Poland
Andrzej Wojtaszak
History Notebooks, Issue 147 (4), 2020, pp. 761 - 779
https://doi.org/10.4467/20844069PH.20.042.12496Personnel policy is one of the most sensitive elements shaping the military personnel of each army, and we can distinguish several stages of this policy in the Polish Army in the years 1918–1939. The first was related to the regaining of independence by Poland and fights for its borders. At that time, the organizational structures of the army were created and verification commissions were set up, which defined the possibilities of serving in the Polish Army, especially in regard to former soldiers from the forces of partitioning powers. The next period was associated with the transition of the army to the so-called peace organization, when the basis for the promotion pragmatics was defined by law. The third of the stages began after 1926, when after the coup d’état, Marshal Józef Piłsudski and his entourage gained a decisive role in the promotion policy, mainly based on legionary provenance. At that time, many officers left the military, especially those generals who previously commanded the armies of partitioning powers. The organizational system of the Polish Army also changed, as alongside the Ministry of Military Affairs and the General Staff (Main), a new dominant organ was appointed –the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces –to prepare the army for a future war. After the death of Józef Piłsudski in 1935, the pragmatist approach was advocated by his successor Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, who tried to introduce clear promotion regulations regarding personnel policy in the Polish Army.