President attends debate on Gen. Haller - the father of Polish Army in France
General Jozef Haller was a legendary soldier fighting against all three partitioning powers, said historians during a debate on the Polish military resistance of 1914-18, held in the Belvedere Palace (President' s official residence) in Warsaw on Monday.
A debate entitled "Not only the Legions ... armed forces 1914-1918" was held for the fourth time in connection with the 100th anniversary of Poland's regaining independence celebrations, organised by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN)
in cooperation with the President's Office.
The meeting was attended by President Andrzej Duda.
"Poland's 2018-falling 100th independence anniversary should be accompanied by a national debate and a deepening of social self-awareness, President Duda stressed.
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These meetings should take place locally", he added. "I would like every municipality, every county, to organise such debates about its own history of regaining independence", Duda pointed out. He added that such local discussions were important for building patriotic attitudes and making young people aware that freedom came from a strong and sovereign state.
"Haller was a symbol of a Polish general, a high-ranking commander, Poland had never had before, (...) fighting against all three partitioning powers (see: NOTE), first the Russians, then the Austrians and the Germans, professor Mariusz Wolos said during the Monday debate. He is a great symbol of that fight that we should keep in our minds, he underlined.
Professor Wlodzimierz Suleja, who hosted the debate, underscored that thanks to gen. Haller "an army set up by the French with the Russian consent, became an allied army"."General Haller symbolises the Blue Army, but also symbolises the relationship with the Legions, an armed struggle that has its own legend and heroes", he noted.
On June 4, 1917, French President Raymond Poincare signed a decree on the establishment of a Polish army in France.
The establishment of the army followed several years of efforts by Polish immigrant communities in France to have Polish military units established in that country after the start of World War I.
The army's participation in the war was hoped to make the international public aware of the need to address the issue of Poland's independence once the armed conflict ended.
According to historians, the Polish Army in France was well organised and well trained. It consisted of infantry, artillery and cavalry units, in addition to engineering and communications troops and a division of tanks and an air force squadron.
The Polish Army in France was based on soldiers recruited from among Polish emigrants in France, the United States and Brazil as well as Polish prisoners of war from the Austrian and German armies.
Structurally, the army was part of the French armed forces although it had its own banner. The French government was responsible for equipping and outfitting the troops.
On Oct. 4, 1918, Gen. Jozef Haller took command of the army after arriving in France from Russia. His deputy was Gen. Jozef Zajac.
In 1919, the 70,000-strong army, which was also called the Blue Army, for the colour of its uniforms, returned to Poland, where it became part of the Polish Army, which was being revived in the country at the time after more than a century of foreign rule.
NOTE: The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth towards the end of the 18th century. The partitioning powers were the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which divided the country among themselves progressively.
On Sept. 18, 1772, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Austrian Empire notified Poland of the partition and demanded a Sejm (parliament) sitting to approve the cession. Opposition to the partition was broken by threats and the occupation of Poland by the troops of the three countries.
The 1772 partition of Poland led to further two partitions, in 1793 and 1795 ending the existence of a sovereign Poland for 123 years. Nevertheless, the nation itself did not cease to exist for over a century connecting the East with the West culturally, technologically and trade-wise. The partitioned Poland also remained a robust base to anti-invader conspiracy movements and freedom fight bouts with four insurrections including 1794's Kosciuszko Uprising, November Uprising (1830), Krakow Uprising (1946) and January Uprising (1863).
In 2018, Poland will majestically mark throughout the world the 100th anniversary of regaining independence, on top with "Niepodlegla 2018" programme to be launched this year by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and span until 2019. Ministry of Culture-funded Adam Mickiewicz Institute is to co-ordinate the programme abroad. (PAP)
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