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Independent Operational Group Silesia (Polish: Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Śląsk, SGO Śląsk) was an Operational Group of the
Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
, created in September 1938 to annex Trans-Olza (Zaolzie) from
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
.


History

The Group was commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski and comprised several Army units and five air squadrons. Altogether, 35,966 Polish officers and soldiers participated in the annexation of Zaolzie. The Group comprised mostly units of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as regiments of the 14th Infantry Division, 15th Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Division, 23rd Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, and 21st Mountain Infantry Division. Additionally, a cavalry regiment was created, comprising units of the
Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade Greater Poland Cavalry Brigade (Polish: ''Wielkopolska Brygada Kawalerii'') was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. It was created on April 1, 1937 out of the Cavalry Brigade "Poznań". Its headquarters were stationed in P ...
and the
Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade (Polish: ''Pomorska Brygada Kawalerii'') was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. It was created on April 1, 1937 out of the Cavalry Brigade "Bydgoszcz". Its headquarters were stationed in Bydgosz ...
.


Annexation of Zaolzie region

After its creation, the military unit was stationed near the borders of Poland and Czechoslovakia. As a result of the Munich crisis, the Czechoslovak government yielded to Polish pressure and gave up a part of the
Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...
region (namely Trans-Olza/Zaolzie) to Poland (as demanded by Poland under a threat of military action). The Independent Operational Group Silesia was carrying out the annexation from 2 to 11 October 1938.


Group termination

On 9 December 1938 the Independent Operational Group Silesia was ordered to leave the occupied territory and the group was dissolved after that.


See also

* Trans-Olza * History of Poland (1918-1939) * Edmund Charaszkiewicz * Feliks Ankerstein


Sources

* Marek Piotr Deszczyński, ''Ostatni egzamin. Wojsko Polskie wobec kryzysu czechosłowackiego 1938-1939'' (The Final Exam: The Polish Armed Forces in the Czechoslovak Crisis of 1938–1939), Warsaw, 2003.


External links


''Grupa Rekonstrukcji Historycznej: Grupa Operacyjna "Śląsk"'' (Group for Historic Reconstruction: Operational Group Silesia)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101414/http://www.goslask.profort.org.pl/?a=historia , date=2007-09-28 , accessed 24 November 2008. Military units and formations established in 1938 Army units and formations of Poland Military units and formations disestablished in 1938 Borders of Poland Cieszyn Silesia Czechoslovakia–Poland relations Military history of the Second Polish Republic