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• The commander of the military district (...)
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The commander of the military district handled the military administration of the area under his control. His duties included the management of the district in general and the formation of an army from the pre-existing regional units, as well as the defence of the frontline section located within this area. The commanders of all the units located within his area were subordinated to him - so he was both the administrator and commander, which came about as a result of the Uprising's development stage. During the first period of the Uprising, responsibility for managing the fighting in the different regions of Greater Poland was on the shoulders of the commanders of the military districts.

Stanisław Taczak started his activities “from scratch”; he prepared the ground for further organisational work which was then continued and developed by General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki. The last day order to be signed by S. Taczak was on 13 January 1919; two subsequent day orders were signed only by Lieutenant Colonel J. Stachiewicz. Order No. 11 dated 16 January bore the signature of the new commander-in-chief. A new period in the formation of the Greater Poland Army, aimed at the formation of a regular army, was started. The agreement signed on 11 January 1919 between the general and the Commissariat of the Supreme People’s Council (SPC) described, quite precisely, the competences of the new commander-in-chief, who was explicitly reminded of the CSPC’s superiority over the army. Control over the army was exercised by the Military Division of the CSPC, which was successively led by: Jan Maciaszek, Captain Władysław Sczaniecki and Second Lieutenant General Kazimierz Raszewski. Major S. Taczak took the post of 2nd quartermaster of Central Command.

The competences of Central Command and of the Commissariat of the SPC had already been set apart on 17 January, when the CSPC issued a regulation on the conscription of young men born in 1897 and 1898. This was the starting point for the formation of a regular army. Conscription was announced two more times: on 4 March 1919 (year groups: 1895–1896 and 1900) and on 24 April 1919 (year groups: 1894 and 1901). From then on, those insurgents who had taken part in the first battles and then returned to their homes, had to re-join the army if they were able to carry weapons. On 21 January 1919, the Commissariat of the SPC formulated the text of the oath that all the soldiers of the Greater Poland Armies were obliged to take: “Before the One and Triune Almighty God, I swear that I will serve Poland, my Mother Country and the entire Polish Nation always and everywhere, that I will defend my Home Country and the national good to the last drop of my blood, that I will obey the Commissariat of the Supreme People’s Council in Poznań and the commanders and superiors appointed by the Commissariat, that I will act as befits a brave and righteous Polish soldier and that when Poland is united, I will take a military oath approved by the Polish state authorities.”

On 19 January, Central Command’s structure was changed by the establishment of two functions: the administrative function and the organisational/tactical function. On the same day, Central Command was moved from the “Royal” Hotel to a new location: to a building formerly occupied by the German command of the 5th Army Corps, in Działowy Square. Simultaneously, with the expansion of Central Command and the Staff, General Muśnicki started choosing the right collaborators, striving to get rid of officers associated with Józef Piłsudski. On 31 January, Lieutenant Colonel Władysław Anders, an officer of the 1st Polish Corps, was appointed Head of Staff in lieu of J. Stachiewicz. The third Head of Staff at Central Command was Colonel Jan Wroczyński, who held this position from 18 April to November 1919, when Central Command was finally dissolved.

Soon, other officers from the 1st Polish Corps came to Poznań. On General Muśnicki’s order, they took a number of managerial positions in the Greater Poland Armies. Particular roles in the Greater Poland Armed Forces were played by: Colonel Wacław Przeździecki, Major Alfons Wojtkielewicz, Rittmeister (Captain) Bronisław Wzacny, Colonel (subsequently General) Daniel Konarzewski, Colonel Anatol Kędzierski, Colonel Jan Skoryna, Colonel Michał Milewski and Second Lieutenant General [brigade] Stanisław Dubiski. Following in the footsteps of their superiors, they quickly started to get on well with the Greater Poland residents and fitted in perfectly well among them. The higher command positions were gradually taken by officers who not only had the appropriate military rank, but who were also duly prepared to perform their functions, and who had extensive field experience.

On 18 January 1919, Central Command gave operational order no. 1, which divided the line that separated the insurgent side from the opponent into fronts:

– The Northern Front: from the border with the Kingdom of Poland near Inowrocław to the Białe Lake near Czarnków; commander: Lieutenant Colonel Kazimierz Grudzielski;

– The Western Front: from the Białe Lake to the Obra Canal near Wolsztyn; commander: Colonel Michał Milewski;

– The South-Western Front (also called the “Leszno Group”): from the Obra Channel to Poniec; commander: Second Lieutenant Bernard Śliwiński;

– The Southern Front: from Poniec along the border with the Silesian province, to the border with the Kingdom of Poland, with Second Lieutenant Władysław Wawrzyniak as commander.

In operational terms, the group (front) commanders were directly subordinate to Central Command, while the supply and administration commanders were subordinate to the Military District commanders. The task of the 1st Military District (covering Poznań) was to form an operational reserve which was expected to fight in any sections, depending on necessity. Individual front and section commanders were ordered to immediately form riflemen regiments (infantry) in their subordinate areas.

In order to carry out the assigned tasks effectively, the number of military districts had to be reduced. Thus on 19 February 1919, the entire administrative and military structure of the area affected by the uprising was divided into three Military Districts, linked to specific fronts:

1. The Northern Front: poviats: Wieleń, Czarnków, Piła, Chodzież, Wyrzysk, Bydgoszcz, Wągrowiec, Gniezno, Witkowo, Żnin, Szubin, Inowrocław and Strzelno.

2. The Western Front: poviats: Poznań – East, Poznań – West, Oborniki, Szamotuły, Międzychód, Skwierzyna, Nowy Tomyśl, Międzyrzecz, Babimost, Kościan, Grodzisk, Śmigiel, Leszno and Wschowa.

3. The Southern Front: poviats: Gostyń, Rawicz, Koźmin, Krotoszyn, Śrem, Jarocin, Pleszew, Września, Środa, Ostrów Wlkp., Odolanów, Kępno and Ostrzeszów.

At the same time, district commanders, who were also front commanders, were appointed: I –Lieutenant Colonel Kazimierz Grudzielski, II – Colonel Michał Milewski and III – Colonel Adolf Jan Kuczewski. Thus, the same officer was responsible for the military activities in his frontline section, as well as for the provisioning and replenishing of the army under his command. To this end, a provisioning office was established in every district. The three headquarters were located in Gniezno, Poznań and Jarocin.

The number of soldiers in a given army was determined on the basis of the region’s mobilisation capacities and the needs of the fronts. Thus, the plan was to establish a rifle (infantry) division consisting of four regiments, one cavalry regiment and artillery units in each military district. In order to not hinder the process of the formation of the army, the organisational structure of the German army was adopted, to which the soldiers who had previously been familiar with service in the army were accustomed. As elements of divisions, two brigades were formed; each of these consisted of two regiments. In order to ensure the appropriate manning of the positions of command, after the experiences of the first battles in the early days of the Uprising, the process of promoting the most capable sergeants to officer ranks started, also accelerated courses for mid-level commanders were organised, and in June 1919 (i.e. in the period which directly preceded the signing of the peace treaty), officer, infantry and artillery schools were established. Majors and colonels who had arrived from the Kingdom of Poland, most frequently former soldiers of the 1st Polish Corps, were assigned to the higher level posts. Non-commissioned officer courses in the respective regiments were organised in February 1919.

The first formation whose organisation into large units was initiated was the infantry. In May 1919, the Infantry Inspectorate was established at Central Command; it was headed by Second Lieutenant General Kazimierz Grudzielski. In reality the process of the formation had already lasted a long time; on 19 January, the formation of the 1st Greater Poland Rifle Regiment was commenced. One week later, on 26 January 1919, on Wolności Square in Poznań, the swearing-in ceremony for Central Command and the 1st Greater Poland Rifle Regiment, combined with the delivery of their banner took place. Then, a parade of the previously formed infantry, cavalry and artillery units took place - in the proper uniforms and insignia which had been introduced several days before. Still on the same day, an inspection of the People's Guard for the city of Poznań was performed in the same place. This was the first demonstration of the newly established Polish armed forces in the region. The second one took place on 3 May 1919, during a great parade of the Greater Poland Armed Forces in Ławica near Poznań, organised to honour the 128th anniversary of the Constitution of the 3 May.

The process of the formation of the infantry regiments of the Greater Poland Armed Forces was similar everywhere. The military district commander set the rules for the establishment of the respective regiments and battalions based on the guidelines that Central Command had set on 11 January and 2 February 2019. Attempts were made to maintain the already existing regional units in full, only expanding companies and battalions according to the composition and established size of the German army. Old friends and colleagues as well as neighbours from the same town still remained part of the same unit - however, this no longer happened on a voluntary basis but as a result of a mobilisation decree. It was only after some time that the turnover of people and the natural transfers within the army led to a mixing of the personnel of the respective companies and battalions. At the same time, regional names ceased to be used and a suitable numeration of the respective units and subunits was introduced. Gradually, the operating procedures appropriate for the functioning of a regular army, based on regulations and orders, were introduced; annexes to day orders included the detailed manning of the respective formations, units and staff. In parallel to the formation of the line units, the process of the establishment of the field gendarmerie of the Greater Poland Armed Forces and the judiciary system was also launched. This made the process of introducing discipline in the insurgent army more efficient. Most frequently, the formed units occupied barrack buildings left behind by the German army.

The army was re-joined by soldiers of the First World War, who did not require any new training. Also a system for the efficient supply of new recruits and training centres for them were organised. This was now an army which could be used almost immediately on the battlefield. This phenomenon, in combination with the sacrifices made by the general society and a well organised supply system, explains the rather uncommon speed with which armed forces with a high combat value, as presented by the Greater Poland Armies, were formed.