The Polish Rifle Squads () was a Polish pro-independence

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

organization, founded in 1911 by the Youth Independence Organization in the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

sector of

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. Among its founders were Norwid Neugebauer, Marian Januszajtis-Żegota, Henryk Bagiński and Eugeniusz Homer. The organization was similar in spirit to, and closely cooperated with, the

Riflemen's Association The Polish Riflemen's Association known as ''Związek Strzelecki'' (or more commonly, in the plural form as ''Związki Strzeleckie'') formed in great numbers prior to World War I. One of the better known associations called "Strzelec" (Riflemen's ...

. It too was supported by the Austro-Hungarian government, which wanted to raise a Polish army for use in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. By 1914 the organization numbered 6,000 members. Most of them joined

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

Polish Legions in World War I The Polish Legions ( pl, Legiony Polskie) was a name of the Polish military force (the first active Polish army in generations) established in August 1914 in Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Triple Ente ...

. Before its legalization, the PDS operated as an underground organization called Polish Military Alliance (). Its objective was to prepare the Polish nation for fight for independence, with emphasis on training of officer corps of the future army. In October 1910, the PZW took the name (Polish Army), organizing paramilitary courses in Austrian Galicia, as well as in

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1911-1912, after legalization and changing name to Polish Rifle Squads, the organization had 650 members. By the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, its membership grew rapidly, to over 6,000 members, divided into 127 so-called rifle teams. The PDS closely cooperated with the

Union of Active Struggle The Union of Active Struggle ( pl, Związek Walki Czynnej, ZWC), also translated as ''Union for Active Struggle'' and ''Union for Active Resistance'',Thus rendered in Richard M. Watt, ''Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918 to 1939'', p. 37. W ...

, and as a result, both organizations coordinated their activities, introducing same kind of uniforms. Members of the PDS used several kinds of weapons during military training courses. Most popular were

Mannlicher–Schönauer The Mannlicher–Schönauer (sometimes Anglicized as "Mannlicher Schoenauer", Hellenized as Τυφέκιον/Όπλον Μάνλιχερ, ''Óplon/Tyfékion Mannlicher'') is a rotary-magazine bolt-action rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher for t ...

and obsolete M1867 Werndl–Holub rifles.

Sources

External links

Webpage of contemporary Polish Rifle Squads
{{Authority control Military history of Poland Paramilitary organisations based in Poland Military units and formations established in 1911 Polish independence organisations Polish revolutionary organisations

Sources

See also

External links