Józef Klemens Piłsudski was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State and first Marshal of Poland . 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 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 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 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 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 1919–1921 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 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 regime. 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 the most influential figures in Polish 20th-century history and is widely regarded as a founder of modern Poland. Wikipedia
“To be defeated and not submit, is victory; to be victorious and rest on one's laurels, is defeat.”
(Late 1920s or the 1930s) Zbigniew Brzezinski in his introduction to Wacław Jędrzejewicz’s Piłsudski: A Life For Poland. Quoted from this website http://members.lycos.co.uk/jozefpilsudski/index2.html <br class="br">Attributed
rather than continue using the socialist term of address, 'Comrade'
[Józef Piłsudski (1867 - 1935), Poland.gov, http://poland.gov.pl/Jozef, pilsudski,(1867-1935),1972.html, April 23, 2006, Translation of quote from the Government of Poland's website.]
Aleksandra Piłsudski, Memoirs of Madame Piłsudski, 1940
Attributed
“There can be no independent Poland without an independent Ukraine.”
2014 Crisis in Ukraine. Perspectives, Reflections, International Reverberations, ASLAN Publishing House, 9788393914173, 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=GAdOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT7,
(1908) Bohdan Urbankowski, Józef Piłsudski: Dreamer and Strategist, 1997, ISBN 8370019145, p. 133
Attributed
“Only the sword now carries any weight in the balance for the destiny of a nation.”
(1914) [Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way, 1987, 422, John Murray, London, ISBN 0531150690, p. 332]
Attributed
“(About Poland) A great nation, only the people are cunts.”
Józef Piłsudski, Myśli i wypsknięcia, Warszawa 2010, p. 41.
Attributed
“To want to, is to be able to.”
Peter Ackerman, Jack Duvall, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict, Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0312240503, Google Books, p. 165 http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0312240503&id=OVtKS9DCN0kC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=Pilsudski+hero&sig=A39uIDdGoEuGIDV9wS4CES_8vfs <br class="br">Attributed
Wacław Sieroszewski, Józef Piłsudski, Piotrków: 1915, p. 19.
Attributed
Source: Polish: "Wszyscy oni są mniej lub więcej zakapturzeni imperialiści, nie wyłączając rewolucjonistów. Żywiołowy centralizm jest cechą tych umysłów, wiecznie tęskniących do absolutu. Nie znoszą rozmaitości, nie umieją godzić sprzeczności – nużą one ich wolę i wyobraźnię do tego stopnia, że nie mogą stopić rozmaitości w jedną całość, odrzucają zupełnie nawet potrzebę świadomych społecznych organizacji. [...]. Niech się dzieje wszystko samo przez się, żywiołowo – to rozwiązanie według nich jest najmądrzejsze, bo najprostsze i najłatwiejsze. Dlatego to pośród nich tak dużo jest anarchistów. Dziwna jednak rzecz, że nie spotkałem wcale wśród Rosjan republikanów!"
Joseph Pilsduski. Interview by Dymitr Merejkowsky, 1921. Translated from the Russian by Harriet E. Kennedy, B.A., London & Edinburgh, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., 1921. Quoted from this site http://members.lycos.co.uk/jozefpilsudski/dm.html. <br class="br">Attributed
Jerzy Robert Nowak, Na przekór skorpionom. Wyznania upartego Polaka, Warszawa 2005, p. 52.
Attributed
(Probably 1918) Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919 : Six Months That Changed the World, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003, ISBN 0375760520, p. 211.
Attributed
Declaration of the Sejm (Lower House) of the Polish Parliament, May 12, 1995, the 60th anniversary of Piłsudski's death. Józef Piłsudski http://members.lycos.co.uk/jozefpilsudski/index2.html <br class="br">About him
