Lithuanian army cavalry during the interwar period: regular regiments, shooters–dragoons, and territorial dragoon service

During the interwar period, and bearing in mind its long and open borders, the Lithuanian army was preparing for a war of manoeuvres. In addition, Poland was considered to be one of the main military enemies, which had numerous mobile cavalry forces. Given these circumstances, on the one hand it was necessary to have mobile units. Mass motorisation of the Lithuanian army due to the country’s low level of motorisation, poorly developed road network and limited material resources was impossible. On the other hand, during the interwar period, other European countries had not yet completely abandoned the cavalry, and some had very numerous cavalry forces. This in turn led to attempts to increase the cavalry forces in the Lithuanian army too. During the interwar period, and after the independence struggles, which continued until 1924, there were three cavalry regiments in the army. Following the disbandment of one regiment between 1924 and 1935 only two cavalry forces remained – the Hussars and the Uhlans regiments in peacetime. In 1935, the Dragoon regiment was again restored. However, at the end of the 1930s, in addition to regular cavalry units it was decided to create a territorial cavalry structure with the hope of increasing the number of militarily trained people and horses on the basis of which it would be possible to mobilise new cavalry units very quickly in case of war. In 1934, after the establishment of the Territorial Dragoon Service, it was planned to increase the number of dragoons to about 1,300 over seven years (1935–1941). However, by 1939, there were only 211 dragoons, although the total number of territorial riders and shooters – the number of dragoons in Lithuania that year was 1,628, i.e. more than the military leadership planned to conscript into selected squads of equestrian spies and light divisions