Polish Legions in World War I
- For other units named the Polish Legions see this article
Polish Legions (Polish Legiony Polskie) was the name of Polish armed forces created in August of 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army. They were composed mostly of former members of various scouting organisations, including Drużyny Strzeleckie and Strzelec, as well as volunteers from all around the empire.
Initially the Polish Legions were composed of two legions: the Eastern and the Western. Later they were transformed into three brigades.
- I Brigade of the Polish Legions under Józef Piłsudski
- II Brigade of the Polish Legions under Józef Haller de Hallenburg
- III Brigade of the Polish Legions under Zygmunt Zieliński and later Bolesław Roja
- Artillery Regiment
- other units
The commanders of the Legions were:
- Gen. Karol Trzaska-Durski (September 1914 – February 1916)
- Gen. Stanisław Puchalski (until November 1916)
- Col. Stanisław Szeptycki (until April 1917)
- Col. Zygmunt Zieliński (until August 1917)
The Legions took part in many battles against the forces of Imperial Russia, both in Galicia and in Carpathian Mountains. Initially both the number of troops and the composition of units were changing rapidly. This changed after Piłsudski resigned his post in September 1916 and the Polish Legions were renamed to Polish Auxiliary Corps (Polski Korpus Posilkowy). In June 1916 the unit had approximately 25 000 soldiers.
After the Act of November 5 and the creation of puppet Kingdom of Poland, the Polish Legions were transferred under German command. However, most of the members of legionists denied to swear allegiance to the emperor and were interned in Beniaminów and Szczypiorno. Approximately 3 000 of them were drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army or the Polnische Wehrmacht and sent to the Italian Front, while approximately 7 500 stayed in the rump Polish Auxiliary Corps.
After the war the officers of the Polish Legions became the backbone of the Polish Army.
Battles
- Battle of Nowy Korczyn (September 1914)
- Battle of Anielin and Laski (October 21–October 26, 1914)
- Battles of Krzywopłoty, Marcinkowice and Łowczówek (December 22–December 25, 1914)
- Transcarpathian Campaign (October 1914)
- Battle of Mołotkowo (October 29, 1914)
- Battles of Rafajłowa, Kirlibaba and Rarańcza (June 13, 1915)
- Battle of Konary (May 16–May 25, 1915)
- Battle of Jastków (July 29–July 31, 1915)
- Battle of Kostiuchówka (July 4–July 6, 1916)