Związek Walki Zbrojnej (abbreviation

Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...

: ZWZ; Union of Armed Struggle; also translated as Union for Armed Struggle, Association of Armed Struggle or Association for Armed Struggle) was an underground

Resistance movement

A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

 army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

 formed in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 following its invasion

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

 in September 1939 by Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 that opened World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The precursor to the ZWZ was the Service for Poland's Victory (SZP).

History

ZWZ was created on November 13, 1939, from an earlier organization, Service for Poland's Victory (SZP). In January 1940, the ZWZ was divided into two parts:

• areas under German occupation — commanded by Colonel Stefan Rowecki
  Stefan Rowecki
  Stefan Paweł Rowecki was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in prison, probably on the direct order of Heinrich Himmler.-Life:Rowecki was born in Piotrków Trybunalski...
  
  , headquartered in Warsaw
  Warsaw
  Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
  
  ;
• areas under Soviet occupation — commanded by General Michał Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz, headquartered in Lwów.

On February 14, 1942, ZWZ was renamed Armia Krajowa

Armia Krajowa

The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...

(the "Home Army").

External links

ZWIĄZEK WALKI ZBROJNEJ, Encyklopedia Interia ZWIĄZEK WALKI ZBROJNEJ, Encyklopedia PWN ZWIĄZEK WALKI ZBROJNEJ, Encyklopedia WIEM

• 1939-1942; Beginning of Secret Army; the ZWZ period „Polska Podziemna”: Związek Walki Zbrojnej