General (Poland)

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Generał is the Polish word for the rank of general. In practice, it refers to the four‑star general introduced on August 15, 2002 (earlier it existed as generał armii, General of the Army).

In peacetime, generał is the highest Polish Army rank. Marshal of Poland is a wartime rank and is not used in normal, peacetime service.

Rank insignia include the general’s wavy line (generałowski) and four stars, shown on the rogatywka cap and on the uniform sleeves or pocket.

Historically, Poland kept Marshal of Poland as the top rank, with three general grades below. The Polish insignia system differed from those of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, so some ranks were effectively higher than their names suggested (for example, generał brygady was often equivalent to Major General, not Brigadier General).

In 1954, during Warsaw Pact integration, a new rank, generał armii (General of the Army), was created as a copy of the Soviet rank. After Stalin’s death, the pre‑war pattern returned. In 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski reintroduced generał armii and was the only person to hold it; it was seen as an ersatz Marshal because he could not become Marshal of Poland after the death of Marian Spychalski. The rank was abolished in 1995; the last pre‑NATO generals were Jaruzelski and Florian Siwicki, who died in the early 2010s.

With Poland joining NATO in 1999, the Polish rank system was aligned with NATO, so generał was reintroduced as the four‑star general rank. The Marshal of Poland remains a wartime rank, awarded to the chief of the general staff in wartime or after a victorious campaign.