Polish-Soviet War
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| Polish-Bolshevik War | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Polish-Bolshevik War | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | 1919-1921 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Central and Eastern Europe | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Polish victory | ||||||||||||||||
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"Polish-Bolshevik War" refers to the war (February 1919– March 1921) that determined the borders between Soviet Russia and a once again independent Poland.
A war by any other name
The war is referred to by several names. A common one is "Polish-Soviet War," which is potentially confusing, since "Soviet" is usually thought of as relating to the Soviet Union, which did not officially come into being until January 1924. Alternative names include Russo-Polish War and Polish-Russian War of 1919-21. In Polish histories it has come down as the War of 1920 (Wojna 1920 roku), while Soviet historians often either called it the War against White Poland or considered it part of the War against Foreign Intervention--part of the Russian Civil War.
Build-up to the war
In 1918, with the close of the First World War, Poland regained her independence lost in 1795 with the Third Partiton of Poland. After 123 years' rule by Poland's three imperial neighbors, the Second Polish Republic was proclaimed.
The Polish statesman Józef Piłsudski envisioned a federation (the "Federation of Międzymorze") to comprise Poland, Lithuania and western Ukraine (centered at Kyiv), constituting a Polish-led East European confederation as a counterweight to Russia. The new country would have had similar borders to those of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 15th—18th centuries.
At the same time, Russia was transforming herself into the Soviet Union through the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War that had begun in 1917.
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the new Communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge that the Red Army would have to cross in order to link up the Russian Revolution with the German Revolution that was underway just then, and to assist other communist movements in western Europe.
The Campaigns
1919
Fighting broke out in 1919, when self-organized Polish military units in Kresy ("Borderland") areas of Lithuania, Belarus and western Ukraine clashed with local communist units and Bolshevik forces attacking from the east. The Poles eventually took control of the entire area.
The first armed conflict of the war took place February 14 near the town of Mosty, in Belarus. Small Polish forces (12 artillery battalions, 12 cavalry regiments, and 3 artillery batteries) had been securing the eastern border, over two sectors.
The southern sector, from the Pripyat River to the town of Szczytno, was assigned to Grupa Podlaska (the Podlaska Group, later known as Grupa Poleska), commanded by General Antoni Listowski. These units had concentrated near Antopol and moved toward Brzesc, Pinsk and Bereza Kartuska.
The Wolyn region was assigned to Grupa Wołyńska (the Wolyn Group) under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły.
The northern sector, from Szczytno to Skidel, was protected by Dywizja Litewsko-Białoruska (the Lithuanian-Belarusin Division) under General Wacław Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański, concentrated near Wołkowysk.
Sporadic armed conflicts erupted between the Polish forces and the Red Army, but the latter was preoccupied with the Russian Civil War and the White Russian conterrevolutionary forces.
In early March 1919, Polish units opened an offensive and captured the cities of Słonim (March 2) and Pinsk (March 5). Northern units reached the outskirts of Lida and stopped for several weeks. Decisions regarding further action in the east were taken at the begining of April, when Józef Piłsudzki determined that Polish forces must maintain the initative on the eastern front.
Until early 1920, the Polish offensive was quite successful. Wilno was captured in April 1919, Minsk--in August.
1920
In January 1920, the Red Army began concentrating a 700,000-strong force near Berezyna. On March 10 it opened its counteroffensive.
On April 24 Poland signed a military alliance with the Ukrainian People's Republic of Symon Petliura. Combined Polish-Ukrainian forces captured Kyiv on May 7. This military thrust into Ukraine met with a Red Army counterattack.
Great Britain proposed negotiations between Poland and Russia, to stabilize the border at the Curzon line. Negotiations were rejected by the Soviets. France sent small military units to Poland's aid. Poland suffered setbacks due to sabotage and delays in transit of war materiel, by the Germans at Gdansk and the Czechs at Brno. Many foreign observers thought Poland would soon become the next Soviet republic.
Polish forces were sent into retreat. In Galicia, General Semyon Budionny's Red Cavalry Army advanced far into the Polish rear. In August, Polish Galicia's Lwów was besieged and five Russian armies aproached Warsaw.
On August 10, Russian Cossack units under Gej Chan crossed the Vistula River. On August 13, an initial Russian attack under General Mikhail Tukhachevsky was repulsed. In the ensuing Battle of Warsaw, the Polish 5th Army under General Władysław Sikorski threw back the Russian forces near the Wkra River, and on August 16 the Polish counteroffensive reached the rear of Tukhachevsky's army, which was encircled on August 18.
On August 31 Budionny's Cavalry Army, attempting to come to the aid of Russian forces near Warsaw, was defeated and encircled by Polish cavalry at Komarów, in the greatest cavalry battle since 1813 (and one of the last cavalry battles ever).
The Poles were unable to fully exploit their new advantage, however, and the Soviets sued for peace. A ceasefire was signed October 12, and went into effect October 18.
Aftermath
The Soviets offered the Polish peace delegation as much territory as it wanted; the Poles preferred to sign a compromise Peace of Riga on March 18, 1921, splitting the disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet Russia.
The treaty avoided ceding historically Polish territory back to Russia, and ethnic Poles initially had two Polish Autonomous Districts within the Soviet Union, with an eventually tragic outcome for the Poles.
The Polish-Soviet War heavily influenced Charles De Gaulle, then an instructor with the Polish army who fought in some of the battles. He and Władysław Sikorski were the only military officers who, based on their experiences of this war, correctly predicted how the next one would be fought.
List of battles
- Soviet "Target Vistula" offensive (January-February 1919)
- Battle of Bereza Kartuska (February 9, 1919: the first battle of the conflict)
- Operation Wilno: Polish offensive to Wilno (April 1919)
- First Battle of Lida (April 1919)
- Operation Minsk: Polish offensive to Minsk (July-August 1919)
- Battles of Chorupań and Dubno (July 19, 1919)
- Battle of Daugavpils: joint Polish-Latvian operation (January 3, 1920)
- Kiev Offensive (May-June 1920)
- Battle of Tarnopol (July 31-August 6, 1920)
- Battle of Warsaw (August 15 1920)
- Battle of Raszyn, Battle of Nasielsk, Battle of Radzymin (August 14-August 15, 1920)
- Battle of Zadwórze: the "Polish Thermopylę" (August 17, 1920)
- Battle of Sarnowa Góra (August 21-August 22, 1920)
- Battle of Komarów: great cavalry battle, ending in Budionny's defeat (August 31, 1920)
- Battle of Hrubieszów (September 1, 1920)
- Battle of Kobryń (September 14-September 15, 1920)
- Battle of Dytiatyn (September 16, 1920)
- Battle of Brzostowica (September 20, 1920)
- Battle of the Niemen River (September 26-28 1920)
- Battles of Obuchowe and Krwawy Bór (September 27-September 28, 1920)
- Battle of Zboiska
- Battle of Minsk (October 18, 1920)
- Battle of Lwów
See also
- Estonian Liberation War
- Curzon's Note to the Soviet Government
External links:
- Electronic Museum of the Polish-Soviet War (http://www.electronicmuseum.ca/Soviet-Polish-War/spw.html)
- Maps of the Polish-Bolshevik War]: [1] (http://www.geocities.com/hallersarmy/maps.html), [2] (http://www.iyp.org/pilsudski/maps.html)
- The Polish-Russian War and the Fight for Polish Independence (http://home.golden.net/~medals/1918-1921war.html)
- Józef Haller and the Blue Army (http://www.geocities.com/hallersarmy/index.html)
- Onwar.com (http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/pat/poland/fussrpoland1919.htm)
- Russo-Polish War bibliography in English (http://www.york.cuny.edu/~drobnick/russo.html)
pl:Wojna polsko-bolszewicka