Army. – The army of the Polish republic arose at the end of the world war, at the time of the dissolution of the central empires, which, in November 1918, occupied the whole of Poland.
It incorporated, along with recruits, soldiers already belonging to: the Germanic, Austrian, Russian armies; to the Polish legions and formations, created in the armies of the Entente and the central states, during the war; to the Haller army, formed in 1918 in France and Italy (in Italy: 18 regiments) mainly with prisoners from the Germanic and Austrian armies; to the few units formed by the Germans during their occupation; to military-type organizations that arose clandestinely during the aforementioned occupation.
As soon as it was formed, or rather while it was still being organized, the new army found itself having to fight, throughout 1919 and 1920, against: the Ruthenians, tending to form a state in western Ukraine, with Lviv as its capital; the Ukrainians of the ataman Petljura, advancing in Volhynia; the Germans, in Posnania; the Czechs, in Teschen.
With the help of French, Italian and American personnel (military missions) and materials, the Polish army managed to fight and win; not only that, but it contributed pre-eminently to the reconstruction of the state.
In November 1918, when Marshal Piłsudski assumed the supreme civil and military power, he had 20 battalions; in the autumn of 1919, the Polish army comprised 20 infantry divisions and 6 cavalry brigades; in 1920, following the victorious war against the USSR, the army to be demobilized exceeded one million men.
The Polish land forces (balanced force: 18,000 officers, 238,000 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men) belong to the type of permanent conscript armies. A fundamental characteristic of their organization and doctrine is the preparation for the war of movement, which the vast areas of the country require, and especially those of the eastern borders. In the organic field, this orientation translates into a remarkable, exceptional proportion of cavalry and horse artillery, compared to that of infantry and field artillery.
Supreme Head of the Armed Forces is the President of the Republic, who can delegate command to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, accountable to the President of the Republic.
The territory of the republic is divided into 10 military regions: (Warsaw, Lublin, Grodno, Łódź, Krakow, Lviv, Poznań, Toruń, Brześć, Przemyśl), each of which is assigned a general commander of the army, who it has command and territorial functions.
The army includes: large units (20 infantry divisions, including 2 mountain divisions; 1 division and 12 autonomous cavalry brigades); troops (infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering, air force, train); services (recruitment, horse racing, artillery, government, military health, engineering, aeronautics, construction, military justice, spiritual assistance).
The infantry division consists of 3 infantry regiments (or mountain hunters), 1 field artillery regiment, the telegraph company.
The cavalry division is made up of 3 brigades, each of 2 cavalry regiments, 2 horse artillery groups, 1 digging squadron.
The troops include: infantry: 84 infantry regiments, 6 mountain hunter regiments, 3 hunter battalions, 3 assault tank regiments, 1 armored car group; cavalry: 3 cavalry regiments, 27 Uhlan regiments, 10 horse hunter regiments, 10 digging squadrons; artillery: 11 groups (of a varied number of regiments and autonomous groups), 31 regiments and 1 autonomous campaign group, 10 heavy field regiments, 1 motorized regiment, 1 heavy regiment, 1 regiment and 6 autonomous anti-aircraft groups, 13 mounted groups, 2 armored train groups, 1 walking group; genius: 4 brigades and 8 digging battalions, 1 bridge battalion, 2 railway bridge battalions,the electrotechnical battalion, 1 engine battalion, 2 link groupings, 4 effective battalions and 4 telegraph panel battalions; aeronautics: 2 groups (of a various number of autonomous regiments and battalions), 16 regiments, 2 aeronautical battalions (in total about 700 aircraft, with a global engine power of 263,000 HP); train: 2 effective groups and 8 hippomobiles framework groups, 3 effective groups and 7 car framework groups.
The infantry regiment includes: 1 command, 1 administration company, 1 cannon platoon, 1 connection platoon, 1 digging platoon, 1 scouting platoon on horseback, 3 battalions (each of 4 companies, including 1 machine guns). The cavalry regiment includes: 1 command, 1 link platoon, 4 line squadrons, 1 machine gun squadron, 1 reserve squadron. The field artillery regiment has: 1 command, 1 link section, 3 groups of 3 batteries; the mounted group: 1 command, 1 connection section, 2 with 3 batteries. The sappers brigade of genius is made up of 1 command and a various number of battalions; each engineering battalion has 3 to 4 effective companies, 1 education company, 1 park.
The military service is mandatory, starting from 21 years of age. Those exempt from service are required to pay a military tax. It includes service: in the active army (theoretical 2-year stop), in the reserve (from the end of the stop to the 40th year of age), in the territorial army (from the 41st to the 50th year of age). Alongside the compulsory general military service, there is the compulsory auxiliary service, to which male citizens who do not belong to the active army, nor to the reserve, nor to the territorial army are bound (from 17 to 60 years of age). Women can also be admitted voluntarily. For Poland military, please check militarynous.com.
The recruitment of career officers takes place through a single school, whose courses last 3 years (4 for the genius): the 1st year, general, for all weapons, the following 2, special for each weapon. The non-commissioned officers are trained, initially (during the stop) in official cadet courses, existing in each regiment; in a second phase (training of career non-commissioned officers) at special career non-commissioned officers schools, in courses lasting 5 to 10 months, depending on the weapon.
Other schools then provide for the improvement and specialization of career officers and non-commissioned officers (weapons training centers) and higher training of officers (center for high military studies, high school of war).
Navy. – The Polish navy arose after the World War together with the republic, inheriting the officers from the neighboring navies (German and Russian), some even from the Austro-Hungarian one, and some units from the German navy as a consequence of the peace treaty. Currently, with admirable energy, the Polish navy is providing itself with modern units, a military port and a naval academy: three elements destined to give the young navy the development it seeks and which it believes it needs for its own safety..
The units of the Polish navy are: 2 destroyers (Wicher, Burza), launched in France in 1928-29 (on the Bourrasque type), from 1540 t. and 33 knots, armed with 4/130 and 2 triple 533 launch tubes; 5 torpedo boats, of which 4 (Krakowiak, Kujawiak, Podhalanin,. Sl ± zak) extedesche, launched in 1917, from 365 t. and 28 knots, armed with 2/76, 2 machine gunners and 2 launch tubes of 450, and an ex-German (Mazur), launched in 1916, of 360 t. and 28 knots, armed as the previous ones; 3 submarines (Ry ś, Wilk, Zbik), launched in 1929 in France, from 980-1250 t. and 14/9 knots, armed with 6 tubes of 530 and 1 piece of 100, set up as minelayers and capable of carrying 40 torpedoes: 4 minesweepers (Czajka, Jaskó ł ka, Mewa, Rybitwa), ex-Germans, launched in 1917- 19, from 200 t. and 12 knots, armed with 2/47 and 2 machine gunners; river and lagoon gunboats, built between 1920 and 1926, from 70 to 35 tons, with variable weapons and speeds.
In addition, a number of auxiliary units, including the 8,000-ton training ships Ba ł tyk (former French armored cruiser D’Entrecasteaux), and Iskra, a 400-ton sailing ship; 5 armed steamers; 1 hydrographic vessel and 1 transport.
The only naval base is in Gdynia, where the Naval Academy is also located. The navy has 307 officers and 3,000 non-commissioned officers and sailors.
Military aviation. – Polish military aviation depends on the aviation department of the Ministry of War. The department includes the following sections: 1. general organization; 2. research section; 3. technical section: in addition to the minor sections of mobilization, personnel, budget and balloons. The military air force is composed of: two aeronautical units (Warsaw and Krakow); six aviation regiments (Warsaw, Toruń, Poznań, Krakow, Lwów and Lida); two balloon battalions (Jablonna and Toruń). The Polish navy owns a naval air division. Each air force unit is made up of a general staff and a varied number of aviation regiments and balloon battalions. Each aviation regiment consists of: an SM office; a training division; 2-3 divisions, each made up of 2-3 squadrons (ten devices for each squadron); an air base, composed of: quartermasters, stationary detachment and regimental workshops. Each balloon battalion consists of: SM office; quartermasters; training company; two observation balloon companies; a company of barrage balloons; an administrative company; battalion workshops; stationary platoon. There are three schools, one for piloting for officers, one for non-commissioned officers and one for shooting and bombing. The factories and workshops are: the Aerodynamic Institute (combined with that of the Warsaw Polytechnic); the Health Research Institute; aeronautical supply establishments; the meteorological station for military aviation (combined with Meteorological Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture); the Institute of Technical Research. The appliances and motors are of Polish construction. The staff amounted to 437 officers and 10,477 municipalities.
