Eastern Legion () was a Polish military formation, part of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, created in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

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

Supreme National Committee The Supreme National Committee (, ''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 Temporary Commission of Confede ...

, 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 1,000 volunteers), and two or three cavalry squadrons (150 men in each).

Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen (Friedrich Maria Albrecht Wilhelm Karl; 4 June 1856 – 30 December 1936) was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the Supreme Commander of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces of the Austro-Hungaria ...

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 Sokol, Sokół or SOKOL may refer to: Sports * Sokol movement, a Pan-Slavic physical education movement, and its various incarnations: ** Czech Sokol movement, the original one ** Polish Sokół movement ** Russian Sokol movement ** Sokol mov ...

, , 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 J ...

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

Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Great Battle of Galicia, 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 def ...

), the Legion was on 29 August evacuated to

Mszana Dolna Mszana Dolna is a town in Limanowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 7,431 inhabitants (2004). Mszana Dolna lies among the hills of western Beskids, south of Kraków. The town is located in a deep valley, surrounded by several range ...

, via Sambor,

Chyrów Khyriv (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast (oblast, region) of Ukraine with a population of around It hosts the administration of Khyriv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It became known princip ...

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — , , ''Sanok'', , ''Sianok'' or ''Sianik'', , , ''Sūnik'' or ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016. Located on the San ...

and

Jasło Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesser ...

. 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 Józef Haller (''de Hallenburg''; 13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the p ...

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 ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

: only 800 soldiers, most of whom came from

Podhale Podhale (; ), sometimes referred to as the Polish Highlands, is Poland's southernmost region. The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian Mountains. It is the most famous region of the Goral Lands which are a ...

and the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (), also Duchy of Cieszyn () or Duchy of Těšín (), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal divisio ...

, 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. Poland in World War I Paramilitary organisations based in Poland Military units and formations established in 1914 Polish independence organisations Austro-Hungarian Army

See also

Sources