Girish Mahajan (Editor)

General Inspector of the Armed Forces

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Abbreviation
  
GISZ

Appointer
  
The President

Formation
  
27 August 1926

Reports to
  
The President

Term length
  
No fixed term

General Inspector of the Armed Forces

Residence
  
Belweder Palace, Warsaw (Piłsudski)

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.

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.

General Inspectors

Second Polish Republic

  • Pierwszy Marszałek Polski Józef Piłsudski (27 August 1926 – 12 May 1935)
  • Marsz. Polski Edward Rydz-Śmigły (12 May 1935 – 7 November 1939)

    • 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 Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum).

    Polish government-in-exile

  • gen. broni Władysław Sikorski (7 November 1939 – 4 July 1943)
  • gen. broni Kazimierz Sosnkowski (8 July 1943 – 30 September 1944)
  • gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (30 September 1944 – 2 October 1944)
  • acting gen. broni Władysław Anders (2 October 1944 – 5 May 1945)
  • gen. Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (5 May 1945 – 8 November 1946)
  • gen. broni Władysław Anders (8 November 1946 – 1954)
  • gen. broni Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1954 – 22 May 1964)
  • gen. dyw. Stefan Dembiński (1964 – 27 March 1972)
  • gen. dyw. Stanisław Kopański (1972 – 23 March 1976)
  • gen. dyw. Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko (19 March 1976 – 19 February 1980)
  • gen. dyw. Bolesław Bronisław Duch (19 February 1980 – 9 October 1980)

    • Duch died on 9 October 1980. Afterwards, in place of the GISZ, a Military Council was created, led by gen. bryg. Klemens Rudnicki.

    References

    General Inspector of the Armed Forces Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA