Blue Army (Poland)
| Blue Army Haller's Army |
|
|---|---|
Blue Army troops and General Józef Haller, c.1918
|
|
| Active | 1917–21 |
| Country |
 France Poland
|
| Branch | Polish Legions |
| Size | 68,500 |
| Engagements |
World War I |
| Commanders | |
| General | Józef Haller von Hallenburg |
World War I
Polish–Ukrainian War
The Blue Army (Polish: Błękitna Armia), or Haller's Army was a Polish military contingent created in France during the latter stages of World War I. The name came from the blue military uniforms worn by the soldiers. The symbolic term used to describe the troops was subsequently adopted by General Józef Haller von Hallenburg himself to represent all newly organized Polish Legions fighting in western Europe.
The army was formed on 4 June 1917 and composed of Polish volunteers serving alongside the allied forces in France. After fighting on the Western Front during World War I, the army was transferred to Poland where it joined other Polish military formations fighting for the return of Poland's independence.
The Blue Army played a pivotal role in ensuring Polish victory in the Polish-Ukrainian War.
Haller's troops subsequently took part in Poland's defeat of the advancing Bolshevik forces during the Polish–Soviet War.
During the fighting on the Ukrainian front, individual soldiers within the ranks of the Blue Army acting on their own initiative but with the knowledge of their officers attacked numerous segments of the local Jewish population. According to the joint Anglo-American Investigating Commission and resulting 1919 Morgenthau Report, attacks resulted from "widespread anti-Semitic prejudice aggravated by the belief that the Jewish inhabitants were politically hostile to the Polish State." In parts of Western Ukraine, local Jewish authorities had openly mobilized personnel to serve in the Ukrainian Galician Army.
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Wikipedia