The Underground State's military arm, Armia Krajowa, officially disbanded on 19 January 1945 to avoid armed conflict with the Soviets and a civil war.[1][2] Over the next few years the communists solidified their hold on Poland, falsifying elections, persecuting the opposition and eliminating it as a political power.[3] Remnants of the armed resistance (NIE, Armed Forces Delegation for Poland, Freedom and Independence) that refused to lay down their weapons and surrender to the communist regime continued to hold out for several years as the cursed soldiers, fighting the Soviet-backed communist forces until eradicated.[4][5][63]