Odrodzenie Wojska Polskiego 1918–1921

Abstrakt

The revival of the Polish Army 1918–1921

The Polish Army began to form before the resurrection of the Polish state. After Józef Piłsudski took over the highest positions in the state and army, the pace of organization in the Polish Army quickened. The Chief of State treated this issue as a priority. He believed the strength of the army to be a decisive factor in the real possibilities of the state, and in Polish conditions necessary to win the righteous and safe borders and defend the independent existence of the Republic of Poland. The inflow of new volunteers meant that at the end of 1918 the number was already around 100,000 soldiers. Until then, 39 infantry regiments, 17 regiments and 3 artillery regiments were successfully formed. In 1919, the intensive development of the Polish Army continued. It was a time of dynamic development of its strength, creation of great units — brigades and divisions, unification of organizational structures of sub-units, units and tactical units. There was also a consolidation of all Polish military formations within the armed forces, and the Polish Army was transformed into a regular army. The highest strength of the Polish Army was reached just after the end of the battle in the outskirts of Warsaw, on 1 September 1920, as it numbered 943,976 soldiers. At that time, its composition included, among others: 22 infantry divisions, 3 independent infantry brigades, 9 motorized brigades, 20 field artillery brigades, a mountain artillery brigade, 20 air squadrons.