Florian Siwicki

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Florian Siwicki

| image = Siwicki.Florian.07.JPG

| image_size =

| caption = Major general Florian Siwicki

| placeofburial =

| nickname =

| birth_name =

| office = Minister of National Defence

| termstart = 22 November 1983

| termend = 6 July 1990

| predecessor = Wojciech Jaruzelski

| successor = Piotr Kołodziejczyk

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|01|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Łuck, Poland (today Ukraine)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|03|11|1925|01|10|df=y}}

| death_place = Warsaw, Poland

| occupation = Politician

| allegiance = {{POL}}
Polish People's Republic

| branch = Red Army, Polish People's Army

| serviceyears = 1942–1990

| rank = 50px Generał Armii (General)

| servicenumber =

| unit = Motorized infantry (mortar and recoilless rifle)

| commands = 8th Infantry Division
2nd Army
Silesian Military District
Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army
Minister of National Defense

| battles = World War II

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Martial law in Poland

| battles_label =

| relations =

}}

Florian Siwicki ({{IPA|pl|ˈflɔrjan ɕiˈvit͡skʲi}}; 10 January 1925 – 11 March 2013) was a Polish military officer, diplomat and communist politician. He was a generał in the Polish Army and Minister of Defense of Poland from 1983 to 1990.

Military and political career

Son of Elżbieta and Eugeniusz. His father was a non-commissioned officer. In 1930, Eugeniusz Siwicki was transferred to the reserve and moved with his family to village near Rivne. At first, he was the owner of a small, three-hectare farm, and later he was employed as a bookkeeper in the commune office.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rp.pl/Inwazja-na-Czechoslowacje/308179960-General-Florian-Siwicki-Portret-okupanta.html|title=Generał Florian Siwicki: Portret okupanta|website=www.rp.pl|language=pl|access-date=2020-01-07}}

In April 1940, his father was arrested by NKVD officers. A month later, Florian and his mother were deported deep into the Soviet Union to the Arkhangelsk region. At the age of 17 he was forced to join the Red Army. From December 1942, he served in the 105 Independent Sapper Battalion, where he became the deputy commander of the platoon. In May 1943 he was in the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces in the USSR. He served in the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division.

In early 1945, after 5 months of officer training in the Soviet Union, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Soviet-allied Polish People's Army. He commanded infantry platoons and companies in the East Pomeranian Offensive and the Prague Offensive.

After the war, he continued his military career as an infantry officer and political career as a member and official of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR). In the army he became a "political officer"; he advanced also in the PPR and then the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He was not very close to the Stalinist wing of the party, although dutifully carried out their orders. From 1951 to 1953 he underwent a Command-and-Staff course for Brigade and Division Command at the M. V. Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union. Siwicki was later promoted to lieutenant-colonel and commanded an infantry battalion in the Warsaw Military District until 1957. He was promoted to colonel in 1957 and brigadier in 1960. From 1956 to 1959 he was in charge of the Military Intelligence and Police division in the Warsaw Military District. In the course of his career he held a number of senior posts, including military attaché in China from 1959 to 1961, commander of an independent mechanized brigade in the Silesian Military District from 1961 to 1963, commanding officer of the 8th Motorised/Mechanized Infantry Division from 1963 to 1967, commander of the 2nd Polish Army from 1967 to 1972 (including during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968),{{cite book |title=From Solidarity to Martial Law: The Polish Crisis of 1980-1981: A Documentary History |last=Paczkowski |first=Andrzej |author2=Malcolm Byrne |author3=Gregory F. Domber |year=2008 |publisher=Central European University Press |page=xxviii |isbn=9789637326967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wI9TUaZZeAMC&pg=PA460 |accessdate=December 22, 2010}} commander of the Silesian Military District from 1972 to 1973 and Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army from 1973 to 1983.{{cite book |title=Poland's transformation: a work in progress : studies in honor of Kenneth W. Thompson |last=Jan Chodakiewicz |first=Marek |author2=John Radzilowski |author3=Dariusz Tolczyk |year=2003 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=27 |isbn=9780967996028 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6BV4FAB8RsC&pg=PA27 |accessdate=December 22, 2010}} Siwicki was a long-serving Minister of National Defense in the governments of Wojciech Jaruzelski, Zbigniew Messner, Mieczysław Rakowski and Tadeusz Mazowiecki (from 1983 to 1990 total).{{cite book |title=The International year book and statesmen's who's who |last=O. Pragnell |first=Mervyn |author2=Ann Patrick Rogers |year=1985 |publisher=Burke's Peerage Ltd. |page=392 |isbn=9780611006806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDQ1AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Florian+Siwicki%22+Minister+of+Military+Affairs |accessdate=December 22, 2010}} In 1972 he became a candidate member of the Politburo of the PZPR, and in 1980 a full member. Siwicki was appointed to the position of Minister of Defense after Jaruzelski stepped down from that post; he also functioned as Jaruzelski's "top deputy on the defense council". In October 1983, Siwicki was awarded with the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, first class, one of his many decorations.{{cite news |title=Polish army chief honored |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=864yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5381,107012&dq=florian-siwicki&hl=en |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=October 11, 1983 |accessdate=December 22, 2010}}

As agreed in the Round Table talks and during subsequent political developments, Siwicki remained the Minister of Defense in Solidarity-led government of Mazowiecki until July 1990.{{cite book |title=The political role of the military: an international handbook |last=Panos Danopoulos |first=Constantine |author2=Cynthia Ann Watson |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicalroleoft00dano/page/367 367] |isbn=9780313288371 |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalroleoft00dano |url-access=registration |accessdate=December 22, 2010}}

Awards and decorations

Polish:
60px Order of the Builders of People's Poland
60px Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st Class (1983){{Cite magazine | title = 40th anniversary of the Polish People's Army | magazine = Nowiny | page = 2 | date = 11 October 1983 | url = http://www.pbc.rzeszow.pl/publication/8779 |language= Polish}}
60px Order of the Banner of Labour, 1st Class (1973){{Cite magazine | title = List of soldiers decorated at Belweder |magazine = Nowiny | page = 2 | date = 11 October 1973 | url = http://www.pbc.rzeszow.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=5147 |language= Polish}}
60px Order of the Banner of Labour, 2nd Class
60px Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
60px Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
60px Gold Cross of Merit
60px Silver Cross of Merit (twice, first in 1946){{Monitor Polski|1947|51|331}}.
60px Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland
60px Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland
60px Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945
60px Gold Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
60px Silver Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
60px Bronze Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
60px Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland
60px Medal for Participation in the Battle of Berlin
60px Gold Medal of Merit for National Defence
60px Silver Medal of Merit for National Defence
60px Bronze Medal of Merit for National Defence
60px Medal of the National Education Commission
60px Gold Badge of Merit in the Protection of Public Order
60px Gold Badge of Merit in the Defense of the Borders of the Polish People's Republic
60px Gold Medal of Merit for the Homeland Defense League
60px Gold Badge of Merit for Civil Defense
60px Gold Decoration of the name of Janek Krasicki
60px Medal of Ludwik Waryński (1988){{Cite magazine |magazine= Życie Partii |date= 8 March 1989 |page= 20 |language= Polish}}
60px Badge of the 1000th Anniversary of the Polish State
Soviet:
60px Order of Lenin (twice, 1968, 1984{{Cite magazine |title= Konstantin Chernenko decorated Florian Siwicki with the Order of Lenin |magazine= , Trybuna Robotnicza |date= 19 April 1984 |page= 2 |language= Polish}}
60px Order of Friendship of Peoples
60px Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"
60px Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
60px Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
60px Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985){{Cite magazine |magazine= Życie Partii |date= 22 May 1985 |page= 21 |language= Polish}}
60px Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
60px Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
From other countries:
60px Medal for Strengthening Brotherhood in Arms (Cuba, 1983){{Cite magazine |magazine= Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny |date= January 1984 |page= 231 |language= Polish}}
60px Medal of the 30th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Cuba)
60px Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
60px Friendship Order (Vietnam)
60px Order of Tudor Vladimirescu, 1st Class (Romania)
60px 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Georgi Dimitrov Medal (Bulgaria, 1983){{Cite magazine |magazine= Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny |date= January 1984 |page= 116 |language= Polish}}
60px 30th Anniversary of the Bulgarian People's Army Medal
60px Medal for Consolidation of Military Friendship (Bulgaria)
60px Medal of 40th Anniversary of Socialist Bulgaria (Bulgaria, 1986){{Cite magazine |magazine= Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny |date= July 1986 |page= 293 |language= Polish}}
60px 40th Anniversary of Victory Over Hitler's Fascism Medal
60px Scharnhorst Order (East Germany)
60px Gold Medal Brotherhood in Arms (East Germany)
60px Jubilee Medal 30 Years of the National People's Army (East Germany)