Marshal of Poland in the context of Polish Land Forces

Independent Operational Group Silesia (Polish: Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Śląsk, SGO Śląsk) was an Operational Group of the Polish Army, created in September 1938 to annex Trans-Olza (Zaolzie) from Czechoslovakia.

The Romanian Bridgehead (Polish: Przedmoście rumuńskie; Romanian: Capul de pod român) was an area in southeastern Second Polish Republic that is now located in Ukraine. During the invasion of Poland in 1939 at the start of the Second World War, the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły, ordered all Polish troops fighting east of the Vistula (approximately 20 divisions still retaining the ability to co-operate) to withdraw towards Lwów and then to the hills along the borders with the Kingdom of Romania and the Soviet Union on 14 September. After the Soviets attacked on 17 September, Rydz-Śmigły ordered all units to withdraw to Romania and the Kingdom of Hungary, but communications had become disrupted although smaller units crossed outside the major battles.

The plan was a default plan in case it was impossible to defend the Polish borders, and it assumed that the Polish forces would be able to retreat to the area, organise a successful defence until the winter and hold out until the promised French offensive on the Western Front had started. Rydz-Śmigły predicted that the hills, valleys, swamps and the rivers Stryj and Dniester would provide natural lines of defence against the Nazi German advance. The area was also home to many ammunition dumps that were prepared for the third wave of Polish troops, and it was linked by transport to the Romanian port of Constanța, which could be used to resupply the Polish troops.

Józef Klemens Piłsudski (Polish: [ˈjuzɛf ˈklɛmɛns piwˈsutskʲi] ; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he became an increasingly dominant figure in Polish politics and exerted significant influence on shaping the country's foreign policy. Piłsudski is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic, which was re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final partition of Poland in 1795, and was considered de facto leader (1926–1935) of the Second Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs.

Seeing himself as a descendant of the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Piłsudski believed in a multi-ethnic Poland—"a home of nations" including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities to be assimilated as Poles. Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Believing Poland's independence would be won militarily, he formed the Polish Legions. In 1914, he predicted a new major war would defeat the Russian Empire and the Central Powers. After World War I began in 1914, Piłsudski's Legions fought alongside Austria-Hungary against Russia. In 1917, with Russia faring poorly in the war, he withdrew his support for the Central Powers, and was imprisoned in Magdeburg by the Germans.

Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz [ˈɛdvard ˈɕmiɡɫɨ rɨdz] also Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as a painter and poet.

Born in 1886, he came from humble beginnings and was raised by his maternal grandparents after he became an orphan at age 13. He graduated with distinctions from the local Gymnasium. He completed his studies in philosophy and history of art at the Jagiellonian University.

The May Coup (Polish: przewrót majowy or zamach majowy) was a coup d'état carried out in Poland by Marshal Józef Piłsudski from 12 to 14 May 1926.

The attack of Piłsudski's supporters on government forces resulted in the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of President Stanisław Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Wincenty Witos and caused hundreds of fatalities.

Michał Rola-Żymierski (pronounced [ˈmixaw ˈrɔla ʐɨˈmjɛrskʲi]; 4 September 1890 – 15 October 1989) was a Polish high-ranking Communist Party leader, communist military commander and NKVD secret agent. He was appointed as Marshal of Poland, and served in this position from 1945 until his death.