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The book describes the fate of Poles in the German Imperial Army during the First World War. Poland did not exist for over a hundred years on the political map of Europe at that time, and the Poles had to fight for the opposite sides of the conflict: Germany, Austria, and Russia. In the German army, regiments recruited in Poznan, Upper Silesia, Masuria, and Eastern Pomerania were considered as "Polish." They were sent to the Western front and participated in the great battles of Arras, Verdun, and the Somme. Poles were also present on the Eastern front, in the Balkans, on the Italian front, and even in the colonies. An important part of the forgotten history of Poles in the Kaiser's army was the relationship between Polish soldiers and German officers. In regiments recruited on the Polish soil, it was common to use the Polish language, and from 1917 Poles deserted to the Polish Army formed in France.

Poles in Kaiser's Army On the Front of the First World War: On the Front of the First World War

I. Poles in Prussian Regiments Before the First World War

The Prussian Army

After the Unification of Germany

Poles in Prussian Regiments Before the First World War

The Recruit's Training

II. First Fights in Autumn 1914

The Mobilization

Border Struggles

To the West

Baptism of Fire

Rossignol

Cutry

Baslieux

Always Marching

III. In the Trenches of the Western Front

A Soldier in the Trench

Assault and Defense

New Armaments

Losses

Beyond the Front

German Officers and Polish Soldiers

IV. Major Battles in the West

Verdun

The Battle of the Somme

Lorette

V. On the Eastern Front

Galicia and the Carpathians

Transylvania

In Northern Russia

The Eastern Front in the Eyes of a Pole in a German Uniform

VI. On the Italian Front

VII. 1918: Failed Spring Offensive and Retreat

Last German Offensive

The Retreat

Postwar Epilogue

Annex

Afterword to the English Edition

Index