The War Game ‘March ‘83’, that is the Crisis in the Polish People’s Army in the 1980s

Abstract

The article describes a war game code-named ‘March 83’, conducted in the spring of 1983 by the People’s Army of Poland. The game concerned the so-called ‘external front’ (the Seaside Front), i.e. the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Polish People’s Republic in the context of the operational plan. It was conducted at the end of martial law in Poland, which greatly affected the army’s situation. In the face of the economic crisis and the simultaneous rapid expansion of NATO troops, the real possibilities of conducting an offensive of the Polish army against NATO troops and the occupation of Denmark, northern West Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium were analysed.