Initially after the occupation of Poland by the Soviet Union and Germany, the peasant parties were reluctant to forming their own armed resistance forces. Since mid-1940 several smaller groups were formed, mostly for self-defence of Polish peasants against German terror and economic policies. Most of members of peasant parties grouped into CKRL ("Central Directorate of Peasant Movement") who received military training before the war were transferred to other armed resistance organizations, most notably to ZWZ.