An heir to a mighty Austro-Hungarian family of distant French roots (his ancestors came to Austria in 1709), Robert Franz Lamezan-Salins was born August 14, 1869, in Mödling near Vienna to Eduard Graf Lamezan-Salins, a notable statesman and lawyer, president of district court for Vienna and founder of Austrian Olympic Committee.

[2] Following the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, in December 1918 he joined the Polish Army and was accepted in the rank of Brigadier General.

Although officially in active service, initially he served as a diplomat, heading Polish military missions to Bucharest (where he negotiated the return of the Romanian-held region of Pokutia to Poland) and Berlin, and as a liaison to Inter-Allied Military Mission to Eastern Lesser Poland during the Polish-Ukrainian War.

Following his return from Berlin in December 1919 he briefly served as the commanding officer of the 12th Infantry Division, but was dismissed as early as January 1920 and headed the Polish military mission charged with taking over the region of Pomerania from German administration.

In dire need he could be used as a corps commanding officer, but – God forbid – not in Galicia, where he would instantly become victim of his numerous friends, colleagues and relatives.