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The book describes the fate of Poles in the German Imperial Army during the First World War. Poland did not exist for over a hundred years on the political map of Europe at that time, and the Poles had to fight for the opposite sides of the conflict: Germany, Austria, and Russia. In the German army, regiments recruited in Poznan, Upper Silesia, Masuria, and Eastern Pomerania were considered as "Polish." They were sent to the Western front and participated in the great battles of Arras, Verdun, and the Somme. Poles were also present on the Eastern front, in the Balkans, on the Italian front, and even in the colonies. An important part of the forgotten history of Poles in the Kaiser's army was the relationship between Polish soldiers and German officers. In regiments recruited on the Polish soil, it was common to use the Polish language, and from 1917 Poles deserted to the Polish Army formed in France.
List of contents
Table of Contents
I. Poles in Prussian Regiments Before the First World War
The Prussian Army
After the Unification of Germany
Poles in Prussian Regiments Before the First World War
The Recruit's Training
II. First Fights in Autumn 1914
The Mobilization
Border Struggles
To the West
Baptism of Fire
Rossignol
Cutry
Baslieux
Always Marching
III. In the Trenches of the Western Front
A Soldier in the Trench
Assault and Defense
New Armaments
Losses
Beyond the Front
German Officers and Polish Soldiers
IV. Major Battles in the West
Verdun
The Battle of the Somme
Lorette
V. On the Eastern Front
Galicia and the Carpathians
Transylvania
In Northern Russia
The Eastern Front in the Eyes of a Pole in a German Uniform
VI. On the Italian Front
VII. 1918: Failed Spring Offensive and Retreat
Last German Offensive
The Retreat
Postwar Epilogue
Annex
Afterword to the English Edition
Index
About the author
Ryszard Kaczmarek is a historian, professor at the Institute of History of the University of Silesia, and director of the Regional Research Institute of the Silesian Library in Katowice, Poland. His research interests lie in Polish history in the twentieth century, German history in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, and history of Silesia. He is also the author of several books and over 100 scientific articles published in Poland, Germany, France, and Czech Republic.
