divided between the Mościcki faction (known as the "president's men" or the "castle group"), made up mainly of civilians, and Rydz's group, known as the "marshal's men", mostly old comrades of Piłsudski and professional officers. Besides these two major groups, there were also supporters of Sławek and other disgruntled Piłsudskite groups, which were marginalized after the Rydz-Mościcki pact.The regime became increasingly authoritarian, as manifested by the creation of the Ozon movement. However, Ozon never achieved its goal of developing popular mass appeal and transforming Rydz into "Poland's second great leader" (after Piłsudski himself). Several of Poland's most prominent politicians, including Mościcki and the foreign minister Józef Beck, made a point of distancing themselves from this movement. 1939 In March 1939, Hitler split Czechoslovakia into the occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and satellite state of Slovakia. This encircled Poland with an iron ring on all sides except the east. Rydz was the only member of government who saw the impending danger of a conflict with Germany. However, the time remaining was too short for the creation of a new army operational plan in the west. During negotiations in Moscow in August 1939, Rydz refused all attempts by the Western Powers to obtain Polish permission for the Red Army to march westward, stating that "there is no guarantee that the Soviets will really take active part in the war; furthermore, once having entered Polish territory, they will never leave it". On 1 September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, and Rydz-Śmigły was named Commander-in-Chief of all Polish forces. On 7 September, along with most of the government, he evacuated Warsaw as it came under attack. Soon afterwards, Polish coordination began to suffer from issues with their communication equipment, which impaired Rydz's ability to command his forces effectively. In Brest (Brześć) on 11 September, he ordered the Polish capital to be defended at all costs. In his plan, Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress were to become two redoubt-citadels in central Poland to fight on for as long as possible while the bulk of the Polish forces were to defend the Romanian bridgehead and await the counterattack promised by Poland's allies - the French and British. Unknown to Rydz-Śmigły, the Western Allies had no such plan and expected Poland to fall (see Western betrayal). This strategy was further crippled when Soviet forces invaded Poland from the east on 17 September. Realizing that mounting