Polish People's Army

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Polish People's Army
Ludowe Wojsko Polskie
Emblem worn by LWP soldiers
Active	May 1943 – December 1989
Country	Polish People's Republic (1947–1989)
Allegiance	Polish People's Republic
Branch	Air Force of the Polish Army (1943–1947) Polish Air Force (1947–1989) Polish Air Defence Force (1962–1989) Polish Land Forces Polish Navy
Size	200,000 (1945)
Headquarters	Seltsy, RSFSR, Soviet Union (1943–1945) Warsaw, Polish People's Republic (1945–1989)
Patron	Tadeusz Kościuszko
Engagements	World War II - Eastern Front Battle of Lenino Operation Bagration Lublin-Brest Offensive Warsaw Uprising Battle of Studzianki Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Poznań East Pomeranian Offensive Battle of Kolberg Battle of Berlin Battle of the Seelow Heights Battle of Bautzen Prague Offensive Aftermath of World War II Anti-Communist Insurgency Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict (1945–1947) Czechoslovak Border Conflicts Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Battle honours	For Warsaw For Battle of Berlin
Commanders
First Secretary	Mieczysław Rakowski (last)
Prime Minister	Tadeusz Mazowiecki (last)
Minister of National Defence	Florian Siwicki (last)
Chief of the General Staff	Józef Użycki (last)

The Polish People's Army (Polish: Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, pronounced [luˈdɔvɛ ˈvɔjskɔ ˈpɔlskʲɛ]; LWP)^[1] constituted the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1943–1945, and in 1945–1989 the armed forces of the Polish communist state (from 1952, the Polish People's Republic), ruled by the Polish Workers' Party and then the Polish United Workers' Party. The communist-led Polish armed forces, allowed and facilitated by Joseph Stalin, were the result of efforts made in the early 1940s in the Soviet Union by Wanda Wasilewska and Zygmunt Berling.

The official name of those formations were: Armia Polska w ZSRR (Polish Army in the USSR) from 1943 to 1944, Wojsko Polskie (Polish Troops) and Siły Zbrojne Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland) from 1944 to 1952 and from 1952 Siły Zbrojne Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej (Armed Forces of the Polish People's Republic). On 7 October 1950, the anniversary of the Battle of Lenino was declared the official "Day of the Polish People's Army" by the authorities of the People's Republic.

What became the LWP was formed during World War II, in May 1943, as the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division, which developed into the First Polish Army, unofficially known as Berling's Army. Because of the shortage of Polish officers and the policies of the Soviet Union, in March 1945 Soviet Red Army officers accounted for nearly 52% of the officer corps (15,492 out of 29,372). Around 4,600 of them remained in the LWP by July 1946.^[2]

It was not the only Polish formation that fought on the Allied side, nor the first one formed in the East. The earlier Polish force formed in the Soviet Union, known as Anders' Army, was loyal to the Polish government-in-exile and by that time had moved to Iran. The communist-led Polish forces soon grew beyond the 1st Division into two major commands – the First Polish Army (initially under Zygmunt Berling) and the Second Polish Army (commanded by Karol Świerczewski). The First Polish Army participated in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the Battle of Kolberg and the final Battle of Berlin.^[1]

After the war the Polish Army was reorganized into six (later seven) military districts. These were the Warsaw Military District, headquartered (HQ) in Warsaw, the Lublin Military District, HQ in Lublin, the Kraków Military District, HQ in Kraków, the Łódź Military District, HQ in Łódź, the Poznań Military District, HQ in Poznań, the Pomeranian Military District, HQ in Toruń, and the Silesian Military District, HQ in Katowice.^{[citation needed]}

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Polish Army was under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Poland and Minister of Defense of Poland Konstantin Rokossovsky. It was increasingly integrated into Soviet military structure and organization. This process was mitigated in the aftermath of the Polish October of 1956, when Władysław Gomułka formalized aspects of Poland's military relationship with the Soviet Union.^[3] The Sovietization of the armed forces structure was phased out altogether and thus the combat and service support structures were integrated once more into regular combat formations following the old Polish model.

An anti-Zionist purge in the Polish Army took place in 1968 to systematically remove soldiers of Jewish origin, following the Six-Day War between Israel and Arab countries.

In 1949, the first fundamental uniform reform after the war was made.^[4] The "Dress Rules for the Soldiers of the Polish Army" were introduced and were to apply from January 1, 1951.

In the Polish People's Army, a soft field cap modeled on the pre-war one was introduced. After the war, the pre-war garrison caps were used again. Stiffened caps were only worn until around 1950 when they were completely replaced by round caps. In 1982, the Polish Rogatywka, modeled on the pattern from 1935, were restored in the Polish Army's Representative Company.^[5]

Throughout the entire period of the existence of the Polish People's Army, its officers and soldiers were provided with pastoral care. Such a service was provided by the General Dean's Office of the Polish Army.^[6]

In the 1980s, the Polish People's Republic had 4 military academies and 11 higher officers' schools, which trained auxiliary corpsmen and corresponded in rank to higher educational institutions. In 1954, judo instructors from the Warsaw and Kraków institutes of physical culture, participated in the training program for border guards and military personnel of the airborne units of the Polish army.^[7]

Weapon	Origin	Type	Notes	Photo
P-64	Polish People's Republic	Semi-automatic pistol
P-83	Polish People's Republic	Semi-automatic pistol
P-33[8]	Polish People's Republic	Semi-automatic pistol	Licensed copy of TT-33.
AKM AKMS	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	Assault rifle	Standard issue rifle
PM-84	Polish People's Republic	Submachine gun	Limited use
PM-63	Polish People's Republic	Submachine gun	Standard submachine gun form 1963 till 1989[9]
7.62 mm pm wz.41	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	Submachine gun	Polish PPSh-41 produced domestically.[10]
SWD	Soviet Union	Designated sniper rifle	Standard marksman rifle of PPA
PK	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	General purpose machinegun	Standard general purpose machinegun of PPA
SKS	Soviet Union	Semi-automatic rifle	[11]
Mosin–Nagant	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic  Russian Empire	Bolt-action rifle	Domestically produced.[12]
SG-43 Goryunov	Polish People's Republic  Soviet Union	Machine gun	[13]
RPG-7	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	Light AT weapon

Tank	Origin	Version	In service	Notes
T-60	Soviet Union		3 pcs. - 1944-1945[14][15]	After the war, several pieces were sent to military schools.[16]
T-70	Soviet Union		53 pcs. - 1944-1945[17]	Some of the tanks used after 1945 by the Internal Security Corps.[18]
T-34	Soviet Union	1940, 1941, 1942, 1943[19]	118 pcs. - 1944-1945[20]	According to Magnuski, many different versions of the T-34 vehicle were used, both early production and modernized ones.[21]
T-34-85	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	M1, M2[22]	328 pcs. - 1944-1945. 1083 pcs. - 1955, 1444 pcs. - 1960, 417 pcs. - 1985[23]	Domestically produced 1355 pcs. between 1952-1956. In 1985, the military had 417 pieces of M1, M2 versions.[24]
PT-76	Soviet Union	PT-76, PT-76B[25]	68 pcs. - 1965, 108 pcs. - 1970, 112 pcs. - 1985, 30 pcs. 1990[26]	Some of the tanks were modernized in Poland by adding a DSzK HMG above the loader's hatch.[27]
T-54	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	A, AD, AM, AM1, AM2, T-55U[28]	1258 pcs. - 1965, 998 pcs. - 1970[29]	Between 1956-1964, 2,000 T-54 tanks were produced under license in Poland.[30]
T-55	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	A, AD, AD-1, AD-2, AM, AD1M, AD2M, AMS[31]	128 pcs. - 1965, 956 pcs. - 1970, 2653 pcs., 2100 pcs. - 1990[32]	Between 1964 and 1980, 5,000 T-55s were produced. Most of it was exported.[33]
T-72	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	M, M1[34]	317 pcs. - 1985, 700 pcs. - 1990[35]	In the years 1981-1990, Zakłady Mechaniczne Bumar-Łabędy produced approximately 1,600 T-72 tanks.[36]
IS-2	Soviet Union	M[37]	50 pcs. - 1944-1945,[38][39] 180 pcs. - 1955, 75 pcs. - 1960[40]	Withdrawn from use in the 1960s.[41]
IS-3	Soviet Union		2 or 3 pcs.[42]	Brought for testing purposes. They did not come into use. Two copies have been preserved in museums in Poznań and Warsaw.[43]

TD/SPG	Origin	Version	In service	Notes
SU-57	USA  Soviet Union	SPG	15 pcs. - 1944-1945,[44] Few pcs. survived war.[45]	Withdrawn from use in the 1950s.[46]
SU-76	Soviet Union	SPG	130 pcs. - 1944-1945,[47] 206 pcs. - 1955.[48]	Withdrawn from use in the 1950s.[49]
SU-85	Soviet Union	TD	70 pcs. - 1944-1945,[50] 51 pcs. - 1955, 43 pcs. - 1960[51]	Withdrawn from use in the 1960s.[52]
SU-100	Soviet Union	TD	At least 3 pcs. - 1943-1945[53]	Withdrawn from use in the 1950s.[54]
ISU-122S	Soviet Union	SPG	32 pcs. – 1944-1945,[55] 399 pcs. (together with ISU-152) – 1955, 49 pcs. – 1960[56]	Withdrawn from use in the 1960s.[57]
SU-152	Soviet Union	SPG	3 pcs. - 1944-1945[58]
ISU-152	Soviet Union	SPG	10 pcs. – 1944-1945,[59] 399 pcs. (together with ISU-122S) – 1955[60]	Withdrawn from use in the 1950s.[61]
ASU-85	Soviet Union	SPG	20-30 pcs. - 1965-1975[62]	Withdrawn from use in the second half of 1970s.[63]
2S1 Goździk	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	SPG	166 pcs. - 1985, 490 pcs. - 1990[64]	Licensed production launched in the 1980s at Huta Stalowa Wola.[65]
wz.77 DANA	Czechoslovak Socialist Republic	SPG		The first copies appeared in WP in the mid-1980s.[66]

APC/IFV	Origin	Version	In service	Notes
BWP-1	Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic	IFV	1 400[67]
BMP-2	Soviet Union	IFV	62[68]	Sold to Angola after communism fell in country.[69]
MT-LB	Soviet Union	APC	15	[70]
TOPAS	Czechoslovakia  Polish People's Republic	WPT-TOPAS, -2AP, R-2, R-3[71]	120 pcs. - 1968, 70 pcs. - 1990[72]	Jointly developed by Poland and Czechoslovakia[73]
SKOT	Czechoslovakia  Polish People's Republic	-1A, -2A, S-260 Art, S-260 Inż., -WPT, -2AP, R-1, R-2, R2M, R2AM, R-3, R-3M, R-3AM, R-4, R-6[74]	548 pcs. - 1966 2 500 total production form Polish Army[75]	Jointly developed by Poland and Czechoslovakia between 1963-1971.[76]
BTR-60	Soviet Union	PU-12[77]		Included with the 9K33 Osa SAM system delivered between 1980 and 1985.[78]
BRDM-1	Soviet Union			The first ones entered the army in the 1960s[79]
BRDM-2	Soviet Union	9P133, 9P148, RS, 9P31[80]	800 pcs. - 1990[81]
FUG	Hungarian People's Republic			The first ones entered the army in the 1960s[82]

Model	Origin	Type	In service	Notes
MiG-21	Soviet Union	Fighter	600	[83]
MiG-23	Soviet Union	Fighter	40	[83]
MiG-29	Soviet Union	Fighter	12	[83]
Sukhoi Su-7	Soviet Union	Attack Aircraft	50	[83]
Su-20	Soviet Union	Attack Aircraft	40	[84]
Sukhoi Su-22	Soviet Union	Attack Aircraft	110	[84]
Ilyushin Il-28	Soviet Union	Bomber	80	[84]
Antonov An-2	Soviet Union	Transport	N/A	[84]
Antonov An-26	Soviet Union	Transport	20
Ilyushin Il-14	Soviet Union	Transport	30
Mil Mi-8	Soviet Union	Helicopter	80
Mil Mi-2	Soviet Union	Helicopter	200	[85]
Mil Mi-24	Soviet Union	Attack helicopter	40

• RM-70- 30^[86]

• BM-21 Grad-250 in 1980s.

• 9K52 Luna-M- 40 launchers in 1980s^[86]
• Scud B- 25 launchers in 1980s ^[87]

• 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)- 715^[86]
• 152 mm gun-howitzer D-20-166^[88]

• 2S1 Gvozdika-498^[88]
• 152 mm SpGH DANA- 111^[88]
• 2S7 Pion-8^[86]

• 2K12 Kub

• 2K11 Krug
• 9K33 Osa-^[89]

• ZSU-23-4 Shilka-150 were delivered from USSR until 1991^[90]

Towed anti-aircraft gun

• ZU-23-2-252 ZU-23 and 72 ZUR-23-2 series^[70]

• Battle of Lenino - 1943
• Battle of Studzianki - 1944
• Vistula-Oder offensive - 1945
• Battle of Kolberg - 1945
• Battle of Bautzen - 1945
• Battle of Berlin - 1945
• Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1946)
• Battles for Bircza - 1945-1946
• Operation Vistula - 1947
• Poznań protests of 1956
• Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia - 1968
• Polish protests of 1970
• Pacification of Wujek - 1981
• Martial law in Poland (13 December 1981 – 22 July 1983)

• Air Force of the Polish Army
• Polish Armed Forces
• Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)
• Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army (GZI WP)
• Internal Military Service (WSW)
• Border Protection Troops (WOP)
• Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)
• Polish Military Organisation
• Armia Ludowa
• Gwardia Ludowa
• Polish forces in the West
• Polish forces in the East
  • Anders' Army
• First Polish Army (1944–1945)

• Smith, Joseph E. (1969). Small Arms of the World (11 ed.). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company. ISBN 9780811715669.
• The Military Balance 2017. Arundel House, Temple Place, London, UK: International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 2017. ISBN 978-1-85743-900-7. OCLC 960838207 – via Routledge.

• Media related to Ludowe Wojsko Polskie at Wikimedia Commons
• Maps showing the LWP positioning
• Personnel policy of the LWP in the post-war period