Following the end of the First World War, Poland, with the support of the victorious Western powers, managed to obtain its independence. In the general chaos that arose in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchies, Poland’s existence was almost immediately threatened by foreign forces. In 1919, Poland would be invaded by the Bolsheviks in the so-called Russo-Polish War that lasted up to 1920. During this war, Józef Piłsudski, who was a skilled military commander and a politician, proved himself as one of the chief figures in Poland. While he would leave his political career after the war, he remained highly active in the military circles. During this period, Poland also had a war with Ukranian proto-states (November 1918 – July 1919), border clashes with the newly formed Czechoslovakia (January 1919) and Lithuania (1919-1920), an involvement in the Latvian War of Independence (1919-1920), and some involvement in the Silesian Uprisings in Polish speaking parts of Germany.
Following the end of these wars, a period of relative peace came. Poland was in a quite unfavorable situation, sharing its western border with Weimar Germany and the eastern one with the nascent and growing Soviet Union. Polish lands were ravaged during the war and Poland itself possessed only a limited industrial capacity. In addition, during the twenties, Poland also faced political instability, which would eventually lead to a military coup. This coup was led by Józef Piłsudski himself, who would become the de facto leader of Poland up to his death in 1935. Under his rule, special attention was given to the Polish Army, in an attempt to completely rebuild and arm it with modern equipment. Attempts were also made to create armored formations equipped with armored vehicles such as tanks, tankettes and armored cars. Despite their best attempts, this was never truly achieved due to a lack of funds, industrial capacity and adequately trained personnel when it came to armored vehicle designs. By the time of the German invasion in September 1939, Poland’s armored forces would consist of a numerous mix of outdated and obsolete armored cars and tankettes, with a smaller number of more modern tanks.
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An article by Marko Pantelic
Edited by Pavel 'Carpaticus' Alexe
Sound edited by GabeTheTanker
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