APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070031-4
the country is a Soviet communications zone supporting the Groups of Soviet Forces in East Germany (GSFG)[1] and Poland (NGF). (S)
The primary strategic military problem of Poland is the defense of a national territory that has no significant natural obstacles to impede an attack from the west. Shielded to the west only by the buffer of East Germany, Poland almost surely would seek to defend itself by participating in the combined defense of East Germany, to which it is committed by the Warsaw Pact, or in a combined counteroffensive or preemptive attack to destroy the NATO threat in the west. (C)
1. Military History (C)
The emergence of the Polish state in the 10th century introduced an 800-year succession of wars with its neighbors. This history was interrupted in the 18th century when Poland was partitioned and ceased to exist as a political entity. Polish patriotism persisted through the years of national eclipse, however, and when World War I raised the opportunity, a Polish legion was organized under Marshal Pilsudski to fight against the Russians for liberation. In 1918 Poland regained its national identity and formed a republic from territories redeemed from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and Russia. The Treaty of Versailles recognized the independence of the new Polish state.
At the outset of World War II, Poland had an armed force of 300,000 well-trained and well-disciplined troops. Despite courageous resistance, the country was quickly overwhelmed by opposing forces. Three Polish destroyers and two submarines escaped from the Baltic Sea to join forces with the British Royal Navy; these ships were supplemented later by other craft provided by the British and manned by Poles. A considerable number of Polish Air Force personnel escaped to the United Kingdom, where they were formed into units in the Royal Air Force. Other Poles who had escaped were organized in France into several Polish infantry divisions and a mountain brigade. After Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, a Polish army of 70,000 men was organized in the Soviet Union; it was later moved to the Mediterranean area to serve with the British. In 1943 the USSR organized an infantry division of Poles which soon was expanded into an army that fought as part of the Soviet Army through the remainder of the war.
With the creation of the Polish Committee of National Liberation under Soviet sponsorship in Lublin in July 1944, the basis for the present armed forces was laid. The First Independent Naval Battalion, which participated in the liberation of the coastal areas, was the forerunner of the postwar Polish naval forces. After the war the Polish air forces were reconstituted by redesigning as Polish some Soviet air units that included Polish personnel. The nucleus of the postwar Polish Army was the Soviet-sponsored infantry divisions that had been formed in 1943.
Following the appointment of Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin K. Rokossovskiy (a Pole by birth) as Minister of National Defense in late 1949, the armed forces began an intensive program of re-equipping, re-training, and reorganizing, all under Soviet direction. Soviet officers of Polish extraction occupied virtually all key positions, and the armed forces came to be a small-scale copy of the postwar armed forces of the USSR. However, after Wladyslaw Gomulka came again to political power in Poland (October 1956), the more obvious aspects of direct Soviet influence on the Polish forces were removed. Marshal Rokossovskiy and many other transplanted former Soviet military officers were replaced by Poles. Marian Spychalski, Minister of National Defense until 1968 and a trusted friend of Gomulka, replaced Rokossovskiy. These measures resulted in the removal of many experienced command and staff officers, but that deficiency was overcome by improving qualifications and skills of personnel, improving the military school system, and raising the morale and efficiency of the armed forces. Soviet control still remains but is exercised only indirectly. The armed forces are still dependent for support upon the USSR and would be unable independently to pursue a sustained course of action.
2. Command Structure (S)
Soviet control of the armed forces of Poland is achieved principally through close liaison and cooperation between the Soviet and Polish governments and Communist parties on all matters that affect the military establishment. The unified command structure established under the Warsaw Pact provides the Soviet Union with a formal and effective instrument of military direction.
The Polish constitution of July 1952 designates the Sejm (parliament) as the ultimate government authority and names the Council of Ministers as the executive arm of the government. The Council
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/6/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070031-4
- ↑ The GSFG, totaling 386,000 (360,000 ground, 26,000 air), consists of 10 tank divisions, 10 motorized rifle divisions, and one tactical air army. The NGL, totaling 40,000 (30,000 ground, 10,000 air), consists of two tank divisions and one tactical air army. A Soviet Navy force operates out of Swinoujscie, Poland.
