Siberian brigade
By the beginning of the revolutionary upheavals in the Eastern part of European Russia, in Siberia and in the Urals, there were quite a significant number of poles. Many refugees from the West of the country, as well as Austrian and German prisoners of war of Polish nationality, joined the voluntary settlers and descendants of exiled rebels who lived there before the war. After the revolution, poles began active political activities to support the independence of their new state. In the East of Russia, Polish self-defense units began to form. In December 1918, the famous French military mission of General Maurice Janin arrived in the East of Russia. He became commander of the allied forces in the region. The Polish detachments began to obey him. In January 1919, it was decided to form a Polish division out of all the Polish formations (numbering at that time about 8 thousand people). Organizationally, it was to be part of The Polish Army in France – the so-called "Blue army"...