Józef Klemens Piłsudski, (5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman—Chief of State (1918–22), "First Marshal" (from 1920), and authoritarian leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland´s politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene. He is considered largely responsible for Poland´s regaining its independence in 1918, after 123 years of partitions. Piłsudski successfully annexed Vilnius from Lithuania following Żeligowski´s Mutiny but was unable to incorporate most of his Lithuanian homeland into the newly resurrected Polish State.
Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Concluding, however, that Poland´s independence would have to be won by force of arms, he created the Polish Legions. In 1914 he anticipated the outbreak of a European war, the Russian Empire´s defeat by the Central Powers, and the Central Powers´ defeat by the western powers. When World War I broke out, he and his Legions fought alongside the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires to ensure Russia´s defeat. In 1917, with Russia faring badly in the war, he withdrew his support from the Central Powers.
From November 1918, when Poland regained independence, until 1922 Piłsudski was Poland´s Chief of State. In 1919–21 he commanded Poland´s forces in the Polish-Soviet War. In 1923, with the Polish government dominated by his opponents, particularly the National Democrats, he withdrew from active politics. Three years later, he returned to power with the May 1926 coup d´état, and became the de facto dictator of Poland. An Italian fascist ambassador to Warsaw described him as "a liberal democrat in the clothes of an old-world knight". From then until his death in 1935, he concerned himself primarily with military and foreign affairs.
For at least thirty years until his death, Piłsudski pursued, with varying degrees of intensity, two complementary strategies, intended to enhance Poland´s security: "Prometheism", which aimed at breaking up, successively, Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union into their constituent nations; and the creation of an Intermarum federation, comprising Poland and several of her neighbors. Though a number of his political acts remain controversial, Piłsudski´s memory is held in high esteem by his compatriots.
The Independent Students’ Association (Polish: Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów (NZS)) is a Polish student society, created in October 1980, in the aftermath of the Gdańsk Agreement and the anti-government strike actions (see: History of Solidarity). It was a student arm, or suborganization, of Solidarity, and together with it, as well as other similar organizations, was banned after the martial law in Poland, (December 13, 1981). Some activists were arrested, others organized an underground NZS. After the fall of communism in 1989, the organization was recreated, and its focus changed from political to cultural, although it still stands by its origins as seen by Polish students’ support for the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. It now is the largest independent student organization in Poland, with 90 chapters at Polish universities and a total of 20,000 members.
THIS PROPAGANDA STAMP SET WAS ISSUED BY THE POLISH UNDERGROUND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT AS A DIVERSIFICATION STATEMENT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW WHICH HAD BEEN DECLARED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES IN POLAND. IT IS A VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE ITEM . THE UNDERGROUND MEMBERS WHO ISSUED THIS STAMP RISKED A LOT, BECAUSE IF CAUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO OWN A UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY. IT IS A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS HISTORIAN AND COLLECTOR OF THIS PERIOD AND WILL MAKE AN INTERESTING ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION.
General Wojciech Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law in a speech first broadcast on radio and television at 6:00 am on December 13, 1981. In order to isolate members of the opposition (from the Solidarity movement), 52 internment centers were created. A total of 10,132 internment orders were issued against 9,736 people during the period of martial law.
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