General Inspector of the Armed Forces explained

Post:General Inspector
Body:the Armed Forces
Native Name:Polish: Generalny Inspektor Sił Zbrojnych
Flag:Flaga Generalnego Inspektora Sił Zbrojnych.svg
Flagborder:yes
Flagcaption:Flag of the GISZ
Department:Polish Armed Forces
Abbreviation:GISZ
Reports To:The President
Residence:Belweder Palace, Warsaw
Appointer:The President
Termlength:No fixed term
Formation:27 August 1926
First:Józef Piłsudski
Last:Bolesław Bronisław Duch
Abolished:9 October 1980
Succession:Military Council

General Inspector of the Armed Forces (Polish: '''G'''eneralny '''I'''nspektor '''S'''ił '''Z'''brojnych; '''GISZ''') was an office created in the Second Polish Republic in 1926, after the May Coup.

The General Inspector reported directly to the President, and was not responsible to the Sejm (parliament) or the government. In the event of war, the General Inspector was to become the Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces.

Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and the post-war establishment of the Polish People's Republic, the position was retained by the Polish government-in-exile until 1980.

List of General Inspectors

† denotes people who died in office.

Second Polish Republic

Rydz-Śmigły went into exile on 18 September 1939, during the German invasion of Poland. Afterwards, all General Inspectors were in exile (and increasingly connected with educational activities such as cooperation with the London-based Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum).

Polish government-in-exile

Duch died on 9 October 1980. Afterwards, in place of the GISZ, a Military Council was created, led by gen. bryg. Klemens Rudnicki.

See also