PILSUDSKI, JOSEPH (1867-1935), Polish soldier and statesman, was born in Nov. 1867 in Zulow (Zulowo), County of Vilna (Wilno) of an ancient family tracing their origin from the Lithuanian Princes of Ginet, and educated at Wilno and Kharkov.
In 1887 Pilsudski was involved in an anti-Tsarist plot and sen tenced to five years' penal servitude in Eastern Siberia, although the trial clearly established his innocence and his deprecation of terrorist methods. He returned to Wilno in 1892 and formed the Polish Socialist party (P.P.S.). In 1894 he began the Robotnik (The Workman), a secret paper of radical tendencies, edited, printed and distributed by Pilsudski himself. He was already a force. His courage, keen sense of humour, attractive personality and good breeding made him the idol of the working classes; he was revered by the intelligentsia for the tenacity of his convic tions, for his fearlessness and his iron will.
His activities increased rapidly. Armed resistance against atroc ities of the Russian government was introduced into the party programme. Armed detachments of workmen protected meetings and demonstrations against the police and military, and bloodshed became frequent. In 1900 Pilsudski and his wife, Marie Tusz kiewicz, whom he had married in 1894, were arrested in the offices of the Robotnik in Lodz and for a year he was kept in a special cell in the notorious "Tenth Pavilion" of the Warsaw Citadel. Simulating insanity, Pilsudski was transferred to the St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Petersburg, where his friends rescued him by an ingenious plot on May 13, 1901. He lived in London for some time following his escape from imprisonment and returned to Cracow in 1902.
During the Russo-Japanese war Pilsudski planned an insurrec tion. Frustrated through lack of munitions, he visited Japan to enlist her support, but again proved unsuccessful. After the Russian revolution of 1905 and the convocation of the Duma Polish revolutionary activities were discontinued, but the Russian Constitutional government continued the policy of its prede cessors with regard to Poland. Pilsudski transferred his head quarters to Cracow and Lwow and commenced his activities amongst the refugees from the Russian provinces of the country. Here the idea of a "private Polish army" was conceived. An offi cers' school was established in Lwow and branches of the "sharpshooters" (Strzelec) formed throughout Galicia. Fore seeing the World War, Pilsudski hoped for a German and Aus trian victory over Russia and a French victory over Germany. When war broke out, he consequently sided with Austria. The total strength of his "army" was 3,00o infantry and a squadron of cavalry insufficiently armed and equipped; the remaining 7,000 of his men were despatched to Hungary by the Austrian gen eral command. His brigade took part in numerous battles in which it exhibited great bravery and exemplary discipline, while Pil sudski himself displayed the highest qualities as a leader. He refused, however, to let his legions be used outside of Polish terri tory. On the collapse of Russia, he turned against Germany and Austria. In July 1916 he resigned the command of the Polish legions in consequence of the abuses of the German and Austrian occupation authorities in Polish territory. At the same time he
sought to establish relations with France and Great Britain through his colleagues, MM. Sokolnicki and Narutowicz. On Nov. 5, 1916, the independence of Poland was proclaimed by the Cen tral Powers and Pilsudski accepted the position of Minister of War in the newly formed Council of State. Within a short time he formed the semi-secret Polish military organization, i.e., Polska Organizacia Wojskowa ("P.O.W."), which spread throughout the country and helped to disarm Germans and Austrians in 1918.
When the Polish legions in Russia, commanded by Gen. Mus nicki, proclaimed Pilsudski their spiritual leader, and when his own legions refused, in July 1917, to take the oath of "fraternity of arms with Germany and Austria," Pilsudski was arrested by the Germans and imprisoned with his chief-of-staff Gen. Sosnowski in the fortress of Magdeburg, whence he was released in 1918 by the German revolutionary authorities. He arrived in Warsaw on Nov. 10 and completed the disarmament of the armies of occupa tion. The Regency Council, established by the Germans, resigned in his favour and all military organizations in the country submit ted to his command. He was vested with dictatorial powers, and elected unanimously chief of State, while the army conferred on him the supreme honour of first marshal of Poland.