Polish Armed Forces

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, pronounced [ˈɕiwɨ ˈzbrɔjnɛ ʐɛt͡ʂpɔsˈpɔlitɛj ˈpɔlskʲɛj]; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called Wojsko Polskie in Poland ([ˈvɔj.skɔ ˈpɔl.skjɛ], roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated WP), are the national armed forces of the Republic of Poland. The name has been used since the early 1800s, but can also be applied to earlier periods.

The Polish Legions and the Blue Army, composed of Polish volunteers from the United States and those who switched sides from the Central Powers, were formed during World War I. In the war's aftermath, the Polish Army was reformed from the remnants of the partitioning powers' forces and expanded significantly during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920. World War II dramatically impacted Polish military structures, with the initial defeat by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union invasions leading to the dispersion of Polish forces into the underground. After the war, the Polish People's Army (LWP) was formed and its standards aligned to those of the former Warsaw Pact. The LWP's reputation suffered due to its role in political suppression both domestically and abroad, such as during the Prague Spring. Following the fall of communism, Poland shifted towards Western military standards, joining NATO in 1999, participating in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and undertaking substantial modernization of its forces.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland comprise five main service branches: the Polish Land Forces (Wojska Lądowe), the Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna), the Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne), the Polish Special Forces (Wojska Specjalne), and the Polish Territorial Defence Force (Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej), under the command of the Ministry of National Defence of Poland. According to SIPRI, Poland spent $38.0 billion on its defense budget in 2024, ranking 13th in the world in terms of military expenditures.

In 2024, Poland spent the greatest share of its GDP for military expenditures (4.12%) among all NATO members. With over 216,100 active personnel in 2024, the Polish Armed Forces are the third largest military in NATO, after Turkey and the United States.

Pursuant to the national security strategy of Poland, the supreme strategic goal of Poland's military forces is to ensure favourable and secure conditions for the realization of national interests by eliminating external and internal threats, reducing risks, rightly assessing undertaken challenges, and ably using existing opportunities. The Republic of Poland's main strategic goals in the area of defence include:

The List of Polish wars chronicles Polish military involvements since the year 972. The present armed forces trace their roots to the early 20th century, yet the history of Polish armed forces in their broadest sense stretches back much further. After the partitions of Poland, during the period from 1795 until 1918, Polish military was recreated several times during national insurrections that included the November Uprising of 1830, and the January Uprising in 1863, and the Napoleonic Wars that saw the formation of the Polish Legions in Italy. The Congress Poland, being part of the Russian Empire with a certain degree of autonomy, had a separate Polish army in the years 1815–1830, which was disbanded after the unsuccessful November Uprising. Large numbers of Poles also served in the armies of the partitioning powers, Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary and German Empire.

During World War I, the Polish Legions were set up in Galicia, the southern part of Poland under Austrian occupation. They were both disbanded after the Central Powers failed to provide guarantees of Polish independence after the war. General Józef Haller, the commander of the Second Brigade of the Polish Legion, switched sides in late 1917, and via Murmansk took part of his troops to France, where he created the Blue Army. It was joined by several thousand Polish volunteers from the United States. It fought on the French front in 1917 and 1918.

The Polish Army was recreated in 1918 from elements of the three separate Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and German armies, and armed with equipment left following World War I. The force expanded during the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1922 to nearly 800,000 men, but then were reduced after peace was reestablished.