Lucjan Żeligowski
General Lucjan Żeligowski | |
---|---|
Leader of the Republic of Central Lithuania | |
In office 12 October 1920 – 24 March 1922 | |
Preceded by | office established |
Succeeded by | office abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Minister of Military Affairs | 17 October 1865
Battles/wars | Russo-Japanese War World War I Polish–Bolshevik War
Polish–Lithuanian War Central Lithuanian Offensive on Kaunas
World War II |
Lucjan Żeligowski (Polish pronunciation:
Biography
Lucjan Żeligowski was born on 17 October 1865 in the Przechody (Belarusian: Пераходы) folwark by the village of Sikūnė [a] in Oshmyansky Uyezd, in the Russian Empire (modern Ashmyany District in Belarus) (other sources give Oszmiana as his birthplace) to Polish parents Gustaw Żeligowski and Władysława Żeligowska née Traczewska. Żeligowski in his youth lived in poverty and only spoke in the tutejszy language, which is a Belarusian vernacular, and identified himself as a Litvin , not a Belarusian (see the article "Litvinism" for his views in this resect), but was very positive towards the Belarusian movements.[3] Before the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century the town was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After graduating from military officers' school located in Riga (1885), Żeligowski joined the Imperial Russian Army, where he served at various staff and command posts.[3] He then married Tatiana Pietrova and had two children.[3]
Żeligowski fought in the
Serving in the Polish Army
After the
After the outbreak of the
During the
"There was a paradoxical situation .. when Warsaw was defended and the war was won, we, the citizens of our homeland - Lithuania, could not even return to the house where the Zhmudin people settled, protégé of the Germans ... Having lost Lithuania - Poland lost much of its statehood. Polish politicians didn't understand that, only every soldier, even a Lithuanian citizen, understood that."[4]
Republic of Central Lithuania
In October 1920, Żeligowski, a native of
According to Lucjan Żeligowski's point of view:
"But not only geographically, Lithuania was the heart of the Slavs. It was morally. She, one of all the Slavic peoples, could easily talk with everyone. As with Poland, so with Russia, so with Ukraine. The mentality of the Lithuanian peoples was, as it were, created to reconcile everyone. He never had hostility, neither national, nor religious, nor cultural."[4]
Regarding his invasion of Lithuania in October 1920, Żeligowski wrote:
On 9 October 1920, with the army, made up of the sons of Lithuania and Belarus, Vilnius was occupied not by the Polish general Żeligowski, but by the Lithuanian Żeligowski, who came as a child from Žiupronys to Vilnius for school exams and spent the night on the benches of city parks.[5]
In the 14th-century Lithuanian Chronicles, there was written about mobilization in Ašmena, where it was mentioned that Jokūbas Želigovskis had a horse, weapon, axe, etc. In the history of a Russian uhlan regiment from 1863, it was mentioned that in the surroundings of Rūdninkai after a fierce fight, the fifteen-year-old Juozas Želigovskis was taken prisoner and letters were found by his side, where his mother encouraged him to fight.[5]
So I was not an accidental out-of-nowhere in Lithuania, but my family has a long tradition and served in the Fatherland's defence. My dream was to live with my countrymen in the
Vilnius region. I did not divide them into Poles, Belarusians and Samogitians. As a Lithuanian, I never stopped being Polish. These two concepts are intertwined. They complement each other. I am talking about all this in order to prove that it was all more than a Polish general's seizure of Vilnius.[5]]Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski's confederation plans by Polish ally.[6][page needed
Later life
After the annexation of Central Lithuania to Poland, Żeligowski continued his service in the Polish Army. Promoted to
Minister of Military Affairs. Ousted by Piłsudski's coup d'état (the May Coup), he was soon returned to the post. He retired the following year and settled in his family manor in Andrzejewo near Vilnius.In 1930 he published a book containing his memoirs of the Polish-Bolshevik War named War of 1920: Memories and thoughts (Wojna w roku 1920. Wspomnienia i rozważania). He also wrote numerous articles on the conflicts of early 20th century for a variety of Polish newspapers. In 1935 he was elected a member of parliament and remained in the Sejm until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
World War II and death
During the
Polish Government in Exile headed by General Władysław Sikorski. An active member of the Polish National Council, an advisory body, he escaped to London after the French defeat in 1940.[3]After the end of
Second World War Żeligowski declared he would return to Poland, but he suddenly died on 9 July 1947 in London. His body was brought back to Poland, and Żeligowski was buried in the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.[3]Honours and awards
- Commander's Cross of the Virtuti Militari, also awarded the Silver Cross
- Grand Cross of the
Polonia Restituta- Cross of Independence with Swords (25 February 1932)
- Cross of Valour - four times
- Cross of Merit of the Army of Central Lithuania
- Commemorative Medal of the War of 1918-1921
- Medal "Decade of the Restoration of Independence" (Poland)
- Order of St. George IV class (Russian Empire)
Order of St. Vladimirwith Swords class IV (Russian Empire) Order of St. Anna, class II and III (Russian Empire) Order of St. Stanislaus, II class (Russian Empire)- Commander's Cross of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Croix de Guerre (France)
- Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature
- Honorary citizen of Warsaw
Published works
- Lucjan Żeligowski, Wojna w roku 1920: Wspomnienia I Rozwazania, Warszawa: Wydawn. Ministerstwa * Obrony Narodowej, 1990.
- Lucjan Żeligowski, O ideę słowiańską. London: F. Mildner & Sons, 1941.
- Lucjan Żeligowski, Zapomniane prawdy. London: F. Mildner & Sons, 1941.
See also
Notes
Interwar Poland; now it is Желигово (coord: N 54° 29' 33.8568" E 26° 13' 2.0928")[2] in Smarhon District, Grodno Region, BelarusReferences
- ^ Желигово на старой карте РККА
- ^ Желигово на карте Беларуси
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Бычкоўскі, Валер (17 October 2017). "Люцыян Жалігоўскі: літвін, паляк ці беларус?". Новы Час (in Belarusian).
- ^ a b "Люциан Желиговский и его "Zapomniane prawdy (Забытые истины)"" [Lucian Zheligovsky and his "Zapomniane prawdy (Forgotten Truths)"]. history-belarus.by (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-03-25.
- ^ a b c Krupavičius, Mykolas (1955). "Iš Želigowskio prisiminimų". Tėvynės sargas. 2: 70 – via www.epaveldas.lt.
- ^ Żeligowski, Lucjan (1943). Zapomniane prawdy (PDF) (in Polish). F. Mildner & Sons.
Further reading
English
ISBN 1-895571-05-7- ]
Polish
- Fabisz, Dariusz (2007), Generał Lucjan Żeligowski 1865-1947. Działalność wojskowa i polityczna, Warsaw: DiG
- Hołówko, Tadeusz (28 October 1920), "Robotnik" [The Dispute Over Vilnius], Spór o Wilno, Robotnik, p. 1
OCLC 32178695- Kicman, Wojciech (February 1988), "Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny", Jeszcze w sprawie gen. broni L. Żeligowskiego, no. 124, Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny, pp. 319–335
OCLC 24935744 ISBN 83-900085-0-5 ISBN 83-05-12769-9- Marczyk, Wiesław (April 1987), "Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny", Generał broni Lucjan Żeligowski, no. 122, Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny, pp. 44–53
- Sawczynski, Adam (1959), Polska w obronie swoich granic. Wojna z bolszewikami; w dziele zbiorowym Polska niepodlegla i druga wojna swiatowa (1918-1945), London: Orbis
ISBN 83-11-07627-8