PhD project
in the framework of the DFG project „Militärische Gewaltkulturen – Illegitime militärische Gewalt von der Frühen Neuzeit bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg“
This project focuses on the emergence and development of the Polish army from the beginning of the First World War to the May Putsch in 1926. The study concentrates on the culture of military violence that the Polish army developed against the backdrop of the First World War, the collapse of the empires and the formation of the Polish state. In addition to the Eastern Front of the First World War, the Polish-Soviet War and the various border wars, in particular the Polish-Ukrainian War, are of central importance. The research includes irregular violence and violence against property in the form of looting and destruction on the one hand, and the diverging judgements and norms of military violence in the Polish state and in the public on the other. In addition to the Polish discourse, the international public, which followed the actions of the Polish army through foreign observers, is also relevant.
The study makes it possible to analyse the after-effects of the imperial order and the First World War. This includes personnel and normative continuities of the former partitioning powers in the newly formed Polish army as well as their efforts to distance themselves from the previous cultures of violence of the partitioning powers. This is followed by questions about the significance of predecessor organisations and the self-image of the Polish military before and after the end of the Polish-Soviet War in 1921. The sub-project also examines the self-image of the Polish army in relation to other actors such as paramilitaries, armed groups and regular armies, in particular the Red Army.
