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Recruiting poster for the Polish Army, circa 1918.
Credit: Library of Congress
In 1918, General Jozef Haller formed a regiment of Poles in France to fight against Germany and for Polish independence. Some 20,000-25,000 Polish men living in the U.S. and Canada–most of them recent immigrants who had not yet become American or Canadian citizens– volunteered and fought in what became known as the Blue Army, because of the color of their uniforms. After the end of World War I and establishment of the Second Polish Republic on November 11, 1918, Haller’s Army continued the fight in the Polish-Soviet War until 1921.