Armia Ludowa Armia Ludowa ( AL , pronounced ; English " People ' s Army " ) was a communist partisan force set up by the Polish Workers ' Party ( PPR ) during World War II . It was created by the order of the State National Council on January 1 , 1944 . Its aims were to support the military of the Soviet Union against German forces and aid the creation of a pro - Soviet communist government in Poland . Along with the far - right portion of the National Armed Forces it was one of the Polish military resistance organization that refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State , and its military arm , the Armia Krajowa . AL was much smaller than AK , but propaganda in the People ' s Republic of Poland has supported the myth that it was much more significant than AK . Background . In 1939 , 17 days after the German invasion , the Soviet Union also invaded Poland . Although there was no formal declaration of war by either side , relations were very poor between the Soviet Union and the Polish government in exile in London , and its representatives in occupied Poland , the Polish Underground State . In 1943 , Soviet Union broke off the diplomatic relations with the Polish government in exile . The Polish communists supported resistance against the German occupiers , and created their own underground organization , whose aims were to support the military of the Soviet Union against German forces and aid the creation of a pro - Soviet communist government in Poland . Thus the Gwardia Ludowa ( Gl , People ' s Guard ) was created in 1942 . Along with the far - right portion of the National Armed Forces , this communist - led underground was one of the Polish military resistance organizations that refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State , and its military arm , the Armia Krajowa . History . Creation . On January 1 , 1944 , the State National Council ( Krajowa Rada Narodawa , KRN ) replaced the Gwardia Ludowa with the AL . The KRN intended to gain volunteers from other groups . Upon its establishment the organization comprised around 10 , 000 members . By the end of July 1944 ( when much of Poland was occupied by the Red Army ) there were circa 20 , 000 – 30 , 000 members , with 5 , 000 of them being Soviet nationals . Low estimates quote about 14 , 000 as its peak strength , whereas high estimates double the middle number , up to 50 , 000 – 60 , 000 . About 6 , 000 of them were active full - time partisans . There is a consensus among scholars that whatever its exact size , AL was much smaller ( " a fraction of " ) than the primary Polish resistance organization , the Armia Krajowa ( Home Army ) . At the same time , GL / AL was much better armed than Armia Krajowa ( Home Army , AK ) ; thanks to Soviet air drops it might have even had a surplus of weaponry . It also had less strict discipline . Polish People ' s Army . Seven months after it came into existence , on July 21 , 1944 , AL was integrated into the Polish Military in the USSR and formed the new People ' s Army of Poland ( LWP ) . After the Red Army and the Soviet organized 1st Polish Army entered Poland in 1944 and early 1945 , most of the AL members joined the latter . After the war many of its members joined the ranks of Ministry of Public Security in the People ' s Republic of Poland , as well as Milicja Obywatelska . Operations , propaganda and controversies . According to AL ' s claims , it carried out about 900 operations , killing 20 , 000 Germans , derailing 350 trains , and destroying 79 bridges . However , GL / AL exploits were significantly exaggerated by the communist propaganda in the People ' s Republic of Poland . Polish historian Piotr Gontarczyk estimates that only about 5 – 10 % of officially recorded GL / AL action really took place , and that in the majority instances when GL / AL fought the German military it was when GL / AL was defending itself from German anti - partisan operations , with instances of GL / AL attacking Germans on its own initiative being very rare . Rather than engaging military targets , GL / AL preferred softer targets , such as German administration offices . That changed in 1944 , when GL / AL grew stronger , and began engaging the German military more actively . According to Polish - American historian Mieczysław B . Biskupski , AL was less concerned with fighting the Germans than with fighting the Home Army . According to Gontarczyk and Janusz Marszal , however , this was relatively uncommon , at least with regards to direct actions ; however GL / AL would often pass anonymous tips about AK to the Gestapo . AL took part in the Warsaw Uprising . Although official claims were that about 1 , 800 AL soldiers fought there , modern research suggests about 500 . As GL / AL had a much poorer support network compared to the AK , supported by the Polish Underground State , and Soviet air drops were not supplying it with foodstuffs , it often had to resort to forced acquisitions , described by modern historians as " banditry " . It often targeted mansions and churches . There were also incidents where GL / AL soldiers murdered Jews , or fought one another . In one of its most secret and controversial actions , agents of then - GL , on 17 February 1944 , seized an important document archive of the Underground State . Documents of importance to the communist activists were taken , and the remainder was turned over to the Gestapo agent who had been duped into participating in the GL operation . Seven members of the Underground State were taken prisoner by the Germans in a clean up operation , and likely , executed soon afterward . Leadership . The commander of the Armia Ludowa was General Michał Rola - Żymierski , and the chief of staff was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish Workers ' Party , Colonel Franciszek Jóźwiak . AL leadership was taking orders from the Soviet Union , and representing Soviet , not Polish , interests of the state . The Polish Institute of National Remembrance , in its official description of GL / AL , goes so far as to declare this organization part of the Soviet partisans rather than Polish resistance in World War II .