The regiment was an all-volunteer force made up of students from Warsaw-based universities on November 11, 1918, that is the day Poland regained her independence.

Initially the unit was simply named Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion and took part in disarming the Austro-Hungarian and German soldiers remaining on Polish territory.

Accepted formally into the Polish Army on December 3, it was renamed the 36th Infantry Regiment and on April 5, 1919, it was allowed to retain its former name as an honorary title.

The regiment were sworn on December 13 and on January 4, 1919, it left Warsaw for Lwów, which was then under siege by the forces of the West Ukrainian People's Republic.

Attached to the relief force under Gen. Jan Romer, it was initially made up of two battalions and a small NCO school.

During the fighting heavy losses were replaced with a battalion of an improvised 236th Infantry Regiment formed mostly of students and Scouts of the Warsaw borough of Praga.

After the battle the regiment continued to pursue the retreating Russian forces in Ukraine and on September 24, 1920, took part in the liberation of an important railway hub in the town of Szepietówka.

The soldiers of the regiment fought in the failed uprising in Praga, but also in heavy fights for the boroughs of Żoliborz, Mokotów and Czerniaków.

Soon afterwards, local branches of the Legion were formed in other main cities of the country: Lublin, Kraków, Poznań, Wilno and Lwów.

On November 11, 1918, the Academic Executive Committee (Akademicki Komitet Wykonawczy) was formed, together with the main office of the Legion, located in Warsaw, at 26 Ujazdowskie Alley.

Its commandant was Colonel Tadeusz Roman Tomaszewski, and the activities of the organization concentrated on military exercises, carried out on army facilities.

Main purpose of the League was to spread military knowledge and raise the young generation of Poles in the spirit of Polish militarism.