Polish Military Organisation

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Polish Military Organisation
Polska Organizacja Wojskowa (POW)
Michał Żymierski
Tadeusz Kasprzycki
Insignia
Emblem of the Polish Military OrganisationLogo of Związek Peowiaków.JPG
The Supreme Command of Polish Military Organisation, 1917

The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (

Austro-Hungarian supporters, and it became an important, if somewhat lesser known, counterpart to the Polish Legions. Its targets included the Russian Empire in the early phase of the war and the German Empire
later. Its membership rose from a few hundred in 1914 to over 30,000 in 1918.

History

Intelligence and training

The Polish Military Organization (PMO) can be traced to formations of August 1914 or even earlier, but it was officially founded in November 1914 as a merger of two previously existing youth para-military organisations: the

Jędrzej Moraczewski
.

Initially active only in Central Poland, the PMO units in time were formed in all parts of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, including what is now Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. It was mainly preoccupied with intelligence and sabotage, as well as military training of its members and the acquisition of arms from various armies fighting on Polish soil. The PMO members were seen as the core of the future Polish Army after Poland had regained its independence.

After most of Poland was occupied by the Central Powers in 1915, the PMO became semilegal and unofficially supported by the German army, which saw it as a useful source of information on Russia and a useful reservoir of skilled officers. However, in July 1917, after the

supply lines. In place of Piłsudski, who was sent to a German prison in the fortress in Magdeburg, the commander of the PMO became his friend Edward Rydz-Śmigły, who was also a future Marshal of Poland
.

Sabotage and open fight

Józef Piłsudski with the Supreme Command of Polish Military Organisation in 1917

With the collapse of the Central Powers during the final stages of the war, the PMO command decided to take an active part in the war and went out into the open. In October and November 1918, the revolutions in Germany and Austria-Hungary made the Ober Ost army collapse. The German units were struck by mass desertions of soldiers, who simply left their posts and headed for their homes.

The main tasks of the PMO was then to disarm the withdrawing soldiers and to escort them to Germany. The campaign was successful and gave the newly born Polish state a large quantity of arms and military equipment. By mid-November, most of garrisons in

Polish Army
.

Later struggles

Contrary to the rest of units, the PMO in Ukraine (most notably, the areas controlled by the Western Ukrainian government and or the

Kiev-based Directorate and Hetmanate) remained active after the Polish withdrawal from Kiev
in July 1920.

In February 1918, a similar organisation was formed in the

Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–1919
. After the uprising had succeeded, the PMO members were also drafted into the Polish Army, together with other military units fighting in the uprising.

In February 1919, the

Polish Intelligence Services
.

In Lithuania

In Lithuania, the PMO was organizing a

Poland. The coup was planned for August 1919, but it was uncovered by the Lithuanian State Security Department. Mass arrests followed and eliminated the possibility of a coup d'état.[1][2]

From the documents that were stolen in its headquarters safe in Vilnius and given to Prime Minister of Lithuania Augustinas Voldemaras, it is clear that the plot had been directed by Piłsudski himself.[3] A PMO-led uprising occurred in the Sejny region, which was controlled by Lithuanian forces, and led to Polish forces gaining control of that disputed territory.

Influence in Soviet Union

Although the PMO was disbanded in 1921, Soviet authorities claimed that it continued to exist. During the Great Purge from 1936 to 1938[4] and as early as 1933,[5] many people of Polish nationality were charged with membership in it, which was illegal. See Polish Operation of the NKVD for the circumstances and NKVD Order No. 00485 in particular.

Commanders

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References

  1. ^ Juozas, Rainys (1936). P.O.W. : (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa) Lietuvoje. Kaunas: Spaudos fondas. p. 184.
  2. ISBN 9986-413-31-1
    .
  3. ISBN 9955-423-23-4
    .
  4. ISBN 0-300-10851-6
    ), p. 417.
  5. ISBN 0-8014-8677-7
    ), p. 328.
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