[iNorton]

Josef Pilsudski

Quote:

General Josef Klemens Pilsudski (1867-1935), a long-time proponent of the cause of Polish nationalism, led a Polish force which invaded Russia during early August 1914 while favouring an Allied success in the west. Pilsudski, born in Russian Poland, found himself exiled by the Russians to Siberia for five years from 1887 after campaigning on behalf of the Polish nationalist cause. He nevertheless returned in time at the head of the National Socialist Party and became editor of left-wing newspaper Robotnik. Having formed a military unit he used it to undertake raids upon banks while at the same time murdering members of the Tsarist police force. In September 1908 Pilsudski and his associates successfully stole some 200,000 roubles from a mail train in Bezdany, which he subsequently used to fund the formation of a fresh revolutionary army. When war in Europe broke out in early August 1914 Pilsudski seized the opportunity to personally lead Polish troops in an invasion of Russia on 6 August in a loose alliance with the Austrians, although he envisaged Polish independence stemming from an Allied victory in the west combined with a Russian defeat in the east.