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 Januszajtis-Żegota, Henryk Bagiński and Eugeniusz Homer. The organization was similar in spirit to, and closely cooperated with, the Riflemen's Association. 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 Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

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 (Central Europe), Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing all ...

. 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 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, 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

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See also

External links