Polish troops with native command language were already established in 1914 in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. All of this took place immediately after the politicians and leaders, who identified Polish self-administration as a potential state formation goal, decided in August 1914 that they would participate in the Great War by supporting the central powers and fighting against Russia. The Polish Legion represented a military force the size of a division. In addition, the Polish population of Galicia was of course also mobilized into the joint and Landwehr troops, divided into the Monarchy’s usual military organization.
I have previously written about the history of the Polish Legion here. In this post, I present the Legion’s most well-known, general cap badge using two correspondence cards. The field below the Polish eagle contained two types of letters, but there are also badges on which the field is empty. I haven’t been able to figure out what the different letters (L, S) on the badges mean.
