Russo-Polish War of 1919–1921
The Russo-Polish War of 1919–1921 was a significant conflict that emerged in the aftermath of World War I, primarily between newly re-established Poland and Soviet Russia. Following the war, Poland sought to reclaim territories in the east, including parts of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, as envisioned by its leader, Józef Piłsudski. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik government in Russia aimed to spread communism westward, exploiting the postwar chaos. The war officially began in February 1919 with skirmishes in the contested borderlands and escalated as Poland and Soviet Russia each sought control over these strategically vital regions.
In April 1920, an initial Polish-Ukrainian advance into Ukraine captured Kiev but was met with a strong Soviet counteroffensive, leading to a general retreat of Polish forces. However, in a pivotal moment, Polish forces achieved a decisive victory in August 1920 during the Battle of Warsaw, halting the Soviet advance. By September, the Poles had further defeated Russian forces, securing their position. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Riga in 1921, which partitioned the disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. While Poland emerged victorious, the treaty limited its strategic options and the Bolsheviks quickly regained strength, reshaping the geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe.
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Russo-Polish War of 1919–1921
At issue: Polish independence; expansion of Soviet Russia; future of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania
Date: 1919–1921
Location: Baltic to Black Sea
Combatants: Poles vs. Russians
Principal commanders:Polish, Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935); Russian, Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937)
Principal battles: Kiev, Warsaw, Niemen
Result: Polish victory, end of Bolshevik expansion, independence of Poland
Background
At the end of World War I (1914–1918), two new powers contested in eastern Europe: Poland, having reappeared on the map after being occupied for more than a century, and a new communist regime that had risen to power in Russia. The Poles had large plans, associated with Józef Piłsudski, to regain much of their former eastern territory—now Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania—and create a Polish-led federation in the east. Vladimir Ilich Lenin’s government in Russia wished to take advantage of the postwar destabilization of Europe to spread the communist revolution westward. Emergent Poland stood athwart these plans. The inevitable clash centered on the so-called borderlands, a broad stretch of territory (encompassing modern-day Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine) between the Polish ethnic heartland in the west and Russian territories in the east. Control of this territory had been the key to strategic superiority in the millennial struggle between Poles and Russians for predominance in Eastern Europe.
Action
In February, 1919, Polish and Soviet Russian troops clashed at Bereza Kartuska in the borderlands. Minor combat continued for several months and both sides engaged in desultory diplomacy to settle the frontier question. Soviet Russia was distracted by the Russian Civil War of 1918–1921 against anticommunist forces and the efforts by non-Russians to avoid being controlled by Moscow. The Poles were similarly focused on reconstruction and the negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference (1919), at which their vital western border with Germany was being determined.
Piłsudski concluded an alliance with Ukraine under Semyon Petlura, envisioning a joint action against Russia after which Poland and Ukraine would remain in alliance. In April, 1920, the allies advanced into Ukraine hoping to destroy the bulk of Soviet forces. Although the advance was rapid, taking Kiev, the Russians did not suffer major losses. In July, the Russians were able to launch a counterthrust in the northern theater, which left Polish forces in Ukraine badly exposed. Polish defensive efforts in the north were unimpressive and the southern spearhead at Kiev was forced to withdraw, resulting in a rapid general retreat westward.
The Russian advance convinced Lenin that huge opportunities existed: Poland would be soon defeated, and the Red Army could move westward against a fragile Europe, opening up the possibility of exporting the communist revolution. As the Russian advance approached the Polish heartland, however, it became dangerously split between a main thrust making for Warsaw and a second, under Semyon Mikhaylovich Budenny, aimed at Lwów to the south. The western powers feared a massive Russian advance, but blamed the Poles for the war and dispatched minimal aid to Warsaw. The Western advisers, led by France’s General Maxime Weygand, urged the Poles to withdraw from Warsaw and form a defense line farther west. This was rejected by Piłsudski, who authored a brilliant victory over the Russians before Warsaw.
The Russian defeat at Warsaw led to the destruction of all their forces in northern Poland, which collapsed in demoralization. In September, the retreating Russians were dealt a second crushing defeat at the Battle of the Niemen. In the south, the Poles regained the initiative defeating Budenny at Komarów and Zamość. Although the Poles had won the war, exhaustion, lack of supplies, and Western indifference forced Piłsudski to accept peace negotiations at Riga.
Aftermath
The Treaty of Riga (1921) split the borderlands, thus denying Poland any possibility of regaining the strategic initiative regarding Russia. Although defeated, the Bolsheviks were able to use their superior numbers and resources to outstrip Poland rapidly after 1921. Of the peoples of the borderlands, only the Lithuanians achieved independence; the Ukrainians and Belarusans were divided between Poland and Soviet Russia.
Bibliography
Davies, Norman. White Eagle, Red Star. London: Orbis, 1983.
Dziewanowski, M. K. Joseph Pilsudski, A European Federalist, 1918–1922. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution, 1969.
Fiddick, Thomas C. Russia’s Retreat from Poland, 1920: From Permanent Revolution to Peaceful Coexistence. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
Wandycz, P. S. Soviet-Polish Relations, 1917–1921. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1969.
Zamoyski, Adam. The Battle for the Marchlands. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.