Editing Józef Piłsudski (section)

=== Head of state ===
[[File:Ulica Mokotowska 50, Warsaw.JPG|thumb|right|alt=see caption|''[[Mokotowska Street|Ulica Mokotowska]] 50'', Warsaw, where Piłsudski stayed 13–29 November 1918, after his release from Magdeburg]]
[[File:Polski automobil pancerny z obrony Lwowa 1918-19.JPG|thumb|alt=A man standing in front of an armored car|''Piłsudski'' improvised armored car, 1919, named after Piłsudski]]
On 11 November 1918, Piłsudski was appointed [[Commander-in-chief|Commander-in-Chief]] of Polish forces by the [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]] and was entrusted with creating a national government for the newly independent country. Later that day, which would become [[Poland's Independence Day]], he proclaimed an independent Polish state.{{r|Cienciala02}} That week, Piłsudski negotiated the evacuation of the German garrison from Warsaw and of other German troops from [[Ober Ost]]. Over 55,000 Germans peacefully departed Poland, leaving their weapons to the Poles. In the coming months, over 400,000 in total departed over Polish territories.{{r|Cienciala02|Urbank97_256_277–8}}

On 14 November 1918, Piłsudski was asked to supervise provisionally the running of the country. On 22 November he officially received, from the new government of [[Jędrzej Moraczewski]], the title of Provisional Chief of State (''Tymczasowy Naczelnik Państwa'') of renascent Poland.{{r|PolandGov}} Various Polish military organizations and provisional governments (the Regency Council in Warsaw; [[Ignacy Daszyński]]'s government in [[Lublin]]; and the [[Polish Liquidation Committee]] in Kraków) supported Piłsudski. He established a coalition government that was predominantly socialist and introduced many reforms long proclaimed as necessary by the Polish Socialist Party, such as the [[eight-hour day]], free school education and [[women's suffrage]], to avoid major unrest. As head of state, Piłsudski believed he must remain separated from partisan politics.{{r|PWN|Cienciala02}}

The day after his arrival in Warsaw, he met with old colleagues from his time working with the underground resistance, who addressed him socialist-style as "[[Comrade]]" (''Towarzysz'') and asked for his support for their revolutionary policies. He refused it and supposedly answered: <blockquote>"Comrades, I took the red tram of socialism to the stop called Independence, and that's where I got off. You may keep on to the final stop if you wish, but from now on let's address each other as '[[Slavic honorifics|Mister']] [rather than continue using the socialist term of address, 'Comrade']!"{{r|PolandGov}}</blockquote>However, the authenticity of this quote is disputed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gdzie Piłsudski wysiadł z tramwaju, czyli historie poprzekręcane |url=https://histmag.org/Gdzie-Pilsudski-wysiadl-z-tramwaju-czyli-historie-poprzekrecane-14909 |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=histmag.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Wysiadłem z czerwonego tramwaju...", czyli czego NIE powiedział Józef Piłsudski |url=https://kurierhistoryczny.pl/artykul/wysiadlem-z-czerwonego-tramwaju-czyli-czego-nie-powiedzial-jozef-pilsudski,368 |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=Kurier Historyczny}}</ref> Piłsudski declined to support any party and did not form any political organization of his own; instead, he advocated creating a coalition government.{{r|PWN|Suleja04_202}}