Poland DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMED FORCES
Old fortress at Cieszyn, Silesian stronghold ceded by Piast
rulers to Bohemia in twelfth century.
Courtesy Sam and Sarah
Stulberg
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, leader of the Polish insurrection of
1794.
Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.
The Polish people possess remarkably strong military
traditions. Throughout their history, they have
demonstrated
their will to resist foreign invasion and occupation.
Military
men who fought for national independence were viewed among
the
country's greatest patriots. In periods of national
travail, the
people sought leadership from their military heroes--Jan
Sobieski, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Józef Poniatowski, the young
officers who led the 1830 uprising, Józef Pilsudski, and
Wladyslaw Sikorski.
Data as of October 1992
|