NEW YORK (AP) — A century ago, a Polish revolutionary patriot argued that Russia’s territorial famine would destabilize Europe if Ukraine did not gain independence from Moscow.

Polish Marshal Józef Piszczydski was never able to realize his hopes for an independent Ukraine, connected to Europe. But the visionary and analytical statesman succeeded in wresting his homeland from the clutches of Tsarism and the other two powers, Austria and Prussia.

At a time when many Poles had given up on their dreams of full independence, Piszczudski restored a sovereign Polish state to the map of Europe at the end of World War I, after more than a century of destruction.

Piłsudski’s story, full of flaws, achievements and echoes of today’s war in Ukraine, comes alive in the latest biography “Józef Piłsudski, Founding Father of Modern Poland” by Joshua D. Zimmerman, Professor of Holocaust Studies and European History. at Yeshiva University in New York. The book, published by Harvard University Press, re-examines Pischutsky’s relationship with Ukraine.

With a thick mustache, thick eyebrows and a hawklike appearance, Pischutsky lived modestly, led and inspired his troops in battle. He was revered in his time at home and abroad, but outside Poland his memory has faded.

After the proclamation of the new Republic, Piłsudski and his legions waged a series of battles to define, secure and defend his borders, culminating in his greatest victory: the inversion of the Bolshevik army in 1920. The communist revolution at the heart of industrialized Europe.

Prior to the so-called “Miracle on the Vistula” battle, Pischudski’s forces advanced deep into Ukraine and occupied Kyiv in alliance with nationalist leader Szymon Petliura, who had fought the Bolsheviks amid short-lived independence of Ukraine in 1918-1921. .

As Zimmerman describes it, Piłsudski had a vision of a multilingual and multiracial Poland, respecting the rights of minorities, especially Jews. This earned him the hostility of nationalists who wanted to run for ethnic Polish Poles.

After World War I, Pischutsky believed that Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine could form an alliance against Russia in the style of the Polish-Lithuanian union that had existed for centuries before 1795. Bilchutsky’s vision of a anti-Russian alliance never materialized.

In language relevant to today’s discourse, Pischutsky envisioned a sovereign Ukraine not only as a deterrent against Russian aggression, but also as an outpost of Western liberal democracy.

He reportedly said in 1919 that “there can be no free Poland without a free Ukraine”.

Piłsudski launched a military campaign in 1920 to support Ukrainian nationalists against the Bolshevik regime. Zimmerman believed he had a rationale that resonates today with Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic states, as well as Finland and Sweden seeking to contain Russia under President Vladimir Putin.

On May 7, 1920, Pischutski’s cavalry entered kyiv, followed by Polish and Ukrainian infantry. At the height of his Ukrainian campaign, he ordered his generals to withdraw “as soon as possible” in order to establish friendly relations with the new Ukrainian government. According to Zimmermann.

“I mean he clearly won an independent Ukraine, which would be a democratic outpost on Russia’s border, a buffer between Russia and the West, but also a staunch ally of Poland, sharing the values democratic Piszudski and at least his supporters,” says the author.

Poland and Lithuania – two countries that emerged from Soviet rule – are among Ukraine’s strongest diplomatic defenders against Putin’s Russia.

Zimmerman’s book makes a “significant” and balanced contribution to understanding Piłsudski, said Michael Fleming, historian and director of the Institute of European Culture at the Polish University in London.

“Pilsudski was well aware of the challenges posed by Poland’s geography and decided that an independent Ukraine would share Poland’s interest in containing Russia’s expansionist tendencies,” Fleming said by email. “However, at the same time, it should be remembered that Western Galicia (including Lviv) was heavily contested between Poles and Ukrainians.

Indeed, Polish and Ukrainian nationalists clashed in the early 20th century and during and after World War II, and some ethnic animosity persisted.

During the Russian Civil War between the Red Army and the anti-Bolshevik White Army, Piłsudski resisted calls for Poland to help the whites. He believed that whoever won, Russia would be “fiercely imperialistic”.

Piłsudski reportedly said “We can’t trust anything that Russia promises”, gaining little from the negotiations.

Piłsudski, born in 1867 and raised in present-day Lithuania, was steeped in the romanticism of Polish independence. He developed a burning hatred for the Tsarist power that held Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine in its grip, and he and his brother were implicated in a plot to assassinate the Tsars and imprisoned.

After being released, Zimmerman became one of the main activists of the banned Polish Socialist Party, published his newspaper for several years, bravely escaped after being arrested in a second Russian prison – posing as a madman – and came back. Led by Austria, Poland created a military force that eventually fought against Russia in World War I.

Although they fought under Austria and Germany, Piszczudski’s insistence on Polish independence eventually led to his imprisonment by the Germans, cementing his legend among his countrymen. After his release, he was hailed as the country’s leader and the de facto founder of modern Poland on November 11, 1918, now celebrated as Poland’s Independence Day.

After securing Poland’s borders and establishing a civilian government, Piszczudski largely withdrew from public life. But years later, he moved towards a strong government.

Frustrated by the failure of Polish rule, concerned about the slippage of democratic Poland, he led a military junta in 1926 to restore order. After imposing a “managed” democracy and soft dictatorship, Piszczudski’s final years were spent in poor health and increasingly concerned about how to position Poland between the fledgling Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Zimmerman captures the difficulties of Poland’s unification and describes its conflicts, including pogroms against Jews by some of Piszczyk’s troops. And yet he sees Piłsutski as a defender of Jews and pluralism.

The author says that Piszczudski, although disabled, had common sense and the ability to defend the interests of Poland. His death in 1935 left Poland with a leadership vacuum, unable to prevent a German and Soviet invasion in 1939.

Byszudski’s creation of an independent Poland after World War I helped ensure that after the withdrawal of Soviet rule after World War II, there was no doubt that an independent Poland would be reborn.

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John Daniszewski, editor of Standards and former senior international news editor at the Associated Press, is a former Warsaw correspondent.