Between 1897 and 1904 Kazimierz attended the Queen Sofia High School located in Sanok (his classmates included Zdzisław Adamczyk, Witold Fusek, Bolesław Mozołowski and Bronisław Praszałowicz).

On 21 June 1904 Świtalski received a certificate of maturity with honors and began studying at the Faculty of Philology at the Polish Academy in Lwów.

Even in his youth Świtalski belonged to an organization of socialist independence parties called "Flame" and "Life".

In 1910 Świtalski joined the Związek Walki Czynnej (ZWC), an underground organisation formed by future Marshal of Poland and chief-of-state Józef Piłsudski and since October 1912 he was a member of the Rifle Association.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, he was an adjutant for Marian Kukiel at the Headquarters of the Rifle Associations in Eastern Galicia and Lwów.

During the 1926 May Coup d'état in Poland, Świtalski supported Marshal Piłsudski, rather than President Stanisław Wojciechowski.

In the same year he appointed the Head of the Civil Chancellery of the President and between 1926 and 1928 he was the director of the Political Department of the Ministry of the Interior.