He was appointed Commander-in-Chief and Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces following Marshal Józef Piłsudski's death in 1935.

After graduating with distinction from the local gymnasium (secondary school), Rydz went to Kraków, where he completed studies in philosophy and history of art at the Jagiellonian University.

In 1910–1911 he attended the reserve officers' academy in Vienna and received military training at the renowned Austrian 4th Infantry Regiment, the "Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights".

He took part in numerous engagements against the Imperial Russian Army in the region of the Southern Vistula and rose quickly in rank.

In 1917, after their refusal to swear an oath to the Austrian and German authorities, the Legions were disbanded, their soldiers interned and their leader Józef Piłsudski imprisoned in Magdeburg fortress.

By Piłsudski's appointment, Rydz (who was released from prison on grounds of ill health) became commander of the Polish Military Organization (POW) and adopted the nom de guerre Śmigły ("Swift", "Deft"), which he later officially added to his surname.

After some hesitation, Piłsudski (though displeased at Śmigły-Rydz having worked with the socialists) confirmed his rank of brigadier general in the Polish army.

Following his victories on the field, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Latvian armed forces and soon liberated Latgale from the Red Army.

At the conclusion of the Polish-Soviet war, Rydz was appointed Inspector General of the Polish Army in the Wilno district and later in Warsaw.

As a result of this agreement, Śmigły-Rydz was to become the de facto leader of Poland until the outbreak of the war, whereas Mościcki remained influential by continuing as president.

However, Ozon never achieved its goal of developing popular mass appeal and transforming Rydz into "Poland's second great leader" (after Piłsudski himself).

Several of Poland's most prominent politicians, including Mościcki and Foreign Minister Józef Beck, made a point of distancing themselves from this movement.

Soon afterwards, Polish coordination began to suffer from issues with their communication equipment, which impaired Rydz's ability to command his forces effectively.

Realizing that mounting a defence against both Germany and the USSR was impossible, Śmigły-Rydz issued orders to his forces to begin a retreat towards Romania and to not waste men on fighting the Soviet aggressors.

Large numbers of Polish soldiers and airmen managed to escape into southern Europe through Hungary and Romania and later regrouped in France.

Indeed, in 1922, in an evaluation of Polish generals, Piłsudski had written about him: "in operational work he displays healthy common sense and a lot of stubborn energy.

During his internment in Romania, Śmigły-Rydz initiated the creation of a Polish underground originating from officers who were loyal to the memory of Piłsudski.

This is what Wańkowicz wrote about this meeting: "It was completely impossible to get to Rydz, as he was kept in wild mountains, in the summer villa of Patriarch Miron, closely guarded by a special unit of Romanian police.

"[4] Śmigły-Rydz was transferred from the internment camp to the villa of a former Romanian prime minister in Dragoslavele, from where he escaped on 10 December 1940 and crossed illegally into Hungary.

His flight to Hungary and rumours about his planned return to Poland were a source of considerable displeasure to his rival Sikorski, now Prime Minister.

On 30 October, in strict secrecy, he came back to Warsaw to participate in the resistance movement as a common underground soldier, thus voluntarily suspending his rank as Marshal of Poland.

In the West, due to the influence of anti-Piłsudski circles (with Władysław Sikorski as their foremost representative), he was seen as having fled the battlefield in 1939, and little recognition was given to the actual and impossible circumstances of Poland's invasion and defeat by the Germans and Soviets.

[7] Józef Piłsudski Ferdinand Foch Edward Rydz-Śmigły Michał Rola-Żymierski Konstanty Rokossowski Marian Spychalski