Evidently you know the historical background. Poland was partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria between 1772 and 1795 and disappeared from the map until 1918 (except for the short lived Grand Duchy of Warsaw under Napoleon). I had a good Polish friend c1930 to 1990 whose father had been an Austro-Hungarian officer in the Great War. Railway artillery or armoured train. Most or all the personnel were Polish (Austrian Galicia) and as Austria_Hungary fell apart in 1918, they drove the train to Poland. His father survived WWII and Post war comunist Poland dying in 1980.
