After the Uprising

The victory of the Uprising and its significance for Poland and Greater Poland

Janusz Karwat

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As early as January 1919, General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki started to prepare an operational plan together with his staff, which involved the occupation of Gdańsk and Vistula Pomerania. For this purpose, the Greater Poland rifle regiments were quickly formed to use them in this direction in March. The troops commanded by General Józef Haller were to move from the side of Gdańsk. This intention, however, was never fulfilled. Despite stubborn efforts made by Roman Dmowski and the support received from Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the issue of sending the ”Blue Army” to Gdańsk at the beginning of April 1919 failed irrevocably.

After the peace treaty with Germany had been signed, the legal situation of the Polish territories of the former Prussian partition changed. Therefore, the Greater Poland formations were subordinated operationally to the Chief of State. The Poznań Central Command started preparations for the repossession of those territories granted to Greater Poland. For this purpose, the “Plan for the seizure of West Prussia and part of the Kingdom of Middle Silesia granted to Poland” was prepared. It was predicted that during the repossession operations the Germans would offer armed resistance. Based on the staff of the Greater Poland armies, the decision was taken to speed up the process of the formation of the Western-Pomeranian Division (Pomerania Rifle Division). After four months of Polish-German talks, both parties signed a compromise agreement (25 November 1919). From 17 January 1920, the Greater Poland troops (3rd Greater Poland Rifle Division) occupied; Kępno, Zduny, Leszno and Rawicz. Meanwhile, the troops of the 2nd Greater Poland Division reached the line of the Bydgoszcz Canal and the Noteć River on 19 January and, by the end of the month, had occupied; Bydgoszcz and Fordon, Nakło, Świecie, Tuchola and Chojnice. Chodzież, which was conquered and then evacuated by insurgents, was returned to Poland. The area on the eastern side of the Vistula River was occupied by the troops of General Józef Haller. The parallel operations on both fronts (Greater Poland and Northern Fronts) contributed to the integration of the Pomeranian and Greater Poland territories with the rest of Poland.

On 20 August 1919, the Greater Poland Army was fully under the authority of the Supreme Command of the Polish Army and the Ministry of Military Affairs in Warsaw. The process of the taking over of the commands and military institutions per se lasted till the end of November 1919. In December, the Greater Poland soldiers were sworn into the ranks of the Polish Armed forces. After the above-mentioned repossession operation was completed at the end of January 1920, the German threat ceased to exist. Thus, the Greater Poland Front (against the Germans) was liquidated. The activity of the Poznań General District Command established in August 1919 (Division General Zygmunt Zieliński), was oriented towards the expedition of Greater Poland troops to the Eastern Front. More than 70000 Greater Poland soldiers, of almost all types of armies, made up the ranks of the Polish Army. Volunteers, who joined the insurgent troops, until the middle of January 1919, constituted one-fifth of this number and all formations were of insurgent origin. 19 infantry regiments (5 divisions), 5 artillery regiments, 4 cavalry regiments, air forces and auxiliary services were all organised. In this short calculation, one should not forget about the local units of the People’s Guard (National Defence) – with over 100000 soldiers, this was the most numerous formation of this type in Poland. In comparison with other formations of the Polish Army, the Greater Poland units were characterised by good military training, discipline and equipment.

Much credit with regards to the number and quality of the Greater Poland Army goes to the Greater Poland authorities, i.e. the Commissariat of the Supreme People’s Council. Even, from the very beginning, the Poznań politicians thought that the possession of a military formation would determine the result of the Uprising in the entire Prussian partition. The formed armed forces were an effect of the endeavours which the national democrats highlighted during the Partition Sejm of Poznań (3-5 December 1918). When the Uprising broke out and when it covered the region of Greater Poland, the possessed army could be used for the purpose of the accomplishment of the objectives of the existing Polish state.

The success of the Greater Poland Uprising in the years 1918-1919 had one more dimension: soon, Polish western thought started to take shape. An important role in the development of this concept was played by Poznań, and especially the Piast University (Wszechnica) established on 30 January 1919, even during the Uprising. It was transformed the following year into the Poznań University.

 

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