Hallera Błękitna Armia
The founder:
General Józef Haller de Hallenburg
Józef Haller de Hallenburg (August 13, 1873 – June 4, 1960) was a Lieutenant General of the Polish Army, legionary in Polish Legions, harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the President of The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP), political and social activist, Stanisław Haller de Hallenburg's cousin.
Haller was born in Jurczyce. He studied at Vienna's Technical Military Academy and subsequently (1895–1906) served with the Austrian Army, resigning after reaching the rank of captain. He supported the paramilitary pro-independence Polish organization Sokół. In 1916, during the First World War, he became commander of the Second Brigade of the Polish Legion, in particular the units which fought against Russia on the Eastern Front.
In 1918, in the aftermath of the "Charge at Rarańcza", as commander of the 2nd Polish Auxiliary Corps with the Austrian Army, Haller broke through the Austro-Russian front line to Ukraine, where he united his troops with Polish detachments which had left the Tsarist army. He protested the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and continued to fight the Russians with his II Brigade of the Polish Legions (later, the 4th and 5th Rifle Divisions of the Polish II Corps). Under the pressure of the Germans, who after the Peace of Brest-Litovsk regarded the presence of Polish troops in Ukraine as illegal, and a fierce battle between Poles and Germans at Kaniów (May 10, 1918, 2500 casualties) his corps was interned, while the Brigadier himself managed to escape to Moscow. Subsequently, by the way of Murmansk, he arrived in France in July 1918, where on behalf of the Polish National Committee he created what was known as the Blue Army (from the color of its French uniforms, also known as Haller's Army). For the next few months his army, allied to the Entente, would fight against Germany. In 1919, at the new army's head, he arrived in Poland and was dispatched to the Ukrainian front. In 1920 Haller seized Pomerania and entered Danzig (Gdańsk) in the name of Poland, and during the Polish-Soviet War he commanded an army of volunteers. He was also Inspector General of the Army and a member of the War Council.
In 1920-1927 Haller was a deputy to the Sejm. After the election of Gabriel Narutowicz as President of the Republic in December 1922, Haller fell into disfavor.[1] After the 1926 May Coup, he was ordered into retirement. He co-organized an opposition party, the "Front Morges." At the time of the Invasion of Poland (1939), Haller was living abroad. In 1940-1943 he served as Minister of Education in Władysław Sikorski's government. After 1945 he settled down in London and did not participate in any émigré Polish political activities.
When the Great War broke out it was a sign to mobilize Polish patriotic paramilitary organizations. On 27 August 1914 Józef Piłsudski issued an order in which he declared formation of the Polish Legions. On the strength of the order the Eastern Legion was formed in Lviv under the command of the General Adam Pietraszkiewicz. Haller was one of the founders of this formation which is a combination of Falcon's Drużyny Polowe (Fields Brigades), Drużyny Bartoszowe (Bartosz Brigades) and the Polskie Drużyny Strzeleckie (Polish Rifle Squads). At that time Austrian failures in Galicia led to occupation of Lviv and the whole territory of the eastern Galicia by the Russian army. The Legion had to withdraw into the surroundings of Mszana Dolna. Although the unit had been completely formed it did not participate in the battle. Due to a collapse of morale among soldiers and resistance against swearing loyalty to the Austrian emperor, the legion was disbanded.
In July 1918, after a long journey through Karelia and Murmansk, General Haller arrived in France. On 4 October 1918 he was designated to be in charge of the forming Polish Army. Those units were organised by volunteers. They consisted of Polish men who firstly served in the French army, former POWs of Austrian-Hungarian and German armies (nearly 35000) and Polish emigrants from the United States and Canada (about 23000 people) and Brazil (300 people). Political surveillance over the army was initially a domain of Polish National Committee. But according to an agreement of 28 September 1918, the Blue Army was recognised by the Triple Entente member countries and the independent Polish army.
In 1918 Polish troops commanded by Joseph Haller struggled with German soldiers on the western front line in the Vosges mountain region and Champagne.
The Blue Army:
The end of war did not interrupt the enlargement of the Polish army in France, also known as the Blue Army due to their uniforms. The number of soldiers was eventually over 100,000. Due to weapons supplied from France, the Polish Army finally became a significant military force. Beginning in April 1919, men and equipment were conveyed to Poland. Modern arms of the Blue Army, especially airplanes and Renault FT-17 tanks enhanced the Polish Armed Forces yet to be founded. General Haller arrived in Warsaw on 21 April 1919, where he was welcomed as a national hero. He was granted honorary citizenship of Warsaw.
