Armia Ludowa
Encyclopedia
Armia Ludowa was a communist partisan
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...

 force set up by the Polish Workers' Party
Polish Workers' Party
The Polish Workers' Party was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland, and merged with the Polish Socialist Party in 1948 to form the Polish United Workers' Party.-History:...

 (PPR) during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Its aims were to support the military of the Soviet Union against German forces
Heer (1935-1945)
The Heer was the Army land forces component of the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945, the latter also included the Navy and the Air Force...

 and aid the creation of a pro-Soviet communist government in Poland. It was the largest Polish military resistance organization that refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State.

Resistance movement

On January 1, 1944, the State National Council
State National Council
Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish was a parliament-like political body formed in the late stages of the Second World War in the Soviet Union, as part of the formation of a new Communist Polish government...

 (KRN) replaced the Gwardia Ludowa
Gwardia Ludowa
Gwardia Ludowa or GL was a communist armed organisation in Poland, organised by the Soviet created Polish Workers Party. It was the largest military organization which refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State. It was created in 1942 and in 1944 it was incorporated by the...

 (GL) – People's Guard
People's Guard
People's Guard can mean:* the Gwardia Ludowa, a communist armed organisation in Poland during World War II, organised by the Soviet-created Polish Workers Party* the People's Guard , part of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya...

 with the AL. The KRN intended to gain volunteers from other groups. Upon its establishment the organization comprised around 10,000 members, by the end of July 1944 (when much of Poland was occupied by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

) there were circa 30,000 members, with 6,000 of them being active full-time partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...

.

Polish People's Army

Seven months after it came into existence, on July 21, 1944, AL was integrated into the Polish Military in the USSR
Union of Polish Patriots
Union of Polish Patriots was a political body created by Polish communists and Joseph Stalin in Soviet Union in 1943...

 and renamed the People's Army of Poland (LWP). After the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 and the Soviet organized 1st Polish Army
First Polish Army (1944-1945)
The Polish First Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the People's Army of Poland . The First Army fought westward, subordinated to the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, during the offensive against Germany that led to...

 entered Poland in 1944 and early 1945, most of the AL members joined the latter. After the war many of its members joined the ranks of Ministry of Public Security in the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...


External links

Gwardia Ludowa, Armia Ludowa on the pages of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance
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