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Military History Of Poland
The Polish Army () is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. The name has been in use since the early 19th century, although it can be used to refer to earlier formations as well. Polish Armed Forces consist of the Army ('), Navy (') and Air Force (') branches and are under the command of the Ministry of National Defense ('). History Kingdom of Poland (10th century–1569) The first Polish Army was created in the 10th-century kingdom of Poland, under the Piast dynasty. The prince's forces were composed of a group of armed men, usually mounted, named drużyna. Their key role was the protection of the monarch and supporting the taxation effort. Their organisation was similar to other such armed units of other Slavic rulers, and were often of foreign origin. With time, the early tribal warriors gave rise to knights and eventually, by the 15th century, the whole social class of the szlachta or Polish gentry. The Polish gentry formed a distinct element within the anci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wojsko Polskie
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, Republic of Poland. They comprise five main service branches: the Polish Land Forces (), the Polish Navy (), the Polish Air Force (), the Polish Special Forces (), and the Territorial Defence Force (Poland), Polish Territorial Defence Force (), under the command of the Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Ministry of National Defence of Poland. According to SIPRI, Poland spent $38 billion on its defense budget in 2024, ranking List of countries by military expenditures, 13th in the world. In 2023, Poland spent the greatest share of its GDP for military expenditures (3.9%) among all NATO members. With over 292,000 active personnel in 2025, the Polish Armed Forces are the third largest military in NATO, after Turkish Armed Forces, Turkey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hetman
''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, it was the title of the second-highest military commander after the king in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 16th to 18th centuries. Hetman was also the title of the head of the Cossack state in Ukraine after the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648. Throughout much of the history of Romania and the Moldavia, hetmans were the second-highest army rank. In the modern Czech Republic, the title is used for regional governors. Etymology The term ''hetman'' was a Polish borrowing, most likely stemming via Czech from the Turkic title ''ataman'' (literally 'father of horsemen'), however it could also come from the German – captain. Since hetman as a title first appeared in Czechia in the 15th century, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnat (Poland)
The magnates of Poland and Lithuania (, ) were an aristocracy of Polish-Lithuanian nobility (''szlachta'') that existed in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, from the 1569 Union of Lublin, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. The magnate social class arose around the 16th century and, over time, gained more and more control over Commonwealth politics. The most powerful magnates were known as "little kings" due to the extent of their power and independence. Their influence diminished with the Third Partition of Poland (1795), which ended the Commonwealth's independent existence, and came to an end with the Second World War and the communist-ruled People's Republic of Poland. Famous magnate families in the territories of the Crown of Poland included the Czartoryski, Kalinowski, Koniecpolski, Krasinski, Ostrogski, Potocki, Tarnowski, Wiśniowiecki, Zasławski and Zamoyski families; and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Army
A private army (or private military) is a military force under the command of a private person or organization, rather than a nation or state. History Private armies may form when landowners arm household retainers for the protection of self and property in times of strife, and where and when central government is weak. Such private armies existed for example in the Roman Empire following the collapse of central authority. The dynamics at play in such circumstances can be observed in modern-day Colombia: on the one hand there are those forces affiliated with the drug cartels, existing to protect their criminality, and on the other those of the landlords created to resist kidnappings and extortion, i.e. Muerte a Secuestradores and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia. In many places these private household retainers evolved into feudal-like structures, formalising obligations and allegiances and becoming household troops, and in some cases gaining the strength to allow them to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercenary
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. International and national laws of war Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cossack
The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Russia, countering the Crimean-Nogai raids, alongside economically developing steppe regions north of the Black Sea and around the Azov Sea. Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became East Slavic–speaking Orthodox Christians. The rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire endowed Cossacks with certain special privileges in return for the military duty to serve in the irregular troops: Zaporozhian Cossac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks (, ) comprised special Cossack units of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army in the 16th and 17th centuries. Registered Cossacks became a military formation of the Commonwealth army beginning in 1572 soon after the Union of Lublin (1569), when most of the territory of modern Ukraine passed to the Crown of Poland. Registered Cossack formations were based on the Zaporozhian Cossacks who already lived on the lower reaches of the Dnieper River amidst the Pontic steppes as well as on self-defense formations within settlements in the region of modern Central and Southern Ukraine. History Origins In 1524, King Sigismund I commissioned Semen Połozowicz and Krzysztof Kmitycz to organize permanent Cossack units to defend the lower Dnieper; however, the plan was not implemented due to a lack of funds. The starosta of Cherkasy, Ostap Dashkevych, revived the idea at the 1533 Polish Sejm in Piotrków Trybunalski. Dashkevych tried to show that in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piechota Dymowa
Piechota is a Polish-language surname. Two possible etymologies are suggested. One is the actual noun ''piechota'' in its various historical meanings. Another is a derivative of the diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ... form "Piech" from given names Pietr, Piotr, etc. K. Rymut, ''Nazwiska Polaków. Słownik historyczno-etymologiczny'', Kraków 2001, vol. II, p. 230 Notable people with the surname include: * Al Piechota (1914–1996), American baseball player * Jacek Piechota (born 1959), Polish politician * Oskar Piechota (born 1990), Polish mixed martial artist * Paulina Piechota (born 1999), Polish swimmer * Sławomir Jan Piechota (born 1960), Polish politician See also * Piechocki References {{Surname Polish-language surnames ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piechota Wybraniecka
''Piechota wybraniecka'' (, ''chosen infantry'') also known as piechota łanowa (''łans infantry'') was a type of an infantry formation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Formed in 1578. Consisted of "royal" peasants (one from every 20 łans) from not charged (not under frequent lien, etc.) and revendicated royal lands. Difficulties in recruitment: * mostly due to lack of constant dynasty in Poland (see: Royal elections in Poland), royal lands were under notorious, often illegal, control of Polish magnates (powerful and sometimes even semi-independent from the state), who opposed (see: liberum veto) losing their workers, legal revendication actions of King and Execution movement didn't give satisfactory results, * even in free of charge and revendicated royal lands noble overseers preferred to cut costs by limiting the amount of training and equipment available, which reduced the military value of the unit, * attempts to expand this duty to non-royal lands met with vast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levée En Masse
''Levée en masse'' ( or, in English, ''mass levy'') is a French term used for a policy of mass national conscription, often in the face of invasion. The concept originated during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the period following 16 August 1793, when able-bodied men aged 18 to 25 were conscripted. The concept of mass conscription was kept in place during the Napoleonic Wars. The term is also applied to other historical examples of mass conscription. Terminology The term ''levée en masse'' denotes a short-term requisition of all able-bodied men to defend the nation and its rise as a military tactic may be viewed in connection with the political events and developing ideology in revolutionary France—particularly the new concept of the democratic citizen as opposed to a royal subject. Central to the understanding that developed (and was promoted by the authorities) of the ''levée'' is the idea that the new political rights given to the mass of the French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
