A cult of personality developed around the figure of Józef Piłsudski,ózefPił a Polish military commander and politician, in the interwar period and has continued ever since despite his death in 1935. At first, it was propagated by the Polish state's propaganda, describing Piłsudski as a masterful strategist and political visionary. It survived decades of repression during the communist rule of Poland. In modern Poland, Piłsudski is recognized as an important and a largely-positive figure in Polish history.
Origins
Piłsudski's popularity, described as a cult of personality, was tied to his role in regaining Polish independence after the First World War and his leadership in the subsequent Polish–Soviet War. He had, however, already been a popular figure even before the start of the war
Piłsudski seized power in Poland again in 1926 after his May Coup that year. Piłsudski was not primarily interested in cultivating the cult himself, which was done by others, particularly after his death. His funeral in 1935 became a major state ceremony, and it became a sign of things to come, as Piłsudski's followers, known as Piłsudskiites, attempted to turn his legend into one of the bases to legitimate their grip on power in the Polish state. Numerous initiatives honouring Piłsudski's name were created, which were so numerous that the Main Committee for Commemorating the Memory of Marshal Józef Piłsudski had to curb some of the more outlandish initiatives (such as the proposal to rename Wilno to Piłsudski's child nickname, Ziuk). In 1938, the Polish Parliament passed a decree criminalising any defamation of Piłsudski.
Piłsudski's cult is tied to Polish Independence Day, as the date of November 11 was also the date of Piłsudski's seizing power for the first time in the newly-independent Poland. In 1937, the Polish Parliament officially declared November 11 as a national holiday celebrating regaining independence and stated that "for all time [it should be] associated with the great name of Józef Piłsudski" Initially, the celebration of Poland's regaining statehood was also a celebration of Piłsudski and the Polish Army, but that relation has lost some of its strength with the progression of time.
Despite those efforts, his cult began to wane shortly after his death, according to some, as early as 1937.
Piłsudski's cult was not universal and was opposed by several factions from the very first days of its emergence; the most notable of its early opponents included the endecja political faction, opponents of the pro-Piłsudski sanacja faction. Critics of Piłsudski faced some persecution from the state and its supporters.
In spite of his special sympathy for Piłsudski, Adolf Hitler sent Joachim von Ribbentrop to represent the German Reich, instead of attending Piłsudski's funeral himself. Hitler had an honour guard set at Piłsudski's grave by the Wehrmacht after it had taken he had attacked Kraków. He would later say after attacking Poland, that things would have turned out differently had Piłsudski still been alive. He had earlier been, to his excitement, congratulated by Piłsudski on winning the 1933 elections.
The cult was particularly strong in the Polish Army. During the Second World War, the Polish Armed Forces in the West continued that tradition, with Piłsudski's memory being highly celebrated, but many leaders of the Polish government in exile, such as Władysław Sikorski, were opposed to it.
Piłsudski became even in his lifetime to a namesake of the Polish Navy's gunboat ORP "Komendant Piłsudski" and of the motor transatlantic liner "Piłsudski". The latter, built in Italy, was the first Polish modern transatlantic liner, was launched in December 1934 and entered service in September 1935.
Later years
Piłsudski's cult was suppressed during the time of communist Poland, whose authorities attempted to portray him as a fraud, egoist and even a fascist and as responsible for much of the Poland's ills. The fond memory of Piłsudski persisted among the segments of Polish population, nonetheless, and he became an important figure for many Solidarity activists, including Lech Wałęsa. Piłsudski was also respected abroad. By the late 1980s, the Polish communists changed tack and attempted to integrate Piłsudski's popularity into their own propaganda but to little effect.