Gwardia Ludowa in the context of "Polish Underground State"

The Polish Workers' Party (Polish: Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 1948 to form the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). From the end of World War II the PPR led Poland, with the Soviet Union exercising moderate influence. During the PPR years, the centers of opposition activity were largely diminished, and a socialist system was established in the country.

Arriving from the Soviet Union, a group of Polish communists was parachuted into occupied Poland in December 1941. With Joseph Stalin's permission, in January 1942 they established the Polish Workers' Party, a new communist party. The PPR established a partisan military organization Gwardia Ludowa, later renamed Armia Ludowa. In November 1943, Władysław Gomułka became secretary (chief executive) of the Central Committee of the PPR. On 1 January 1944 the party created the State National Council (KRN), proclaimed to be a wartime parliament of Poland; the body was chaired by Bolesław Bierut. In June 1944 the Union of Polish Patriots, a rival to the PPR Polish-communist organization operating in the Soviet Union, recognized the KRN as "the true representation of the Polish nation". The PPR was initially a small party with marginal support; it grew because of its alliance with the victorious Soviet Union.

Franciszek Jóźwiak (20 October 1895 – 23 October 1966) was a Polish communist politician and military commander.

Jóźwiak was active in the communist movement of the Second Polish Republic and was often imprisoned for his ties to the Soviet Union. Jóźwiak fled to Soviet-occupied Poland in 1939, joining the Polish Workers' Party, becoming the commander of its paramilitary wings the Gwardia Ludowa and the Armia Ludowa, and participating in the Soviet partisans in Poland. Jóźwiak held a number of high offices in the early Polish People's Republic, including chief of the Citizen's Militia, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, and member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party. Jóźwiak was removed from government after the Polish October in 1956.

The People's Army (AL; Polish: Armia Ludowa; [ˈar.mʲja luˈdɔ.va]) was a communist partisan force of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) active in Occupied Poland during World War II from January to July 1944. It was created on the order of the Soviet-backed State National Council to fight against Nazi Germany and support the Red Army against the German forces in Poland.

The Armia Ludowa was formed from the Gwardia Ludowa ("People's Guard") to aid the creation of a pro-Soviet communist government in Poland and, along with the National Armed Forces, refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State and Home Army. It participated in a number of uprisings and supported Red Army offensives through Poland. The Armia Ludowa became part of the new Polish People's Army of the Soviet Polish Armed Forces in the East after seven months of existence.