General Inspector of the Armed Forces
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General Inspector of the Armed Forces (Polish: Generalny Inspektor Sił Zbrojnych; GISZ) was an office created in the Second Polish Republic in 1926, after the May Coup.
General Inspector of the Armed Forces | |
---|---|
Generalny Inspektor Sił Zbrojnych | |
Polish Armed Forces | |
Abbreviation | GISZ |
Reports to | The President |
Residence | Belweder Palace, Warsaw (Piłsudski) |
Appointer | The President |
Term length | No fixed term |
Formation | 27 August 1926 |
First holder | Józef Piłsudski |
Final holder | Bolesław Bronisław Duch |
Abolished | 9 October 1980 |
Succession | Military Council |
The General Inspector reported directly to the President, and was not responsible to the Sejm (parliament) or the government. In the event of war, the General Inspector was to become the Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces.
Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and the post-war establishment of the Polish People's Republic, the position was retained by the Polish government-in-exile until 1980.
List of General Inspectors
edit† denotes people who died in office.
No. | Portrait | General Inspector | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) | Pierwszy Marszałek Polski27 August 1926 | 12 May 1935 † | 8 years, 258 days | |
2 | Edward Rydz-Śmigły (1886–1941) | Marszałek Polski12 May 1935 | 7 November 1939 | 4 years, 179 days |
Rydz-Śmigły went into exile on 18 September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland. Afterwards, all General Inspectors were in exile (and increasingly connected with educational activities such as cooperation with the London-based Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum).
No. | Portrait | General Inspector | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Władysław Sikorski (1881–1943) | gen. broni7 November 1939 | 4 July 1943 † | 3 years, 239 days | |
2 | Kazimierz Sosnkowski (1885–1969) | gen. broni8 July 1943 | 30 September 1944 | 1 year, 84 days | |
3 | Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966) [a] | gen.30 September 1944 | 2 October 1944 | 2 days | |
– | Władysław Anders (1892–1970) Acting | gen. broni2 October 1944 | 5 May 1945 | 215 days | |
(3) | Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966) | gen.5 May 1945 | 8 November 1946 | 1 year, 187 days | |
4 | Władysław Anders (1892–1970) | gen. broni8 November 1946 | 1954 | 7–8 years | |
5 | Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1893–1964) | gen. broni1954 | 22 May 1964 † | 9–10 years | |
6 | Stefan Dembiński (1887–1972) | gen. dyw.1964 | 27 March 1972 † | 7–8 years | |
7 | Stanisław Kopański (1895–1976) | gen. dyw.1972 | 23 March 1976 | 3–4 years | |
8 | Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko (1893–1982) | gen. dyw.19 March 1976 | 19 February 1980 | 3 years, 337 days | |
9 | Bolesław Bronisław Duch (1885–1980) | gen. dyw.19 February 1980 | 9 October 1980 † | 233 days |
Duch died on 9 October 1980. Afterwards, in place of the GISZ, a Military Council was created, led by gen. bryg. Klemens Rudnicki.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Commander of the Home Army, appointed as General Inspector during the Warsaw Uprising.