Polish General Staff
Polish General Staff, formally known as the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (Polish: ''Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego'') is the highest professional body within the Polish Armed Forces. Organizationally, it is an integral part of the Ministry of National Defence and the Chief of the General Staff is the highest ranking military officer at the Ministry. It was created in 1918, and for a time bore the name Main Staff (''Sztab Główny''). Currently the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces (''Szef Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego'') is General Rajmund Andrzejczak, since 2 July 2018. History and structure On 25 October 1918, a decision was made to establish the directorate of the chief of staff of the Polish Army. In 1928 the General Headquarters of the Polish Army was established, known commonly at the time as the Main Staff (''Sztab Główny''). In September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland by the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, all the instit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rajmund Andrzejczak
Rajmund Tomasz Andrzejczak (born 29 December 1967) is a Polish general, serving as Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces since 2 July 2018. Life Education He is a graduate of the Military Academy of the Armored Forces in Poznań (1991), the Defense Academy of the Czech Army in Brno, the National Defence University of Warsaw, and the Royal College of Defense Studies. Military career Promotions * Podporucznik (1991) * Lieutenant (1994) * Captain (1995) * Major (2000) * Lieutenant Colonel (2004) * Colonel (2008) * Brigadier General (2011) * Divisional General (2016) * General of the Branch (2018) * General (2019) Andrzejczak began his military carrier as a platoon commander (2nd Infantry Regiment located in the city of Giżycko). Between 1993 and 1996 he served as a commander of a tank company within the 15th Mechanised Brigade. From 1996 till 1998 he served in 4th Armoured Cavalry Brigade. He also served as chief of staff (1998–1999) and as deputy comman ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Henryk Minkiewicz
Henryk Minkiewicz (19 January 1880 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish socialist politician and a general of the Polish Army. Former commander of the Border Defence Corps, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre.; ; ; ; ; ; Life Henryk Minkiewicz was born on 19 January 1880Editor Anna Cienciala ''Katyn A Crime Without Punishment'' Yale, 2007 Page 400 in Suwałki, then in the Russian Empire. After graduating from Marijampolė Gymnasium, he was admitted to the Imperial University of Sankt Petersburg, where he studied biology and geography. However, in 1898 he became a member of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and in 1902 he had to flee to Kraków, then in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, in order to avoid arrest by the Okhrana. There he joined the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University and, simultaneously, Faculty of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1904 he finally left the studies and devoted himself entirely to politics. A close friend of Józef ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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People's Republic Of Poland
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near the end of its existence, it was the second-most populous communist and Eastern Bloc country in Europe. It was also one of the main signatories of the Warsaw Pact alliance. The largest city and official capital since 1947 was Warsaw, followed by the industrial city of Łódź and cultural city of Kraków. The country was bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north, the Soviet Union to the east, Czechoslovakia to the south, and East Germany to the west. The Polish People's Republic was a socialist one-party state, with a unitary Marxist–Leninist government headed by the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). The country's official name was the "Republic of Poland" (') between 1947 and 1952 in accordance with the transitional Small Constitutio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stanisław Kopański
General Stanisław Kopański (19 May 1895 – 23 March 1976) was a Polish military commander, politician, diplomat, an engineer and one of the best-educated Polish officers of the time, serving with distinction during World War II. He is best known as the creator and commander of the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade and Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division. Between 1943 and 1946, he was Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Early life Stanisław Kopański was born on 19 May 1895 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire to Polish parents. In 1905, he enrolled in a local Polish gymnasium (high school), where he graduated upon passing his ''matura'' examinations. Afterwards, he matriculated in a local Institute of Civil Engineering, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. World War I and the establishment of the Second Polish Republic In 1914, Kopański was drafted into the Russian Army. He graduated from the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 Crash
The 1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crash was an aircraft crash that resulted in the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Sikorski's Liberator II crashed off Gibraltar almost immediately after takeoff on 4 July 1943. An estimated sixteen people died, including many other senior Polish military leaders. The plane's pilot was the only survivor. The crash was ruled to have been an accident, but Sikorski's death remains an unsolved mystery. The crash marked a turning point for Polish influence on their Anglo-American allies in World War II. Background The relationship between the Soviet Union and Poland was tenuous at best during World War II for a variety of reasons, and became more so, after the 1940 Katyn massacre of over 20,000 Polish servicemen by the Soviets came to light. However, pragmatic general Władysław Sikorski was still open to some form of normalisation of Polish-So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tadeusz Klimecki
Tadeusz Klimecki (November 23, 1895July 4, 1943) – Brigadier General of the Polish Army, Chief of Polish General Staff. Early life and service in the Imperial and Royal Army Tadeusz Klimecki was born in Tarnów, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was a local lawyer, Joseph Klimecki, and his mother was Ludwika Regiec. In 1913 he graduated from the gymnasium in Jasło and enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University. In 1914 he joined the Eastern Legion, and at its dissolution he was drafted into the Austrian army. After graduating from the school of infantry officers he was sent to the Italian front as a platoon leader. In 1915 he was appointed a standard-bearer, in 1916 – a second lieutenant. By the end of World War I he had been wounded three times and served as a company commander. Service in the Polish Army From November 1918 served in the Polish Army. Between November 1918 and October 1925 he was a company and battalion commander in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polish Government-in-exile
The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, which brought to an end the Second Polish Republic. Despite the occupation of Poland by hostile powers, the government-in-exile exerted considerable influence in Poland during World War II through the structures of the Polish Underground State and its military arm, the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) resistance. Abroad, under the authority of the government-in-exile, Polish military units that had escaped the occupation fought under their own commanders as part of Allied forces in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. After the war, as the Polish territory came under the control of the communist Polish People's Republic, the government-in-exile rema ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wacław Stachiewicz
Wacław Teofil Stachiewicz (19 November 1894 – 12 November 1973) was a Polish writer, geologist, military commander and general of the Polish Army. A brother to General Julian Stachiewicz and the husband to General Roman Abraham's sister, Stachiewicz was the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army during the Polish Defensive War of 1939. Early life and career Wacław Teofil Stachiewicz was born 19 November 1894, in Lwów (also known as Lemberg and L'viv), Galicia, Austria-Hungary. After graduating from one of local gymnasiums, he entered the geological faculty at the University of Lwów. In 1912, he joined the underground Związek Strzelecki, where he received military training and graduated from NCO and officer courses. After the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, Stachiewicz joined the Polish Legions in which he became a platoon commander in the 1st Regiment. On 9 October, he was promoted to second lieutenant and sent with a secret mission to the other side of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Janusz Gąsiorowski
Janusz Gąsiorowski (1889-1949; born in Lemberg) was a Polish general, commander of the Polish 7th Infantry Division during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Taken prisoner on 4 September in the battle of Częstochowa. He was awarded the Serbian Order of Saint Sava The Royal Order of St. Sava is an Order of merit, first awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 and later by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was awarded to nationals and foreigners for meritorious ach ... and a number of other decorations. References 1889 births 1949 deaths Recipients of the Order of St. Sava Military personnel from Lviv Polish generals of the Second Polish Republic Polish September Campaign participants {{Poland-mil-bio-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tadeusz Piskor
Tadeusz Ludwik Piskor (1889–1951) was a Polish Army general. Life and career Piskor was born on 1 February 1889 in Bór Kunowski. Before World War I, he was a member of Polish pro-independence organizations. During World War I he served in the Polish Legions, and subsequently fought in the 1919–21 Polish-Soviet War. During the Interbellum, Piskor held various posts, including Chief of the General Staff, and Army Inspector. During the September 1939 Campaign, he commanded the Lublin Army. His forces were defeated in the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski by German forces, and he became a prisoner of war at Fort Srebrna Góra from 1939. After the war, he settled in London, where he died in 1951. Honours and awards * Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (1921) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, previously awarded the Officer's Cross * Cross of Independence * Cross of Valour - four times * Gold Cross of Merit * Commemorative Medal for War 1918-1921 * Decad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Józef Piłsudski
), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wanda, Jadwiga , profession = , signature = Józef Piłsudski Signature.svg , footnotes = , nickname = , allegiance = Austria-HungarySecond Polish Republic , branch = Polish LegionsPolish Army , serviceyears = 1914–19231926–1935 , rank = Marshal of Poland , unit = , commands = , battles = World War IPolish–Ukrainian WarPolish–Lithuanian WarPolish–Soviet War , awards = , resting_place = Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 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). He was cons ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Władysław Sikorski
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during the First World War, and later in the newly created Polish Army during the Polish–Soviet War of 1919 to 1921. In that war, he played a prominent role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw (1920). In the early years of the Second Polish Republic, Sikorski held government posts, including serving as prime minister (1922 to 1923) and as minister of military affairs (1923 to 1924). Following Józef Piłsudski's May Coup of 1926 and the installation of the ''Sanation'' government, he fell out of favor with the new régime. During the Second World War, Sikorski became prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and a vigorou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |