Polish Territorial Defence Force
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FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES Modern Army for Modern Times or a Private Paramilitary? Polish Territorial Defence Force Master thesis BC. MARTIN FORNŮSEK Supervisor: Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, MA, MLitt, PhD Department of Political Science Conflict and Democracy Studies Brno 2020 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Bibliografický záznam Autor: Bc. Martin Fornůsek Fakulta sociálních studií Masarykova univerzita Katedra politologie Název práce: Moderní armáda pro moderní dobu, nebo soukromí paramilitanti? Polské Síly územní obrany Studijní program: Konfliktní a demokratická studia (angl.) Studijní obor: Conflict and Democracy Studies Vedoucí práce: Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, MA, MLitt, PhD Rok: 2020 Počet stran: 113 Klíčová slova: Polsko, ozbrojené síly, armáda, polovojenská skupina, územní obrana, Rusko, hybridní válka, Právo a Spravedlnost 2 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Bibliographic record Author: Bc. Martin Fornůsek Faculty of Social Studies Masaryk University Department of Political Science Title of Thesis: Modern Army for Modern Times or a Private Paramilitary? Polish Territorial Defence Force Degree Programme: Conflict and Democracy Studies (Eng.) Field of Study: Conflict and Democracy Studies (Eng.) Supervisor: Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, MA, MLitt, PhD Year: 2020 Number of Pages: 113 Keywords: Poland, armed forces, military, paramilitary, territorial defence, Russia, hybrid warfare, Law and Justice 3 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Abstrakt Nový druh polských ozbrojených sil, Síly územní obrany, byly označeny jak za obranný nástroj proti ruskému hybridnímu válečnictví, tak za soukromou polovojenskou skupinu úřadující strany Právo a Spravedlnost. Tato magisterská práce má za cíl co nejlépe definovat Síly územní obrany v kontextu odborné literatury a polské historie a určit, co je jejich strategickým, politickým a vojenským cílem za použití dvou teoretických modelů. Jeden model je konstruován jako jednotka proti vnějším hrozbám, druhý model proti vnitřním. Výsledky vykazují silnější korelaci s druhým modelem a odhalují výrazné politické motivace při vytvoření této jednotky. 4 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Abstract The new Polish military branch, the Territorial Defence Force, has been described both as a defensive tool against Russian hybrid warfare and as a private paramilitary force of the incumbent Law and Justice party. This master thesis seeks to best define the Territorial Defence Force in the context of expert literature and Polish history, and establish its strategic, political and military purpose using two theoretical models. One is designed for a unit aimed against external threats, the second against the internal ones. The results indicate a stronger correlation with the second model and reveal distinct political motivations behind the creation of the unit. 5 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Affidavit I hereby declare that I have created the master thesis on the topic of Modern Army for Modern Times or a Private Paramilitary? Polish Territorial Defence Force independently. All sources that I used to write this thesis were quoted in the text and are listed in the bibliography section. Place, 20nd November 2020 ....................................... Bc. Martin Fornůsek 7 MODERN ARMY FOR MODERN TIMES OR A PRIVATE PARAMILITARY? POLISH TERRITORIAL DEFENCE FORCE Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Monika G. Bartoszewicz for the invaluable advices, guidance and support while working on this thesis. I would also like to extend my thanks to my family and loved ones for their support during the whole course of my studies. Šablona DP 3.0.6-FSS (2019-11-29) © 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 Masarykova univerzita 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents List of Abbreviations 13 Introduction 17 1 Theory: Conceptualization and Theoretical Models 20 1.1 Home guards, militias, paramilitaries? .......................................... 20 1.2 Model A: External threat unit ........................................................ 26 2.3 Model B: Internal threat unit ......................................................... 34 2 Methodology 43 3 Case Overview: Historical and Political Context 45 3.1 Paramilitarism in Polish history..................................................... 45 3.2 Territorial defence in Polish history .............................................. 50 3.3 Security context of the TDF .......................................................... 53 3.4 Political context of the TDF .......................................................... 56 3.5 Creation of the Territorial Defence Force ..................................... 60 4 Analysis 63 4.1 Model A: Analysis ......................................................................... 63 4.1.1 Cooperation with other security organizations...................... 64 4.1.2 Non-military and non-kinetic capabilities ............................. 66 4.1.3 Combat deployment and capabilities .................................... 68 4.1.4 Model A analysis: summary .................................................. 72 4.2 Model B: Analysis ......................................................................... 73 4.2.1 Position within the command structure ................................. 73 4.2.2 Isolation and rivalry .............................................................. 76 4.2.3 Local deployment .............. Chyba! Záložka není definována. 4.2.4 Special affiliation and ideology............................................. 83 4.2.5 Model B analysis: summary .................................................. 86 4.2 Models Comparison and Summary ............................................... 88 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Conclusions 91 Bibliography 96 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS List of Abbreviations AK – Armia Krajowa (Home Army) ARNG – Army National Guard BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation Bc. – bachelor BG – Border Guard CBRN – Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear CI – counter-insurgency Dr. – doctor EU – European Union FSB – Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti (Federal Security Service) GRU – Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye (Main Intelligence Directorate) HQ – headquarters HW – hybrid warfare ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and Syria KASP – Krašto apsaugos savanorių pajėgos (National Defence Volunteer Forces) KOR – Komitet Obrony Robotników (Committee for the Defence of Workers) KUL – Catholic University of Lublin 13 LGBTQ+ – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer + MENA – Middle East and North Africa MoND – Ministry of National Defence MPECI – military, political, economic, civil and information instruments NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization NCO – non-commissioned officer NG – National Guard NRF – National Reserve Force ON – Obrona Narodową (National Defence) OTK – Obrona Terytorium Kraju (Territorial Defence Forces) PGM – pro-government militia PiS – Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) PLN – Polish złoty PMESII – political, military, economic, social, information and infrastructural vulnerabilities PO – Platforma Obywatelska (Civic Platform) SA – Sturmabteilung (Storm Detachement) SG – Straż Graniczna (Border Guard) SKW – Służba Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego (Military Counterintelligence Service) SRO – Stały Rejon Odpowiedzialności (Permanent Area of Responsibility) 14 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SWP – Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Institute for International and Security Affairs) TDF – Territorial Defence Force US – United States USNG – United States National Guard V4 – Visegrád Four WOT – Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej (Territorial Defence Force) WOW – Wojska Obrony Wewnętrznej (Internal Defence Forces) WWI – World War One WWII – World War Two ZDC – Zespół Działań Cyberprzestrzennych 15 16 INTRODUCTION Introduction The creation of the fifth branch of the Polish Armed Forces under the patronage of the incumbent Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) sparked a vivid political discussion. The newly formed Territorial Defence Force (TDF or Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej, WOT)1 was established in 2016 as a mostly-volunteer military support formation, operating on home territory (Visegrad Group, 2016). This, as some called it, “new Polish paramilitary force” (Visegrad Group, 2016) has been lauded by its proponents as a new defence line against the Russian hybrid warfare (Mb/, 2016) and vilified by its opponents as PiS’s private army (Davies, 2016). This is all happening in a charged political climate, as the domestic opposition and the European Union accuse PiS of encroachment on Polish democracy (Przybylski, 2018, pp.52- 64), while the new phenomenon of European paramilitarism is described as a potential risk to liberal and democratic values (Mareš & Stojar, 2012, pp.159- 172). Just a few decades after the fall of the Eastern Bloc and after its former members embraced liberal democracy, Central-Eastern Europe, and Poland and Hungary in particular, are experiencing a revitalization of authoritarian tendencies, this time resurging through right-wing populism as “illiberal democracy” (Tóth, 2014). Though in both of these countries this happens concurrently with rising militarization of the society, this does not mean that it necessarily stems from the same source. Unlike Hungary, Poland is exposed to the pressure of ever-more assertive Russia, which is not