Legion Wschodni (English: Eastern Legion) was a Polish military formation, part of the Austro-Hungarian Army, created in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, Austrian Galicia, in early August 1914. Its establishment was supported by

Supreme National Committee The Supreme National Committee (''Naczelny Komitet Narodowy'', ''NKN'') was a quasi-government for the Poles in Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 1914 to 1917. History Created on 16 August 1914, the Supreme National Committee replaced the Te ...

, a quasi-government for the Poles in Galicia. The Legion was established upon order of the Headquarters of Imperial and Royal Army, on 27 August 1914. According to the order, it consisted of two infantry regiments (each divided into two battalions with 1000 volunteers), and two or three cavalry squadrons (150 men in each). Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen named Major Adam Pietraszkiewicz commandant of the Legion, while his chief of staff was Captain Dionizy Jasienicki. Eastern Legion was based on volunteers, most of whom were members of different Polish paramilitary organizations, such as Sokół, , and

Polish Rifle Squads The Polish Rifle Squads () was a Polish pro-independence paramilitary organization, founded in 1911 by the Youth Independence Organization in the Austro-Hungarian sector of partitioned Poland. Among its founders were Norwid Neugebauer, Marian ...

from the area of Lwów. Due to rapid Russian advance into Galicia (see

Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Battle of Lemberg, was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and ...

), the Legion was on 29 August evacuated to Mszana Dolna, via Sambor, Chyrów, Sanok and Jasło. During the evacuation, which was organized by Count Aleksander Skarbek, the number of its soldiers grew to over 6200. For unknown reasons, Adam Pietraszkiewicz did not become commandant of the Legion, so his post was offered to Captain Dionizy Jasienicki. Count Skarbek, who was a very influential person in Galicia, opposed this promotion, and as a result, on 14 September Captain Józef Haller became the new commandant of Eastern Legion. Five days later, the Legion arrived at Mszana Dolna. Eastern Legion was dissolved on 21 September 1914. Most of its volunteers refused to swear allegiance and obedience to the Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

: only 800 soldiers, most of whom came from Podhale and the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split o ...

, led by Józef Haller and Jan Kozicki, agreed to swear allegiance to Franz Joseph. Out of these soldiers, 3rd Legions Infantry Regiment was created. The regiment swore the oath on 26 September.

Sources

* Jan Rzepecki, Sprawa Legionu Wschodniego 1914 roku, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1966. * Mieczysław Wrzosek, Polski czyn zbrojny podczas pierwszej wojny światowej 1914–1918, Państwowe Wydawnictwo "Wiedza Powszechna", Warszawa 1990, {{ISBN, 83-214-0724-2. Military history of Poland Paramilitary organisations based in Poland Military units and formations established in 1914 Polish independence organisations Austro-Hungarian Army

See also

Sources