Polish Armed Forces in National Strategic Documents and Defence Expenditure Perspectives

Purpose: The objective of the article is an analysis of the evolution of Poland's strategic thinking – all Poland’s national security strategies after 1990 to the present day, in terms of concepts and tasks of the Polish Army and connections between the state's defence expenditures and the number of professional army. Design/Methodology/Approach: The article analyses the trends in shaping the position of financing the military power of state expressed in defence expenditure and changes number of the Polish Armed Forces - professional soldiers by analyzing appropriately selected methods of mathematical analysis and selected indicators. Logistic regression and elasticity indices of the Polish army's numerical strength were used to study the connections between variables. Findings: The research showed that Poland's defence spending is dependent on the long-term goals of the state’s vision, while the expenditure of the Ministry of National Defence on the Polish Armed Forces is linked to external factors such as economic crises and internal factors resulting from various technical modernisation and professionalisation programmes of the Polish Army. Practical Implications: The article indicates the influence of many internal and external factors on the level of professionalization of the Polish Army, with a clear tendency towards stabilization since 2007. This situation could be used to increase the development of a professional army and this trend of stabilization should be used as an advantage in planning the increase of armed forces. Originality/Value: The analysis indicates possible long-term actions that could lead to the strengthening of the army through increased defence spending and, depending on this appropriate level, an increase in the number of professional soldiers in the entire Polish Armed Forces.