Polish marshal who took Kiev with the 3rd Army in the 1920 offensive and was commander-in-chief in September 1939
A painter who had studied philosophy and art in Kraków, he fought in Piłsudski's 1st Brigade of the Polish Legions from 1914 and in 1917 took the nom de guerre Śmigły as head of the Polish Military Organisation. In the Polish–Soviet War he took Vilnius in April 1919 and Daugavpils early in 1920. In the Kiev offensive he led the 3rd Army, which entered Kiev on 7 May, and abandoned the city only on Piłsudski's order of 10 June. In the Battle of Warsaw he commanded the Central Front. After Piłsudski's death in 1935 he became Inspector-General of the Armed Forces and in 1936 Marshal, styled the second man in the state; as commander-in-chief in September 1939 he was defeated and interned in Romania. He returned secretly to Warsaw in 1941 and died there that December.
Also known as: Edward Rydz-Smigly
Activities and affiliations
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1918–1939
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1914–19171st Brigade of the Polish Legions
- 1917–1918Commander of the Polish Military Organisation
- 1918Minister of war in the Lublin provisional government
- 1919Capture of Vilnius
- 1920Capture of Daugavpils
- 1920Commander of the 3rd Army; capture and evacuation of Kiev
- 1920Commander of the Central Front at the Battle of Warsaw
- 1935–1939Inspector-General of the Polish Armed Forces
- 1939Commander-in-chief of the Polish forces; interned in Romania