Polish People's Army

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Polish People's Army
Ludowe Wojsko Polskie
Emblem worn by LWP soldiers
Active	May 1943 – December 1989
Country	Polish People's Republic (1947–1989)
Allegiance	Polish People's Republic
Branch	Air Force of the Polish Army (1943–1947) Polish Air Force (1947–1989) Polish Air Defence Force (1962–1989) Polish Land Forces Polish Navy
Size	200,000 (1945)
Headquarters	Seltsy, RSFSR, Soviet Union (1943–1945) Warsaw, Polish People's Republic (1945–1989)
Patron	Tadeusz Kościuszko
Engagements	World War II - Eastern Front Battle of Lenino Operation Bagration Lublin-Brest Offensive Warsaw Uprising Battle of Studzianki Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Poznań East Pomeranian Offensive Battle of Kolberg Battle of Berlin Battle of the Seelow Heights Battle of Bautzen Prague Offensive Aftermath of World War II Anti-Communist Insurgency Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict (1945–1947) Czechoslovak Border Conflicts Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Battle honours	For Warsaw For Battle of Berlin
Commanders
First Secretary	Mieczysław Rakowski (last)
Prime Minister	Tadeusz Mazowiecki (last)
Minister of National Defence	Florian Siwicki (last)
Chief of the General Staff	Józef Użycki (last)

The Polish People's Army (Polish: Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, pronounced [luˈdɔvɛ ˈvɔjskɔ ˈpɔlskʲɛ]; LWP)^[1] constituted the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1943–1945, and in 1945–1989 the armed forces of the Polish communist state (from 1952, the Polish People's Republic), ruled by the Polish Workers' Party and then the Polish United Workers' Party. The communist-led Polish armed forces, allowed and facilitated by Joseph Stalin, were the result of efforts made in the early 1940s in the Soviet Union by Wanda Wasilewska and Zygmunt Berling.

The official name of those formations were: Armia Polska w ZSRR (Polish Army in the USSR) from 1943 to 1944, Wojsko Polskie (Polish Troops) and Siły Zbrojne Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland) from 1944 to 1952 and from 1952 Siły Zbrojne Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej (Armed Forces of the Polish People's Republic). On 7 October 1950, the anniversary of the Battle of Lenino was declared the official "Day of the Polish People's Army" by the authorities of the People's Republic.