page_title: Edward Rydz-Śmigły
section_title: "Second Man" in the State
hierarchical_section_title: Edward Rydz-Śmigły / "Second Man" in the State
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Edward Rydz-Śmigły s maršálem Mauricem Gamelinem v roce 1936. English: Edward Rydz-Śmigły with French Marshall Maurice Gamelin. First published in Gazeta Polska 1936.
context_page_description: Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, also called Edward Śmigły-Rydz, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as painter and poet.
  During the interwar period, he was an exceptionally admired public figure in Poland 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 war loomed, political differences fell away and defense became the national priority. As a result, Rydz's stature eclipsed 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, so much tied to the critical early months of World War II, remains tendentious and controversial.
context_section_description: 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. 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 Rydz-Śmigły, which saw Slawek marginalised as a serious political player by the end of the year. As a result of this agreement, Rydz-Śmigły 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 saw himself rapidly elevated 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") movement, 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 Piłsudskites 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 Piłsudskite 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 the foreign minister Józef Beck, made a point of distancing themselves from this movement.
caption: General Rydz-Śmigły (left) and French General Maurice Gamelin, Warsaw, August 1936
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