28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918 First World War

The First World War broke out in 1914 between the countries of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy) and those of the Triple Entente (the UK, France and Russia). The Poles found themselves in a difficult situation where two occupying forces, Germany and Austria, were on one side of the conflict while the third – Russia – on the other. None of the occupier countries planned to grant the Poles statehood rights, yet they all tried to force them to fight on their side.