Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz (surname also formulated as Rydz-Śmigły; 11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as a painter and poet.
Born in 1886 and orphaned at age 13, Śmigły-Rydz was raised by his maternal grandparents. He graduated with distinction from the local Gymnasium. He completed his studies in philosophy and art history at the Jagiellonian University.
During the interwar period, he cultivated a dictatorial cult of personality, and was regarded as a hero for his exemplary record as an army commander in the Polish Legions of World War I and the ensuing Polish–Soviet War in 1920. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief and Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces following Marshal Józef Piłsudski's death in 1935. Rydz served in this capacity at the start of World War II during the invasion of Poland.
As the war approached, Rydz's stature began to eclipse even that of the president. The shock of the Polish defeat made objective evaluations of his legacy during and after the war difficult; his reputation remains highly controversial in Poland. This is a consequence attributable to missteps made during the critical early months of World War II, the evacuation of government of Poland for Romania, especially paired with the image of invulnerability he constructed beforehand. However, others claim that there was nothing else Śmigły could have done that would've changed the outcome, and the evacuation of the Polish government which saved Poland's gold reserves and established the Polish government-in-exile was in fact a wise move.
Early life Edward Rydz was born in the city of Brzeżany (now Berezhany in western Ukraine), Galicia, Austria-Hungary, to Polish parents. He was the son of a professional non-commissioned officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, Tomasz Rydz,The Polish word "rydz" can denote an edible mushroom, the saffron milk cap, or informally the plant Camelina sativa. and his wife Maria Babiak. Rydz was orphaned at the age of 13. He was then raised by his maternal grandparents and, after their deaths, by the family of a Dr. Uranowicz, the town physician at Brzeżany.
After graduating with distinction from the local gymnasium (secondary school), Rydz went to Kraków, where he completed studies in philosophy and history of art at the Jagiellonian University. He then studied to be a painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, and later in Vienna and Munich. In 1910–1911 he attended the reserve officers' academy in Vienna and received military training at the renowned Austrian 4th Infantry Regiment, the "Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights".
Rydz finished his military education with distinction and was offered a commission in the Imperial Army, which he declined. In 1912 he became a founder of the Polish paramilitary group, the Riflemen's Association (Związek Strzelecki). Concurrently he completed his art studies, regarded as a talented landscape and portrait painter by professors and critics.
Early military career
Drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in July 1914, Rydz was transferred in August to the Polish Legions and fought in World War I in the famous Polish 1st Brigade of Józef Piłsudski. He took part in numerous engagements against the Imperial Russian Army in the region of the Southern Vistula and rose quickly in rank. By 1916, he was already a full colonel. He did not forget his art, however, and exhibited his work at a gallery in Kraków around that time. In 1917, after their refusal to swear an oath to the Austrian and German authorities, the Legions were disbanded, their soldiers interned and their leader Józef Piłsudski imprisoned in Magdeburg fortress. By Piłsudski's appointment, Rydz (who was released from prison on grounds of ill health) became commander of the Polish Military Organization (POW) and adopted the nom de guerre Śmigły ("Swift", "Deft"), which he later officially added to his surname.
In October 1918, Rydz joined Ignacy Daszyński's socialist government in Lublin as minister of war. Having been promoted to brigadier general, he emphasized that on accepting the ministerial post he was to be seen as a deputy of Piłsudski. It was at this time that he began using the dual surname Śmigły-Rydz. On 11 November 1918, the government relinquished power to Piłsudski, who became Provisional Head of State. After some hesitation, Piłsudski (though displeased at Śmigły-Rydz having worked with the socialists) confirmed his rank of brigadier general in the Polish army.
Military triumphs
During the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–21, Rydz commanded Polish armies in several offensives against the Bolsheviks. Among the victorious engagements, he captured the cities of Wilno (Vilnius) and Dünaburg. Following his victories on the field, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Latvian armed forces and soon liberated Latgale from the Red Army. Subsequently, he annihilated the Soviet 12th Army and took Kyiv. After the Bolshevik counterattack led the Red Army to the gates of Warsaw, Rydz commanded the Central Front of the Polish forces during the Battle of Warsaw of 1920, also known as the "Miracle on the Vistula". In this decisive battle, Śmigły-Rydz's Central Front held firm against the Soviet attack and later blocked the escape routes for the defeated Soviet 4th and 15th Armies, as well as the 3rd Cavalry Corps of Gayk Bzhishkyan, which in the end retreated to East Prussia to be interned by the Germans.
Army inspector (1921–1935)
At the conclusion of the Polish-Soviet war, Rydz was appointed Inspector General of the Polish Army in the Wilno district and later in Warsaw. In November 1924, he informally headed the so-called strike of the generals, in which a group of Polish Army commanders resigned to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the lack of reaction of the Ministry of Military Affairs to the statements of General Franciszek Latinik that were unfavorable to former legionnaires.
In 1926, during Piłsudski's May Coup, Rydz took the Marshal's side and sent troops from Wilno to reinforce anti-government troops in Warsaw. Piłsudski never forgot this fidelity, and in 1929, Rydz was appointed the Marshal's deputy on all matters concerning the East.
"Second Man" in the State
On 13 May 1935, following Piłsudski's death, Rydz was nominated by the president and government of Poland to serve in the capacity of the Inspector-General of the Polish Armed Forces, the highest Polish military office. This was done in accordance with Piłsudski's wishes. Piłsudski's death saw his followers (the Sanacja), divide themselves into three main factions: those supporting President Ignacy Mościcki as Piłsudski's successor, those supporting Rydz, and those supporting Prime Minister Walery Sławek. Mościcki in the end would conclude a power-sharing agreement with Śmigły-Rydz, which saw Sławek marginalised as a serious political player by the end of the year. As a result of this agreement, Śmigły-Rydz was to become the de facto leader of Poland until the outbreak of the war, whereas Mościcki remained influential by continuing as president.
From 1935, Rydz climbed in rank and position. On 15 July 1936, he was officially awarded the title of "Second Man in the State after the President" by the Polish prime minister. On 10 November, he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Poland. Rydz's image as Piłsudski's anointed successor was popularized by the Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego ("Camp of National Unity"), or "Ozon", movement, but it alienated many of Piłsudski's supporters, who were offended by what they saw as Rydz's acts of self-promotion.
The period of Rydz's rule, 1935–39, has often been referred to as "a dictatorship without a dictator". Rydz lacked the moral authority of Piłsudski, and the Piłsudskiites were bitterly divided after his death in 1935. The ruling regime was divided between the Mościcki faction (known as the "President's men" or the "Castle group"), made up mainly of civilians, and Rydz's group, known as the "Marshal's men", mostly old comrades of Piłsudski and professional officers. Besides these two major groups, there were also supporters of Sławek and other disgruntled Piłsudskiite groups, which were marginalized after the Rydz-Mościcki pact.
The regime became increasingly authoritarian, as manifested by the creation of the Ozon movement. However, Ozon never achieved its goal of developing popular mass appeal and transforming Rydz into "Poland's second great leader" (after Piłsudski himself). Several of Poland's most prominent politicians, including Mościcki and Foreign Minister Józef Beck, made a point of distancing themselves from this movement.
In March 1939, Adolf Hitler split the Second Czechoslovak Republic into the occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the satellite state of the Slovak State. This encircled Poland with an iron ring on all sides except the east. Rydz was the only member of government who saw the impending danger of a conflict with Germany. However, the time remaining was too short for the creation of a new army operational plan in the west. During negotiations in Moscow in August 1939, Rydz refused all attempts by the Western Powers to obtain Polish permission for the Red Army to march westward, stating that "there is no guarantee that the Soviets will really take active part in the war; furthermore, once having entered Polish territory, they will never leave it."
World War II
On 1 September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, and Śmigły-Rydz was named Commander-in-Chief of all Polish forces. On 7 September, along with most of the government, he evacuated Warsaw as it came under attack. Soon afterwards, Polish coordination began to suffer from issues with their communication equipment, which impaired Rydz's ability to command his forces effectively. In Brest (Brześć) on 11 September, he ordered the Polish capital to be defended at all costs. In his plan, Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress were to become two redoubt-citadels in central Poland to fight on for as long as possible while the bulk of the Polish forces were to defend the Romanian bridgehead and await the counterattack promised by Poland's allies – the French and British. Unknown to Śmigły-Rydz, the Western Allies had no such plan and expected Poland to fall (see Western betrayal). This strategy was further crippled when Soviet forces invaded Poland from the east on 17 September. Realizing that mounting a defence against both Germany and the USSR was impossible, Śmigły-Rydz issued orders to his forces to begin a retreat towards Romania and to not waste men on fighting the Soviet aggressors.
On 18 September 1939, after avoiding capture by Soviet and then German troops, Śmigły-Rydz escaped to Romania and was interned. The crossing of the Polish government into Romania prevented Poland from having to officially surrender and allowed Polish soldiers to continue the fight against Nazi Germany, though Rydz's flight sparked some controversy because of his position as supreme commander of the Polish armed forces. Large numbers of Polish soldiers and airmen managed to escape into southern Europe through Hungary and Romania and later regrouped in France. After the French surrender, they re-assembled once more, but this time in the UK.
Internment in Romania