Wacław Jędrzejewicz
General Wacław Jędrzejewicz (; 29 January 1893 – 30 November 1993) was a Polish Army officer, diplomat, politician and historian, and subsequently an American college professor. He was co-founder, president, and long-time executive director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America. Life Jędrzejewicz was born in Spiczyńce, Russian Empire (prior to 1795 in Poland) to Polish parents. As a student at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (1913–14), Jędrzejewicz joined Józef Piłsudski's Riflemen's Association (''Związek Strzelecki''). In 1915 he was one of the founders and leaders of the Polish Military Organisation (''Polska Organizacja Wojskowa'', or ''P.O.W.''). In August 1915 he brought his "Warsaw Battalion" into the Polish Legions' First Brigade, then fighting in Volhynia. In July 1917, during the Legions' "Oath Crisis" (precipitated by a demand from Germany and Austro-Hungary that the Polish Legionnaires swear loyalty to them), Jędrzejewicz was impriso ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Józef Piłsudski Institute Of America
The Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (full name: Józef Piłsudski Institute of America for Research in the Modern History of Poland) was created in New York City in July 1943. It is an archive, museum and research center devoted to the study of modern Polish history and named after the Polish interwar statesman Józef Piłsudski. History Origins The Piłsudski Institute of America, a research organization and archive, came into being during the General Assembly of the National Committee of Americans of Polish Extraction (KNAPP), held at the Washington Hotel in New York City on July 3–4, 1943. The eight-member organizational committee included three prominent colleagues of Marshal Józef Piłsudski from the interwar period: Wacław Jędrzejewicz, former Minister of Education; Henryk Floyar-Rajchman, former Minister of Commerce and Industry; and Ignacy Matuszewski, former Finance Minister. Also present were well-known Polish-Americans, among them Franciszek Januszew ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town with Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the first 12 sites granted the status. The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second-most-important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was reported by Ibrahim Ibn Yakoub, a merchant from Cordoba, as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kazimierz Sosnkowski
General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (; Warsaw, 19 November 1885 – 11 October 1969, Arundel, Quebec) was a Polish independence fighter, general, diplomat, and architect. He was a major political figure and an accomplished commander, notable in particular for his contributions during the Polish–Soviet War and World War II. After the death of General Władysław Sikorski in July 1943, Sosnkowski became Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces. Sosnkowski was an intellectual who was able to speak Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Italian, and Russian. Early years Born in Warsaw, Sosnkowski grew up in the Russian Partition of Poland. His father, Józef Sosnkowski of the Godziemba coat of arms, was a wealthy nobleman and owner of several villages. His mother was Zofia Drabińska. In 1896 he attended the V Gimnasium (secondary school) in Warsaw, where he participated in a secret organization of progressive youth. To avoid persecution he moved in 1904 to Saint Petersb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kiev Offensive (1920)
The 1920 Kiev Offensive (or Kiev Expedition, ''wyprawa kijowska'' in Polish) was a major part of the Polish–Soviet War. It was an attempt by the armed forces of the recently established Second Polish Republic led by Józef Piłsudski, in alliance with Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura of the Ukrainian People's Republic, to seize the territories of modern-day Ukraine which mostly fell under Soviet control after the October Revolution as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Polish and Soviet forces fought in 1919 and the Poles advanced in the disputed borderlands. In early 1920, Piłsudski concentrated on preparations for a military invasion of central Ukraine. It would result, he anticipated, in destruction of the Soviet armies and force Soviet acceptance of unilateral Polish conditions. The Poles signed an alliance, known as the Treaty of Warsaw, with the forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic led by Petliura. The Kiev Offensive was the central component of Piłsudski' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Semen Petlura
Symon Vasylyovych Petliura ( uk, Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian People's Republic during Ukraine's short-lived sovereignty in 1918–1921, leading Ukraine's struggle for independence following the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. Career to 1917 Born on Hunczak, T. Petliura, Symon'. Encyclopedia of Ukraine. in a suburb of Poltava (then part of the Russian Empire), Symon Petliura was the son of Vasyl Pavlovych Petliura and Olha Oleksiyivna (née Marchenko), of Cossack background. His father, a Poltava city resident, had owned a transportation business; his mother was a daughter of an Orthodox hieromonk (priest-monk). Petliura obtained his initial education in parochial schools, and planned to become an Orthodox priest. Petliura studied in the Russian Orthodox Seminary in Poltava from 1895 to 1901. While ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invasion, it was the eighth-most populous country in Europe, with a population of around 41 million people. It is also bordered by Belarus to the north; by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and by Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city. Ukraine's state language is Ukrainian; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south. During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional po ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Second Department Of Polish General Staff
The Second Department of Polish General Staff (Polish: Oddział II Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego, also called Dwojka) was a department of the Polish General Staff in the Second Polish Republic. It was responsible for military intelligence, counterintelligence, cryptography, analysis of foreign military forces, and foreign affairs of the Polish Army. It existed from 1918 until 1939. History In the second Polish Republic, the first intelligence units were formed soon after the creation of the General Staff of the Polish Army under General Tadeusz Rozwadowski. In mid-October 1918, the ''Information Department of the General Staff'', was formed under Major Mieczysław Mackiewicz. It handled both offensive and defensive intelligence services, evidence, and military ciphers. Until c. 1921, the Polish military used the word “defensive”, while describing intelligence. Due to various political events, changes in the organizational structure of the General Staff in the early 1920 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Austro-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after its defeat in the First World War. Austria-Hungary was ruled by the House of Habsburg and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg monarchy. It was a multinational state and one of Europe's major powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry in the world, after the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Austria-Hungary also became the world's third-largest manufacturer and exporter of electric home appliances, elect ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oath Crisis
The Oath crisis ( pl, Kryzys przysięgowy) was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski hoped for the defeat of one of the partitioning powers—Russia—with the help of the other two partitioning states, Austria-Hungary and Germany. However, after the Russian defeat in 1917 it became clear that the Central Powers were in no position to guarantee the independence of Poland. Despite the Act of November 5th of 1916 and the creation of Kingdom of Poland, it was apparent that the newly created state would be little more than a puppet buffer-state for Germany, a part of its Mitteleuropa plan. At this point, Piłsudski decided to switch allegiances to gain the support of the Entente, particularly France and the United Kingdom, for the cause of Polish independence. A good pretext appeared in July 1917, when the Central Powers d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Volhynia
Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but the territory that still carries the name is Volyn Oblast, in western Ukraine. Volhynia has changed hands numerous times throughout history and been divided among competing powers. For centuries it was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the Russian annexation, all of Volhynia was part of the Pale of Settlement designated by Imperial Russia on its south-western-most border. Important cities include Lutsk, Rivne, Volodymyr, Ostroh, Ustyluh, Iziaslav, Peresopnytsia, and Novohrad-Volynskyi (Zviahel). After the annexation of Volhynia by the Russian Empire as part of the Partitions of Poland, it also included the cities of Zhytomyr, Ovruch, Korosten. The city of Zviahel was r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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I Brigade Of The Polish Legions
Brigade I of the Polish Legions ( pl, I Brygada Legionów Polskich, de-AT, Brigade I der Polnischen Legion, hu, A Lengyel Légió I. Dandárja) was a unit of Austro-Hungarian Army, manned by Poles under Austrian occupation, part of the Polish Legions in World War I, existing from 1914 to 1917. History The First Brigade was formed on December 19, 1914, as part of the Polish Legions in World War I. Until October 1916 the First Brigade was commanded by Józef Piłsudski, thereafter by Marian Żegota-Januszajtis. The First Brigade and the Third Brigade were disbanded after the 1917 Oath Crisis. The March of the First Brigade was one of the best-known songs of the Polish Legions. Combat Major battles fought by the First Brigade included: * battle of Łowczówek (December 22–25, 1914) * battle of Konary (May 16–25, 1915) * battle of Jastków (July 30 – August 3, 1915) * battle of Kamionka (August 4–7, 1915) * battle of Kostiuchnówka (July 4–6, 1916) Organization T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polish Legions In World War I
The Polish Legions ( pl, Legiony Polskie) was a name of the Polish military force (the first active Polish army in generations) established in August 1914 in Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Triple Entente on one side (comprising the British Empire, the French Republic and the Russian Empire); and the Central Powers on the other side, comprising the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. The Legions became "a founding myth for the creation of modern Poland" in spite of their considerably short existence; they were replaced by the Polish Auxiliary Corps ( pl, Polski Korpus Posiłkowy) formation on 20 September 1916, merged with Polish II Corps in Russia on 19 February 1918 for the Battle of Rarańcza against Austria-Hungary, and disbanded following the military defeat at the Battle of Kaniów in May 1918,WIEM Encyklopedia (2015)Polski Korpus Posiłkowyat PortalWiedzy.onet.pl against imperial Germany. General Haller escaped to France to form ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |