski tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Wincenty Witos , offering to be the scapegoat if the military solution failed, but Witos refused to accept his resignation. The Entente pressured Poland to surrender and enter into negotiations with the Bolsheviks. Piłsudski, however, was a staunch advocate of continuing the fight. Piłsudski's plan called for Polish forces to withdraw across

5016-521: The couple had two daughters, Wanda and Jadwiga . In February 1900 Piłsudski was imprisoned at the Warsaw Citadel when Russian authorities found Robotnik 's underground printing press in Łódź. He feigned mental illness in May 1901 and escaped from a mental hospital at Saint Petersburg with the help of a Polish physician, Władysław Mazurkiewicz , and others. He fled to Galicia , then part of Austria-Hungary , and thence to Leytonstone in London, staying with Leon Wasilewski and his family. In

5104-406: The creation of a Polish Legion from Poles, conscripted into the Russian Army, who had been captured by Japan. He also suggested a "Promethean" project directed at breaking up the Russian Empire, a goal that he later continued to pursue. Meeting with Yamagata Aritomo , he suggested that starting a guerrilla war in Poland would distract Russia and asked for Japan to supply him with weapons. Although

5192-624: The early 1900s, almost all parties in Russian Poland and Lithuania took a conciliatory position toward the Russian Empire and aimed at negotiating within it a limited autonomy for Poland. Piłsudski's PPS was the only political force prepared to fight the Empire for Polish independence and to resort to violence to achieve that goal. On the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in the summer of 1904, Piłsudski traveled to Tokyo, Japan, where he tried unsuccessfully to obtain that country's assistance for an uprising in Poland. He offered to supply Japan with intelligence to support its war with Russia, and proposed

5280-404: The former Congress Poland . They objected to Polish control of Ukraine, which was crucial for Piłsudski's Intermarium project. This contrasted with the Bolsheviks, who proclaimed the partitions of Poland null and void. Piłsudski speculated that Poland would be better off with the Bolsheviks, alienated from the Western powers, than with a restored Russian Empire. By ignoring the strong pressures from

5368-472: The foundations for the Franco-Polish alliance , which would be signed later that year. The Treaty of Riga , ending the Polish-Soviet War in March 1921, partitioned Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Russia. Piłsudski called the treaty an "act of cowardice". The treaty and his secret approval of General Lucjan Żeligowski 's capture of Vilnius from the Lithuanians marked an end to this incarnation of Piłsudski's federalist Intermarium plan. After Vilnius

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5456-587: The guards for their defiance and Piłsudski lost two teeth. He took part in a subsequent hunger strike until the authorities reinstated political prisoners' privileges that had been suspended after the incident. For his involvement, he was sentenced in 1888 to six months' imprisonment. He had to spend the first night of his incarceration in 40-degree-below-zero Siberian cold; this led to an illness that nearly killed him and health problems that would plague him throughout life. During his exile, Piłsudski met many Sybiraks , groups of people who have resettled to Siberia. He

5544-469: The international arena. Piłsudski often clashed with Dmowski for viewing the Poles as the dominant nationality in renascent Poland, and attempting to send the Blue Army to Poland through Danzig, Germany (now Gdańsk , Poland). On 5 January 1919, some of Dmowski's supporters ( Marian Januszajtis-Żegota and Eustachy Sapieha ) attempted a coup against Piłsudski but failed. On 20 February 1919, Polish parliament (the Sejm ) confirmed his office when it passed

5632-503: The marriage was less romantic than pragmatic. Robotnik' s printing press was housed in their apartment first in Vilnius, then in Łódź . A pretext of regular family life made them less suspect. Also, Russian law protected a wife from prosecution for the illegal activities of her husband. The marriage deteriorated when, several years later, Piłsudski began an affair with a younger socialist, Aleksandra Szczerbińska . Maria died in 1921; in October that year, Piłsudski married Aleksandra. By then,

5720-430: The most influential figures in Polish 20th-century history and is widely regarded as a founder of modern Poland. Piłsudski was born 5 December 1867 to the noble Piłsudski family at their manor of Zułów near the village of Zułów (now Zalavas in Lithuania ). At his birth, the village was part of the Russian Empire and had been so since 1795. Before that, it was in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , an integral part of

5808-434: The one in Vilnius) to eight-year schools based on "classical" curriculum which spent as much as 40% of the time on Latin and Greek languages . In 1803, the 1st Gymnasium had nine teachers and 280 students. The number of students increased to 420 in 1805 and 753 in 1828. In 1826–1827, more than 90% of students were Roman Catholics . The number of students decreased to 375 in 1835–1836, but jumped to 880 in 1845. During

5896-467: The paramilitaries' numbers increased to some 2,000 in 1908. The paramilitaries also held up Russian currency transports that were leaving Polish territories. On the night of 26/27 September 1908, they robbed a Russian mail train that was carrying tax revenues from Warsaw to Saint Petersburg. Piłsudski, who took part in this Bezdany raid near Vilnius, used the funds so obtained to finance his secret military organization. The funds totaled 200,812 rubles which

5984-420: The plot was the involvement of his brother Bronisław. Józef was sentenced to five years' exile in Siberia , first at Kirensk on the Lena River , then at Tunka . While being transported in a prisoners' convoy to Siberia, Piłsudski was held for several weeks at a prison in Irkutsk . During his stay, another inmate insulted a guard and refused to apologize; Piłsudski and other political prisoners were beaten by

6072-414: The pseudonym " Mieczysław ") became commander-in-chief of a Riflemen's Association ( Związek Strzelecki ). By 1914, they had increased to 12,000 men. In 1914, while giving a lecture in Paris, Piłsudski declared, "Only the sword now carries any weight in the balance for the destiny of a nation", arguing that Polish independence can only be achieved through military struggle against the partitioning powers. At

6160-428: The resources to carry the campaign beyond Warsaw "straight to London and Paris". Soviet commander Mikhail Tukhachevsky 's order of the day for 2 July 1920 read: "To the West! Over the corpse of White Poland lies the road to worldwide conflagration. March upon Vilnius, Minsk , Warsaw!" and "onward to Berlin over the corpse of Poland!" On 1 July 1920, in view of the rapidly advancing Soviet offensive, Poland's parliament,

6248-442: The side of the Central Powers, until 1917. In August 1914 Piłsudski had set up the Polish Military Organisation ( Polska Organizacja Wojskowa ), which served as a precursor of the Polish intelligence agency and was designed to perform espionage and sabotage missions. In mid-1916, after the Battle of Kostiuchnówka , in which the Polish Legions delayed a Russian offensive at a cost of over 2,000 casualties, Piłsudski demanded that

6336-468: The socialist term of address, 'Comrade']!" However, the authenticity of this quote is disputed. Piłsudski declined to support any party and did not form any political organization of his own; instead, he advocated creating a coalition government. Piłsudski set about organizing a Polish army out of Polish veterans of the German, Russian, and Austrian armies. Much of former Russian Poland had been destroyed in

6424-547: The three empires that partitioned Poland out of political existence in the late 18th century. In 1906 Piłsudski, with the connivance of the Austrian authorities, founded a military school in Kraków for the training of paramilitary units. In 1906 alone, the 800-strong paramilitaries, operating in five-man teams in Congress Poland, killed 336 Russian officials; in subsequent years, the number of their casualties declined, and

6512-426: The underground resistance, who addressed him socialist-style as " Comrade " ( Towarzysz ) and asked for his support for their revolutionary policies. He refused it and supposedly answered: "Comrades, I took the red tram of socialism to the stop called Independence, and that's where I got off. You may keep on to the final stop if you wish, but from now on let's address each other as ' Mister' [rather than continue using

6600-853: The war, and systematic looting by the Germans had reduced the region's wealth by at least 10%. A British diplomat who visited Warsaw in January 1919 reported: "I have nowhere seen anything like the evidence of extreme poverty and wretchedness that meet one's eye at almost every turn." In addition, the country had to unify the disparate systems of law, economics, and administration in the former German, Austrian, and Russian sectors of Poland. There were nine legal systems, five currencies, and 66 types of rail systems (with 165 models of locomotives), each needing to be consolidated. Biographer Wacław Jędrzejewicz described Piłsudski as very deliberate in his decision-making: Piłsudski collected all available pertinent information, then took his time weighing it before arriving at

6688-630: The west depends on the Entente—on the extent to which it may wish to squeeze Germany." The situation was different in the east, of which Piłsudski said that "there are doors that open and close, and it depends on who forces them open and how far." In the east, Polish forces clashed with Ukrainian forces in the Polish–Ukrainian War, and Piłsudski's first orders as Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, on 12 November 1918, were to provide support for

6776-419: Was a fortune for the time and equaled the paramilitaries' entire income for the two preceding years. In 1908, Piłsudski transformed his paramilitary units into a " Union of Active Struggle " ( Związek Walki Czynnej , or ZWC ), headed by three of his associates, Władysław Sikorski , Marian Kukiel and Kazimierz Sosnkowski . The ZWC 's main purpose was to train officers and noncommissioned officers for

6864-783: Was a member of the Council of National Defence ( Rada Obrony Państwa ), created during the Polish–Soviet War which had threatened the survival of the newly recreated Polish state. Piłsudski relinquished his powers to the newly elected President of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz , on 14 December 1922. Gymnasium in Vilnius Vilnius Boys' Gymnasiums ( Russian : Виленские мужские гимназии , romanized :  Vilenskiye muzhskiye gimnazii ) were two secondary education institutions that existed in Vilnius while it

6952-517: Was allowed to work in an occupation of his choosing and tutored local children in mathematics and foreign languages (he knew French, German and Lithuanian in addition to Russian and his native Polish; he would later learn English). Local officials decided that, as a Polish noble, he was not entitled to the 10- ruble pension received by others. In 1892 Piłsudski returned from exile and settled in Adomavas Manor near Teneniai . In 1893, he joined

7040-535: Was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Polish forces by the Regency Council and was entrusted with creating a national government for the newly independent country. Later that day, which would become Poland's Independence Day , he proclaimed an independent Polish state. That week, Piłsudski negotiated the evacuation of the German garrison from Warsaw and of other German troops from Ober Ost . Over 55,000 Germans peacefully departed Poland, leaving their weapons to

7128-547: Was chosen as Chief of State, relinquished his powers to the first Sejm on February 20, 1919; however, the Sejm requested that he remain Chief of State, stating the powers of the office (now without the word "Provisional") in the Small Constitution of 1919 . The Chief of State remained Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, named the government (subject to confirmation by the Sejm) and held the highest executive power . He

7216-482: Was criticized as "amateurish" by high-ranking army officers and military experts, quick to point out Piłsudski's lack of formal military education. However, the desperate situation of the Polish forces persuaded other commanders to support it. When a copy of the plan was acquired by the Soviets, Western Front commander Mikhail Tukhachevsky thought it was a ruse and disregarded it. Days later, the Soviets were defeated in

7304-742: Was introduced by his mother Maria to Polish history and literature, which were suppressed by the Imperial authorities. His father, also named Józef, fought in the January 1863 Uprising against Russian rule. The family resented the government's Russification policies. Young Józef profoundly disliked having to attend Russian Orthodox Church services and left school with an aversion for the Russian Tsar , its empire, and its culture. In 1885 Piłsudski started medical studies at Kharkov University where he became involved with Narodnaya Volya , part of

7392-543: Was meant as a tool of Russification ; its students were encouraged to join the Russian Imperial Army . As such, it did not become popular among the Lithuanian nobles and was closed in 1863. A new gymnasium in Vilnius was established in 1868 when a realgymnasium was opened. The concept of "real schools" was borrowed from Germany. They provided more practical education (i.e. math and science) than

7480-515: Was occupied by the Central Lithuanian Army , Piłsudski said that he "could not help but regard them [Lithuanians] as brothers". In parliament, Piłsudski once said: "I cannot not reach out to Kaunas. .. I cannot disregard those brothers who consider the day of our triumph a day of shock and mourning." On 25 September 1921, when Piłsudski visited Lwów (now Lviv ) for the opening of the first Eastern Trade Fair ( Targi Wschodnie ), he

7568-415: Was officially closed on 23 February 1918. After the failed November Uprising , the university and many other schools were closed. Bucking the trend, the 2nd Boys' Gymnasium was opened in 1834. In October 1838, it was transformed into Vilnius Institute for Nobles (Russian: Виленский дворянский институт , romanized:  Vilenskiy dvoryanskiy institut ) meant for 100 sons of nobles. The institute

7656-477: Was part of the Russian Empire . The 1st Gymnasium was opened in 1803 and closed in 1918. The 1st and 2nd gymnasiums were located on the premises of Vilnius University , abolished after the failed November Uprising of 1830. Vilnius Girls' Gymnasium was established in 1860. On 4 April 1803, Tsar Alexander I of Russia signed a decree which transformed the preparatory school attached to the Chief School of

7744-516: Was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by Stepan Fedak , acting on behalf of Ukrainian-independence organizations, including the Ukrainian Military Organization . The Polish Constitution of March 1921 severely limited the powers of the presidency intentionally, to prevent Piłsudski from waging war. This caused Piłsudski to decline to run for the office. In the run-up to the first presidential election,

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