STORMY PETREL

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 112, 14 May 1935, Page 9

STORMY PETREL

A ROMANTIC CAREER

PILSUDSKI'S STRUGGLE FOR i FREEDOM

(By "F. 8.") By the death of General' Joseph. Pilsudski, which was announced by cable yesterday, Poland has lost more than an uncrowned king—if that were not a severe enough blow—she has lost a man who devoted the whola of his life towards securing the freedom of his country and endowing it with a stable and conscientious Government. And Poland's loss is Europe's loss, for, as Napoleon is reputed to have remarked, the stability of Europe is dependent upon the stability of Poland. In recent months the activities and utterances of most of the European dictators have filled columns of the newspapers, while Pilsudski's name has been conspicuously absent. But the influence of Poland's late dictator over affairs in his country, and consequently over a much wider field, was so great that his sudden death can scarcely fail to have important repercussions. An outline of Pilsudski's life was

given yesterday, but the notice was brief, and though an attempt is being made here to amplify it, much must I still be left out. It would take a goodsized volume to cover adequately the career of a man who experienced so much in the course of his 67 years as Joseph Pilsudski. ILLNESS KEPT QUIET. Though no warning had been given that he was suffering from ill health, it was apparent for some years that his arduous early years had sapped his strength and that his health was not ot the best. The lack of news can oe attributed to the fact that care has constantly been exercised in official quarters in Warsaw to see that the public were.told nothing which would cause tnem to think that Pilsudski's guiding nand was weakening, or was likely to be removed. In 1931 he was advised by his physician that he must avoid the cold of autumn and winter in Warsaw, and even at that time he was constantly under the supervision of his physician, Colonel Woyczynski, his closest friend and almost inseparable companion For some years he had seldom been seen m public, his few social activities including an appearance at his wife's weekly tea parties. Although he was the nominal head of the War Ministry he scarcely ever visited it, nor did ne make a practice of attending Cabinet meetings. The Premier and other Ministers usually reported to him at his home at Belvedere Palace, where ne also received foreign visitors. A STORMY PETREL. If it would require a book to recount fully General Pilsudski's life, it might also be added that it would be a book more in the nature of a melodramatic novel than of a biography of an actual historical character. The explanation lies in the fact that Pilsudski was a stormy petrel in a very disturbed storm centre. Possibly he was comforted in his last illness by the knowledge that he had played no mean part in calming the troubled elements, but whether his work is to prove lasting only time can tell. It was while a medical student at the KharkoH University that Pilsudski first came into conflict with recognised authority. His nature revolted against the Russian propaganda which was forced down the students' throats in an effort to submerge their Polish nationality. At the age of 18 he was expelled from the University for agitating for Polish freedom, and two years later he was exiled to the Siberian forests on what is now regarded as a false charge of conspiring against the Tsar's life. ACTIVITIES AS A PRINTER. When he returned he was a rabid opponent of Russian control and all that it meant. Joining the Polish Socialist Party, he wrote, set up, printed and distributed the party's paper until he was arrested and thrown into prison, first at the fortress of Warsaw, and then at the prison of Peter and Paul, St. Petersburg. Five years'later he escaped by feigning madness. Hunted remorsely by the Russian I police, he managed to evade capture and set about organising the army which was later to be known as the Polish Legions. During the RussoJapanese War he offered the support i of his forces to the Japanese, but failed to convince them that he could organise a revolt which would distract Russia's attention at the rear. He then resorted to guerrilla tactics and caused the Russians a considerable amount of trouble until the Tsar decided to deal seriously with him and sent a quarter of a million troops into Poland. Pilsudski was forced to retire into Austria, and he remained across the border until the breaking out of the Great War provided him with the opportunity to come to grips with his hated enemy again. POLAND JOINS GERMANY. At first the "Partition of Poland," which had been completed in 1796, resulted in Poles being recruited under the colours of Germany, Austria, and Russia, the three Powers which had assumed control over the three sections of the country. Pilsudski quickly stepped in, however, and raised the Polish flag. His call to his countrymen to fight with the Central Powers against Russia was answered wholeheartedly, with valuable consequences to-the Central Powers. Though his forces never numbered more than a few thousand, General Pilsudski effected some notable successes against the Russians and, when internal disruptions played their part in relieving Germany of that source of trouble in 1916, he looked to Austria and Germany for the reward he thought he had earned. At first all seemed well. The countries he had aided declared the independence of Poland, but Pilsudski, with the Russians removed, was not now as keen on fighting as he had been, particularly as the German High Command was sending his troops to the hottest sectors of the Western Front, ■ He began to make plans for a purely Polish Government, but Germany and Austria then insisted that the soldiers j of the Polish Legions should swear al-, legiance to them. Acting on Pilsud-1 ski's advice nine-tenths of the legionaries refused- to do so. Officers dramatically broke their swords and the men obstinately refused to obey orders, I with the result that the Legions were i disbanded and interned. Pilsudski was ! cast into prison at Madgeburg and remained there until the German Socialist rebels released him in November, 1918. POLAND REHABILITATED. He hurried back to* Warsaw, organised his broken countrymen, chased out all invaders, including the Bolsheviks, whom he defeated in two pitched battles, thereby probably saving other European countries from having to cope with a Red invasion, and then set about rehabilitating the country. It was a formidable task, but he proved equal to it, and in 1923 he thought he could safely retire to his farm. Other politicians in the capital, however, were not as patriotic as he was, and he twice had to come out of retirement to save his people from corrupt government. Finally, in May, 1926, he restored order to Warsaw and, though nominally holding lesser offices, actually became dictator of Poland. He never claimed to be a great statesman, but he had a soldier's idea of order, and during the past nine years he saw to it that the men holding office under him acted in the best interests of their country.