Oath crisis
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The Oath crisis (Polish Kryzys przysięgowy) refers to a political conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions.
Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski wanted to defeat one of the partitioning powers with the hands of the two remaining states, the Austria-Hungary and Germany. However, after the Russian defeat in the Great War it became clear that the Central Powers were in no position to guarantee the independence of Poland. Despite the Act of November 5th of 1916 and the creation of Kingdom of Poland, it was clear that the newly-created state would not become anything more than a puppet buffer state of Germany, a part of its Mitteleuropa plan.
Piłsudski then decided to switch sides and gain the support of the Entente for the cause of Polish independence. A good pretext appeared in July of 1917, when the Central Powers demanded that the soldiers of the Polish Legions swore allegiance and obedience to the Emperor. Following the inspiration of Józef Piłsudski, the majority of the soldiers of the 1st and 3rd Brigades of the Legions declined to pass the oath. The citizens of Austria-Hungary (roughly 3000) were then forcibly drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army or the Polnische Wehrmacht, demoted to privates and sent to Italian Front, while people born in other parts of occupied Poland were interned in prisoner of war camps in Szczypiorno and Beniaminów. Approximately 7500 soldiers were joined with the rump Polish Auxiliary Corps. Piłsudski himself was interned in a German fortress in Magdeburg.
