Home Army in the context of "Jewish Military Union"

Belarusian resistance during World War II opposed Nazi Germany from 1941 until 1944. Byelorussia was one of the Soviet republics occupied following Operation Barbarossa. The term Belarusian partisans may refer to Soviet-formed irregular military groups fighting Germany, but has also been used to refer to the disparate independent groups who also fought as guerrillas at the time, including Jewish groups (such as the Bielski partisans and Fareynikte Partizaner Organisatsye), Polish groups (such as the Home Army), and nationalist Belarusian forces opposed to Germany.

The Warsaw Uprising (Polish: powstanie warszawskie; German: Warschauer Aufstand), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (Polish: powstanie sierpniowe), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led by the Polish resistance Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa). The uprising was timed to coincide with the retreat of the German forces from Poland ahead of the Soviet advance. While approaching the eastern suburbs of the city, the Red Army halted combat operations, enabling the Germans to regroup and defeat the Polish resistance and to destroy the city in retaliation. The Uprising was fought for 63 days with little outside support. It was the single largest military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II. The defeat of the uprising and suppression of the Home Army enabled the pro-Soviet Polish administration, instead of the Polish government-in-exile based in London, to take control of Poland afterwards. Poland would remain as part of the Soviet-aligned Eastern Bloc throughout the Cold War until 1989.

The Uprising began on 1 August 1944 as part of a nationwide Operation Tempest, launched at the time of the Soviet Lublin–Brest Offensive. The main Polish objectives were to drive the Germans out of Warsaw while helping the Allies defeat Germany. An additional, political goal of the Polish Underground State was to liberate Poland's capital and assert Polish sovereignty before the Soviet Union and Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation, which already controlled eastern Poland, could assume control. Other immediate causes included a threat of mass German round-ups of able-bodied Poles for "evacuation"; calls by Radio Moscow's Polish Service for uprising; and an emotional Polish desire for justice and revenge against the enemy after five years of German occupation.

An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well-equipped, regular military force state adversary. Due to this asymmetry, insurgents avoid large-scale direct battles, opting instead to blend in with the civilian population (often in rural areas) where they gradually expand territorial control and military forces. Insurgency frequently hinges on control of and collaboration with local populations.

An insurgency can be fought via counter-insurgency warfare, as well as other political, economic and social actions of various kinds. Due to the blending of insurgents with the civilian population, insurgencies tend to involve considerable violence against civilians (by the state and the insurgents). State attempts to quell insurgencies frequently lead to the infliction of indiscriminate violence, whereas rebel control of territory frequently involves violence against the civilian population. Insurgency sets itself apart from terrorism by aiming for political control rather than resorting to indiscriminate violence, however, it may incorporate terrorist tactics.

The Ministry of Public Security (Polish: Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa, SB).

The initial UB was headed by Public Security General Stanisław Radkiewicz and supervised by Jakub Berman of the Polish Politburo. The main goal of the Department of Security was the swift eradication of anti-communist structures and socio-political base of the Polish Underground State, as well as the persecution of former underground soldiers of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and later anti-communist organizations like Freedom and Independence (WiN).

In Poland, the resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army. The Polish resistance is notable among others for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front (damaging or destroying 1/8 of all rail transports), and providing intelligence reports to the British intelligence agencies (providing 43% of all reports from occupied Europe). It was a part of the Polish Underground State.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, pronounced [ˈɕiwɨ ˈzbrɔjnɛ ʐɛt͡ʂpɔsˈpɔlitɛj ˈpɔlskʲɛj]; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called Wojsko Polskie in Poland ([ˈvɔj.skɔ ˈpɔl.skjɛ], roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated WP), are the national armed forces of the Republic of Poland. The name has been used since the early 1800s, but can also be applied to earlier periods.

The Polish Legions and the Blue Army, composed of Polish volunteers from the United States and those who switched sides from the Central Powers, were formed during World War I. In the war's aftermath, the Polish Army was reformed from the remnants of the partitioning powers' forces and expanded significantly during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920. World War II dramatically impacted Polish military structures, with the initial defeat by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invasions leading to the dispersion of Polish forces into the underground. After the war, the Polish People's Army (LWP) was formed, and its standards aligned with those of the former Warsaw Pact. The LWP's reputation suffered due to its role in political suppression both domestically and abroad, such as during the Prague Spring. Following the fall of communism, Poland shifted towards Western military standards, joining NATO in 1999, participating in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and undertaking substantial modernization of its forces.

Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (Polish: akcja „Burza”, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK), the dominant force in the Polish resistance.

Operation Tempest's objective was to seize control of German-occupied cities and areas while the Germans were preparing their defenses against the advancing Soviet Red Army. The Polish Underground State hoped to take power before the Soviets arrived.