Blue Army

The army was formed under Raymond Poincaré's decree, after years in which France, out of regard for its Russian ally, had refused to allow a Polish force. Its volunteers were Polish emigrants from the United States, Canada and France, prisoners of war from the Central Powers' armies and, later, Poles from the Russian brigades in France. Its first commander was the French General Louis Archinard, and at first most of its officers were French. Political direction lay with the Polish National Committee, which in September 1918 secured its recognition as an autonomous, allied Polish army.

Only some units fought in 1918, in Champagne and the Vosges. The army grew most after the Armistice, when many former prisoners from camps in Italy joined it; in all about 70,000 men passed through it. In the spring of 1919 it was shipped to Poland, where it became part of the Polish Army.