Order Virtuti Militari
The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stanislaus II Augustus and is the oldest military decoration in the world still in use. It is awarded in five classes either for personal heroism or, to commanders, for leadership. Some of the heroic actions recognized by an award of the Virtuti Militari are equivalent to those meriting the British Victoria Cross, the German Iron Cross, and the American Medal of Honor. Soon after its introduction, however, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was destroyed in the partitions of Poland (1795), and the partitioning powers abolished the decoration and prohibited its wearing. Since then, the award has been reintroduced, renamed and banned several times, with its fate closely reflecting the vicissitudes of the Polish people. Throughout the decorat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia established it on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Queen Louise. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). Recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939). During the 1930s and World War II, the Nazi regime superimposed a swastika on the traditional medal. The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only, though there were instances awarded to civilians for performing military functions, including Hanna Reitsch, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and Iron Cross, 1st Class, and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who received ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/77489?rskey=dCKrg4&result=1 (accessed May 11, 2021) The term ''general'' is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the Tudor period, 16th century, as a shortening of ''captain general'', which rank was taken from Middle French ''capitaine général''. The adjective ''general'' had been affixed to officer designations since the late Middle Ages, late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of ''general'' is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However, different countries use di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Zieleńce
The Battle of Zieleńce was a battle in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, in defence of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791. The battle took place on 18 June 1792, between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army of Józef Poniatowski and an Imperial Russian Army group under the command of General Irakly Morkov, which was a part of General Mikhail Krechetnikov's Russian forces invading the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the south. The battle ended in Polish victory, as the Russian assault was repulsed, although the Poles soon withdrew from the battlefield. Prelude Polish forces had been retreating for several weeks, avoiding a decisive engagement with the numerically superior Russian forces. On 15 June, the joined Polish forces reached Połonne. After a meeting, the Polish commanders decided to withdraw because they did not have the possibility of defending a town that did not have fortifications. On 17 June, Polish commander Prince Józef Poniatowski received infor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko
Prince Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko (1768–1844) was a Polish nobleman, general, military commander, diplomat and politician. Early life Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko was born in 1768 to Hieronim Janusz Sanguszko and Cecylia Usrzula Potocka. French Royal army In the years 1780–1786, Sanguszko graduated from the military school of Strasbourg and served in the Régiment Royal-Allemand (together with Stanisław Mokronowski) of the French Royal army. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Four-Year Sejm On 3 February 1789, Sanguszko began service in the Crown Army as a captain in the . On 5 October 1789, he was promoted to major, and on 28 April 1792, to vice-brigadier. He was a representative of the Lublin Voivodeship in the Great Sejm of 1788–1792. Sanguszko partook in the War of the Second Partition where he fought at the Battle of Zieleńce as a cavalry brigadier, receiving the Virtuti Militari in its wake on June 23. On 29 July 1792, the 24-year-old Sanguszko was promot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Józef Zajączek
Prince Józef Zajączek (; 1 November 1752 – 28 August 1826) was a Polish general and politician. Zajączek started his career in the Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, an aide-de-camp to hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki. He was Branicki's supporter on the political scene, before joining the liberal opposition during the Great Sejm in 1790. He became a radical supporter of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. As a military commander, in the rank of a general, he participated in Polish–Russian War of 1792 and Kościuszko Uprising. After the partitions of Poland, he joined the Napoleonic Army, and was a general in Napoleon's forces until his wounding and capture during Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. From 1815 he became involved in the governance of the Congress Kingdom of Poland, becoming its first Viceroy (Namestnik). Youth Józef Zajączek was born on 1 November 1752 in Kamieniec Podolski to Antoni Zajączek and Marianna Cieszkowska, members of the Pol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stanisław Mokronowski
Stanisław Mokronowski (1761-1821) was a prominent member of the Polish landed gentry of Bogoria coat of arms. A general of the Polish Army and a royal Chamberlain Mokronowski took part in both the Polish–Russian War of 1792 (War in the Defence of the Constitution) and Kościuszko's Uprising of 1794. Early life Stanisław Mokronowski was born in 1761 to Ludwik Mokronowski and Józefa née Czosnowska. Educated by Jesuits, he later studied at the Szkoła Rycerska (Knight's School, also known as the Cadet Corps) in Warsaw, and later in Paris. He entered the military service in Poland, but for a few years he served in the French military. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Four-Year Sejm He returned to Poland in 1788, and on the sejmik at Wyszogród land he was elected the deputy to the national Sejm (parliament), thus becoming a member of the famous [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michał Wielhorski (younger)
Michał Wielhorski (1755–1805) was a Polish-Lithuanian count. In 1789, he was a brigadier of the Polish Crown Army. In 1792, he was made a lieutenant general of that army and he fought in the War of 1792. During the Kościuszko Uprising, he was a lieutenant general of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian army. Son of Michał Wielhorski, brother of General Józef Wielhorski. He was an officer in the Habsburg army. He was in the same regiment as Józef Poniatowski, and was his friend. They fought together in the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791) and were both wounded at Šabac in 1788. Together they entered service in the Polish Crown Army. Wielhorski was the brigadier of the 2nd Ukrainian National Cavalry Brigade with the rank of colonel. In 1792, he was a lieutenant general as the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Division. He fought in the Volyn campaign. He was beaten at Boruszkowce. Poniatowski's right hand in the War of 1792, where he distinguished himself in the battle of Zieleńce (h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tadeusz Kościuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who became a national hero in Belarus, France, Lithuania, Poland and the United States. He fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's struggles against Russian Empire, Russia and Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, and on the US side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising. Kościuszko was born in February 1746, in a manor house on the Mieračoŭščyna, Mereczowszczyzna estate in Brest Litovsk Voivodeship, then Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Ivatsevichy District of Belarus). At age 20, he graduated from the Corps of Cadets (Warsaw), Corps of Cadets in Warsaw, Poland. After the start of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Józef Poniatowski
Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of king Stanislaus Augustus of Poland (), Poniatowski began his military career in 1780 in the Austrian army, where he attained the rank of colonel. In 1789, after leaving Austrian service, he joined the Polish army at the request of his uncle. Poniatowski, now in the rank of major general and commander of the Royal Guards, took part in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, leading the crown forces at the victorious Battle of Zieleńce. After the king's support for the Targowica Confederation of 1792, Poniatowski felt compelled to resign. In 1794 he participated in the Kościuszko Uprising and took charge of defending Warsaw - for which the Russian authorities subsequently exiled him until 1798. In 1807, after Napoleon Bonaparte established the Duchy of Warsaw, Józef Poniatowski was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Poland
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, communism, and the restoration of democracy. The roots of Polish history can be traced to ancient times, when the territory of present-day Poland was settled by various tribes including Celts, Scythians, Germanic clans, Sarmatians, Slavs and Balts. However, it was the West Slavic Lechites, the closest ancestors of ethnic Poles, who established permanent settlements in the Polish lands during the Early Middle Ages.. The Lechitic Western Polans, a tribe whose name means "people living in open fields", dominated the region and gave Poland - which lies in the North-Central European Plain - its name. The first ruling dynasty, the Piasts, emerged in the 10th century AD. Duke Mieszko I is considered the ''de facto'' creator of the Polish sta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |