The Polish response to the war in Ukraine, apart from diplomatic actions, is the rapid modernization of the army and the announcement of its expansion to 300,000. While modernization and adaptation is a realistic and achievable task, the creation of 300,000 of a professional army is decidedly overstated.
Building a professional army
The main reason for this situation is not even the question of our state’s financial efficiency, but the demographic catastrophe our nation has been grappling with for over thirty years.
Births at the level of 300-400 thousand. exclude the possibility of building a professional army at the assumed level. Moreover, the demographic outlook for the coming decades is even bleaker. There simply won’t be a population base for such a large professional army. It is therefore necessary – without foregoing the expansion of the professional army, also in numbers – to return to another model of the army, the one abandoned over the past thirty years, namely the mixed army, also based on conscription. In addition, the experience of the war in Ukraine also points to the need for universal conscription and universal military training. The Ukrainian experience clearly shows the complete bankruptcy of the defense policy pursued in recent decades, and especially during the PO rule, when this policy was calculated not to defend our national security, but to prevent the participation of the Polish Expeditionary Force in the wars of our greatest ally. The war in Ukraine forces us to return to the concept of military policy, which is primarily intended to defend Polish territory and neighboring countries, which are crucial for our security. This means rejecting the concept of the military as an expeditionary force and returning to the concept of the military as an army that, above all, defends our freedom, integrity, security and peace in our part of the continent.
What does the war in Ukraine teach us?
The war in Ukraine also falsified this concept of war, which assumed it would be a limited conflict and conducted only by specialized, state-of-the-art units. This war showed the importance of land forces, artillery and traditional armored forces. Of course, modern and specialized combat forms also play a prominent role, but they have not replaced traditional combat forms. All this means that the current model of the Polish army based only on a professional army and territorial defense is absolutely insufficient to defend our security. The Ukrainian experience also shows that a modern army has a national character, not just technological, and therefore both the adaptation of the state to the demands of total war and the adaptation of the character of the army to the challenges of total war. war required. .
Back to general conscription
Well, the essential factor in adapting our army to the threats emanating from the East is the return to universal conscription and universal military training, so that in the event of a threat a professional army can easily be expanded into a full-fledged army, as in Ukraine is the case. The main problem of the Polish army – unlike, say, the Ukrainian or Finnish army – is the lack of reserves. In the previous decade, reserve training was virtually discontinued. On the other hand, the lack of military service means that subsequent generations are lost to the rebuilding of military reserves.
Today, the return to general conscription is a national necessity. This is especially required by the reconstruction of military reserves capable of expanding the army in a dangerous situation. Other countries in our part of Europe are also beginning to understand this. The Swedes have restored common military training, and recently the Latvians have done the same.
The Finns, on the other hand, constantly trained reserves for the army and today, in relation to the size of their own army, have the most reserves. The restoration of compulsory military service, at least for one year, is a national necessity in Poland. It seems that the current governments are afraid to make this decision because of the possible negative electoral consequences. Nevertheless, if we are to create an army that can both effectively defend our security and effectively deter a potential aggressor, this decision can no longer be delayed. Investments in armaments alone, although very important, are not enough. A nationwide defense mobilization is necessary as we have entered a long period of turmoil, uncertainty and threat. Compulsory conscription is necessary to build an effective army that can defend us.
Patriotism and morality
But there is another extremely important dimension of the restoration of compulsory military service. Well, the Ukrainian experience shows the importance of the revival of patriotism and the morale of the society as an essential factor in making it possible to wage an effective war with Russia. About 400,000 people returned to Ukraine after the outbreak of war. Ukrainians work in Western countries to participate in the defense of their own country. Without this patriotism and this will to defend Ukraine, even thanks to Western arms supplies, it would not be able to defend itself.
Well, in Poland we are facing a deep crisis of patriotism and this is an underestimated weakness of our potential in a situation of increasing threat. Without a resurgence of patriotism, without a resurgence of national morale, it is impossible to form an effective and victorious army. Therefore, activities aimed at restoring Polish patriotism and the will to fight in defense of our homeland must be paralleled by the expansion of our material defense capabilities. The reintroduction of compulsory military service, in addition to military preparation, would fulfill important educational functions in overcoming the crisis of Polish patriotism. The military training itself, the preparation for battle, evokes positive patriotic moods. Of course, the reconstruction of Polish patriotism cannot be limited to military service. It should also cover the school, the media and all of public life. And centers that promote national demoralization should be removed from public life.
Example of Israel
The model for Polish defense policy should be the state of Israel, which, faced with a threat to national security, militarized its own society, both in military equipment and social education. And an analogous model of national policy should also be applied in Poland, because the Israeli model works well in a situation of permanent threat. This applies no less to the equipment of the army, but also to the moral and patriotic preparation of society to defend its own country. Overcoming the crisis of patriotism is not only overcoming the pedagogy of shame applied to Poland by anti-Polish centers, but also a policy of building Poland’s intellectual and moral subjectivity, the establishment of a national community and the willingness to defend it.
The world has just entered a period of threats, turbulence and wars, and this time could last for decades. Therefore, despite the challenges facing the world today, and especially Poland and our part of the European continent, we must return to a policy that will effectively defend our independence and our security. One of the most important elements of this policy is general conscription and preparation of the entire nation for potential conflict.
Source: wPolityce