Gwardia Ludowa (Polish Peoples' Guard, abbreviated GL) was a World War II resistance movement in Poland, organised by the Polish Workers Party. It was created in 1942 and in 1944 it was incorporated by the Armia Ludowa.

History

Gwardia Ludowa was created on January 6, 1942. Its main task was fight against Germany, by means of partisan warfare, sabotage and reprisal actions. In addition, Gwardia Ludowa was connected to the intelligence services of the Soviet Union.

The first armed groups of Gwardia Ludowa were organised in May 1942 near Piotrków and Radom. By the end of the year the organisation was divided onto 7 administrative areas:

1. Warsaw
2. Lublin
3. Radom-Kielce
4. Kraków
5. Łódź
6. Silesia
7. Lwów

The Lwów area was never fully developed and in 1943 it was passed to the Soviet partisans. Gwardia Ludowa was commanded directly by the head of the Polish Workers' Party. The first commander of GL was Bolesław Mołojec. After his execution in August 1942 by the Polish Workers' Party he was succeeded by Franciszek Jóźwiak.

The units of GL were divided onto field partisan units and garrison units created for fast attacks and which returned to their homes after the action. By mid-1943 both PPR and GL had approximately 3 000 members combined. By late 1943 the number rose to over 6 000 members, among them approximately 1 700 were partisans and the rest were ordinary party members.

The Gwardia Ludowa carried out mostly sabotage tasks, including sabotage of railway transport. However, the units of GL also fought on several occasions against the forces of Armia Krajowa and NSZ.

On January 1, 1944, Gwardia Ludowa became a part of the newly-formed Armia Ludowa.

Commanders

The prominent commanders and chiefs of staff were:

• Marian Spychalski
• Franciszek Jóźwiak
• Mieczysław Moczar
• Franciszek Zubrzycki