Polish commander and politician Sikorsky Vladislav: biography, achievements and interesting facts

Polyak Vladislav Sikorsky became famous for his participation in the struggle for national independence during the First World War. He managed to combine service in the army and a vivid political career. After the occupation of Poland by the Third Reich, Sikorski became chairman of the government in exile. He died in a plane crash, and its circumstances have become the ground for many conspiracy theories.

early years

The future Polish politician and military leader Sikorsky Vladislav was born May 20, 1881 in Tushuv-Narodov - a small village in Galicia. Then this region belonged to Austria-Hungary, although its population was mostly Slavic. The boy graduated from the gymnasium in Lvov (Lemberg) and entered the local Polytechnic Institute. At this time, Poland was divided between Russia and the Habsburg empire. Therefore it is not surprising that Sikorsky Vladislav became an active participant in the national movement. In Lviv he took part in the creation of Polish liberation organizations.

In 1908, the young man joined the Union of Active Struggle. In the paramilitary Polish organization "Sagittarius" he was elected chairman. While anti-Austrian sentiments grew in Galicia, Europe was inevitably approaching the First World War. In 1914, a Serbian terrorist shot and killed the Austrian heir, Franz Ferdinand. This event was the occasion for the beginning of the war that swept the entire Old World. Austria-Hungary and Russia were on different sides of the barricades. The Poles, whose lands were divided between these powers, began to prepare for a war for their own independence. Sikorsky Vladislav was one of the most active figures in this liberation movement.

The struggle for independence

After the unsuccessful offensive of the Russian army in East Prussia, the Central Powers occupied the western gubernias that belonged to Russia. Among these lands was the Kingdom of Poland - the Polish autonomy within the empire.

In 1916 Sikorsky Vladislav became a supporter of Germany and Austria-Hungary, beginning to agitate for the creation of a national state with the support of the Central Powers. This position led to the fact that the commander came into conflict with the leader of the nation, Józef Piłsudski, who believed that Poland should avoid the patronage of its neighbors.

In alliance with Germany

Nevertheless, in 1916 the Sikorsky project was actually implemented. On November 5, an act was signed, according to which Germany and Austria-Hungary recognized the new Kingdom of Poland. This state turned out to be a satellite of its powerful neighbors.

The Germans did not care about Polish independence, they just wanted to enlist the support of the Poles in the fight against Russia. Nevertheless, for some time Vladislav Sikorski remained a supporter of Germany and Austria, hoping for their support in the creation of an independent state. In the years 1916-1918. The military commander engaged in the fact that he recruited the Poles into the army of the Central Powers.

In the new Polish army

On November 11, 1918, the Polish militia in Warsaw disarmed the German garrison. Germany has just lost the First World War, after which the revolution began in it. Under these conditions, in Germany, German patronage could not survive under any circumstances. A few days after the episode above, Jozef Pilsudski arrived in Warsaw and became head of state. In the same November Vladislav Sikorsky was appointed chief of staff of the army in Galicia.

Although the First World War ended, Poland still had to achieve peace in its territory. The threat to the country was Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks, establishing their authority on the ruins of a collapsed empire, considered Poland their own right. The war between neighbors began in January 1919. Lenin regarded this campaign as the initial stage of the world proletarian revolution. Gradually, after the successive defeat of the white groups on different fronts, the Red Army concentrated all its forces on the western direction.

Against the Bolsheviks

With the outbreak of war against Soviet Russia, the Polish military commander and politician Sikorsky Vladislav went to the Poles group of troops, where he became commander. He had to organize an army from scratch. The Polish troops did not have a single command center and a clear structure. The recruitment of volunteer detachments into a normal army of power was not yet easy. In the war, Poland had to enter literally with bare hands.

And yet, after it became clear that the Bolsheviks were a real threat, the army was quickly organized and manned. A huge contribution to this success was made by Vladislav Sikorsky. The biography of this man is a striking example of the life story of a military commander, who tried himself in a variety of qualities in staff and field work. It is therefore not surprising that in the leadership of the new state, it was considered appropriate to entrust him with several operations.

The Kiev operation

Sikorsky was appointed to the army group "Polissya" in August 1919. For some time its parts stood motionless in the vicinity of Minsk. Then Mozyr was taken. The Red Army at least four times tried to defeat the city, but without success. In April 1920, the military commander took part in the offensive Kiev operation with the aim of seizing the Ukrainian capital occupied by the Bolsheviks. Attacks were conducted at the border area from Olevsk to Mozyr. In this operation the Poles were supported by the 15-thousand-strong army of Simon Petliura.

April 28 The Polesie group in the Polish Army was on the line Vinnitsa - Kazatin - Chernobyl. Over the next 24 hours, she marched another 90 kilometers and was on the outskirts of Kiev. Throughout this route the Poles did not encounter any resistance. Soviet military commander Sergei Mezheninov withdrew his troops, fearing a direct clash with the adversary who gained momentum.

Sikorsky (Sikorski) Vladislav, along with his colleagues, entered Kiev on May 8, 1920. However, this success was temporary. Already on May 14, the Red Army, under the command of the "demon of the Civil War", Mikhail Tukhachevsky, launched a counterattack, because of which the Poles had to retreat hastily. On June 5, the front was broken. On the 12th day the Red Army entered Kiev. On August 6, the Polesie group was disbanded. Sikorski began to command the Fifth Army.

Warsaw operation

Counterattack Tukhachevsky forced the Poles to retreat. Army for the army handed over all the new cities. In this stream there were also parts, which were directly commanded by Sikorsky Vladislav. The commander, however, did not drop his hands and was preparing for a decisive confrontation with the Bolsheviks.

At the most crucial moment, when the blood was pouring already in the vicinity of Warsaw, his 5th Army stopped the enemy north of the capital. Tukhachevsky's forces were too stretched out and became vulnerable to Polish attacks. The army of Sikorski took advantage of this and broke through the ranks of the Bolsheviks, having advanced several kilometers. On the decisive night of the August 15 attacking her, divisions came under the command of Lucian Zheligovsky.

This success enabled Commander-in-Chief Jozef Pilsudski to better prepare himself for the forthcoming counteroffensive, which was to rid Poland of the "red plague". Sikorsky's contribution to the salvation of Poland was enormous. He was awarded the most honorable national military order - "For military valor." In April 1921, he replaced Pilsudski as commander-in-chief of the army and head of the General Staff.

Peaceful years

With the onset of peace, Sikorski took up politics. In December 1922 - May 1923 years. He held the post of prime minister and at the same time served as minister of internal affairs. The government under the leadership of Sikorsky was able to obtain from the Western countries the recognition of the borders established after the war won with the USSR. Western Ukrainian and Belarusian regions were joined to Poland.

Since 1928, Sikorski lived in exile in France. The departure was due to the fact that the politician was one of the most active critics of the then government. Years in France, the military spent not just because he entered the Higher Military School. The premonition did not deceive Sikorsky. The world in Europe was short-lived.

The Second World War

When Hitler's Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Vladislav Sikorsky, who lived in exile, tried to get an appointment from the country's leadership to the front. These efforts ended in nothing. At the same time, the formation of the Polish army in emigration began in France. This process in Paris and began to lead Sikorsky Vladislav. The Pole did everything he could, while his country was rapidly approaching the rout.

Only a month after the outbreak of the war, Sikorski became prime minister in the government in exile. Under his leadership, the 84,000-strong Polish army was created in France. When the Third Republic was under the blow of the Germans, the Sikorski detachments tried to stop the aggressors. After the defeat of France, both the Polish government and the remnants of its detachments moved to England.

When Germany attacked the USSR, Sikorski went on renewal of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Normalization of relations was short-lived. Soon the Germans, occupying part of the Soviet territory, made public information about the Katyn massacre. The news of the brutal massacre of NKVD officers over Polish prisoners led to another rupture. Sikorsky began to persuade Churchill to cease cooperation with the USSR. A few weeks later, on July 4, 1943, the Prime Minister in exile with his daughter was killed in a plane crash near Gibraltar. Unexpected death was the final chord in the life of the politician. His whole other biography was as varied and full of sharp turns. Vladislav Sikorsky and his death still cause a lot of controversy. Pole was buried in England in the presence of Churchill. The ashes of the national hero were transported to their homeland in 1993.