Józef Piłsudski

Józef Piłsudski was a Polish statesman and soldier who served as Chief of State from 1918 to 1922 and became the first Marshal of Poland in 1920. Convinced that independence would have to be won by force, he formed the Polish Legions, which fought alongside Austria-Hungary against Russia in the First World War until he withdrew his support in 1917 and was imprisoned by the Germans. From 1919 to 1921 he commanded Polish forces in the wars that fixed the country's borders, and in August 1920 his army repelled the Soviet invasion at the Battle of Warsaw. After the May Coup of 1926 he dominated Polish military and foreign affairs until his death in 1935, and he is widely regarded as a founder of modern Poland.