Piłsudski, Jozef

Piłsudski, Jozef
(1867–1935)
   Polish nationalist, soldier, and political leader, Jozef Piłsudski was born into a Polish szlachta (lower nobility) family that had been actively involved in the 1863 Polish Rebellion. His education took place during the height of the Russification efforts. His teachers’ “system was to crush as much as possible the independence and personal dignity of their pupils,” he later said of his schooling. In 1887, he was arrested by the Russian police and exiled to Siberia for five years on a charge, almost certainly false, of participating in an assassination attempt on the tsar. He was again arrested in 1900, but escaped after feigning mental illness and went into exile in Austria. In 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, he went to Japan where he unsuccessfully tried to convince the Japanese to raise an anti-Russian army from the Polish conscripts it had captured.
   Back in Austrian Poland after the war, he founded a military organization called Bojawa, or “Fighting Organization.” Piłsudski rejected traditional terrorist activities, such as assassination of imperial officials, which he felt were not only ineffective but led to reprisals against civilians. Instead, his organization confined itself to rescuing Polish nationals condemned to death and to robbing banks and mail trains. By 1910, Piłsudski had also organized a “Riflemen’s Association,” which was tolerated by the Austrians as training for reservists. When World War I broke out, this force became the Polish Legion and fought as part of the Austrian army. In the last years of the war, Piłsudski was arrested by the Germans; in the chaos of the last days of the war, he was released and sent to Warsaw, the Polish capital. There he was named commander-in-chief of the newly forming nation. From that point, he essentially led Poland, although usually unofficially, without a formal position, until his death in 1935.
   See also <>; <>.
   FURTHER READING:
    Jedrzejewicz, Wacław. Piłsudski, A Life for Poland. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1882;
    Pilsudska, Alexandra. Piłsudski: A Biography. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1941.
   JOSEPH ADAMCZYK

Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • PILSUDSKI, JÓZEF° — (1867–1935), Polish statesman, first marshal of Poland. In the early years of his political life, Pilsudski   came into contact with Jews, especially Jewish workers, and the PPS (Polish Socialist Party) founded by him even published a periodical… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Piłsudski, Józef — ▪ Polish revolutionary and statesman Introduction in full  Józef Klemens Piłsudski  born Dec. 5, 1867, Żułów, Pol., Russian Empire [now in Lithuania] died May 12, 1935, Warsaw       Polish revolutionary and statesman, the first chief of state… …   Universalium

  • Pilsudski,Jozef — Pil·sud·ski (pĭl so͞otʹskē), Jozef. 1867 1935. Polish revolutionary leader and politician who was the first president (1918 1922) of independent Poland. * * * …   Universalium

  • Pilsudski, Józef — ► (1867 1935) Político polaco. Al proclamarse la República (1918), fue nombrado presidente provisional; en 1919 22 actuó como jefe del Estado y en 1926 derrocó el régimen democrático …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Pilsudski, Józef —  (1867–1935) Polish statesman …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Piłsudski, Józef (Klemens) — born Dec. 5, 1867, Żułów, Pol., Russian Empire died May 12, 1935, Warsaw, Pol. Polish revolutionary leader. Reared with a hatred for Russian oppression, he was politically active and was banished to Siberia for his socialist agitation (1887–92),… …   Universalium

  • Pilsudski, Jozef (Klemens) — (5 dic. 1867, Zulow, Polonia, Imperio ruso–12 may. 1935, Varsovia, Polonia). Líder revolucionario polaco. Criado con odio por la opresión rusa, participó activamente en política, fue desterrado a Siberia por su agitación socialista (1887–92), y… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Pilsudski — Pilsudski, Józef …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jozef Pilsudski — Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski [ juzεf piw sutski] (* 5. Dezember 1867 in Zalavas (poln.Zułów) bei Wilna (lt. Vilnius; poln. Wilno), heute Litauen; † 12. Mai 1935 in Wa …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Józef Klemens Piłsudski — Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski [ juzεf piw sutski] (* 5. Dezember 1867 in Zalavas (poln.Zułów) bei Wilna (lt. Vilnius; poln. Wilno), heute Litauen; † 12. Mai 1935 in Wa …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”