Recruitment and Service.—A11 men in Poland, irrespective of nationality, are liable to be called up for service when they have completed their 21st year. This service is for 24 to 25 months in the regular army, according to the arm of the service, but only 18 months are spent with the colours. This is followed by service in the reserve up to the age of 4o, during which period 14 weeks training are performed. From 4o to so years service in the territorial army follows, without further training. Certain exemptions and postponements are allowed for family and pro fessional reasons, and volunteering is permitted for those not called up between the ages of 17 to 28. Each arm of the service has a cadet school for officers and there is also one for non-com missioned officers. There are also pre-military cadet corps for youths. Personnel not posted to the active army are subject (with a few exemptions) to a special military tax, collected either as a "basic tax" or as a sur-tax on income tax.
Strength and Organization.—The Budget effectives in the Regular Army (1928) numbered 263,405, including 17,905 officers. The other armed forces organized on a military basis are the State Police Force of about 32,000, Frontier Defence Corps of about 21,000, and Customs Guard of about 6,000.
The Regular Army is organized in 28 infantry divisions and 2 divisions of mountain troops; with 4 divisions and 6 indepen dent brigades of cavalry. The Polish infantry division contains 3 regiments of infantry and one of field artillery. Each regiment contains a signal platoon, a battalion of pioneers, and 3 battalions of infantry or mountain troops. Battalions are organized in 3 companies and one machine-gun company. The Polish cavalry division contains 3 brigades, each comprising 2 regiments of cavalry, 2 groups of horse artillery, one pioneer squadron and one automatic rifle squadron (a special feature). Independent cavalry brigades contain only one group of horse artillery and no auto matic rifle squadron. Artillery regiments are (I) field, (2) heavy field, (3) mountain, (4) heavy, (5) anti-aircraft, (6) horse, or (7) foot artillery. Of these, Nos. (I) (4) are organized in 3 groups each of 3 batteries; Nos. (3) and (5) in 2 such groups, and No. (7) in 3 batteries. One group in each anti-aircraft regi ment is motor-drawn. There is also an armoured train group with 3 trains. The engineer troops contain units charged with field engineering, railway work, signals, wireless telegraphy, motor transport, electro-technical work, and heavy bridging. Attached to the infantry there is a tank regiment containing a signal sec tion, 3 tank battalions each of 3 companies, and a tank park.
Higher Command.—The supreme head of all the armed forces of Poland is the President of the Republic, who presides over the committee of national defence, which contains the ministers for war, foreign affairs, and finance, the inspector gen eral of the army and such other persons as the President, on the recommendation of the cabinet, may nominate. The committee can form no decisions without first hearing the opinion of the inspector general of the army. The minister for war both com mands and administers the army in time of peace, the inspector general and the general staff both acting under his authority. He alone has the right to give orders to the armed forces, and he presides over the military prosecutions office. His ministry con tains his own cabinet, personal bureau, and bureaux for general organization, administration, war industry, and corps of control lers, besides departments for dealing with the respective arms and services. The war ministry also deals with the navy and with religious denominations. The inspector general of armed forces is a general officer. In peace he acts as assistant to the minister. In war, if so appointed, he becomes commander-in-chief. Under him are the general staff, the inspectors of armies, the higher mili tary studies centre, and the military history bureau. There are 10 military areas, each under a general officer with the title of "army corps area" commander. These areas are I. Warsaw, II. Lublin, III. Grodno, IV. Lodz, V. Cracow, VI. Lemberg, VII. Posen, VIII. Thorn, IX. Brest-Litovsk, and X. Przemysl.
The army is distributed by units, on a population basis, over the above military areas. Of the other forces on a military basis the state police force is distributed in 3,273 communal police detachments in the smaller towns and villages and in 184 police commissariats in the larger towns, all under the chief of state police, who receives his orders from the minister of the interior. The frontier defence force carries out the duties of state and frontier guards on the eastern frontier where it guards the fron tier, all members having had previous military training, and being armed as soldiers. The commander has the powers of an army corps area commander, and is under the minister of the interior. The customs guard, under the minister of finance, is responsible for the economic protection of the other frontiers, under the direction of commissions of customs.