History
There are today no living Marshals of Poland, since this rank is bestowed only on military commanders who have achieved victory in war. Recently, however, the rank of four-star with modernized name Generał has been introduced, and on August 15, 2002, was granted to Czesław Piątas, at present civilian, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Poland.
In all, the following persons have served as Marshals of Poland.
- 1920 - Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935)
- 1922 - Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929) - French General who was supreme commander of the Allied armies of World War I on the Western Front, also made an honorary British Field Marshal
- 1936 - Edward Rydz-Śmigły (1881–1941)
Soldiers of the LWP (Polish People's Army) with Marshal-of-Poland rank:
- 1945 - Michał Rola-Żymierski (1890–1989)
- 1949 - Konstanty Rokossowski (1896–1968) (also Marshal of the Soviet Union)
- 1963 - Marian Spychalski (1906–1980)
Wojciech Jaruzelski, despite colleagues' encouragement in the 1980s, declined promotion to Marshal of Poland (most likely because of Marshal Marian Spychalski).
Read more about this topic: Marshal Of Poland
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (18741936)
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)