On Poland’s Armed Forces Day, the biggest military parade since 1989 takes to Warsaw’s streets. The event is called the “Great Parade of Independence”, referring to the 100-year anniversary of the reborn Polish state.
The parade is divided into three parts: infantry, mechanized and historic. Over two thousand military personnel participate, including tanks, cavalry, aircraft and helicopters. There are over a thousand soldiers and 900 members of historic reconstruction groups, as well as almost 200 of the army’s most important vehicles.
The reconstruction groups include historic Polish military from different periods, such as the knights from the Battle of Grunwald, the winged hussars from the Battle of Vienna or Józef Piłsudski’s legions from the early 20th century.
The capstone of the parade is an aerial show given by the Polish Air Force.
Because of the size of the parade it will not march down the usual Ujazdowskie Avenue, but use the Wisłostrada, the main road next to the Vistula instead.
The Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak explained that the new location will allow for a better presentation of the army. It will also give more people the opportunity to see the parade and let more people feel proud to have the Polish Army march in front of them.
Poland’s Armed Forces Day is on the 15th of August. It is the anniversary of the Polish victory under Józef Piłsudski over the Bolshevik army in 1920 in the Battle of Warsaw. Also known as “Miracle at the Vistula River”.
Because it stopped the march of the Red Army to the West it is considered to be one of the twenty battles in history which decided the fate of the world.
