Draft:Union of Military Poles in Russia

The Union of Polish Military Personnel in Russia (Związek Wojskowych Polaków w Rosji, ZWP) united as many as 800 legal organizations of Polish officers, non-commissioned officers, privates and military employees serving in the Russian Army (former Imperial Russian Army). The union was created on March 24, 1917, following the February Revolution of 1917. It existed until early 1918. The organizations were district-based.

Its management body was the Central Board. The union's goal was to gather Poles serving in the Russian army, take care of them, spread Polish national spirit and education, take care of the disabled, prisoners of war, and the military personnel's families.

Formation
The creator of the first organization was the artillery colonel Tadeusz Jastrzębski. The organization was established in Tsarskoye Selo on March 24, 1917 as an organization of the Petrograd Military District. Later, branches of the union in were established in the Moscow, Kiev, Western and Northern districts.

lndividual activists had different views on the union's tasks related to World War I, February Revolution and the formation of a Polish army in Russia. The left-leaning Piłsudski's supporters wanted to gather Poles in a union in order to survive the war and preserve their strength for a later period. The aim of the Endecja was to form Polish army units to fight the Imperial German Army under general Russian command.

On the initiative of the ZWP, gatherings of soldiers were held: in Kyiv - Polish Rifle Division, in Chișinău - Romanian Front, in Rechytsa - South-Western Front, in Minsk - Western Front, in Moscow - Moscow Military District.

First General Congress
On June 7-22, 1917, the First General Congress of the Union was held in Petrograd, during which there was a split regarding whether a Polish army should be created in Russia. The left wing left the Union, the remaining members of the congress decided to organize Polish military formations in Russia. This task was entrusted to the Supreme Polish Military Committee (Naczpol). Leading activists of the Union were Władysław Raczkiewicz and W. Szczęsny.

The Left established the Main Committee of the Union of Military Poles (Left) in Russia. It was opposed to the formation of Polish troops in Russia and supported communism. A. Żaboklicki was its president, although it was actually led by R. Łęgawa.

According to Encyklopedia PWN, this division in the ZWP squandered the chance to create a large and autonomous Polish army.

Early 1918
On February 4, 1918, the Naczpol ceased its activities after the Bolsheviks arrested some of its members, and as a result of the demobilization of the Russian army and the creation of the Red Army in early 1918, the ZWP ceased to exist.