- Stanisław Szeptycki
Stanisław Maria Szeptycki (1867-1950) was a Polish general and military commander.
Born in 1867 in Galicia,
Austro-Hungary , he was a grandson ofAleksander Fredro and brother ofAndrey Sheptytsky ,Metropolitan Archbishop of theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church .Szeptycki joined the
Austro-Hungarian Army , where he attained the rank of colonel. In 1914 he joined the Polish Legions, where he became commander of the Third Brigade, and from November 1916 to April 1917 commander of the entire Polish Legions. After theOath Crisis he commanded the German-aligned "Polnische Wehrmacht ". Until February 1918 he wasgovernor general ofLublin , but resigned in protest when Germany turnedChełm and the surrounding area over to theUkrainians . He joined the newly-recreatedPolish Army in November 1918, and replaced GeneralTadeusz Rozwadowski as Chief of the General Staff, a post that he held until March 1919.During the
Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921, Szeptycki commanded the Polish Northeast Front and the 4th Army. In 1919 he commandedOperation Minsk . He disagreed with the PolishCommander-in-Chief ,Józef Piłsudski , which cost him his post, and joined the National Democratic opposition to Piłsudski. From June to December 1923 he was Minister of Military Affairs; during that time he challenged Piłsudski to aduel for a perceived slight (Piłsudski refused the challenge).After Piłsudski's May 1926 "Coup d'État", Szeptycki was dismissed from active service. After
World War II , from 1945 to 1950, he headed thePolish Red Cross ("Polski Czerwony Krzyż").He died in
Korczyna in 1950.
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