View source for Polish–Soviet War

{{short description|20th-century conflict between Poland and Russia}}
{{About|the conflict of 1918–1921|other Russo-Polish conflicts|Polish–Russian Wars}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Very long|words=18,000|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Polish–Soviet War
| partof            = [[Central and Eastern Europe]]an military campaigns that included the [[Western Front (RSFSR)|Western Front of the Russian Civil War]], [[Ukrainian War of Independence]], [[Lithuanian Wars of Independence]] and [[Latvian War of Independence]]
| image             = Polish-soviet war montage.jpg
| caption           = '''Top left:''' Polish FT-17 tanks of the 1st Tank Regiment during the [[Battle of Daugavpils|Battle of Dyneburg]], January 1920<br/>'''Below left:''' Polish troops [[Kiev offensive (1920)|enter Kiev]], May 1920<br/>'''Top right:''' Polish Schwarzlose M.07/12 machine gun nest during the [[Battle of Radzymin (1920)|Battle of Radzymin]], August 1920<br/>'''Middle:''' Polish defences with a  M1895/14 machine gun position near [[Stara Miłosna|Miłosna]], during the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]], August 1920<br/>'''Bottom left:''' Russian prisoners following the Battle of Warsaw<br/>'''Bottom right:''' Polish defences in Belarus during the [[Battle of the Niemen River]], September 1920
| date              = 1918/1919{{efn|There is disagreement over the dates of the war. The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' begins its "Russo-Polish War" article with the date range 1919–1920 but then states, "Although there had been hostilities between the two countries during 1919, the conflict began when the Polish head of state Józef Piłsudski formed an alliance with the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petlyura (21 April 1920) and their combined forces began to overrun Ukraine, occupying Kiev on 7 May." Some Western historians, including [[Norman Davies]], consider mid-February 1919 the beginning of the war.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=22}} However, military confrontations between forces that can be considered officially Polish and the Red Army were already happening by late autumn 1918 and in January 1919.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=13}} The city of [[Vilnius]], for example, was taken by the Soviets on 5 January 1919.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>}} – 18 March 1921{{-}}'''Main phase:'''{{-}}25 April – 18 October 1920
| place             = [[Central and Eastern Europe]]
| result            = {{ublist|Polish victory<ref>
*{{Cite book |last=Sparks |first=Alan E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilX9DwAAQBAJ&dq=Polish%E2%80%93Soviet+War+%22result%22&pg=PT362 |title=Into the Carpathians: A Journey Through the Heart and History of East Central Europe (Part 2: The Western Mountains) |date=2020-08-18 |publisher=Rainy Day Publishing |isbn=978-0-578-70572-9 |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |last=Overy |first=Richard J. |title=Russia's war |date=1999 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-027169-0 |location=London |page=5 |quote=The Soviet leaders never forgot the war with Poland. Twenty years later the area was reoccupied amidst an orgy of reprisals. The defeat of 1920 showed that despite victory in the civil war the new state was weakly defended and insecure.}}
*{{Cite book |last=Watt |first=Richard M. |title=Bitter glory: Poland and its fate ; 1918-1939 |date=1998 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0-7818-0673-2 |location=New York, NY |page=152 |quote=Despite Piłsudski's disappointment with many aspects of the Treaty of Riga, the Polish-Soviet War did have certain positive results for the Polish Republic. Most importantly, it taught the Soviet government that it was dealing with a tough, patriotic people who were unready for a revolution with a Russian flavor. Lenin himself admitted that the war had been a serious mistake. Poland had been probed with the bayonets of the Red Army and the bayonets had been blunted. The Soviets would not attack Poland again for nearly a generation.}}
*{{Cite web |title=History of the Russo-Polish War {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Russo-Polish-War-1919-1920#:~:text=The%20decisive%20Polish%20victory%20resulted,for%20the%20nascent%20Soviet%20Union. |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |last=Gella |first=Aleksander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8keIXDyF_EoC&pg=PA23 |title=Development of Class Structure in Eastern Europe: Poland and Her Southern Neighbors |date=1989-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-88706-833-1 |page=23 |language=en |quote=The Polish victory had gained twenty years of independence}}
*{{Cite book |last=Porter-Szücs |first=Brian Allen |title=Poland in the modern world: beyond martyrdom |date=2014 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-3218-6 |series=A new history of modern Europe |location=Chichester |page=83 |quote=In hindsight, the Polish-Bolshevik War was in a fact a victory for the idea of Poland}}
*{{Cite book |last=Sanford |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tV2AAgAAQBAJ&dq=polish-soviet+war&pg=RA1-PT16 |title=Katyn and the Soviet Massacre of 1940: Truth, Justice and Memory |date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-30299-4 |language=en |quote=in the 'bitterness of defeat' in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920}}</ref><br>(see {{slink|#Aftermath and legacy}})}}
| territory         = * Poland retained control of modern-day [[Western Ukraine]] and [[Western Belorussia|Western Belarus]] ([[Kresy]] in interwar Poland)
* Soviet forces retained control of modern-day [[Eastern Ukraine]] and [[Eastern Belorussia|Eastern Belarus]]
| combatant1        = {{plainlist|
* '''{{flag|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|1918|name=Soviet Russia}}'''
* {{flag|Ukrainian SSR|1919|name=Soviet Ukraine}}
* {{flag|Byelorussian SSR|1919|name=Soviet Belarus}}
* {{flagicon image|Red flag.svg}} [[Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee|Polrewkom]]}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|
* '''{{flagcountry|Second Polish Republic|1919}}'''
* {{flag|Ukrainian People's Republic|name=Ukraine}} (1920)
* {{flag|Belarusian Democratic Republic|name=Belarus}} (1920)
* {{flag|Latvia}} (1920){{efn|[[Battle of Daugavpils]]|name="Latvia"}}}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Vladimir Lenin]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Leon Trotsky]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Sergey Kamenev]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Joseph Stalin]]
* {{nowrap|{{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]}}
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Vladimir Gittis]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Semyon Budyonny]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[August Kork]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Hayk Bzhishkyan]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Nikolai Sollogub]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Alexander Yegorov (soldier)|Alexander Yegorov]]
* {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky]]
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Józef Piłsudski]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Józef Haller]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Franciszek Latinik]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski|T. Jordan-Rozwadowski]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Władysław Sikorski]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Leonard Skierski]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Stanisław Szeptycki]]
* {{flagicon|Ukrainian People's Republic}} [[Symon Petliura]]
* {{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}}{{flagicon|Belarusian Democratic Republic}} [[Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz|S. Bułak-Bałachowicz]]
* {{flagicon|Latvia}} [[Jānis Puriņš]]
}}
| strength1         = '''Early 1919:''' ~50,000{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=39}}<br/>'''Summer 1920:'''<br/>800,000–950,000{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=142}}<br/> 5 million reservists, <br/>[[Ukrainian Galician Army]] (about 1,000 soldiers), <br/>[[Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia]]
| strength2         = '''Early 1919:''' ~80,000{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=41}}<br/>'''Summer 1920:'''<br/>348,286 troops on front,<ref name="RUS" /> about  700,000 reservists <br/> approx. 1,000,000{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}<br/>Ukraine: 20,000<ref name="RUS">[https://wielkahistoria.pl/bilans-wojny-polsko-bolszewickiej-liczba-zolnierzy-zabici-ranni-i-wzieci-do-niewoli/ Bilans wojny polsko-bolszewickiej. Liczba żołnierzy, zabici, ranni i wzięci do niewoli]</ref><br/>Russian volunteers: 20,000<ref name="RUS"/>
| casualties1       = '''Total:<br>{{circa|242,000–247,000}}'''<hr/>{{Circa|60,000 dead}}<ref name="Rummel1990"/><br/>{{circa|102,000}} wounded<ref>[https://bigenc.ru/c/sovetsko-pol-skaia-voina-1920-590e70?ysclid=ma41bzn973186177842 Советско-Польская война 1919-1920] // ''[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]]'' - bigenc.ru</ref>{{unreliable source|date=July 2025}}<br>{{Circa|80,000–85,000}} captured{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=306–307}}
| casualties2       = '''Total:<br>212,420'''<hr/>47,551 dead{{Bulletedlist|17,213 [[Killed in action|KIA]]|30,338 died of wounds}}113,518 wounded<br/>51,351 captured or missing{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=279–281}}<ref name=whiteeagle>{{cite book |first=Norman |last=Davies |author-link=Norman Davies |title=White eagle, red star: the Polish-Soviet war, 1919–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ES0AAAAIAAJ |access-date=23 October 2011 |year=1972 |publisher=Macdonald and Co. |page=247 |isbn=978-0356040134 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Karpus_zwyciezcy"/>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Establishment of Second Polish Republic}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Polish–Soviet War}}
{{Campaignbox Russian Civil War}}

The '''Polish–Soviet War'''{{refn|name="Other names"|group="N"|Other names:
* {{langx|pl|Wojna polsko-bolszewicka, wojna polsko-sowiecka, wojna polsko-rosyjska 1919–1921, wojna polsko-radziecka}} (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921)
* {{langx|ru|Советско-польская война}} (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (''Polsky front'', Polish Front)}} (14 February 1919{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=13}} – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the [[Second Polish Republic]] and the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]], following [[World War I]] and the [[Russian Revolution]].

After the collapse of the [[Central Powers]] and the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]], [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s Soviet Russia annulled the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] and moved forces westward to reclaim the ''[[Ober Ost]]'' regions abandoned by the Germans. Lenin viewed the newly independent Poland as a critical route for spreading communist revolutions into [[Europe]].<ref name="Cienciala"/> Meanwhile, Polish leaders, including [[Józef Piłsudski]], aimed to restore Poland's [[First Partition of Poland|pre-1772]] borders and secure the country's position in the region. Throughout 1919, Polish forces occupied much of present-day [[Lithuania]] and [[Belarus]], emerging victorious in the [[Polish–Ukrainian War]]. However, Soviet forces regained strength after their victories in the [[Russian Civil War]], and [[Symon Petliura]], leader of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], was forced to ally with Piłsudski in 1920 to resist the advancing Bolsheviks.

In April 1920, Piłsudski launched the [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kiev offensive]] with the goal of securing favorable borders for Poland. On 7 May, Polish and allied Ukrainian forces captured [[Kyiv|Kiev]], though Soviet armies in the area were not decisively defeated. The offensive lacked local support, and many Ukrainians joined the Red Army rather than Petliura's forces. In response, the Soviet Red Army launched a successful counteroffensive starting in June 1920. By August, Soviet troops had pushed Polish forces back to [[Warsaw]]. However, at the decisive [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)]], Polish forces achieved an unexpected victory between 12 and 25 August 1920, turning the tide of the war. This battle, often referred to as the "Miracle on the Vistula", is considered one of the most important military triumphs in Polish history.

The war ended with a ceasefire on 18 October 1920, and peace negotiations led to the [[Peace of Riga]], signed on 18 March 1921. The treaty divided disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. Poland's eastern border was established about 200 km east of the [[Curzon Line]], securing Polish control over parts of modern-day [[Ukraine]] and [[Belarus]]. The war resulted in the official recognition of the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] as Soviet states, undermining Piłsudski's ambitions for an ''[[Intermarium]]'' federation led by Poland. Despite this, Poland's success at the Battle of Warsaw cemented its position as an important player in Eastern European geopolitics in the interwar period.

== Names and ending dates ==
The war is known by several names. "Polish–Soviet War" is the most common but other names include "Russo–Polish War" (or "Polish–Russian War") and "Polish–Bolshevik War".<ref name="pwn_polbol"/> This last term (or just "Bolshevik War" ({{langx|pl|Wojna bolszewicka}})) is most common in Polish sources. In some Polish sources it is also referred to as the "War of 1920" ({{langx|pl|Wojna 1920 roku}}).<ref group="N">For example: 1) {{Harvnb|Cisek|1990}} ''Sąsiedzi wobec '''wojny 1920 roku'''. Wybór dokumentów.''<br />2) {{Harvnb|Szczepański|1995}} '''''Wojna 1920 roku''' na Mazowszu i Podlasiu''<br />3) {{Harvnb|Sikorski|1991}} ''Nad Wisłą i Wkrą. Studium do polsko–radzieckiej '''wojny 1920 roku'''''</ref>

The ending year of the conflict is variously given as either 1920 or 1921; this confusion stems from the fact that while the [[ceasefire]] came into force on 18 October 1920, the [[Peace of Riga|official treaty ending the war]] was signed on 18 March 1921. While the events of late 1918 and 1919 can be described as a [[border conflict]] and only in spring 1920 were both sides engaged in an all-out [[war]], the warfare that took place in late April 1920 was an escalation of the fighting that had begun a year and a half earlier.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=22}}

== Background ==
{{Main|Causes of the Polish–Soviet War}}

[[File:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 3.png|thumb|[[Partitions of Poland–Lithuania]] in 1795: the coloured territories show the extent of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] just before the [[First Partition of Poland|First Partition]]. The land absorbed by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] is in blue (north-west), by the [[Austria]]n [[Habsburg monarchy]] in green (south) and by the [[Russian Empire]] in red (east).]]

The war's main territories of contention lie in what is now [[Ukraine]] and [[Belarus]]. Until the mid-13th century, they formed part of the medieval state of [[Kievan Rus']]. After a period of internal wars and the 1240 [[Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'|Mongol invasion]], the lands became objects of expansion for the [[Kingdom of Poland]] and for the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. In the first half of the 14th century, the [[Principality of Kiev]] and the land between the [[Dnieper]], [[Pripyat (river)|Pripyat]], and [[Daugava|Daugava (Western Dvina)]] rivers became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1352, Poland and Lithuania divided the [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]] between themselves. In 1569, in accordance with the terms of the [[Union of Lublin]] between Poland and Lithuania, some of the Ukrainian lands passed to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Polish Crown]]. Between 1772 and 1795, many of the [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] territories became part of the [[Russian Empire]] in the course of the [[Partitions of Poland–Lithuania]]. In 1795 (the [[Third Partition of Poland]]), Poland lost formal independence. After the [[Congress of Vienna]] of 1814–1815, much of the territory of the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] was transferred to Russian control and became the autonomous [[Congress Poland]] (officially the Kingdom of Poland).<ref>{{cite book |language=ru |script-quote=ru:Соединение последовало явно в ущерб Литве, которая должна была уступить Польше Подляхию, Волынь и княжество Киевское |quote=Soyedineniye posledovalo yavno v ushcherb Litve, kotoraya dolzhna byla ustupit' Pol'she Podlyakhiyu, Volyn' i knyazhestvo Kiyevskoye |trans-quote=The connection followed clearly to the detriment of Lithuania, which was supposed to cede Podlyakhia, Volhynia and the Principality of Kiev to Poland |last=Solovyov |first=S. |script-title=ru:История России с древнейших времен |title=Istoriya Rossii s drevneyshikh vremen |year=2001 |trans-title=History of Russia since ancient times |isbn=978-5-17-002142-0 |volume=6 |pages=814–815|publisher=АСТ }}</ref> After young Poles refused conscription to the [[Imperial Russian Army]] during the [[January Uprising]] of 1863, Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] stripped Congress Poland of its separate constitution, attempted to force general use of the [[Russian language]] and took away vast tracts of land from Poles. Congress Poland was incorporated more directly into imperial Russia by being divided into ten provinces, each with an appointed Russian military governor and all under complete control of the Russian Governor-General at Warsaw.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wandycz |first=Piotr S. |title=The lands of partitioned Poland, 1795–1918 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |chapter=Part Two: The Age of Insurrections, 1830–64 |year=1974 |isbn=978-0295953588}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2013-01-23 |script-title=ru:Историк: 'В 1863 году белорусы поддержали не Польшу и Калиновского, а Россию и государя' |title=Istorik: 'V 1863 godu belorusy podderzhali ne Pol'shu i Kalinovskogo, a Rossiyu i gosudarya' |trans-title=Historian: 'In 1863, Belarusians did not support Poland and [[Konstanty Kalinowski|Kalinowski]], but Russia and its sovereign' |language=ru |website=regnum.by |url=http://www.regnum.by/news/1616548.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927112842/http://www.regnum.by/news/1616548.html |archive-date=2013-09-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the [[aftermath of World War I]], the map of [[Central and Eastern Europe]] changed drastically. The [[German Empire]]'s defeat rendered obsolete [[Berlin]]'s plans for the creation of [[Eastern Europe]]an German-dominated states (''[[Mitteleuropa]]''), which included another rendition of the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]]. The Russian Empire collapsed, which resulted in the [[Russian Revolution]] and the [[Russian Civil War]]. The Russian state lost territory due to the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|German offensive]] and the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], signed by the emergent [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]]. Several nations of the region saw a chance for independence and seized their opportunity to gain it. The defeat of Germany on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and the withdrawal of the [[Imperial German Army]] in the Eastern Front had left Berlin in no position to retaliate against Soviet Russia, which swiftly repudiated the treaty and proceeded to recover many of the former territories of the Russian Empire.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=111}} However, preoccupied with the civil war, it did not have the resources to react swiftly to the national rebellions.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=111}}

[[File:Mapa rozsiedlenia ludności polskiej z uwzględnieniem spisów z 1916 roku.jpg|thumb|Map of areas where [[Polish language|Polish]] was used as a primary language in 1916 (published in post-1918 Poland)]]

In November 1918, Poland became a [[sovereign state]]. Among the several border wars fought by the [[Second Polish Republic]] was the successful [[Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)]] against [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]]. The historic [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] included vast territories in the east. They had been incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1772–1795 and had remained its parts, as the [[Northwestern Krai|Northwest Territory]], until [[World War I]].<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> After the war they were contested by the Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, [[Lithuania]]n, and [[Latvia]]n interests.

In newly independent Poland, politics were strongly influenced by [[Józef Piłsudski]]. On 11 November 1918, Piłsudski was made head of Polish armed forces by the [[Regency Council (Poland)|Regency Council]] of the Kingdom of Poland, a body installed by the [[Central Powers]]. Subsequently, he was recognized by many Polish politicians as temporary chief of state and exercised in practice extensive powers. Under the [[Small Constitution of 1919|Small Constitution]] of 20 February 1919, he became [[Chief of State (Poland)|chief of state]]. As such, he reported to the [[Legislative Sejm (Second Polish Republic)|Legislative Sejm]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=15–16}}

With the collapse of the Russian and [[Ober Ost|German occupying authorities]], virtually all of Poland's neighbours began fighting over borders and other issues. The [[Finnish Civil War]], the [[Estonian War of Independence]], the [[Latvian War of Independence]], and the [[Lithuanian Wars of Independence]] were all fought in the [[Baltic Sea]] region.<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/> Russia was overwhelmed by domestic struggles. In early March 1919, the [[Communist International]] was established in [[Moscow]]. The [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] was proclaimed in March and the [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] in April.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=16–18}}{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=21}} [[Winston Churchill]], in a conversation with Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]], commented sarcastically: "The war of giants has ended, the wars of the pygmies begin."{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=5–6}}<ref name="AHP"/> The Polish–Soviet War was the longest lasting of the international engagements.

[[File:PBW March 1919.svg|thumb|Territorial establishment of the [[Second Polish Republic]] as of March 1919]]

The territory of what had become Poland had been a major battleground during World War I and the new country lacked political stability. It had won the hard-fought [[Polish–Ukrainian War]] against the [[West Ukrainian People's Republic]] by July 1919 but had already become embroiled in new conflicts with Germany (the 1919–1921 [[Silesian Uprisings]]) and the January 1919 [[Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts|border conflict with Czechoslovakia]]. Meanwhile, Soviet Russia focused on thwarting the [[White movement|counterrevolution]] and the 1918–1925 [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|intervention by the Allied powers]]. The first clashes between Polish and Soviet forces occurred in autumn and winter 1918/1919, but it took a year and a half for a full-scale war to develop.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>

The Western powers considered any significant territorial expansion of Poland, at the expense of Russia or Germany, to be highly disruptive to the post-World War I order. Among other factors, the Western Allies did not want to give Germany and Russia a reason to conspire together.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=149}} The rise of the unrecognized [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] regime complicated this rationale.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=150–154}}

The [[Treaty of Versailles]], signed on 28 June 1919, regulated Poland's western border.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=109}} The [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)]] had not made a definitive ruling in regard to Poland's eastern border but on 8 December 1919, the Allied [[Supreme War Council]] issued a provisional boundary (its later version would be known as the [[Curzon Line]]).{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=150–154}} It was an attempt to define the areas that had an "indisputably Polish ethnic majority".{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=109}}<ref name="What Really Happened at Paris"/>{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=113}} The permanent border was contingent on the Western powers' future negotiations with [[White movement|White Russia]], presumed to prevail in the Russian Civil War.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=150–154}} Piłsudski and his allies blamed Prime Minister [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski|Ignacy Paderewski]] for this outcome and caused his dismissal. Paderewski, embittered, withdrew from politics.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=113}}

[[File:19190501-lenin speech red square.jpg|thumb|[[Vladimir Lenin]] in 1919]]
The leader of Russia's new Bolshevik government, [[Vladimir Lenin]], aimed to regain control of the territories abandoned by Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 (the treaty was annulled by Russia on {{awrap|13 November 1918)}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=48–50}} and to set up [[Soviet (council)|Soviet]] governments in the emerging countries in the [[Western Krai|western parts]] of the former Russian Empire. The more ambitious goal was to also reach Germany, where he expected a [[socialism|socialist]] revolution to break out. By the end of summer 1919, the Soviets had taken over most of [[Eastern Ukraine|eastern]] and [[central Ukraine]] (formerly parts of the Russian Empire) and driven the [[Directorate of Ukraine]] from [[Kyiv|Kiev]]. In February 1919, they set up the [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia]] (Litbel). However, it is unlikely that the Soviets forced planned further incursions westward.{{sfn|Davies|2003 | page = 29}}

From late 1919, Lenin, encouraged by the Red Army's civil war victories over the White Russian forces and their Western allies, began to envision the future of [[world revolution]] with greater optimism. The Bolsheviks proclaimed the need for the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] and agitated for a worldwide communist community. They intended to link the revolution in Russia with a communist [[Hungarian Revolution of 1918–1920|Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)]] they had hoped for and to assist other communist movements in Europe. To be able to provide direct physical support to revolutionaries in the West, the Red Army would have to cross the territory of Romania.{{Sfn|Smele|2015|p=102}}

According to the historian [[Andrzej Chwalba]], however, the scenario was different in late 1919 and winter–spring 1920. The Soviets, facing decreasing revolutionary fervor in Europe and having to deal with Russia's own problems, attempted to make peace with its neighbors, including Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=159–162, 167–170}}

[[File:Jozef Pilsudski w Poznaniu.jpg|thumb|right|[[Józef Piłsudski]] in 1919]]

According to [[Aviel Roshwald]], (Piłsudski) "hoped to incorporate most of the territories of the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into the future Polish state by structuring it as the Polish-led, multinational federation."<ref name="Roshwald1"/> Piłsudski had wanted to [[Prometheism|break up the Russian Empire]] and set up the ''[[Intermarium]]'' federation of various different states: Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and other Central and East European countries that emerged from the crumbling empires after World War I. In Piłsudski's vision, Poland would replace a truncated and vastly reduced Russia as the great power of Eastern Europe. His plan excluded negotiations prior to military victory.<ref name="Snyder-P"/><ref name="Debo59"/><ref name="Billington1"/><ref name="Pacz1"/><ref name="Mearsheimer"/><ref name="Brzez"/> He had hoped that the new Poland-led union would become a counterweight to any potential [[imperialism|imperialist]] intentions of Russia or Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://jozefdarski.pl/6052-testament-marszalka-jozefa-pilsudskiego |title=Testament Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego |date=13 May 2009}}</ref> Piłsudski believed that there could be no independent Poland without a Ukraine free of Russian control, thus his main interest was in splitting Ukraine from Russia.<ref name="PolSize"/><ref name="FreeFromRU"/> He used military force to expand the Polish borders in Galicia and [[Volhynia]] and crush a Ukrainian attempt at self-determination in the disputed territories east of the Curzon Line, which contained a significant Polish minority.<ref name="Cienciala"/> On 7 February 1919, Piłsudski spoke on the subject of Poland's future frontiers:<blockquote>"At the moment Poland is essentially without borders and all that we can gain in this regard in the west depends on the [[Triple Entente|Entente]]&nbsp;– on the extent to which it may wish to squeeze Germany. In the east, it's a different matter; there are doors here that open and close and it depends on who forces them open and how far".<ref name="MM" /><ref name="Hauser" /></blockquote>Polish military forces had thus set out to expand far in the eastern direction. As Piłsudski imagined, <blockquote>"Closed within the boundaries of the 16th century, cut off from the [[Black Sea]] and Baltic Sea, deprived of land and mineral wealth of the South and South-east, Russia could easily move into the status of second-grade power. Poland, as the largest and strongest of the new states, could easily establish a sphere of influence stretching from [[Finland]] to the [[Caucasus]]".<ref name="Russia under the Bolshevik Regime 1919-1924" /></blockquote>Piłsudski's concepts appeared more progressive and democratic in comparison with the rival [[National Democracy (Poland)|National Democracy]]'s plans,<ref name="Pacz1" /><ref name="Brzoza Sowa 29" />{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=112}} although both pursued the idea of direct incorporation and [[Polonization]] of the disputed eastern lands.<ref name="Prybyla2010">{{cite book|author=Jan S. Prybyla|title=When Angels Wept: The Rebirth and Dismemberment of Poland and Her People in the Early Decades of the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYDpK1cH76oC&pg=PA46|access-date=16 February 2011|year=2010|publisher=Wheatmark, Inc.|isbn=978-1-60494-325-2|pages=46–}}</ref> However Piłsudski used his "federation" idea instrumentally. As he wrote to his close associate [[Leon Wasilewski]] in April 1919, (for now)<blockquote>"I want to be neither an imperialist nor a federalist. ... Taking into account that, in this God's world, an empty talk of the brotherhood of people and nations as well as the American little doctrines seem to be winning, I gladly side with the federalists".{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=112}}</blockquote>According to Chwalba, the differences between Piłsudski's vision of Poland and that of his rival National Democratic leader [[Roman Dmowski]] were more rhetorical than real. Piłsudski had made many obfuscating statements, but never specifically stated his views regarding Poland's eastern borders or political arrangements he intended for the region.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=125–136}}

=== Preliminary hostilities ===
From late 1917, Polish [[October Revolution|revolutionary]] military units were formed in Russia. They were combined into the [[52nd Rifle Division|Western Rifle Division]] in October 1918. In summer 1918, a short-lived [[communism in Poland|Polish communist]] government, led by Stefan Heltman, was created in Moscow. Both the military and civilian structures were meant to facilitate the eventual introduction of communism into Poland in the form of a Polish [[Soviet republic (system of government)|Soviet Republic]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=12–16}}

[[File:Józef Piłsudski with Supreme Command of Polish Military Organisation in 1917.PNG|thumb|left|Activists of the [[Polish Military Organisation]] in 1917]]
Given the precarious situation resulting from the withdrawal of German forces from Belarus and Lithuania and the expected arrival of the Red Army there, [[Self-Defence of Lithuania and Belarus (1918)|Polish Self-Defence]] had been organized in autumn 1918 around major concentrations of Polish population, such as [[Minsk]], [[Vilnius]] and [[Grodno]]. They were based on the [[Polish Military Organisation]] and were recognized as part of the [[Polish Armed Forces]] by the decree of Polish Chief of State Piłsudski, issued on 7 December 1918.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=12–16, 48–50}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=95–96}}

The German {{lang|de|[[Workers' council|Soldatenrat]]}} of ''Ober Ost'' declared on 15 November that its authority in Vilnius would be transferred to the Red Army.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=48–50}}

In late autumn 1918, the Polish [[4th Rifle Division (Poland)|4th Rifle Division]] fought the Red Army in Russia. The division operated under the authority of the [[Blue Army (Poland)|Polish Army in France]] and General [[Józef Haller]]. Politically, the division fought under the [[Polish National Committee (1917–1919)|Polish National Committee]] (KNP), recognized by the Allies as a temporary government of Poland. In January 1919, per Piłsudski's decision, the 4th Rifle Division became part of the Polish Army.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=13}}

The Polish Self-Defence forces were defeated by the Soviets at a number of locations.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=12–16}} Minsk was taken by the Russian [[16th Army (RSFSR)|Western Army]] on 11 December 1918.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=93}} The [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia]] was declared there on 31 December. After three days of heavy fighting with the Western Rifle Division, the Self-Defence units withdrew from Vilnius on 5 January 1919. Polish–Soviet skirmishes continued in January and February.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=12–16, 48–50}}

The Polish armed forces were hurriedly formed to fight in several border wars. Two major formations manned the Russian front in February 1919: the northern, led by General [[Wacław Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański]], and the southern, under General [[Antoni Listowski]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=12–16}}

=== Polish–Ukrainian War ===
{{Main|Polish–Ukrainian War}}
On 18 October 1918, the [[Ukrainian National Council]] was formed in [[Eastern Galicia]], still part of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]]; it was led by [[Yevhen Petrushevych]]. The establishment of a Ukrainian state there was proclaimed in November 1918; it had become known as the West Ukrainian People's Republic and it claimed [[Lviv|Lwów]] as its capital.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 27–28" /> Because of Russia-related political considerations, the Ukrainian attempts failed to generate support of the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] powers.<ref name="Snyder Nations 137–138" />

[[File:Haller and blue army.jpg|thumb|right|General [[Józef Haller]] swearing for the Polish flag when he was nominated to command the [[Blue Army (Poland)|Blue Army]]]]

Key buildings in Lwów were seized by the Ukrainians on 31 October 1918. On 1 November, Polish residents of the city counterattacked and the Polish–Ukrainian War began.<ref name="Snyder Nations 137–138"/> Lwów was under Polish control from 22 November.<ref name="Buszko Historia Polski 229–230"/> To Polish politicians, the Polish claim to Lwów and eastern Galicia was indisputable; in April 1919, the Legislative Sejm unanimously declared that all of Galicia should be annexed by Poland.<ref name="Snyder Nations 136"/> In April to June 1919, the Polish Blue Army of General Józef Haller arrived from [[France]]. It consisted of over 67,000 well-equipped and highly trained soldiers.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=37}} The Blue Army helped drive the Ukrainian forces east past the [[Zbruch]] River and decisively contributed to the outcome of the war. The West Ukrainian People's Republic was defeated by mid-July and eastern Galicia had come under Polish administration.<ref name="Snyder Nations 137–138"/><ref name="Buszko Historia Polski 229–230"/> The destruction of the West Ukrainian Republic confirmed the belief held by many Ukrainians that Poland was the main enemy of their nation.<ref name="Lukowski Second"/>

From January 1919 fighting also took place in Volhynia, where the Poles faced the forces of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] led by [[Symon Petliura]]. The Polish offensive resulted in a takeover of the western part of the province.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=118–119}} The Polish–Ukrainian warfare there was discontinued from late May, and in early September an armistice was signed.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=118–119}}

On 21 November 1919, after contentious deliberations, the Allied Supreme War Council mandated Polish control over eastern Galicia for 25 years, with guarantees of [[autonomy]] for the Ukrainian population.<ref name="Buszko Historia Polski 229–230"/><ref name="Brzoza Sowa 29"/> The [[Conference of Ambassadors]], which replaced the Supreme War Council, recognized the Polish claim to eastern Galicia in March 1923.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 29"/><ref name="Snyder Nations 141–142"/>

=== Polish intelligence ===
[[Jan Kowalewski]], a [[multilingualism|polyglot]] and amateur [[Cryptography|cryptographer]], broke the codes and [[cipher]]s of the army of the West Ukrainian People's Republic and of General [[Anton Denikin]]'s White Russian forces.<ref name="Woytak Kowalewski"/><ref name="Enigma: How the Poles Broke the Nazi Code"/> In August 1919, he became chief of the Polish [[Staff (military)|General Staff]]'s cryptography section in Warsaw.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=65–66}} By early September, he had gathered a group of mathematicians from the [[University of Warsaw]] and the [[University of Lviv|University of Lwów]] (most notably the founders of the [[Polish School of Mathematics]]&nbsp;– [[Stanisław Leśniewski]], [[Stefan Mazurkiewicz]] and [[Wacław Sierpiński]]), who succeeded in breaking the Soviet Russian ciphers as well. During the Polish–Soviet War, the Polish decryption of Red Army radio messages made it possible to use Polish military forces efficiently against Soviet Russian forces and to win many individual battles, most importantly the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]].<ref name="Woytak Kowalewski">{{cite journal |first=Richard |last=Woytak |author-link=Richard Woytak |title=Colonel Kowalewski and the Origins of Polish Code Breaking and Communication Interception |journal=[[East European Quarterly]] |volume=XXI |number=4 |date=January 1988 |pages=497–500}}</ref><ref name="Enigma: How the Poles Broke the Nazi Code">{{cite book |first=Robert J. |last=Hanyok |year=2004 |title=Enigma: How the Poles Broke the Nazi Code |chapter=Appendix B: Before Enigma: Jan Kowalewski and the Early Days of the Polish Cipher Bureau (1919–22) |publisher=Hyppocrene Books |isbn=978-0-7818-0941-2 |page=163}}</ref>

== War ==

=== Early progression of the conflict ===
{{very long section|reason=adding subsections may help navigation.|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Guèrra Sovietopolonesa (1919-1921).png|thumb|Five stages in the Polish–Soviet War]]
On 5 January 1919, the Red Army took Vilnius, which led to the establishment of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (Litbel) on 28 February.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/><ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/> On 10 February, Soviet Russia's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)|People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs]] [[Georgy Chicherin]] wrote to Polish Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski, proposing resolution of matters of disagreement and establishment of relations between the two states. It was one of the series of notes exchanged by the two governments in 1918 and 1919.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=48–55}}

In February, Polish troops marched east to face the Soviets; the new Polish Sejm declared the need to liberate "the northeast provinces of Poland with their capital in Wilno [Vilnius]".<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> After the German World War I troops had been evacuated from the region, the [[Battle of Bereza Kartuska]], a Polish–Soviet skirmish, took place.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=100–101}} It occurred during a local Polish offensive action of 13–16 February, led by General Antoni Listowski, near [[Byaroza]], Belarus.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=22}}<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=100–101}}<ref name="Davies_GP_292"/> The event has been presented as the beginning of the war of liberation by the Polish side, or of Polish aggression by the Russian side.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=100–101}} By late February, the [[Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919|Soviet westward offensive]] had come to a halt. As the low-level warfare continued, the Polish units crossed the [[Neman]] River, took [[Pinsk]] on 5 March and reached the outskirts of [[Lida]]; on 4 March,{{timeframe|reason=Marching backwards in time, and space?|date=July 2024}} Piłsudski ordered further movement to the east stopped.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=50–55}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=100–101}} The Soviet leadership had become preoccupied with the issue of providing military assistance to the Hungarian Soviet Republic and with the [[Siberia]]n [[Spring offensive of the White Army|offensive]] of the [[White Army]], led by [[Alexander Kolchak]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=98, 100–101}}

By July 1919 Polish armies eliminated the West Ukrainian People's Republic.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=113}} Secretly preparing an assault on Soviet-held Vilnius, in early April Piłsudski was able to shift some of the forces used in Ukraine to the northern front. The idea was to create a ''fait accompli'' and to prevent the Western powers from granting the territories claimed by Poland to White Russia (the Whites were expected to prevail in the Russian Civil War).{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}

[[File:Wilno 1919 Piłsudski.jpg|thumb|Piłsudski in [[Vilnius]]]]

A new Polish offensive started on 16 April.<ref name="pwn_polbol" /><ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}} Five thousand soldiers, led by Piłsudski, headed for Vilnius.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=103}} Advancing to the east, the Polish forces took Lida on 17 April, [[Novogrudok]] on 18 April, [[Baranavichy]] on 19 April and Grodno on 28 April.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=104–106}} Piłsudski's group entered Vilnius on 19 April and [[Vilna offensive|captured the city]] after two days of fighting.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=104–106}} The Polish action drove the Litbel government from its proclaimed capital.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/><ref name="Cienciala" />

Upon the taking of Vilnius, in pursuit of his federation objectives, Piłsudski issued a "Proclamation to the inhabitants of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania" on 22 April. It was sharply criticized by his rival National Democrats, who demanded direct incorporation of the former Grand Duchy lands by Poland and signaled their opposition to Piłsudski's territorial and political concepts. Piłsudski had thus proceeded to restore the historic territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by military means, leaving the necessary political determinations for later.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}

On 25 April, Lenin ordered the [[Western Front (RSFSR)|Western Front]] commander to reclaim Vilnius as soon as possible. The Red Army formations that attacked the Polish forces were defeated by [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]]'s units between 30 April and 7 May.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=106–107}} While the Poles extended their holdings further, the Red Army, unable to accomplish its objectives and facing intensified combat with the White forces elsewhere, withdrew from its positions.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}

The Polish "Lithuanian–Belarusian [[Front (military formation)|Front]]" was established on 15 May and placed under command of General [[Stanisław Szeptycki]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=100–101}}

In a statute passed on 15 May, Polish Sejm called for the inclusion of the eastern borderline nations in the Polish state as autonomous entities. It was intended to make a positive impression on the participants at the Paris Peace Conference. At the conference, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ignacy Paderewski declared Poland's support for self-determination of the eastern nations, in line with [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Wilsonianism|doctrine]] and in an effort to secure Western support for Poland's policies in regard to Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=137–138}}

The Polish offensive was discontinued around the line of German trenches and fortifications from World War I, because of high likelihood of Poland's war with Weimar Germany over territorial and other issues. Half of Poland's military strength had been concentrated on the German front by mid-June. The offensive in the east was resumed at the end of June, following the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, signed and ratified by Germany, preserved the ''[[status quo]]'' in western Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=107–109}}

On the southern front in Volhynia, in May and in July the Polish forces confronted the Red Army, which was in process of pushing Petliura's Ukrainian units out of the contested territories. The rural [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] population there was hostile to the Polish authorities and actively supported the Bolsheviks.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=118–119}} Also in [[Podolia]] and near the eastern reaches of Galicia, the Polish armies kept slowly advancing to the east until December. They crossed the Zbruch River and displaced Soviet forces from a number of localities.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=118–119}}

[[File:Pilsudskiwithsoldiers.jpg|thumb|Piłsudski in [[Minsk]]]]

The Polish forces [[Operation Minsk|took Minsk]] on 8 August.<ref name="pwn_polbol" />{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}} The [[Berezina]] River was reached on 18 August.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}} On 28 August, [[tank]]s were deployed for the first time and the town of [[Babruysk]] was captured.<ref name="pwn_polbol" />{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}} By 2 September, Polish units reached the Daugava River.<ref name="pwn_polbol" /> [[Barysaw]] was taken on 10 September and parts of [[Polotsk]] on 21 September.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}} By mid-September, the Poles secured the region along the Daugava from the [[Dysna]] River to [[Daugavpils]].<ref name="pwn_polbol" /> The frontline had also extended south, cutting through [[Polesia]] and Volhynia;{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}} along the Zbruch River it reached the [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian]] border.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}} A Red Army assault between the Daugava and Berezina Rivers was repelled in October and the front had become relatively inactive with sporadic encounters only, as the line designated by Piłsudski to be the goal of the Polish operation in the north was reached.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=111–114}}

In autumn 1919, the Sejm voted to incorporate into Poland the conquered territories up to the Daugava and Berezina Rivers, including Minsk.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=141}}

The Polish successes in summer 1919 resulted from the fact that the Soviets prioritized the war with the White forces, which was more crucial for them. The successes created an illusion of Polish military prowess and Soviet weakness.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/> As Piłsudski put it, "I am not worried about the strength of Russia; if I wanted to, I could go now, say to Moscow, and no one would be able to resist my power ...".{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=110}} The offensive was restrained in late summer by Piłsudski, because he did not want to improve the strategic situation of the advancing Whites.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/>

In early summer 1919, the White movement had gained the initiative and its forces, commanded by Anton Denikin and known as the [[Volunteer Army]], marched on Moscow. Piłsuski refused to join the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War because he considered the Whites more threatening to Poland than the Bolsheviks.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=112}} Piłsudski's adversarial relationship with tsarist Russia went back to the earlier stages of his career. He engaged in warfare with Soviet Russia from the beginning of his tenure as Polish commander-in-chief.<ref name="Urb 90-2" /> Based on this experience, he underestimated the strength of the Bolsheviks.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=112}} Piłsudski also thought he could get a better deal for Poland from the Bolsheviks than from the Whites,<ref name="Kenez" /> who represented, in his opinion, the old Russian imperial policies, hostile to strong Poland and Ukraine independent from Russia, Piłsudski's main objectives.<ref name="Urb 83-2" /> The Bolsheviks had proclaimed the partitions of Poland to be invalid and declared their support for self-determination of the Polish nation.<ref name="Urb 291" />{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=111}} Piłsudski thus speculated that Poland would be better off with the [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalist]] Bolsheviks, who were also alienated from the Western powers, than with the restored Russian Empire, its traditional [[Russian nationalism|nationalism]], and its partnership with Western politics.<ref name="Lukowski Second"/><ref name="Kenez" /><ref name="Urb 45-2" /> By his refusal to join the attack on Lenin's struggling government, he ignored strong pressure from the Triple Entente leaders and possibly saved the Bolshevik government in summer to fall 1919,<ref name="Palij" /> although a full-scale attack by the Poles to support Denikin would not have been possible.<ref name="Mawdsley" /> [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]] later commented on the likely disastrous consequences for the Bolsheviks if the Polish government undertook military cooperation with Denikin at the time of his [[Advance on Moscow (1919)|advance on Moscow]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=20–22}} In a book he later published, Denikin pointed at Poland as the savior of the Bolshevik power.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=154–158}}

[[File:PBW December 1919.png|thumb|Polish-held territory in December 1919]]

Denikin twice appealed to Piłsudski for help, in summer and in autumn 1919. According to Denikin, "The defeat of the south of Russia will make Poland face the power that will become a calamity for the Polish culture and will threaten the existence of the Polish state". According to Piłsudski, "The lesser evil is to facilitate a White Russia's defeat by Red Russia. ... With any Russia, we fight for Poland. Let all that filthy West talk all they want; we're not going to be dragged into and used for the fight against the Russian revolution. Quite to the contrary, in the name of permanent Polish interests, we want to make it easier for the revolutionary army to act against the counter-revolutionary army."{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=20–22}} On 12 December, the Red Army pushed Denikin out of Kiev.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=20–22}}

The self-perceived interests of Poland and White Russia were irreconcilable. Piłsudski wanted to break up Russia and create a powerful Poland. Denikin, Alexander Kolchak and [[Nikolai Yudenich]] wanted territorial integrity for the "one, great and indivisible Russia".{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=154–158}} Piłsudski held the Bolshevik military forces in low regard and thought of Red Russia as easy to defeat. The victorious in the civil war communists were going to be pushed far to the east and deprived of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic lands, and the southern Caucasus; they would no longer constitute a threat to Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=154–158}}

From the beginning of the conflict, many peace initiatives had been declared by the Polish and Russian sides, but they were intended as cover or stalling for time, as each side concentrated on military preparations and moves.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=16–18}} One series of Polish-Soviet negotiations commenced in [[Białowieża]] after the termination of the summer 1919 military activities; they were moved in early November 1919 to [[Mikashevichy]].<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=20–22}} Piłsudski's associate {{Ill|Ignacy Boerner|pl}} met there with Lenin's emissary [[Julian Marchlewski]]. Buoyed by their armies' successes in the Russian Civil War, the Soviet government rejected the tough Polish armistice conditions in December. Piłsudski broke off the Mikashevichy talks two days after the Soviet takeover of Kiev, but major military operations had not been resumed.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=20–22}} Early in the talks, Boerner informed Marchlewski that Poland had no intention of renewing its offensive; it allowed the Soviets to move forty-three thousand troops from the Polish front to fight Denikin.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/><ref name="McMeekin Revolution 293–294"/>

[[File:5 pp w Dyneburgu 1920.jpg|thumb|Polish soldiers enter [[Daugavpils]], January 1920]]

The only exception to the Polish policy of front stabilization since autumn 1919 was the winter attack on Daugavpils.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}} Rydz-Śmigły's previous attempts to capture the city in summer and early autumn had been unsuccessful.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}} A secret political and military pact regarding a common attack on Daugavpils was signed between representatives of Poland and the [[Latvian Provisional Government]] on 30 December. On 3 January 1920, Polish and Latvian forces (30,000 Poles and 10,000 Latvians) commenced a joint operation against the surprised enemy. The Bolshevik 15th Army withdrew and had not been pursued; the fighting terminated on 25 January.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}} The [[Battle of Daugavpils|taking of Daugavpils]] was accomplished primarily by the [[3rd Legions Infantry Division (Poland)|3rd Legions Infantry Division]] under Rydz-Śmigły.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–11}} Afterwards, the town and its vicinity were handed over to the Latvians.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=25–27}}<ref name="senn" /> The outcome of the campaign disrupted communications between Lithuanian and Russian forces.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}} A Polish garrison was stationed in Daugavpils until July 1920. Simultaneously, the Latvian authorities pursued peace negotiations with the Soviets, which resulted in the signing of a preliminary armistice. Piłsudski and the Polish diplomacy were not notified and had not been aware of this development.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=116–118}}

The fighting in 1919 resulted in the formation of a very long frontline, which, according to the historian Eugeniusz Duraczyński, favored Poland at this stage.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=112}}

In late 1919 and early 1920, Piłsudski undertook his gargantuan task of breaking up Russia and creating the ''Intermarium'' bloc of countries.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=114}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=6–7}} Given the refusal of Lithuania and other eastern [[Baltic region]] countries to participate in the project, he set his sights on Ukraine.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=25–27}}{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=114}}

=== Abortive peace process ===
[[File:No-nb bldsa 1c100 Georgy Chicherin and Maxim Litvinov.jpg|thumb|[[Georgy Chicherin]] (left) with [[Maxim Litvinov]] in 1920]]

In late autumn 1919, to many Polish politicians it appeared that Poland had achieved strategically desirable borders in the east and therefore fighting the Bolsheviks should be terminated and peace negotiations should commence. The pursuit of peace also dominated popular sentiments and anti-war demonstrations had taken place.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=158–159}}

The leadership of Soviet Russia confronted at that time a number of pressing internal and external problems. In order to effectively address the difficulties, they wanted to stop the warfare and offer peace to their neighbors, hoping to be able to come out of the international isolation they had been subjected to. Courted by the Soviets, the potential allies of Poland (Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, or the South Caucasus states) were unwilling to join a Polish-led anti-Soviet alliance. Faced with the diminishing revolutionary fervor in Europe, the Soviets were inclined to delay their hallmark project, a Soviet republic of Europe, to some indefinite future.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=159–161}}

The peace offers sent to Warsaw by Russia's Foreign Secretary Georgy Chicherin and other Russian governing institutions between late December 1919 and early February 1920 had not been responded to. The Soviets proposed a favorable for Poland troop demarcation line consistent with the current military frontiers, leaving permanent border determinations for later.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=161–162}}

While the Soviet overtures generated considerable interests on the parts of the socialist, agrarian and nationalist political camps, the attempts of the Polish Sejm to prevent further warfare turned futile. Piłsudski, who ruled over the military and to a considerable degree over the weak civilian government, prevented any movement toward peace. By late February, he directed the Polish representatives to engage in pretended negotiations with the Soviets. Piłsudski and his collaborators stressed what they saw as the increasing with time Polish military advantage over the Red Army and their belief that the state of war had created highly favorable conditions for Poland's economic development.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=162–167}}

On 4 March 1920, General [[Władysław Sikorski]] initiated a new offensive in Polesia; the Polish forces had driven a wedge between Soviet forces to the north (Belarus) and south (Ukraine). The Soviet counter-offensive in Polesia and Volhynia was pushed back.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=25–27}}

Polish–Russian peace negotiations in March 1920 produced no results. Piłsudski was not interested in a negotiated solution to the conflict. Preparations for a large-scale resumption of hostilities were being finalized and the newly declared (over the protest of a majority of parliamentary deputies) marshal and his circle expected the planned new offensive to lead to the fulfillment of Piłsudski's federalist ideas.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=171}}

On 7 April, Chicherin accused Poland of rejecting the Soviet peace offer and notified the Allies of the negative developments, urging them to prevent the forthcoming Polish aggression. The Polish diplomacy claimed the necessity to counteract the immediate threat of a Soviet assault in Belarus, but the Western opinion, to whom the Soviet arguments seemed reasonable, rejected the Polish narrative.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=167–170}} The Soviet forces on the Belarusian front were weak at the time and the Bolsheviks had no plans for an offensive action.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=162–167}}

=== Piłsudski's alliance with Petliura ===
[[File:Petlura-Piłsudski Winnica 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Józef Piłsudski]] (right in the train) and [[Symon Petliura]], 16 May 1920]]

Having resolved Poland's armed conflicts with the emerging Ukrainian states to Poland's satisfaction, Piłsudski was able to work on a Polish–Ukrainian alliance against Russia.<ref name="Snyder 139"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=172–174}} On 2 December 1919, [[Andriy Livytskyi]] and other Ukrainian diplomats declared their readiness to give up the Ukrainian claims to eastern Galicia and western Volhynia, in return for Poland's recognition of the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR).{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=172–174}} The [[Treaty of Warsaw (1920)|Treaty of Warsaw]], Piłsudski's agreement with [[Hetman]] Symon Petliura, the exiled Ukrainian nationalist leader, and two other members of the Directorate of Ukraine, was signed on 21 April 1920.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=27–28}}<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305"/> It appeared to be Piłsudski's major success, potentially signifying the beginning of a successful implementation of his long-held designs. Petliura, who formally represented the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which had ''de facto'' been [[Soviet–Ukrainian War|defeated by the Bolsheviks]], fled with some Ukrainian troops to Poland, where he found [[Right of asylum|political asylum]]. His control extended only to a sliver of land near the Polish-controlled areas.<ref name="Watt"/> Petliura had therefore little choice but to accept the Polish offer of alliance, largely on Polish terms, as determined by the outcome of the recent warfare between the two nations.<ref name="Debo210"/>

By concluding an agreement with Piłsudski, Petliura accepted the Polish territorial gains in western Ukraine and the future Polish–Ukrainian border along the Zbruch River. In exchange for renouncing the Ukrainian territorial claims, he was promised independence for Ukraine and Polish military assistance in reinstating his government in Kiev.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=114}} Given the powerful opposition against Piłsudski's eastern policy in war-tired Poland, the negotiations with Petliura were conducted in secrecy and the text of the 21 April agreement remained secret. Poland recognized in it Ukraine's right to parts of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (before 1772) east of the Zbruch.<ref name="Hauser"/> A military convention was added on 24 April; it placed Ukrainian units under Polish command.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=27–28}} By 1 May, a Polish–Ukrainian trade agreement was negotiated. It had not been signed, to prevent its far-ranging provisions anticipating exploitation of Ukraine by Poland from being revealed and from causing catastrophic damage to Petliura's political reputation.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=178–180}}

[[File:Symon Petliura and Antoni Listowski during Polish-Soviet War.PNG|thumb|left|Petliura (right) with Polish General [[Antoni Listowski]]]]
For Piłsudski, the alliance gave his campaign for the ''Intermarium'' federation an actual starting point and potentially the most important federation partner, satisfied his demands regarding parts of Polish eastern border relevant to the proposed Ukrainian state and laid a foundation for a Polish-dominated Ukrainian state between Russia and Poland.<ref name=Debo210/> According to Richard K. Debo, while Petliura could not contribute real strength to the Polish offensive, for Piłsudski the alliance provided some camouflage for the "naked aggression involved".<ref name=Debo210/> For Petliura, it was the final chance to preserve the Ukrainian statehood and at least a theoretical independence of the Ukrainian heartlands, despite his acceptance of the loss of West Ukrainian lands to Poland.

The British and the French did not recognize the UPR and blocked its admission to the [[League of Nations]] in autumn 1920. The treaty with the Ukrainian republic did not generate any international support for Poland. It caused new tensions and conflicts, especially within the Ukrainian movements that aimed for the country's independence.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=175–176}}

Regarding the deal they had concluded, both leaders encountered strong opposition in their respective countries. Piłsudski faced stiff opposition from Roman Dmowski's National Democrats, who opposed Ukrainian independence.<ref name="Snyder 139"/> To protest the alliance and the upcoming war over Ukraine, [[Stanisław Grabski]] resigned the chairmanship of the foreign affairs committee in the Sejm, where the National Democrats were a dominant force (their approval would be needed to finalize any future political settlement).{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=114}}<ref name="Snyder 139"/> Petliura was criticized by many Ukrainian politicians for entering a pact with the Poles and for abandoning western Ukraine (after the destruction of the West Ukrainian People's Republic, western Ukraine was – from their point of view – occupied by Poland).<ref name="Suny"/><ref name="Pyrig"/><ref name="Snyder 139"/>

During their occupation of the territory meant for the UPR, Polish officials engaged in forced requisitions, some of which were intended for troop supply, but also in extensive looting of Ukraine and its people. It ranged from activities approved and promoted at the highest level, such as the widespread theft of trains loaded with goods, to plunder perpetrated by Polish soldiers in Ukrainian countryside and cities. In his 29 April and 1 May letters to General [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]] and Prime Minister [[Leopold Skulski]], Piłsudski emphasized that the railroad booty had been enormous, but he could not divulge further because the appropriations took place in violation of Poland's treaty with Ukraine.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=178–198, 212}}

The alliance with Petliura gave Poland 15,000 allied Ukrainian troops at the beginning of the Kiev campaign,<ref name="Subtelny375"/> which increased to 35,000 by recruitment and from Soviet deserters during the war.<ref name="Subtelny375"/> According to Chwalba, 60,000 Polish soldiers and 4,000 Ukrainians took part in the original offensive; there were only 22,488 Ukrainian soldiers on the Polish food ration list as of 1 September 1920.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=80–82, 187}}

=== From Kiev offensive to armistice ===
{{Main|Polish–Soviet War in 1920}}

==== Polish forces ====
{{Further|Polish–Soviet War Polish order of battle}}

[[File:Command of Polish Regiment during Polish-Soviet war 1920.png|thumb|Polish officers on the southern front in 1920]]
The Polish Army was made up of soldiers who had served in the armies of the partitioning empires (especially professional [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]]), as well as many new enlistees and volunteers. The soldiers had come from different armies, formations, backgrounds and traditions. While veterans of Piłsudski's [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish Legions]] and the Polish Military Organisation formed a privileged stratum, integrating the Greater Poland Army and the Blue Army into the national force presented many challenges.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=17–22}} The unification of the Greater Poland Army led by General [[Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki]] (a highly regarded force of 120,000 soldiers), and the Blue Army led by General Józef Haller, with the main Polish Army under Piłsudski, had been finalized on 19 October 1919 in [[Kraków]], in a symbolic ceremony.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=39–40}}

Within the young Polish state whose continuous existence was uncertain, members of many groups resisted [[conscription]]. For example, Polish [[peasant]]s and small town dwellers, [[Jews]], or [[Ukrainians]] from Polish-controlled territories tended to avoid service in Polish armed forces for different reasons. The Polish military was overwhelmingly [[Ethnic group|ethnically]] Polish and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=29–33}} The intensifying [[desertion]] problem in summer 1920 led to the introduction of [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] for desertion in August. The summary military trials and the executions often took place on the same day.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=33–36}}

Female soldiers functioned as members of the [[Voluntary Legion of Women]]; they were normally assigned auxiliary duties.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=40–42}} A system of military training for officers and soldiers was established with significant help from the [[French Military Mission to Poland]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=44}}

The [[Polish Air Force]] had about two thousand planes, mostly old. 45% of them had been captured from the enemy. Only two hundred could be airborne at any given time. They were used for various purposes including combat, but mostly for [[reconnaissance]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=66–68}} 150 French pilots and navigators flew as part of the French Mission.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=70–71}}

According to [[Norman Davies]], estimating the strength of the opposing sides is difficult and even generals often had incomplete reports of their own forces.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=106}}

The Polish forces grew from approximately 100,000 by the end of 1918 to over 500,000 in early 1920 and 800,000 in the spring of that year.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=42–43, 184}}{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=83}} Before the Battle of Warsaw, the army reached the total strength of about one million soldiers, including 100,000 volunteers.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}

[[File:Dywizjon Kosciuszki.jpg|thumb|left|Polish fighters of the [[Kościuszko's Squadron|Kościuszko Squadron]]]]

The Polish armed forces were aided by military members of Western missions, especially the French Military Mission. Poland was supported, in addition to the allied Ukrainian forces (over twenty thousand soldiers),{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=80–82}} by Russian and Belarusian units and volunteers of many nationalities.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=70–71}} Twenty American pilots served in the [[Kościuszko's Squadron|Kościuszko Squadron]]. Their contributions in spring and summer 1920 on the Ukrainian front were considered to be of critical importance.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=74, 214–215}}

Russian anti-Bolshevik units fought on the Polish side. About one thousand White soldiers fought in summer 1919.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=77–80}} The largest Russian formation was sponsored by the Russian Political Committee represented by [[Boris Savinkov]] and commanded by General Boris Permikin.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=27–28}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=77–80}} The "3rd Russian Army" reached over ten thousand battle-ready soldiers and in early October 1920 was dispatched to the front to fight on the Polish side; they did not engage in combat because of the armistice that took effect at that time.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=77–80}} Six thousand soldiers fought valiantly on the Polish side in the "[[Cossacks|Cossack]]" Russian units from 31 May 1920.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=77–80}} Various smaller Belarusian formations fought in 1919 and 1920. However, the Russian, Cossack and Belarusian military organizations had their own political agendas and their participation has been marginalized or omitted in the Polish war narrative.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=77–80}}

Soviet losses and the spontaneous enrollment of Polish volunteers allowed rough numerical parity between the two armies;<ref name="Hauser"/> by the time of the Battle of Warsaw, the Poles may have had gained a slight advantage in numbers and logistics.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=196–202}} One of the major formations on the Polish side was the [[First Polish Army (1920)|First Polish Army]].

==== Red Army ====
[[File:Kalinin Trotsky Polish–Soviet War.jpg|right|thumb|[[Mikhail Kalinin]] and [[Leon Trotsky]] greet [[Red Army]] troops]]

In early 1918, Lenin and [[Leon Trotsky]] embarked on the rebuilding of the Russian armed forces. The new Red Army was established by the [[Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) on 28 January, to replace the demobilized Imperial Russian Army. Trotsky became [[commissar]] of war on 13 March and Georgy Chicherin took over Trotsky's previous job as foreign minister. On 18 April, the Commissar Bureau was created; it initiated the practice of assigning [[political commissar]]s to military formations.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 247–248"/> One million German soldiers occupied the western Russian Empire, but on 1 October, after the first indications of [[History of Germany during World War I|German defeat]] in the West, Lenin ordered general conscription with the intention of building a multi-million member army. While over 50,000 former tsarist officers had joined the White Army, 75,000 of them ended up in the Red Army by summer 1919.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 281–282"/>

The [[Revolutionary Military Council]] of the Russian Republic was established in September 1918. It was chaired by Trotsky. Trotsky lacked military experience or expertise, but knew how to mobilize troops and was a master of war propaganda. Revolutionary war councils of particular fronts and armies were placed under the council of the republic. The system was intended as implementation of the concept of collective leadership and management of military affairs.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=85–87}}

The Red Army's chief commander, from July 1919, was [[Sergey Kamenev]]; he was installed by [[Joseph Stalin]]. Kamenev's Field Staff was led by former tsarist generals. His every decision had to be approved by the Military Council. The actual command center was placed in an armored train, used by Trotsky to travel around the front areas and coordinate military activity.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=85–87}}

Hundreds of thousands of recruits deserted from the Red Army, which resulted in 600 public executions in the second half of 1919. The army, however, conducted operations on several fronts and had remained an effective fighting force.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 302–303"/>

Officially, there were five million soldiers in the Red Army as of 1 August 1920, but only 10 or 12 percent of them could be counted as the actual fighting force. Female volunteers served in combat on the same basis as men, also in [[Semyon Budyonny]]'s [[1st Cavalry Army]]. The Red Army was particularly weak in the areas of logistics, supplies, and communication. Great quantities of Western arms had been captured from the White and Allied forces and domestic production of military equipment kept increasing throughout the war. Still, the stocks were often critically short. As in the Polish Army, boots had been in short supply and many fought barefoot. There were relatively few Soviet airplanes (220 at the most at the Western Front){{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=322}} and the Polish air formations soon came to dominate the air space.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=89–91}}

[[File:Semyon Budyonny at the International Women's Day celebration at The House of Unions.jpg|thumb|[[Semyon Budyonny]] (1924)]]
When the Poles launched their Kiev offensive, the Russian [[Southwestern Front (RSFSR)|Southwestern Front]] had about 83,000 Soviet soldiers, including 29,000 front-line troops. The Poles had some numerical superiority, which was estimated from 12,000 to 52,000 personnel.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=106}} During the Soviet counter-offensive in mid-1920, on all fronts, the Soviets numbered about 790,000, at least 50,000 more than the Poles. Mikhail Tukhachevsky estimated that he had 160,000 combat ready soldiers, while Piłsudski estimated Tukhachevsky's forces at 200,000–220,000.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=142–143}}

In 1920, the Red Army personnel numbered 402,000 on the Soviet Western Front and 355,000 on the Southwestern Front in Galicia, according to Davies.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=142–143}} [[Grigori F. Krivosheev]] gives 382,071 personnel for the Western Front and 282,507 for the Southwestern Front between July and August.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century |last=Krivosheev |first=Grigoriy F. |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1997 |location=Pennsylvania |page=17 |chapter=Table 7: Average Monthly Personal Strength of Fronts and Independent Armies in 1920 |quote=Numerical strength [Commanders/NCOs and men/Total]: 7th Independent Army: 13,583/141,070/154,653; Western Front: 26,272/355,799/382,071; South-Western Front: 17,231/265,276/282,507; Southern Front (against Wrangel): 26,576/395,731/422,307; Caucasian Front: 32,336/307,862/340,198; Turkestan Front: 10,688/150,167/160,855; 5th Independent Army: 9,432/104,778/114,210. // All numbers for the months July–August, except for Southern Front (against Wrangel), which is for the month of October. |orig-year=1993}}</ref>

After the reorganization of the Western Rifle Division in mid-1919, there were no separate Polish units within the Red Army. Within both the Western and the Southwestern Fronts, besides Russian units, there had been separate Ukrainian, Latvian, and German–Hungarian units. In addition, many communists of various nationalities, for example the Chinese, fought in integrated units. The Lithuanian Army supported the Soviet forces to some degree.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=27–28}}

Among the commanders leading the Red Army offensive were Semyon Budyonny, Leon Trotsky, Sergey Kamenev, Mikhail Tukhachevsky (the new commander of the Western Front), [[Alexander Yegorov (soldier)|Alexander Yegorov]] (the new commander of the Southwestern Front), and [[Hayk Bzhishkyan]].

==== Logistics and plans ====
Logistics were very bad for both armies and were supported by whatever equipment was left over from World War I or could be captured. The Polish Army, for example, used guns made in five countries and rifles manufactured in six, each of which used different ammunition.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=85}} The Soviets had at their disposal many military depots that were left by the German armies after their withdrawal in 1918–1919, and modern French armaments that were captured in great numbers from the White Russians and the Allied expeditionary forces during the Russian Civil War. Still, they suffered a shortage of arms, as both the Red Army and the Polish forces were grossly underequipped by Western standards.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=85}}

[[File:Tadeusz Rozwadowski 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski|Tadeusz Rozwadowski]]]]

However, the Red Army had at its disposal an extensive arsenal as well as fully functional armament industry concentrated in [[Tula, Russia|Tula]], both inherited from tsarist Russia.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/><ref name="McMeekin Revolution 286–287"/> In contrast, the partitioning powers had all deliberately avoided industrializing ethnically Polish territories, let alone permit the establishment of any meaningful armaments industry within them. As a result, there were no firearm factories in Poland and everything, including rifles and ammunition, had to be imported.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/> Gradual progress in the area of military manufacturing had been made and after the war there were in Poland 140 industrial establishments producing military items.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=49}}

The Polish–Soviet War was fought not by [[trench warfare]] but by maneuverable formations. The total front was 1500&nbsp;km (over 900&nbsp;mi) long and was manned by relatively small amounts of troops.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/> Around the time of the Battle of Warsaw and afterwards, the Soviets suffered from overly long transportation lines and had been unable to supply their forces in a timely manner.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/>

By early 1920, the Red Army had been very successful against the White movement.<ref name="Mearsheimer"/> In January 1920, the Soviets began concentrating forces on the Polish northern front, along the Berezina River.<ref name="Davies_GP_292"/> British Prime Minister David Lloyd George ordered the Baltic Sea blockade of Soviet Russia lifted. [[Estonia]] signed with Russia the [[Treaty of Tartu (Estonia–Russia)|Treaty of Tartu]] on 3 February, recognizing the Bolshevik government. European arms merchants proceeded with supplying the Soviets with items needed by the military, for which the Russian government paid with gold and valuables taken from the imperial stock and confiscated from individuals.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 302–303"/>

From early 1920, both the Polish and Soviet sides had prepared for decisive confrontations. However, Lenin and Trotsky had not yet been able to dispose of all the White forces, including especially the army of [[Pyotr Wrangel]], threatening them from the south. Piłsudski, unconstrained by such limitations, was able to attack first.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|p=112}} Convinced that the Whites were no longer a threat to Poland, he resolved to take care of the remaining enemy, the Bolsheviks.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305"/> The plan for the Kiev offensive was to beat the Red Army on Poland's southern flank and to install the pro-Polish Petliura government in Ukraine.<ref name="Cienciala"/>

[[Victor Sebestyen]], author of a 2017 biography of Lenin, wrote: "The newly independent Poles started the war. With England and France's backing, they invaded Ukraine in spring 1920." Some Allied leaders had not supported Poland, including former British Prime Minister [[H. H. Asquith]], who called the Kiev offensive "a purely aggressive adventure, a wanton enterprise". Sebestyen characterized Piłsudski as a "Polish nationalist, not a socialist".<ref name="Sebestyen Lenin 457–458"/>

==== Kiev offensive ====
{{Main|Kiev offensive (1920)}}

[[File:PBW June 1920.png|thumb|Polish [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kiev offensive]] at its height, June 1920]]

On 17 April 1920, the Polish General Staff ordered the armed forces to assume attack positions. The Red Army, which had been regrouping since 10 March, was not fully ready for combat.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}} The main goal of the military operation was to create a Ukrainian state, formally independent but under Polish patronage, which would separate Poland from Russia.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}

On 25 April, the southern group of Polish armies under Piłsudski's command commenced an offensive in the direction of [[Kyiv|Kiev]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}} The Polish forces were assisted by thousands of Ukrainian soldiers under [[Symon Petliura|Petliura]], who represented the Ukrainian People's Republic.<ref name="Subtelny375"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=187}}

[[Alexander Yegorov (soldier)|Alexander Yegorov]], commander of the [[Southwestern Front (Russian Empire)|Russian Southwestern Front]], had at his disposal the 12th and 14th Armies. They faced the invading force, but were small (15,000 battle-ready soldiers), weak, poorly equipped and had been distracted by [[Pitchfork uprising|peasant rebellions in Russia]]. Yegorov's armies had been gradually reinforced since the Soviets had found out of the Polish war preparations.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=188–189}}

[[File:Vladimir Lenin Speech in May 1920.jpg|left|thumb|[[Vladimir Lenin]], Chairman of the [[Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Council of People's Commissars]] of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]], delivers a speech to motivate troops to fight in the Polish–Soviet War on 5 May 1920]]

On 26 April, in his "Call to the People of Ukraine", Piłsudski told his intended audience that "the Polish Army would only stay as long as necessary until a legal Ukrainian government took control over its own territory". However, although many Ukrainians were anti-communist, many were [[anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]] and resented the Polish advance.<ref name="Cienciala"/><ref name="Suny"/>

The well-equipped and highly mobile Polish 3rd Army under [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły|Rydz-Śmigły]] quickly overpowered the Red Army in Ukraine.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=187–190}} The Soviet 12th and 14th Armies had for the most part declined to engage in combat and suffered limited losses; they withdrew or were pushed past the Dnieper River.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=114}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=189–190}} On 7 May, the combined Polish–Ukrainian forces, led by Rydz-Śmigły, encountered only token resistance as they entered Kiev, mostly abandoned by the Soviet military.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}

[[File:Polish troops in Kiev.jpg|thumb|Polish troops in [[Kyiv|Kiev]]]]

The Soviets proceeded with their first counteroffensive using the Western Front forces. Following the order of Trotsky, [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]] launched an offensive on the Belarusian front before the (planned by the Polish command) arrival of Polish troops from the Ukrainian front. On {{awrap|14 May,}} his forces attacked the somewhat weaker Polish armies there and penetrated the Polish-held areas (territories between the [[Daugava]] and the [[Berezina]] Rivers) to the depth of 100&nbsp;km. After two Polish divisions arrived from Ukraine and the new Reserve Army was assembled, [[Stanisław Szeptycki]], [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]] and [[Leonard Skierski]] led a Polish counteroffensive from 28 May. The result was the Polish recovery of the bulk of the lost territory. From 8 June, the front had stabilised near the [[Avuta]] River and remained inactive until July.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33, 57–58}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=206–208}}

This Polish thrust into Ukraine was met with Red Army counterattacks from 29 May.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/> By that time, Yegorov's Southwestern Front had been considerably reinforced and he initiated an assault maneuver in the Kiev area.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}

Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army (''[[1st Cavalry Army|Konarmia]]'') conducted repeated attacks and broke the Polish–Ukrainian front on 5 June.<ref name="pwn_polbol" /> The Soviets deployed mobile cavalry units to disrupt the Polish rearguard and target communications and logistics.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}} By 10 June, the Polish armies were in retreat along the entire front. Following Piłsudski's order, Rydz-Śmigły, with the Polish and Ukrainian troops under his command, abandoned Kiev (the city was not being attacked) to the Red Army.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=211–212}}

==== Soviet victories ====
[[File:Communists before being sent to the Polish Front.jpg|thumb|left|[[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian]] volunteers about to be sent to the Polish front]]

On 29 April 1920, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Communist Party of Russia appealed for volunteers for the war with Poland, to defend the Russian republic against a Polish [[Usurper|usurpation]]. The first units of the volunteer army departed Moscow and headed for the front on 6 May.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=57–58}} On 9 May, the Soviet newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' printed an article "Go West!" ({{langx|ru|На Запад!}}): "Through the corpse of White Poland lies the way to the World Inferno. On bayonets, we will carry happiness and peace to working humanity".<ref>Aleksandr Rubtsov. ''[https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2016/02/29/56cfe95f9a7947ed925e57de How in Russia is being resurrected the imperial idea (Как в России воскрешается имперская идея)]''. RBC.ru. 26 February 2016</ref> On 30 May 1920, General [[Aleksei Brusilov]], the last Tsarist commander-in-chief, published in ''[[Pravda]]'' an appeal titled "To All Former Officers, Wherever They Might Be", in which he encouraged anti-Bolshevik Russians to forgive past grievances and join the Red Army.<ref name="The Unofficial History of Russia" /> Brusilov considered it a patriotic duty of all Russian officers to enlist with the Bolshevik government, which he thought to be defending Russia against foreign invaders.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305"/> Lenin understood the importance of the appeal to [[Russian nationalism]]. The Soviet counteroffensive was indeed boosted by Brusilov's call: 14,000 former Imperial Russian Army officers and over 100,000 soldiers of lower ranks enlisted in or returned to the Red Army. Thousands of civilian volunteers also contributed to the war effort.<ref name="A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924" />

[[File:PBW August 1920.png|thumb|Soviet offensive successes, early August 1920]]

The 3rd Army and other Polish formations avoided destruction in the course of their long retreat from the Kiev frontier, but remained tied down in western Ukraine. They could not support the Polish northern front and reinforce, as planned by [[Józef Piłsudski|Piłsudski]], the defences at the [[Avuta|Avuta River]].<ref name="Lawrynowicz" />

Poland's 320&nbsp;km (200&nbsp;mi) long northern front was manned by a thin line of 120,000 troops, backed by some 460 artillery pieces, with no strategic reserves. This approach to holding ground harked back to the World War I practice of establishing a fortified line of defense. The Polish–Soviet front, however, bore little resemblance to that war's conditions, as it was weakly manned, supported with inadequate artillery, and had almost no fortifications. Such arrangement allowed the Soviets to attain numerical superiority at strategically crucial locations.<ref name="Lawrynowicz" />

Against the Polish line, the Red Army gathered its Western Front led by Tukhachevsky. Its numbers exceeded 108,000 infantry and 11,000 cavalry, supported by 722 artillery pieces and 2,913 machine guns.<ref name="Lawrynowicz" />

According to Chwalba, Tukhachevsky's 3rd, 4th, 15th and 16th Armies had a total of 270,000 soldiers and a 3:1 advantage over the Poles in the area of the Western Front's attack.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=218–219}}

[[File:Gayk Bzhishkyan.jpg|thumb|[[Hayk Bzhishkyan]] (taken 1922-1924)]]

A stronger and better prepared Soviet second northern offensive was launched on 4 July along the [[Smolensk]]–[[Brest, Belarus|Brest]] axis and crossed the Avuta and the Berezina Rivers.<ref name="pwn_polbol" />{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=57–58}}<ref name="Lawrynowicz" /> Important role was played by the 3rd Cavalry Corps, known as the "assault army" and led by [[Gaia Gai|Hayk Bzhishkyan]]. On the first day of fighting, the Polish first and second lines of defense were overpowered and on 5 July the Polish forces commenced a full and quick retreat along the entire front. The combat strength of the First Polish Army was reduced by 46% during the first week of fighting. The retreat soon turned into a chaotic and disorganized flight.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=218–219}}

On 9 July, Lithuania's talks with the Soviets commenced. The Lithuanians launched a series of attacks against the Poles and disorganized the planned relocation of Polish forces.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=59–60}} Polish troops withdrew from Minsk on {{awrap|11 July.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}}}

Along the line of old German trenches and fortifications from World War I, only Lida was defended for two days.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=220–222}} Bzhishkyan's units together with Lithuanian forces captured Vilnius on 14 July.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}}<ref name="Lawrynowicz" /> To the south, in eastern [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], Budyonny's cavalry approached [[Brody]], Lwów and [[Zamość]]. It had become clear to the Poles that the Soviet objectives were not limited to countering the effects of the Kiev offensive but that Poland's independent existence was at stake.<ref name="Lukowski" />

The Soviet armies moved toward the west at a remarkable speed. Carrying out a bold maneuver, Bzhishkyan took Grodno on 19 July; the strategically important and easy to defend [[Osowiec Fortress]] was captured by Bzhishkyan's 3rd Cavalry Corps on 27 July.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=220–222}} [[Białystok]] fell on 28 July and Brest on 29 July.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33, 59–60}} A Polish counteroffensive Piłsudski aimed for was thwarted by the unexpected fall of Brest.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33}} The Polish high command attempted to defend the [[Bug (river)|Bug]] River line, reached by the Russians on 30 July, but the quick loss of the [[Brest Fortress]] forced a cancellation of Piłsudski's plans.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=220–222}} On the same day Polish forces delayed the Soviet offensive in the [[Battle of Żabinka (July 1920)|Battle of Żabinka]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Odziemkowski |first=Janusz |title=Leksykon bitew polskich 1914 – 1920 |date=1998 |publisher=Oficyna Wydawnicza „Ajaks” |isbn=8385621466 |location=Pruszków}}</ref> After crossing the [[Narew]] River on 2 August, the Western Front was only about 100&nbsp;km (62&nbsp;mi) from Warsaw.<ref name="Lawrynowicz" />

By that time, however, Polish resistance intensified. The shortened front facilitated greater concentrations of Polish troops involved in defensive operations; they were being constantly reinforced due to the closeness of Polish population centers and the influx of volunteers. Polish supply lines had become short, while the opposite was true regarding the enemy logistics. As General Sosnkowski was able to generate and energize 170,000 new Polish soldiers within a few weeks, Tukhachevsky noted that instead of quickly concluding their mission as expected, his force encountered determined resistance.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=234–235}}

[[File:Polish Voluntary II Death Squad in Lviv 1920.PNG|thumb|Volunteers from [[Lviv|Lwów]] serving in the Polish Army's 2nd Death's Squadron]]

The Southwestern Front pushed the Polish forces out of most of Ukraine. [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] thwarted [[Sergey Kamenev]]'s orders and directed the formations under Budyonny's command to close on Zamość and Lwów, the largest city in eastern Galicia and garrison of the Polish 6th Army.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=113–117}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42}} The protracted [[Battle of Lwów (1920)|Battle of Lwów]] began in July 1920. Stalin's action was detrimental to the situation of the forces of Tukhachevsky in the north, since Tukhachevsky needed relief from Budyonny near Warsaw, where in August decisive battles were fought. Instead of performing a concentric attack on Warsaw, the two Soviet fronts were getting further apart.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42}} Piłsudski used the resulting void to launch his counteroffensive on 16 August, during the Battle of Warsaw.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/>

Fighting the Battle of Brody and [[Berestechko]] (29 July–3 August), the Polish forces attempted to stop Budyonny's advance on Lwów, but the effort was terminated by Piłsudski, who mustered two divisions to take part in the approaching struggle for the Polish capital.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=28–33, 61–62}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=217}}

On 1 August 1920, Polish and Soviet delegations met at [[Baranavichy]] and exchanged notes, but their armistice talks produced no results.<ref name="Babel2002">{{cite book |first=Isaac |last=Babel |title=1920 Diary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFKtD0ahKW0C&pg=RA1-PA117 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-09313-1 |page=118 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==== Diplomatic front ====
{{very long section|reason=adding subsections may help navigation.|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Bij Bolszewika.jpg|thumb|Polish propaganda poster with the caption: "Beat the Bolshevik"]]

The Western Allies were critical of Polish politics and unhappy with Poland's refusal to cooperate with the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, but they supported the Polish forces fighting the Red Army nevertheless, shipping to Poland armaments, extending credits and supporting the country politically. France was especially disappointed, but also particularly interested in defeating the Bolsheviks, so Poland was a natural ally in this respect. British politicians represented a gamut of opinions on the Polish–Russian issue, but many were highly critical of Polish policies and actions. In January 1920, the [[United States Secretary of War]] [[Newton D. Baker]] accused Poland of conducting imperial politics at the expense of Russia. In early spring 1920 the Allies, irritated by the Polish conduct, considered the idea of transferring the lands east of the Bug River to Allied control, under auspices of the League of Nations.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=150–154}}

In autumn 1919, the British government of Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] agreed to provide arms for Poland. On 17 May 1920, following the Polish takeover of Kiev, the cabinet spokesman asserted in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] that "no assistance has been or is being given to the Polish government".<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305"/>

The initial success of the Kiev offensive caused enormous euphoria in Poland and Piłsudski's leading role was recognized by most politicians.<ref name="Hauser"/> However, with the tide turning against Poland, Piłsudski's political power weakened, and that of his opponents, including [[Roman Dmowski]], rose. The government of [[Leopold Skulski]], Piłsudski's ally, resigned in early June. After protracted bickering, an extra-parliamentary government of [[Władysław Grabski]] was appointed on 23 June 1920.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=33–34}}

The Western Allies were worried by the progress of the Bolshevik armies but blamed Poland for the situation. The conduct of Polish leaders was adventurous in their opinion and amounted to foolishly playing with fire. It could lead to the destruction of the work of the Paris Peace Conference. Western societies wanted peace and good relations with Russia.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=225}}

[[File:Polish-soviet propaganda poster 1920.jpg|thumb|Russian Bolshevik propaganda poster]]

As the Soviet armies advanced, the Soviet leadership's confidence soared. In a telegram, Lenin exclaimed, "We must direct all our attention to preparing and strengthening the Western Front. A new slogan must be announced: Prepare for war against Poland".<ref name="Lincoln" /> The Soviet communist theorist [[Nikolai Bukharin]], writing for the newspaper ''Pravda'', wished for the resources to carry the campaign beyond Warsaw, "right up to [[London]] and [[Paris]]".<ref name="Cohen" /> According to General Tukhachevsky's exhortation, "Over the corpse of White Poland lies the path to world conflagration ... On to ... Warsaw! Forward!"<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305"/> As the victory seemed more certain to them, Stalin and Trotsky engaged in political intrigues and argued about the direction of main Soviet offensive.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Susan |last=Weissman |title=Victor Serge: The Course is Set on Hope |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |date=2001 |isbn=978-1-85984-987-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EydhXqizgkQC&dq=Poland+intrigues+Stalin+1920&pg=PA39 |page=40 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

At the height of the Polish–Soviet conflict, Jews were subjected to [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] violence by Polish forces, who considered them a potential threat and often accused of supporting the Bolsheviks.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David S. |last1=Wyman |first2=Charles H. |last2=Rosenzveig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6KVOsjpP0MC&dq=Polish-Soviet+war+jews&pg=PA103 |title=The World Reacts to the Holocaust |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |date=1996 |isbn=9780801849695 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Joanna B. |last=Michlic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6h2pI7o_zQC&dq=Polish-Soviet+war+jews&pg=PA89 |title=Poland's Threatening Other |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |date=2006 |isbn=9780803256378 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The perpetrators of the [[pogrom]]s that took place were motivated by ''[[Żydokomuna]]'' accusations.<ref name="Porter 137"/> During the Battle of Warsaw, the Polish authorities interned Jewish soldiers and volunteers and sent them to an [[internment]] camp.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ezra |last=Mendelsohn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_OXOwvjqjwC&dq=Polish-Soviet+war+jews&pg=PA40 |title=The Jews of East Central Europe Between the World Wars |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |date=1983 |isbn=0253204186 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="God's Playground: A History of Poland" />

[[File:Trotsky_on_a_Polish_poster_of_1920.jpg|thumb|Trotsky on an [[Anti-Sovietism|anti-Soviet]] Polish poster titled "Bolshevik freedom" which depicts him on a pile of skulls and holding a bloody knife, during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920. Small caption in the lower right corner reads:<br>
The Bolsheviks promised:<br>
We'll give you peace<br>
We'll give you freedom<br>
We'll give you land<br>
Work and bread<br>
Despicably they cheated<br>
They started a war<br>
With Poland<br>
Instead of freedom they brought<br>
The fist<br>
Instead of land – confiscation<br>
Instead of work – misery<br>
Instead of bread – famine.<br>
]]

To counter the immediate Soviet threat, national resources were urgently mobilized in Poland and competing political factions declared unity. On 1 July, the [[Council of National Defense (Poland)|Council of Defense of the State]] was appointed.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=33–34}} On 6 July, Piłsudski was outvoted in the council, which resulted in the trip of Prime Minister Grabski to the [[Spa Conference of 1920|Spa Conference]] in [[Belgium]] made to request Allied assistance for Poland and their mediation in setting up peace negotiations with Soviet Russia.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}}<ref name="Wandycz1962" /> The Allied representatives made a number of demands as conditions for their involvement.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}} On 10 July,{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}} Grabski signed an agreement containing several terms as required by the Allies: Polish forces would withdraw to the border intended to delineate Poland's eastern [[Ethnography|ethnographic]] frontier and published by the Allies on 8 December 1919; Poland would participate in a subsequent peace conference; and the questions of sovereignty over [[Vilnius]], [[Eastern Galicia]], [[Cieszyn Silesia]] and Danzig would be left up to the Allies.<ref name="Wandycz1962" />{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}} Promises of possible Allied help in mediating the Polish–Soviet conflict were made in exchange.<ref name="Wandycz1962" />{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}}
[[file:ParisPig1920.jpg|left|thumb|''A pig training in [[Paris]]'', a Soviet anti-Polish poster ironic on the topic of foreign support for Poles, 1920]]

On 11 July 1920, the British Foreign Secretary [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|George Curzon]] sent a telegram to [[Georgy Chicherin]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}}<ref name="ultim"/> It requested the Soviets to halt their offensive at what had since become known as the Curzon Line and to accept it as a temporary border with Poland (along the [[Bug (river)|Bug]] and [[San (river)|San]] Rivers){{sfn|Czubiński|2012|p=113}} until a permanent border could be established in negotiations.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}} Talks in London with Poland and the [[Baltic states]] were proposed. In case of a Soviet refusal, the British threatened to assist Poland with unspecified measures.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=Chwalba 226–228}}<ref name="Borzecki"/> Roman Dmowski's reaction was that Poland's "defeat was greater than the Poles had realized".{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=226–228}} In the Soviet response issued on 17 July, Chicherin rejected the British mediation and declared willingness to negotiate only directly with Poland.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}} Both the British and the French reacted with more definitive promises of help with military equipment for Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=Chwalba 228–229}}

The [[2nd World Congress of the Communist International|Second Congress of the Communist International]] deliberated in Moscow between 19 July and 7 August 1920. Lenin spoke of the increasingly favorable odds for the accomplishment of the World Proletarian Revolution, which would lead to the World Soviet Republic; the delegates eagerly followed daily reports from the front.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}} The congress issued an appeal to workers in all countries, asking them to forestall their governments' efforts to aid "White" Poland.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}}

Piłsudski lost another vote at the Defense Council and on 22 July the government dispatched a delegation to Moscow to ask for armistice talks. The Soviets claimed interest in peace negotiations only, the subject the Polish delegation was not authorized to discuss.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}}

[[File:Polrewkom 1920.jpg|thumb|left|[[Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee|Polrewkom]]]]

Sponsored by the Soviets, the [[Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee]] (Polrewkom) was formed on 23 July to organise the administration of Polish territories captured by the Red Army.<ref name="Cienciala" /><ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}} The committee was led by [[Julian Marchlewski]]; [[Felix Dzerzhinsky|Feliks Dzierżyński]] and [[Józef Unszlicht]] were among its members.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=34–36}} They found little support in Soviet-controlled Poland.<ref name="Suny" /> On 30 July in Białystok, the Polrewkom decreed the end of the Polish "[[szlachta|gentry]]–[[bourgeoisie]]" government. At Polrewkom's Białystok rally on 2 August, its representatives were greeted on behalf of Soviet Russia, the Bolshevik party and the Red Army by Mikhail Tukhachevsky.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}} The [[Galician Soviet Socialist Republic|Galician Revolutionary Committee]] (Galrewkom) was established already on 8 July.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 34–35"/>

[[File:Polish-Soviet War- 1920 Polish recuritment poster.jpg|thumb|Polish propaganda poster. The text reads: "To arms! Save the fatherland! Remember well our future fate."|right]]

On 24 July, the all-party Polish Government of National Defense under [[Wincenty Witos]] and [[Ignacy Daszyński]] was established.<ref name="Hauser"/><ref name="Lukowski Second"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}} It eagerly adopted a radical program of [[land reform]] meant to counter Bolshevik propaganda (the scope of the promised reform was greatly reduced once the Soviet threat had receded).<ref name="Lukowski Second"/> The government attempted to conduct peace negotiations with Soviet Russia; a new Polish delegation tried to cross the front and establish contact with the Soviets from 5 August.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}} On 9 August, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski became Minister of Military Affairs.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=61–62}}

Piłsudski was severely criticized by politicians ranging from Dmowski to Witos. His military competence and judgement were questioned and he displayed signs of mental instability. However, a majority of members of the Council of National Defense, which was asked by Piłsudski to rule on his fitness to lead the military, quickly expressed their "full confidence". Dmowski, disappointed, resigned his membership in the council and left Warsaw.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=230–233}}

Poland suffered from sabotage and delays in deliveries of war supplies when [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] and German workers refused to transit such materials to Poland.<ref name="Cienciala"/> After 24 July in Danzig, given the Germany-instigated strike of seaport workers, the British official and Allied representative [[Reginald Tower]], having consulted the British government, used his soldiers to unload commodities heading for Poland.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=238–239}} On 6 August, the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] printed in a pamphlet that British workers would not take part in the war as Poland's allies. In 1920 London [[dockworker]]s refused to allow a ship bound for Poland until the weapons were off-loaded. The [[Trades Union Congress]], the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]], and the [[National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|National Executive Committee]] also all threatened a [[general strike]] if the [[British Armed Forces]] directly intervened in Poland.<ref>{{Citation |last=Thorpe |first=Andrew |title=The Surge to Second-Party Status, 1914–22 |date=1997 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0_3 |work=A History of the British Labour Party |pages=49 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0_3 |isbn=978-0-333-56081-5 |access-date=2022-06-16|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[French Section of the Workers' International]] declared in its newspaper ''[[L'Humanité]]'': "Not a man, not a [[solidus (coin)|sou]], not a shell for the reactionary and capitalist Poland. Long live the Russian Revolution! Long live the Workers' International!".<ref name="Lawrynowicz"/> [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]], [[Austria]] and [[Belgium]] banned transit of materials destined for Poland through their territories.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}} On 6 August the Polish government issued an "Appeal to the World", which disputed the charges of Polish imperialism and stressed Poland's belief in self-determination and the dangers of a Bolshevik invasion of Europe.<ref>{{cite book|year=1921|title=The Annual Register|publisher=Abebooks|page=204|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2u11DxmyGcC&q=poland+appeal+to+the+world&pg=PA204}}</ref>

[[File:Lapy zydowskie.jpeg|thumb|[[Antisemitism|Antisemitic]] [[Żydokomuna|portrayal of a Bolshevik]]]]

[[Hungary]] offered to send a 30,000 cavalry corps to Poland's aid, but President [[Tomáš Masaryk]] and Foreign Minister [[Edvard Beneš]] of [[Czechoslovakia]] were opposed to assisting Poland and the Czechoslovak government refused to allow them through.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}} On 9 August 1920, Czechoslovakia declared neutrality regarding the Polish–Soviet War.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=61–62}} Significant amounts of military and other badly needed supplies from [[Hungary]] did arrive in Poland.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=240}} The leading Polish commander [[Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski|Tadeusz Rozwadowski]] spoke of the [[Hungarians]] in September 1920: "You were the only nation that really wanted to help us".{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=240}}

The Soviets presented their armistice conditions to the Allies on 8 August in Britain. Sergey Kamenev issued assurances of Soviet recognition of Poland's independence and right to [[self-determination]], but the conditions he presented amounted to demands for surrender of the Polish state. Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the British House of Commons approved the Soviet demands as just and reasonable and the British ambassador in Warsaw presented the United Kingdom's categorical advice on that matter to Foreign Minister [[Eustachy Sapieha]]. On 14 August, the Polish delegation finally went to Tukhachevsky's headquarters in Minsk for the official peace talks. Severe conditions for peace were presented to them by Georgy Chicherin on 17 August. Decisive battles were already taking place on the outskirts of Warsaw.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40, 63–64}} Most foreign deputations and Allied missions had left the Polish capital and went to [[Poznań]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42}}

In summer 1919, Lithuania had been engaged in [[Polish–Lithuanian War|territorial disputes and armed skirmishes]] with Poland over the city of Vilnius and the areas around [[Sejny]] and [[Suwałki]].<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> Piłsudski's attempt to take control of Lithuania by [[1919 Polish coup d'état attempt in Lithuania|engineering a coup]] in August 1919 contributed to worsening of the relations.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/><ref name="The History of Poland Since 1863"/> The Soviet and Lithuanian governments signed on 12 July 1920 the [[Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty]]; it recognised Vilnius and extended territories as parts of a proposed Greater Lithuania.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=228–229}}<ref name="Snyder Nations 78"/> The treaty contained a secret clause that allowed Soviet forces unrestricted movement in Lithuania during any Soviet war with Poland, which led to questions regarding Lithuanian [[neutral country|neutrality]] during the ongoing Polish–Soviet War.<ref name="Łossowski85"/><ref name="Łossowski126-128"/> The Lithuanians also provided the Soviets with logistic support.<ref name="Łossowski126-128"/> Following the treaty, the Red Army occupied Vilnius; the Soviets returned the city to Lithuanian control just before it was recaptured by Polish forces in late August.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> The Soviets had also encouraged their own communist government, the Litbel, and planned a Soviet-sponsored Lithuanian regime when they win the war with Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=228–229}}<ref name="eidintas2"/><ref name="The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918–1921"/> The Soviet–Lithuanian Treaty was a Soviet diplomatic victory and Polish defeat; it had, as predicted by the Russian diplomat [[Adolph Joffe]], a destabilizing effect on Poland's internal politics.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=228–229}}

[[File:Misja aliancka w Polsce (1920).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Interallied Mission to Poland]]]]

The French Military Mission to Poland of four hundred members arrived in 1919. It consisted mostly of French officers but included also a few [[British Military Mission to Poland|British advisers]] led by [[Adrian Carton de Wiart]]. In summer 1920, there were one thousand officers and soldiers in the mission, under General [[Paul Prosper Henrys]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=70–71}} Members of the French Mission, through the training programs they conducted and frontline involvement, contributed to battle readiness of Polish forces.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=70–71}} The French officers included Captain [[Charles de Gaulle]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=70–71}} During the Polish–Soviet War he won the [[Virtuti Militari]], Poland's highest military decoration. In France, de Gaulle had enlisted in General Józef Haller's "Blue Army". The army's transit to Poland in 1919 was facilitated by France.<ref name="Hauser"/> Blue Army troops were mostly of Polish origin but included also international volunteers who had been under French command during World War I. In 1920, France was reluctant to aid Poland in Poland's war with Soviet Russia. Only after the Soviet armistice conditions were presented on 8 August, France declared, through its representative in Warsaw, the intention to support Poland morally, politically and materially in its fight for independence.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=36–40}}

[[File:Maxime Weygand.jpg|thumb|[[Maxime Weygand]]]]

On 25 July 1920, the expanded [[Interallied Mission to Poland]] arrived in Warsaw.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=235–236}} Led by the British diplomat [[Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon|Edgar Vincent]], it included the French diplomat [[Jean Jules Jusserand]] and [[Maxime Weygand]], chief of staff to Marshal [[Ferdinand Foch]], the supreme commander of the victorious Entente. The Allied politicians expected to assume control over Poland's foreign affairs and military policies, with Weygand becoming top military commander in the war. It was not allowed and General Weygand accepted an advisory position.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=235–236}} The dispatch of the Allied mission to Warsaw was a proof that the West had not given up on Poland and gave the Poles a reason to believe that not all was lost.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=242}} The mission members made a significant contribution to the war effort. However, the crucial Battle of Warsaw was fought and won primarily by the Poles. Many in the West erroneously believed that it was the timely arrival of the Allies that had saved Poland; Weygand occupied the central role in the myth that was created.<ref name="Cienciala"/><ref name="Szczep"/>

As Polish–French cooperation continued, French weaponry, including infantry armament, artillery and [[Renault FT]] tanks, were shipped to Poland to reinforce its military. On 21 February 1921, France and Poland agreed to a [[Franco-Polish alliance|formal military alliance]].<ref name="Grosek"/> During the Polish-Soviet negotiations, Polish [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] paid particular attention to keeping the Allies informed of their course and making them feel co-responsible for the outcome.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=288–291}}

The Soviet emphasis had gradually shifted from promoting world revolution to dismantling the Treaty of Versailles system, which, in Lenin's words, was the treaty of the "triumphant world imperialism".{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=119–122}} Lenin made remarks to that effect during the 9th Conference of the Russian Communist Party RKP(b), convened on 22–25 September 1920.<ref name="Cienciala"/>{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=119–122}} He repeatedly referred to the Soviet military defeat, for which he indirectly held himself largely responsible. Trotsky and Stalin blamed each other for the war's outcome. Stalin sharply rebutted Lenin's accusations regarding Stalin's judgement ahead of the Battle of Warsaw.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=119–122}} As Lenin saw it, the conquest of Warsaw, not very important in itself, would have allowed the Soviets to demolish the Versailles European order.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=45–47}}

==== Before the battle ====
[[File:Parlamentariusze sowieccy 08.1920.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet delegates arrive for armistice negotiations before the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]], August 1920]]

According to the plan of the commander-in-chief of the Red Army Kamenev as of 20 July 1920, two Soviet fronts, Western and Southwestern, were going to execute a concentric attack on Warsaw. However, after consulting Tukhachevsky, the Western Front commander, Kamenev concluded that the Western Front alone could manage the occupation of Warsaw.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=113–117}}

[[File:Tuchaczewski 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]]]
Tukhachevsky's intention was to destroy the Polish armies in the region of Warsaw. His plan was to have one of his armies attack the Polish capital from the east, while three other were to force their way across the [[Vistula]] further north, between [[Modlin Fortress|Modlin]] and [[Toruń]]. Parts of this formation were going to be used to outflank Warsaw from the west. He issued orders to this effect on 8 August.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42, 61–62}} It had soon become apparent to Tukhachevsky that his designs were not producing the desired result.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42}}

The Southwestern Front was given the task of attacking Lwów. Accordingly (and in agreement with his own previously expressed views) Stalin, member of the Revolutionary Council of the Southwestern Front, directed Budyonny to unleash an assault on Lwów, aimed at taking the city (Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army and other Southwestern Front forces were originally supposed to head north in the direction of Brest, to execute, together with Tukhachevsky's armies, an assault on Warsaw). Budyonny's forces fought in the vicinity of Lwów until {{awrap|19 August.}} In the meantime, already on 11 August, Kamenev ordered the 1st Cavalry Army and the 12th Army of the Southwestern Front to proceed in the northwestern direction toward the Western Front area to fight there under Tukhachevsky's command. Kamenev repeated his order on 13 August, but Budyonny, following Stalin's directives, refused to obey. On 13 August, Tukhachevsky in vain pleaded with Kamenev to expedite the redirecting of both Southwestern armies to his area of combat. Such circumstances led to a Soviet disadvantage as the crucial Battle of Warsaw was about to unfold.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=113–117}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=246–247}}

Trotsky interpreted Stalin's actions as insubordination, but the historian Richard Pipes asserts that Stalin "almost certainly acted on Lenin's orders" in not moving the forces toward Warsaw.<ref name=pipes2/> According to Stalin's biographer Duraczyński, Stalin, despite his devotion to Lenin, displayed a great deal of initiative and boldness. Unlike other Soviet officials, including Lenin, he had not become euphoric about the Soviet victories. However, he insisted on the exceptional importance of the activities of the Southwestern Front, which turned out to be costly for the Soviets.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=113–117}}

Stalin may have been motivated by the letter Lenin wrote to him on 23 July. Regarding the defeat of the Polish armies as already practically accomplished, the Soviet leader suggested a redirection of main Soviet efforts toward the south-west, into Romania, Hungary, Austria, and ultimately [[Italy]]. Stalin agreed and he saw the conquest of Lwów on the way as fitting well with the overall scheme.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=246–247}}

Tukhachevsky later blamed Stalin for his defeat at the Battle of Warsaw.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brackman |first1=Roman |title=The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life |date=23 November 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-75840-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=stalin+tukhachevsky+1920&pg=PA135 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grey |first1=Ian |title=Stalin, Man of History |date=1979 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-14333-2 |page=482 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV9pAAAAMAAJ&q=tukhachevsky+blamed+stalin |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Norman |title=Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present |date=31 May 2001 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-164713-0 |page=103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWi-WLvY_v0C&dq=tukhachevsky+blamed+stalin&pg=PA103 |language=en}}</ref>

Piłsudski had his counteroffensive plan figured by 6 August. He resolved to reinforce the Warsaw and Modlin region, tie-up the Soviet assault forces there, and then use the divisions taken from the front and others in a risky maneuver of attacking the rear of Tukhachevsky's forces from the [[Wieprz]] River area. The Soviets found a copy of Piłsudski's order, but Tukhachevsky thought it to be a hoax. In the final parade Piłsudski received before the attack, about half of his worn out and undersupplied soldiers marched barefoot.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=40–42}}

==== Battle of Warsaw ====
{{Main|Battle of Warsaw (1920)}}

[[File:Sikorski 1920 5 Armia Wkra.jpg|thumb|[[Władysław Sikorski]] and the 5th Army Staff in August 1920]]

In August 1919, Polish military intelligence first decrypted the Red Army's radio messages.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/><ref name="Ścieżyński"/><ref name="Wroński">{{in lang|pl}} Paweł Wroński, ''Sensacyjne odkrycie: Nie było cudu nad Wisłą'' [A Sensational Discovery: There Was No Miracle at the Vistula], ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'', [http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,53600,2855976.html wiadomosci.gazeta.pl].</ref><ref name="Bury"/> From the spring of 1920, the Polish high command had been aware of current Soviet moves and plans, which may have had decisively influenced the outcome of the war.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/><ref name="Wroński"/>

On 8 August 1920, Tukhachevsky ordered some of the Soviet forces to cross the Vistula River in the area of Toruń and [[Płock]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=61–62}} The 4th Army and the formations under Hayk Bzhishkyan's command were supposed to take Warsaw from the west, while the main attack came from the east. On 19 August, after intense fighting, the Soviets were repelled from Płock and [[Włocławek]]. Bzhishkyan's corps came close to crossing the Vistula, but ended up retreating toward [[East Prussia]].<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 34–35"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=256}} Of the four Soviet armies attacking from the east, none had been able to force its way across the river.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=250–256}}

On 10 August, Polish [[Chief of staff]] Tadeusz Rozwadowski, who co-authored the offensive concept,{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=243–244}} ordered a two-pronged attack, from the [[Wkra]] and the Wieprz Rivers.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=61–62}}

Piłsudski, still harshly criticized, submitted a letter of resignation as commander-in-chief to Prime Minister Witos on 12 August. Witos refused to consider the resignation and kept the matter to himself.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=230–233}}

[[File:Bitwa warszawska - piechota polska.jpg|thumb|left|Polish infantry at the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]]]]

On 12 August, Tukhachevsky's 16th and 3rd Armies commenced their assault on Warsaw from the east.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The Polish 1st Army under General [[Franciszek Latinik]] retreated at first, but having received reinforcements stopped the enemy at the [[Battle of Radzymin (1920)|Battle of Radzymin]] and on 15 August initiated offensive actions of its own.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=250–254}}{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The pitched [[Battle of Ossów]], fought on 13–14 August at a nearby location, became the first clear Polish victory in the Warsaw area.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=250–254}}

The Polish 5th Army, under General Władysław Sikorski, counterattacked on 14 August from the area of the Modlin Fortress and crossed the Wkra River. It faced the combined forces of the Soviet 3rd and 15th Armies, which were numerically and materially superior. The attack split the Soviet front into two parts.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The Soviet advance toward Warsaw and [[Modlin, Nowy Dwór County|Modlin]] was halted and had soon turned into a retreat, which contributed to the success of the drive by the main Polish formation coming from the Wieprz River area under Piłsudski's command.<ref name="Hauser"/>

By 16 August, the Polish counteroffensive had been [[Battle of Dęblin and Mińsk Mazowiecki|joined by Piłsudski's group]] coming from the Wieprz, south-east of Warsaw.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The weak Mozyr Group, which was supposed to protect the link between the Soviet fronts, was destroyed. The Poles continued their northward offensive and reached the rear of Tukhachevsky's forces.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The Soviet armies were unable to communicate; Tukhachevsky and Kamenev became disoriented and issued orders not relevant to the situation.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|p=256}} A rapid pursuit of the Russians followed and continued to the East Prussian border and to the Neman River.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} Of the four armies of the Western Front, two disintegrated; the 4th Army with a cavalry corps crossed into East Prussia, where they were interned.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}}

[[File:Polish-soviet war 1920 Aftermath of Battle of Warsaw.jpg|thumb|right|Polish soldiers display captured Soviet standards after the Battle of Warsaw]]

Tukhachevsky, at his headquarters in Minsk, on 18 August belatedly ordered the remnants of his forces to regroup.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=65–66}} He hoped to straighten the front line, halt the Polish attack and regain the initiative, but it was too late and on 19 August he directed his armies to retreat over the entire front.<ref name="Lawrynowicz"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=65–66}}

In order to reorganize the Polish forces ahead of new operations, the chase after the retreating Russians was stopped on 25 August.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=257–258}} A large portion of the defeated Soviet troops had been taken prisoner (over 50,000) or interned in Prussia (45,000).<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=257–258}} Twelve of the twenty two Soviet divisions survived.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=257–258}} Rydz-Śmigły's formations manned the new frontline, which ran from Brest to Grodno.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The victory allowed the Poles to regain the initiative and undertake further military offensive.<ref name="Hauser"/>

The outcome of the struggle for the Polish capital saddened the leadership in Moscow, as well as communists and their sympathizers all over the world. [[Clara Zetkin]] spoke of the flower of revolution having been frozen.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=257–258}}

To diminish Piłsudski's military achievement and his role in the saving of Warsaw, at the instigation of his Polish detractors, the Battle of Warsaw had been referred to as the "Miracle on the Vistula",<ref name="Porter 82–84"/> and the phrase has since remained in Catholic and popular use in Poland.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 34–35"/> The "miracle" was attributed to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]].<ref name="Porter 82–84"/>

According to Piłsudski and his people, on the other hand, the miracle was performed solely by the marshal. After the [[May Coup (Poland)|May Coup]] of 1926, the possibly indispensable contributions of Sikorski or Rozwadowski would never be mentioned in school textbooks or official accounts. The myth of the great marshal was propagated and became dominant through the [[Sanation]] politics of remembrance. In the West, it was mostly Maxime Weygand who had been assigned a ''[[veni, vidi, vici]]'' kind of role, even though Weygand himself had honestly denied having such an impact.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=260–263}}

==== Conclusion of military campaigns ====
[[File:Kawaleria polska bitwa nad Niemnem 1920.jpg|thumb|Polish cavalry at the [[Battle of the Niemen River]]]]

The progress of the Soviet forces on the southern front in Ukraine was slower than in the north. The losses suffered by Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army at the Battle of Brody and Berestechko delayed its advance on Lwów. On 16 August, the army got going and soon reported being 15&nbsp;km from the center of the city.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}}

On 17 August, at the [[Battle of Zadwórze]], a Polish [[battalion]] sacrificed itself to stop Budyonny.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=63–64}} On 20 August, Budyonny's cavalry belatedly terminated its attacks in the Lwów area in order to come to the aid of Soviet forces retreating from Warsaw.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=65–66}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} 1st Army units moved on Zamość on 29 August but the {{Ill|Defence of Zamośc|lt=town was successfully defended by Polish and Ukrainian troops|pl|Obrona Zamościa}}.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} On 31 August, the much reduced 1st Cavalry Army was defeated by [[Polish cavalry]] under Colonel [[Juliusz Rómmel]] at the [[Battle of Komarów]] near [[Hrubieszów]].{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} It was the largest battle of Polish cavalry [[November Uprising|since 1831]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45, 65–66}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} The remains of Budyonny's army retreated towards [[Volodymyr (city)|Volodymyr]] on {{awrap|6 September}} and on 29 September were withdrawn from the Polish front.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45, 67}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}}

Heading east into Volhynia, the Polish 3rd Army under Sikorski crossed the Bug River and on 13 September took [[Kovel]].{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45, 65–66}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} The Polish 6th Army under Haller, together with the [[Ukrainian People's Army]], launched their offensive from eastern Galicia.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=265–271}} By the end of September, the front reached the Pinsk–[[Sarny]]–[[Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine|Khmelnytskyi]]–[[Yampil, Vinnytsia Oblast|Yampil]] line. In October, Juliusz Rómmel's cavalry corps arrived at [[Korosten]], Ukraine.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}}

[[File:Austin-Putilovets «Poznańczyk» near Bobruysk, 1920.jpg|thumb|right|[[Austin Armoured Car|Austin-Putilov]] armored car, captured from the Russians and renamed as ''Poznańczyk'']]

The immediate Soviet threat having been repelled, the Council of National Defense voted to continue the Polish offensive. By 15 September, forces were assembled for the "Niemen operation". At that time, the Polish armies had an advantage over the Soviet Western Front in manpower (209,000 to 145,000 soldiers) and armaments.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=272–273}}

From 26 August Tukhachevsky established a new frontline,{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=272–273}} running from the Polish–Lithuanian border area in the north to Polesia, centered on the Neman and [[Svislach (Neman)|Svislach]] Rivers line.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=272–273}} The Soviet commander utilized a three-week lull in the fighting to reorganize and reinforce his battered forces,{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} expected to be ready to attack by the end of September.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=272–273}} The Poles struck already on 20 September and soon became engaged in the [[Battle of the Niemen River]], the second greatest battle of the campaign.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} After heavy fighting, they secured Grodno on {{awrap|26 September.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45, 67}}}} Rydz-Śmigły led from there an outflanking maneuver, as a result of which Lida was taken and the Red Army's rear destabilized. Polish frontal attacks followed, the Soviet units disintegrated and rapidly retreated.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} After the battle, the Soviet forces lost the ability to effectively resist and the Poles unleashed a continuous pursuit.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The Polish units reached the Daugava River and in mid-October entered Minsk.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45, 67}}

In the south, Petliura's Ukrainian forces defeated the Bolshevik 14th Army and took control of the left bank of the Zbruch River on 18 September. In October, they moved east to the [[Yaruha]]–[[Sharhorod]]–[[Bar, Ukraine|Bar]]–[[Lityn]] line.<ref name = Encyclopedia/> They now numbered 23,000 soldiers and controlled territories immediately to the east of the Polish-controlled areas.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=80–82}} They had planned an offensive in Ukraine for 11 November but were attacked by the Bolsheviks on 10 November. By 21 November, after several battles, they were driven into Polish-controlled territory.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/>

From the order "At the end of the war" issued on 18 October 1920 by Józef Pilsudski:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piłsudski |first=Józef |title=Pisma zbiorowe |year=1937 |page=175 |language=pl}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = Soldiers!
You have spent two long years, the first years of the existence of a free Poland, in hard work and bloody drudgery. You have ended the war with magnificent victories, and the enemy, broken by you, has finally agreed to sign the first and main principles of the longed-for peace.
Soldiers! Not in vain and not in vain has your toil been in vain. Modern Poland owes its existence to the magnificent victories of the Western powers over the partitioning states. But from the very first moment of the life of a free Poland, many covetous hands were stretched out towards her, many efforts were directed towards keeping her in a state of powerlessness, so that, if she did exist, she would be a plaything in the hands of others, a passive field for the intrigues of the whole world.
The Polish nation took up arms, made a tremendous effort, creating a numerous and strong army.
On my shoulders, as Commander-in-Chief, and in your hands, as defenders of the Fatherland, the nation has placed the heavy task of securing Poland's existence, gaining for it respect and importance in the world, and giving it full independent control of its destiny.
Our task is coming to an end. It has not been easy. Poland, devastated by a war waged on Polish soil not of her will, was poor. At times, soldiers, tears sprang to my eyes, when I saw among the ranks of the troops led by me, your barefooted, battered feet, which had already crossed immeasurable distances, when I saw the dirty rags covering your body, when I had to tear off your meagre soldier's rations and often demand that you go into bloody battle hungry and cold. The work was hard, and it was reliable, as thousands of soldiers' graves and crosses scattered across the lands of the former Republic of Poland, from the distant Dnieper to the native Vistula, will testify.
For your work and perseverance, for your sacrifice and blood, for your courage and daring, I thank you, soldiers, on behalf of the whole nation and our Homeland. [...] A soldier who has done so much for Poland will not go unrewarded. The grateful Homeland will not forget him. [I have already proposed to the government that part of the conquered land should become the property of those who made it Polish, having ground it with Polish blood and immeasurable toil. [...]
Soldiers! You have made Poland strong, confident and free. You can be proud and satisfied with the fulfilment of your duty. A country that in two years can produce such a soldier as you are can look to the future with confidence. [...]
Józef Piłsudski
First Marshal of Poland
and Commander-in-Chief".
| align = center
| width = 50%
| border = 3px
}}

==Peace negotiations==

{{Main|Peace of Riga}}

[[File:Traktat ryski 1921.jpg|thumb|left|Signing of the [[Peace of Riga]]]]
Peace negotiations commenced in Minsk in mid-August 1920.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} Initially, the Soviets made harsh demands on the Polish side; their implementation would turn Poland into a Soviet-dependent state. After the Battle of Warsaw defeat, Adolph Joffe became chief Soviet negotiator and the original Soviet conditions for an armistice were withdrawn. The negotiations were moved to [[Riga]] on 21 September.<ref name="Hauser"/>{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=67}}<ref name="Brzoza 33–34"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=286–288}} As winter approached and there had not been a military resolution to the conflict (the Red Army, despite many defeats, had not been destroyed), both sides decided to stop fighting.<ref name="Brzoza 33–34"/>{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=286–288}} The Polish Council of National Defense ruled, against the insistence of Piłsudski and his supporters, that Poland could not afford to continue fighting the war. "Poland must conclude a peace even without guarantees of its durability" – declared Foreign Minister Eustachy Sapieha. Limited continuation of the current offensive was allowed (until the armistice) to improve Poland's bargaining position.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=286–288}} The Soviets, in addition to their battlefield losses, were pressured by events that necessitated the use of their military elsewhere, such as developments in the [[Turkish–Armenian War]], Pyotr Wrangel's White Army still occupying the [[Crimea]], or [[Tambov Rebellion|peasant rebellions]] in Russia.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 309–315"/>

The Preliminary Treaty of Peace and [[Armistice]] Conditions was signed on 12 October and the armistice went into effect on 18 October.<ref name="pwn_polbol"/><ref>Text in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 4, pp. 8–45.</ref> Ratifications were exchanged at [[Liepāja]] on 2 November. The peace treaty negotiations ensued and were concluded, between Poland on one side and [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Ukraine]], Soviet Russia and [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Belarus]] on the other, on 18 March 1921.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}<ref name="Brzoza 33–34"/> The Peace of Riga, signed on that day, determined the Polish–Soviet border and divided the disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and the Soviet Union (soon to be officially established).<ref name="pwn_polbol" /><ref name="Snyder140" /><ref>Text in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 6, pp. 52–169.</ref> The treaty also regulated various other aspects of Polish–Soviet relations.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} It complemented the Treaty of Versailles and laid foundations for the relatively peaceful coexistence in Eastern Europe that lasted less than two decades.<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik"/>

The armistice preliminary stipulations required foreign allied forces to leave Poland.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} Signing the treaty with the Soviet republics, Poland had to rescind its recognition of Petliura's Ukrainian People's Republic and other Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian "White" governments and organizations; the allied military units of the three nationalities present in Poland were disbanded.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}} The Ukrainian People's Army crossed the armistice line and fought the Red Army for a month. Its remnants returned into the Polish territory, where they were interned.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}}

The Peace of Riga was approved by the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] on 14 April 1921, by the Polish Sejm on 15 April, and by the Central Executive Committee of Soviet Ukraine on 17 April. Until [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|late summer 1939]], the Soviet Union refrained from officially questioning the Riga treaty settlement, but it had been understood that the Soviet policy objective was to have it overturned.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=122–123}}<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 37"/>

During the Polish–Soviet War, about 100,000 people were killed. A complicated problem of [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] was left to be resolved. On both sides, great destruction and economic losses, as well as deep psychological trauma resulted. Piłsudski's goal of separating Ukraine from Russia was not accomplished and the compromise Polish–Soviet border attained indicated future instability.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}}{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=295–296}}

=== Russia ===
[[File:Adolf Abramovich Ioffe.jpg|thumb|[[Adolph Joffe]]]]

Thousands of peasant disturbances and rebellions took place in Russia between 1917 and 1921. The Pitchfork uprising of February–March 1920 greatly distracted the Soviet leadership and negatively affected their military preparedness in Ukraine and Belarus before the Polish Kiev offensive. Lenin considered the peasant resistance to grain requisitions and other privations of war communism more threatening to Soviet Russia than the White movement. The last and possibly the greatest of peasant uprisings was the Tambov Rebellion of 1920–1921.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 309–315"/> Acute food shortages reached also Moscow and [[Saint Petersburg]] and contributed to the outbreak of the [[Kronstadt rebellion]] in March 1921.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 315–319"/>

Soviet Russia was unable to accomplish many of the political objectives of its war with Poland. Despite the support of Weimar Germany, it could not destroy the Versailles-imposed European system and the two powers had to wait for another opportunity to redress their grievances.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=279–281}}

The Polish delegation at the Riga peace talks, led by [[Jan Dąbski]], concentrated on an armistice line and the future border. For the Soviets, these were secondary concerns. The statehood status of the Ukrainian and Belarusian [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republics]] was of utmost importance and their recognition was the most fateful concession the Polish negotiators had made.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=288–291}}

The [[Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement]], signed on 16 March 1921, was the first of a series of such international treaties. It broke diplomatic isolation of Soviet Russia. The resulting influx of foreign arms and equipment contributed to the success of the offensive against the partisans in the [[Tambov]] province, executed by Tukhachevsky and completed by July.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 315–319"/>

The grain requisition practices were eventually replaced by the [[New Economic Policy]], announced by Lenin on 23 March 1921.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 315–319"/> It represented a partial compromise with [[capitalism]].<ref name="Lukowski Second"/>

On 16 April 1922, Russia and Germany signed the [[Treaty of Rapallo (1922)|Treaty of Rapallo]]. Diplomatic relations were established and the Russian negotiators obtained favorable resolution of their financial concerns.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 338–340"/>

After the Peace of Riga, Soviet Russia withdrew behind its ''cordon sanitaire''. Its leaders abandoned in reality the cause of the [[Communist revolution|international revolution]]. The result was the [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] "socialism in one country" pursuit. The Soviet Union entered a period of intensive [[Industrialisation|industrialization]], to eventually become the second greatest industrial power in the world.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=45–47}}

=== Poland ===
[[File:Stanisław Grabski.jpg|thumb|left|[[Stanisław Grabski]]]]

Their losses during and after the Battle of Warsaw made the Soviets offer the Polish peace delegation substantial territorial concessions, including [[Minsk]] and other areas occupied by Polish forces.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> Polish resources were also exhausted and Polish public opinion wanted a settlement.<ref name="Cienciala" /><ref name="Snyder140" /> Piłsudski and his camp were opposed to the peace process and wanted the warfare to continue to make a realization of the ''[[Intermarium]]'' concept possible.{{sfn|Czubiński|2012|pp=115–118}} Fulfilment of Piłsudski's territorial and political ideas was precluded already on 11 September 1920, when the Defense Council voted on Poland's border expectations. Despite the positive outcome of the Battle of Warsaw, Piłsudski's political position remained weak and he was unable to prevent developments that meant ruin to his long-held vision of a grand Polish-led alliance.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=288–291}}

The negotiations were controlled by Dmowski's National Democrats. The [[National Democracy (Poland)|National Democrats]] wanted to directly incorporate into the Polish state the lands they found desirable.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=125–136}} The Sejm was controlled by Dmowski's allies, whose ideas on the nature of the Polish state and the arrangement of its borders had since permanently prevailed.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/>

Because of the failed [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kiev Expedition]], Piłsudski had lost his ability to act as the main player, to manipulate people and events in Polish politics. The consensus on his dominant role was gone. As a consequence, he was allowed to win the war, but the conditions of peace were determined already by his opponents.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=296–299}}

[[Image:Rzeczpospolita 1789-1920.png|thumb|Poland after the Peace of Riga with the pre-[[Partitions of Poland–Lithuania|partition]] borders of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] also indicated]]
The National Democrats, led at the Riga talks by [[Stanisław Grabski]],<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> wanted only the territory they viewed as "ethnically or historically Polish" (had Polish-dominated cities) or, in their opinion, could be [[Polonization|Polonised]].<ref name="Snyder140" /><ref name="BFG" /> In the east, Polish culture was weakly represented even in the cities, except for a few in the western part of the disputed territories, and Grabski refrained from seeking a border along the so-called [[Dmowski's Line]], previously promoted by his movement.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=124–124}} Despite the Red Army's defeat and the willingness of the chief Soviet negotiator, [[Adolph Joffe]], to concede most of the areas occupied by Polish troops,<ref name="Snyder140" /><ref name="Davies_GP_2" /> the National Democratic politics allowed the Soviets to regain some of the territories acquired by the Polish armies during the campaign.<ref name="Davies_GP_2" /> The National Democrats worried that Poland would not be able to control overly extended territories, dominated by national minorities; Grabski wanted lands where Poles could predominate.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/> Among the territories evacuated by the Polish Army were Minsk in the north and [[Kamianets-Podilskyi]] and other areas east of the [[Zbruch|Zbruch River]] in the south.{{sfn|Szcześniak|1989|pp=42–45}} The "Grabski Corridor", a strip of land inserted to separate Lithuania from Russia and connect Poland to Latvia, made Piłsudski's so-called [[Żeligowski's Mutiny]] and the Polish annexation of the Vilnius area possible.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=288–291}} The National Democrats were also conscious of the weakening of their electoral position that would result from annexing more territories dominated by non-Polish ethnic groups.<ref name="Lukowski Second"/> The failed federalist orientation was represented at Riga by Piłsudski's associate, [[Leon Wasilewski]].<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/>

In the long run, the National Democrats' scheme had not quite worked, because "the Riga settlement created a Poland which was too westerly to be a federation, but not westerly enough to remain a national state".<ref name="Snyder Nations 68–69"/> Poland ended up with the largest total percentage of [[minority group|ethnic minorities]] of any [[unitary state]] in [[interwar period|interwar]] Europe (only about two thirds of Polish citizens considered themselves ethnically Polish or of Polish nationality).<ref name="Porter 126"/> Still, the refusal of the easternmost areas considered was beneficial to the National Democrats' electoral prospects.<ref name="Snyder Nations 68–69"/> The resolution of the war had thus dealt a death blow to the ''Intermarium'' project.<ref name="Cienciala" /> One consequence of the outcome of the Polish–Soviet War was that Poland's elites acquired an exaggerated perspective of the country's military capabilities.<ref name="Lukowski Second"/> This point of view was not shared by Western observers, who stressed that Poland was able to defend itself only because of the financial, logistic and material support from the Allies.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=279–281}} 99,000 Polish soldiers died or went missing and the country suffered enormous other losses and destruction.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=279–281}}

=== Ukraine ===
The Peace of Riga partitioned Ukraine and gave a portion of its territory to Poland (eastern Galicia and most of Volhynia) and the other portion to the Soviets.<ref name="Snyder140" /> The Ukrainian Soviet Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Republic were recognized by Poland.<ref name="Snyder140" /> Historian Timothy Snyder writes: "That the Soviet Union established in 1922 included a Ukrainian SSR was the most important consequence of the attempts to establish an independent Ukrainian state in 1918–1920."<ref name="Snyder140" />

The Treaty of Warsaw between Poland and the Directorate of Ukraine had been invalidated. The Riga treaty violated the spirit of Poland's prior alliance with the Ukrainian People's Republic.<ref name="Debo210" /><ref name="Snyder140" /> From the beginning of the talks, the Polish side ''de facto'' recognized the Ukrainian SSR and the armistice agreement stipulated termination of support for foreign forces allied against the other side.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=291–294}} Members of the Ukrainian faction that accepted the alliance with Poland and fought within that alliance were now interned by the Polish authorities.<ref name="Snyder140" /> The peace negotiations and their outcome were condemned and bitterly criticized by Ukrainian politicians and military leaders.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=291–294}} As Polish democracy was "alien, unrepresentative, and eventually curtailed",<ref name="Snyder Nations 141–142"/> great resentment had been generated in the remaining interwar years because of repressive policies of Polish governments towards Ukrainians living in {{awrap|post-Riga Poland.<ref name="Snyder144" />}}

In the 1920s, the Soviet policy was to help create a modern [[Ukrainian culture]]. Ukrainian intellectuals, co-opted by the [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|communist party]], were encouraged to create in the [[Ukrainian language]] and the result was cultural revival and a period of great productivity. Children were educated and most books and newspapers were published in the native language. The [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] was established. The liberal policies ended under Stalin's rule, when the new church was banned and the Ukrainian [[intelligentsia]] destroyed in [[Great Purge|massive purges]].<ref name="Snyder Nations 141–142"/>

Given the circumstances, in the 1930s Poland's eastern Galicia had become the center of Ukrainian political and cultural activity. Despite the atrocities that took place in Soviet Ukraine, Poland was regarded by Ukrainian activists as the principal enemy. They felt disappointed by the failed alliance and the Peace of Riga and were annoyed by daily domination of the Polish authorities and local Polish elites. Many perceived the Soviet Union primarily as the creator of a Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian SSR.<ref name="Snyder Nations 141–142"/>

=== Belarus ===
On 11 July 1920, Soviet forces entered Minsk and on 1 August the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] was officially established. Belarus, like Ukraine, was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union after the [[Treaty of Riga|Peace of Riga]]. The policies of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic were determined by Moscow.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmld75blKCwC&pg=PA77 |title=Belarus: A Perpetual Borderland |last=Savchenko |first=Andrew |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-04-17448-1 |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |page=77 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Unlike in the cases of Lithuania and Ukraine, Piłsudski or [[Piłsudskiite|his allies]] had not proposed a Belarusian state associated with Poland until the Riga talks, when they wanted to claim Minsk as capital of a Belarusian People's Republic in that role.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=143–144, 291–294}}

Like the Ukrainian Petliura's forces, in Belarus the Volunteer Allied Army under General [[Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz]] attacked the Soviets after the armistice. Bułak-Bałachowicz's troops commenced their offensive on 5 November and after temporary successes had to retreat back into Polish-controlled territory on 28 November. The Belarusian soldiers were also interned by the Polish authorities.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=291–294}}

Belarusian activists regarded the Peace of Riga results as a tragic betrayal. Without Minsk, Polish [[Belarusians]] were reduced to being a mostly rural, marginalized group. To many of them, the Soviet republic to the east seemed an attractive alternative. In 1922, the Soviet Union was established as a formal federation of republics. Its policy called for an eventual extension of the Byelorussian SSR, to include the Belarusian lands under Polish administration. The [[Communist Party of Western Belorussia]], established in Poland, was under Soviet control. The territory of the Byelorussian SSR was extended to the east in 1923, 1924 and 1926 by lands taken from the Russian Republic. In contrast to the repressive Polish policies, in the 1920s the Soviet Union supported Belarusian culture; several major national institutions and thousands of Belarusian schools had been established. However, the official Belarusian progress was mostly destroyed under Stalin in the 1930s.<ref name="Snyder Nations 65–68"/>

Belarusian activists held a Congress of Representatives in [[Prague]] in the fall of 1921, to discuss the Peace of Riga and its consequences for Belarus. [[Vera Maslovskaya]] was sent there as the delegate of the Białystok area, and she proposed a resolution to fight for the unification of Belarus. She sought independence of all Belarusian lands and denounced the partition. Though the convention did not adopt a proposal instituting armed conflict, it passed Maslovskaya's proposal, which led to immediate retaliation from the Polish authorities. They infiltrated the underground network fighting for Belarusian unification and arrested the participants. Maslovskaya was arrested in 1922 and tried in 1923, along with 45 other participants, mostly peasants.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/766153 |title=Biographical dictionary of women's movements and feminisms in Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe: 19th and 20th centuries |last1=Hardzienka |first1=Aleh |date=2006 |publisher=[[Central European University Press]] |isbn=978-9-637-32639-4 |editor1-last=de Haan |editor1-first=Francisca |location=Budapest, Hungary |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_u3f7/page/316 316–318] |chapter=Matejczuk, Vera (1896–1981) |chapter-url-access=subscription |editor2-last=Daskalova |editor2-first=Krassimira |editor3-last=Loutfi |editor3-first=Anna |via=[[Project MUSE]] |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_u3f7/page/316}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pawet.net/library/history/bel_history/turonak/20/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0.html |script-title=be:Непокорная Вера |last1=Turonok |first1=Yuri |date=2011 |website=Pawet |location=Lida, Belarus |language=be |trans-title=Untamed Faith (Vera) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806040648/http://pawet.net/library/history/bel_history/turonak/20/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0.html |archive-date=6 August 2016 |access-date=21 April 2017}}</ref> Among the arrested were also a sister and brother of Maslovskaya and several teachers and professionals. Maslovskaya accepted all responsibility for the underground organisation, but specifically stated that she was guilty of no crime, having acted only to protect the interests of Belarus against foreign occupiers, in a political and not military action. Unable to prove that the leaders had participated in armed rebellion, the court found them guilty of political crimes and sentenced to six years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://niva.bialystok.pl/issue/2000/20/art_02.htm |script-title=be:Партызаны ці тэрарысты? |title=Partyzany ci terarysty? |last1=Mironovich |first1=Evgeniy |date=14 May 2000 |work=[[Niva (newspaper)|Niva]] |access-date=23 April 2017 |location=Białystok, Poland |language=be |trans-title=Guerrillas or terrorists?}}</ref>

=== Lithuania ===
Pressured by the Entente powers, Poland and Lithuania signed the [[Suwałki Agreement]] on 7 October 1920; the armistice line left Vilnius on the Lithuanian side of the border. However, Polish military activities, especially the so-called Żeligowski's Mutiny launched two days after the Suwałki Agreement, allowed Poland to capture the [[Vilnius Region]], where a Polish-dominated Governance Committee of [[Republic of Central Lithuania|Central Lithuania]] was formed.<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65"/><ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/> On 8 January 1922, the Polish military enforced local legislative elections, but they were boycotted by Jews, Belarusians and Lithuanians.<ref name="Snyder Nations 68–69"/> The resulting Vilnius assembly voted for the incorporation of "Central Lithuania" into Poland on 20 February 1922 and Polish Sejm approved the annexation on 24 March.<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/><ref name="Brzoza Sowa 27–28"/><ref name="Brzoza Sowa 41"/> The Western powers condemned the Polish actions but on 15 March 1923 the Conference of Ambassadors, convinced of the desirability of geographical separation of Lithuania from the Soviet Union, approved Poland's eastern borders, as already determined by the League of Nations in early February (the Soviet Union rejected the granting of Vilnius to Poland).<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/>{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=122–123}} Lithuania refused to comply; the events and the incorporation worsened Polish–Lithuanian relations for decades to come.<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/> According to [[Alfred E. Senn]], even though Lithuania lost territory to Poland, it was only the Polish victory against the Soviets in the Polish–Soviet War that derailed the Soviet plans for westward expansion and gave Lithuania the period of interwar independence.<ref name="The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918–1921">{{cite journal |first=Alfred Erich |last=Senn |author-link=Alfred E. Senn |title=The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918–1921 |journal=[[Slavic Review]] |volume=3 |issue=21 |date=September 1962 |pages=500–507 |doi=10.2307/3000451 |jstor=3000451 |s2cid=156378406| issn = 0037-6779 }}</ref>

=== Latvia ===
Latvia's fighting with the Bolsheviks ended with the [[Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty]] on 11 August 1920. The Peace of Riga negotiations followed; it established a Polish-Latvian border in the area of Daugavpils. That same year Latvia passed a [[Latvian Land Reform of 1920|comprehensive land reform]] and in 1922 introduced a [[Constitution of Latvia|democratic constitution]]. The [[Warsaw Accord]] was signed by foreign ministers of Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland on 17 March 1922. However, the Treaty of Rapallo, signed on 16 April 1922, effectively placed the [[Baltic states]] in the German and Soviet spheres of influence.<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187"/>

== Prisoners, war crimes and other controversies ==
{{Further|Controversies of the Polish–Soviet War}}
[[File:Soviet prisoners of 1920 war - Rembertow (Poland).jpg|thumb|[[Red Army]] soldiers as [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]]]
According to sources quoted by Chwalba, of the 80–85 thousand Soviet prisoners of war, 16–20 thousand died in Polish captivity. Of the 51 thousand Polish prisoners, 20 thousand died. The practice of disproportionate killing of Polish [[commissioned officer]]s continued into [[World War II]], when a series of executions known as the [[Katyn massacre]] took place.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=306–314}}

The war and its aftermath resulted in [[Controversies of the Polish–Soviet War|controversies]], such as the situation of prisoners of war [[Camps for Russian prisoners and internees in Poland (1919–1924)|in Poland]] and in [[Polish prisoners and internees in Soviet Russia and Lithuania (1919–21)|Soviet Russia and Lithuania]],<ref name="Karpus_zwyciezcy" /><ref name="Karpus_jency" /> treatment of the civilian population,<ref name="Melt" /> or the behaviour of some commanders, including Semyon Budyonny,{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=306–314, 336–337}} Hayk Bzhishkyan,{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=306–314, 336–337}} Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz,{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=336–337}}<ref name="Bulak" /> and [[Vadim Yakovlev]].<ref name="Babel" /> The reported [[Pinsk massacre|pogroms of Jews]] by the Polish military caused the [[United States]] to [[Morgenthau Report|send a commission]], led by [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.|Henry Morgenthau]], to investigate the matter.<ref name="Michlic" />

== Development of a military strategy ==
The Polish–Soviet War influenced the Polish military doctrine; under Piłsudski's leadership, it emphasized the mobility of elite cavalry units.<ref name="Cienciala" /> It also influenced Charles de Gaulle, who was an instructor in the Polish Army with a rank of [[Major (rank)|major]] and fought in several of the battles, including the Battle of Warsaw.<ref name="Hauser"/> He and Sikorski correctly predicted, based on their experiences during the war, the importance of maneuver and mechanization in the next war. Although they had failed to convince their respective military establishments to heed those lessons during the interwar period, during World War II, they rose to the command of their respective armed forces in exile.<ref>Stanley S. Seidner, ''Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland'', New York, 1978, ch, 5.</ref>

== Aftermath and legacy ==
[[File:Powazki 1920.JPG|thumb|Graves of Polish soldiers killed during the Battle of Warsaw, [[Powązki Military Cemetery]]]]

Despite the final retreat of Soviet forces and the annihilation of three Soviet field armies, historians do not universally agree on the question of victory. Lenin spoke of a great military defeat suffered by Soviet Russia.{{sfn|Duraczyński|2012|pp=119–122}} Sebestyen wrote: "The Poles heavily defeated and embarrassed the Soviet state – one of Lenin's biggest setbacks."<ref name="Sebestyen Lenin 45"/> The conflict, however, is also viewed as military victory for Poland coupled with political defeat. In the Peace of Riga, Poland formally gave up its ambitions of helping build independent Ukraine and Belarus. Western Ukraine and western Belarus became parts of Poland, which recognized the two countries (geographically, their central and eastern parts) as states and dependencies of Moscow.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 37"/> The countries envisioned by [[Józef Piłsudski|Piłsudski]] as members of Poland-led ''[[Intermarium]]'' federation had instead, under Lenin and Stalin, become incorporated into the Soviet Union.

In the autumn of 1920, both combatants had realized that they could not win a decisive military victory. Internally, the newly reestablished Polish state had proved its viability, as an overwhelming majority of its people contributed to the defense of the country and turned out insensitive to Bolshevik appeals for joining the revolution.<ref name="Porter 82–84"/> As for the main protagonists, neither one was able to accomplish his principal objective.<ref name="Porter 82–84"/> For Piłsudski, it was to recreate in some form the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name="Porter 82–84"/><ref name="Snyder Nations 127"/> For Lenin, to cause the downfall of capitalist edifice in Europe by facilitating revolutionary processes in key states of the [[Western Europe]].<ref name="Porter 82–84"/>

Russian and Polish historians tend to assign victory to their respective countries. Outside assessments vary mostly between calling the result a Polish victory or inconclusive. The Poles claimed a successful defence of their state, but the Soviets claimed a repulse of the Polish invasion of Ukraine and Belarus, which they viewed as a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some British and American military historians argue that the Soviet failure to destroy the Polish Army ended Soviet ambitions for international revolution.<ref name="Suny" />{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=ix}}<ref name="Gella" />

[[Andrzej Chwalba]] lists a number of ways in which the Polish military victory in reality turned out being a loss (the fundamental ''status quo'' – Poland's sovereign existence – had been preserved). The perception of Poland as the aggressor damaged the country's reputation. Historians and publicists, in the West as well as in the East, have presented the country's eastern policy in negative terms, as irresponsible and adventurous.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=296–299}} In 1920 and its aftermath, likely hundreds of thousands of people died without any territorial or political gain for Poland.{{sfn|Chwalba|2020|pp=279–281, 296–299, 306–307}}

After signing the armistice with Poland in October 1920, the Soviets transferred troops toward Crimea and attacked the [[Isthmus of Perekop]]. Pyotr Wrangel's White Army was ultimately defeated there. By 14 November, 83,000 soldiers and civilians had been evacuated aboard French and Russian ships to [[Istanbul]] (the British government refused to provide any assistance), while 300,000 White collaborators were left behind.<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 309–315"/> The Red Army then diverted its troops into the Tambov region of central Russia to crush an anti-Bolshevik peasant uprising.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singleton |first1=Seth |title=The Tambov Revolt (1920–1921) |journal=[[Slavic Review]] |date=September 1966 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=497–512 |doi=10.2307/2492859 |jstor=2492859 |s2cid=163823168}}</ref>

In September 1926, the [[Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact]] was signed. The Soviets renewed their recognition of the Lithuanian claim to the Vilnius area.<ref name="Snyder Nations 78"/> In 1939, after the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]], Stalin gave Vilnius to Lithuania. In 1940, Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union as a Soviet republic. This arrangement, interrupted by the [[German occupation of Lithuania during World War II|German occupation of Lithuania]] in 1941–44, had lasted until the [[Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania|restoration of Lithuanian independent state]] in 1990.<ref name="Snyder Nations 72"/> Under the [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]], Vilnius became a city dominated by ethnic Lithuanians.<ref name="Snyder Nations 90–98"/>

After the Soviet invasion of Poland of September 1939, the partition of Belarus and Ukraine ended on Soviet terms. After [[Operation Barbarossa]] and occupation by [[Nazi Germany]], the Soviet Union returned in 1944 and the two Soviet republics permanently reclaimed what had been Polish "[[Kresy]]" from 1920 to 1939. Since the [[Aftermath of World War II|post-World War II]] adjustments, the borders of the republics had remained stable, except for the [[1954 transfer of Crimea]] from the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] to the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]. The Soviet republics' borders had been preserved as borders of independent Belarus and Ukraine following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].

In 1943, during the course of World War II, the subject of Poland's eastern borders was reopened and was discussed at the [[Tehran Conference]]. Winston Churchill argued in favour of the 1920 Curzon Line rather than the Peace of Riga borders, and an agreement among the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] to that effect was reached at the [[Yalta Conference]] in 1945.<ref name="Winston Churchill and Eastern Europe"/> The Western Allies, despite having alliance treaties with Poland and despite the [[Polish contribution to World War II|Polish contribution]] to the war, left Poland within the [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet sphere of influence]]. The Allies allowed Poland to be compensated for the territorial losses in the east with the bulk of the [[former eastern territories of Germany]]. The post-war arrangement imposed had become known to many Poles as the [[Western betrayal]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3606140/Betrayed-by-the-Big-Three.html ''Betrayed by the Big Three'']</ref>

From the end of World War II until 1989, the [[History of Poland (1945–1989)|communists held power in Poland]], and the Polish–Soviet War was omitted or minimised in Polish and other Soviet Bloc countries' history books, or was presented as a foreign intervention during the Russian Civil War.<ref name="Ferro"/>

Polish Lieutenant [[Józef Kowalski (supercentenarian)|Józef Kowalski]] was the last living veteran of the war. He was awarded the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] on his 110th birthday by President [[Lech Kaczyński]] of Poland.<ref name="Letter on the occasion of Józef Kowalski's 110th birthday"/> He died on 7 December 2013 aged 113.

== List of battles ==
{{Main|List of battles of the Polish–Soviet War}}

== See also ==
* [[Cipher Bureau (Poland)]]
* [[Germany–Soviet Union relations, 1918–1941]]
* [[Poland–Russia relations]]
* [[Poland–Ukraine relations]]
* [[Polish–Ukrainian War]]
* [[Soviet invasion of Poland]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|group="N"|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=24em|refs=

<ref name="eidintas2">{{cite book |last1=Eidintas |first1=Alfonsas |first2=Vytautas |last2=Žalys |first3=Alfred Erich |last3=Senn |editor-first=Edvardas |editor-last=Tuskenis |title=Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940 |edition=Paperback |date=1999 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-22458-5 |pages=72–74}}</ref>

<ref name="A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924">{{cite book |first=Orlando |last=Figes |title=A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924 |year=1996 |publisher=[[Pimlico]] |page=699 |isbn=978-0-7126-7327-3 |author-link=Orlando Figes}}</ref>

<ref name="AHP">{{cite book |first=Adrian |last=Hyde-Price |title=Germany and European Order: Enlarging NATO and the EU |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-2Obqk-VZUC&pg=PA75 |access-date=13 November 2012 |date=2001 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |isbn=978-0-7190-5428-0 |page=75 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

<ref name="BFG">{{cite book |first1=Manfred F. |last1=Boemeke |first2=Gerald D. |last2=Feldman |first3=Elisabeth |last3=Glaser |title=The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment After 75 Years |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-62132-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqj-oHp4KsgC&q=Kingdom+of+Poland&pg=RA1-PA314 |page=314 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

<ref name="Borzecki">{{cite book |first1=Jerzy |last1=Borzęcki |title=The Soviet-Polish peace of 1921 and the creation of interwar Europe |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |date=2008 |pages=79–81}}</ref>

<ref name="Babel">{{cite book |first1=Isaac |last1=Babel |title=1920 Diary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFKtD0ahKW0C&q=yakovlev&pg=PA84 |page=84 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |date=2002 |isbn=978-0-300-09313-1}}</ref>

<ref name="Billington1">James H. Billington, [https://books.google.com/books?id=a4PRx21WVqMC ''Fire in the Minds of Men''], p. 432, Transaction Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0-7658-0471-6}}</ref>

<ref name="Brzez">[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], an [https://books.google.com/books?id=qCVpAAAAMAAJ&q=immensely introduction] to Wacław Jędrzejewicz's "Pilsudski A Life For Poland".</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza 33–34">Czesław Brzoza, ''Polska w czasach niepodległości i II wojny światowej (1918–1945)'' [Poland in Times of Independence and World War II (1918–1945)], Fogra, Kraków 2003, {{ISBN|83-85719-61-X}}, pp. 33–34.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 27–28">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], [[Wydawnictwo Literackie]], Kraków 2009, {{ISBN|978-83-08-04125-3}}, pp. 27–28.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 29">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], p. 29.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 30–32">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], pp. 30–32.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 34–35">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], pp. 34–35.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 37">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], p. 37.</ref>

<ref name="Brzoza Sowa 41">Czesław Brzoza and Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland 1918–1945], p. 41.</ref>

<ref name="Bulak">{{in lang|ru}} [http://rovs.atropos.spb.ru/index.php?view=person&mode=text&id=42 Станислав Никодимович Булак-Балахович] at the All-Russian military Union (a modern Russian pro-White movement) site. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721071800/http://rovs.atropos.spb.ru/index.php?view=person&mode=text&id=42 |date=21 July 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bury">{{cite journal |first=Jan |last=Bury |author-link=Jan Bury |title=Polish Codebreaking During the Russo-Polish War of 1919–1920 |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0161-110491892872#preview |journal=Cryptologia |year=2004 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=193–203 |doi=10.1080/0161-110491892872 |s2cid=205486323|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="Buszko Historia Polski 229–230">Józef Buszko, "Historia Polski 1864-1948" [History of Poland: 1864–1948], pp. 229–230. [[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN]], Warszawa 1986, {{ISBN|83-01-03732-6}}.</ref>

<ref name="Cienciala">[http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect11.htm The Rebirth of Poland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205175847/http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect11.htm |date=5 February 2012 }}. [[University of Kansas]], lecture notes by professor [[Anna M. Cienciala]], 2004. Retrieved 2 June 2006.</ref>

<ref name="Cohen">[[Stephen F. Cohen]], ''Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888–1938'', Oxford University Press, 1980. {{ISBN|978-0-19-502697-9}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BUg-lWpZcsIC&pg=RA1-PA101 Google Print, p. 101]</ref>

<ref name="Davies_GP_2">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[God's Playground]]. Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present''. Columbia University Press, 1982. {{ISBN|978-0-231-05352-5}}. [https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/504 Google Print, p. 504]</ref>

<ref name="Davies_GP_292">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[God's Playground]]. Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present''. Columbia University Press, 2005 [1982]. {{ISBN|978-0-231-12819-3}}. [https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/292 <!-- quote=Red Army 700000 1920. --> Google Print, p. 292]</ref>

<ref name="Debo210">Richard K Debo, ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1921'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=gQfUB0CXBO4C&pg=PA210 pp. 210–211], McGill-Queen's Press, 1992, {{ISBN|978-0-7735-0828-6}}.</ref>

<ref name="Debo59">Richard K Debo, ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1921'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=gQfUB0CXBO4C&q=excluded+negotiations&pg=PA59 Google Print, p. 59], McGill-Queen's Press, 1992, {{ISBN|978-0-7735-0828-6}}.</ref>

<ref name="Mawdsley">[[Evan Mawdsley]], ''The Russian Civil War'', Pegasus Books LLC, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-933648-15-6}}, p. 205</ref>

<ref name="Mearsheimer">John J. Mearsheimer, ''The Tragedy of Great Power Politics'', W.W. Norton & Company, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-393-02025-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9kg3geTnQ0wC&dq=Whites+%22early+1920%22&pg=PA194 Google Print, p. 194]</ref>

<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite book |last=Kubijovic |first=V. |title=Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia |location=Toronto |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=1963}}</ref>

<ref name="Ferro">[[Marc Ferro]], ''The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught to Children'', Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-415-28592-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hDkeOWop9TsC&pg=PA262 Google Print, p. 262]</ref>

<ref name="FreeFromRU">One month before his death, Pilsudski told his aide: "My life is lost. I failed to create a Ukraine ''free from the Russians''"<br />Oleksa Pidlutskyi, ''Postati XX stolittia'', (Figures of the 20th century), [[Kiev]], 2004, {{ISBN|978-966-8290-01-5}}, {{LCCN|2004440333}}. Chapter ''"Józef Piłsudski: The Chief who Created Himself a State"'' reprinted in [[Zerkalo Nedeli]] ''(the Mirror Weekly)'', [[Kiev]], 3–9 February 2001.</ref>

<ref name="Gella">Aleksander Gella, ''Development of Class Structure in Eastern Europe: Poland and Her Southern Neighbors'', SUNY Press, 1988, {{ISBN|978-0-88706-833-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8keIXDyF_EoC&pg=PA23 Google Print, p. 23]</ref>

<ref name="God's Playground: A History of Poland">{{cite book|title=God's Playground: A History of Poland|author=Norman Davies|year=2005|publisher=[[Columbia University]] Press|url=https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/189 189]| isbn=978-0-231-12819-3|author-link=Norman Davies}}</ref>

<ref name="Grosek">Edward Grosek, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5R6iQgAACAAJ The Secret Treaties of History]'', XLIBRIS CORP, 2004, {{ISBN|978-1-4134-6745-1}}, p. 170{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}

<ref name="Hauser">Przemysław Hauser, "Walka o granice" [The fight over the borders], in "Polska XX wieku 1914–2003"  [20th Century Poland: 1914–2003], pp. 27–29. Horyzont/Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, Warszawa-Wrocław 2004, {{ISBN|83-7311-797-0}}.</ref>

<ref name="Karpus_jency">{{in lang|pl}} [[Zbigniew Karpus|Karpus, Zbigniew]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pme1AAAAIAAJ&q=Russian+and+Ukrainian+Prisoners+of+War+and+Internees+in+Poland,+1918%E2%80%931924 Jeńcy i internowani rosyjscy i ukraińscy na terenie Polski w latach 1918–1924]'' Toruń 1997, {{ISBN|978-83-7174-020-6}}. English translation available: ''Russian and Ukrainian Prisoners of War and Internees in Poland, 1918–1924'', Wydawn. Adam Marszałek, 2001, {{ISBN|978-83-7174-956-8}}</ref>

<ref name="Karpus_zwyciezcy">{{in lang|pl}} [[Zbigniew Karpus|Karpus, Zbigniew]], Alexandrowicz Stanisław, [[Waldemar Rezmer]], ''Zwycięzcy za drutami. Jeńcy polscy w niewoli (1919–1922). Dokumenty i materiały'' (Victors Behind Barbed Wire: Polish Prisoners of War, 1919–1922: Documents and materials), Toruń, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, 1995, {{ISBN|978-83-231-0627-2}}.</ref>

<ref name="Kenez">[[Peter Kenez]], ''A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End'', [[Cambridge University Press]], 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-521-31198-4}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aIY9qb6iIEcC&dq=%22Peace+of+Riga%22&pg=PA37 Google Books, p. 37]</ref>

<ref name="Lawrynowicz">[http://www.hetmanusa.org/engarticle1.html Battle Of Warsaw 1920 by Witold Lawrynowicz; A detailed write-up, with bibliography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118065334/http://www.hetmanusa.org/engarticle1.html |date=18 January 2012 }}. Polish Militaria Collectors Association. Retrieved 5 November 2006.</ref>

<ref name="Leszczyński Nowik">Adam Leszczyński, ''Wojna polsko-bolszewicka. Rok 1920: Polaków bój o wszystko'' [The Polish–Soviet War. The year 1920: The Poles' fight for everything], ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'' 14 August 2017, an interview with Grzegorz Nowik. [https://wyborcza.pl/alehistoria/7,121681,22214367,wojna-polsko-bolszewicka-rok-1920-polakow-boj-o-wszystko.html Wojna polsko-bolszewicka].</ref>

<ref name="Letter on the occasion of Józef Kowalski's 110th birthday">{{cite web|url=http://www.prezydent.pl/archiwum/archiwum-aktualnosci/rok-2010/art,17,673,list-z-okazji-110-urodzin-jozefa-kowalskiego.html|title=Letter on the occasion of Józef Kowalskis 110:th birthday|language=pl|publisher=President's office, Poland|access-date=30 March 2010|archive-date=28 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928123401/http://www.prezydent.pl/archiwum/archiwum-aktualnosci/rok-2010/art,17,673,list-z-okazji-110-urodzin-jozefa-kowalskiego.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Lincoln">[[W. Bruce Lincoln|Lincoln, W. Bruce]], ''Red Victory: a History of the Russian Civil War'', Da Capo Press, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-306-80909-5}}, p. 405</ref>

<ref name="Lukowski">Jerzy Lukowski, Hubert Zawadzki, ''A Concise History of Poland'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-55917-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NpMxTvBuWHYC&dq=Polish+independence+1920&pg=PA197 Google Print, pp. 197–205.]</ref>

<ref name="Lukowski Second">[[Jerzy Lukowski]], Hubert Zawadzki, ''A Concise History of Poland'', Second Edition, [[Cambridge University Press]], Cambridge 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-521-61857-1}}, pp. 224–232.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 247–248">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 247–248.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 281–282">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 281–282.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 286–287">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 286–287.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 293–294">[[Sean McMeekin]], ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 293–294, [[Basic Books]], New York 2017, {{ISBN|978-1-5416-7548-3}}.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 302–303">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 302–303.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 303–305">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 303–305.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 309–315">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 309–315.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 315–319">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 315–319.</ref>

<ref name="McMeekin Revolution 338–340">Sean McMeekin, ''The Russian Revolution: A New History'', pp. 338–340.</ref>

<ref name="MM">[[Margaret MacMillan|MacMillan, Margaret]], ''Paris 1919 : Six Months That Changed the World'', Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-375-76052-5}}, p. 212"</ref>

<ref name="Melt">{{cite book |first=Mikhail |last=Meltyukhov |author-link=Mikhail Meltyukhov |script-title=ru:Советско-польские войны. Военно-политическое противостояние 1918–1939 гг. |language=ru |title=Sovetsko-pol'skiye voyny. Voyenno-politicheskoye protivostoyaniye 1918–1939 gg. |trans-title=Soviet-Polish Wars. Political and Military standoff of 1918–1939 |location=Moscow |publisher=Вече (Veche) |year=2001 |isbn=978-5-699-07637-6 |url=http://militera.lib.ru/research/meltyukhov2/index.html |access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Michlic">[[Joanna Beata Michlic]], ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', University of Nebraska Press, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-8032-3240-2}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=t6h2pI7o_zQC&dq=Lida+Dabrowski&pg=RA4-PA118 Google Print, p. 118]</ref>

<ref name="Pacz1">Andrzej Paczkowski, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WoKQWem2yl4C&q=0271023082 The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom]'', p. 10, Penn State Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-271-02308-3}}</ref>

<ref name="Palij">Michael Palij, ''The Ukrainian-Polish defensive alliance, 1919–1921: an aspect of the Ukrainian revolution'', CIUS Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-1-895571-05-9}}, p. 87</ref>

<ref name="PolSize">''[[Zerkalo Nedeli]]'', "A Belated Idealist." (Mirror Weekly), 22–28 May 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/495/46522/ |title="ЗАПОЗДАЛЫЙ ИДЕАЛИСТ". Сергей МАХУН. Зеркало Недели on the WEB |access-date=13 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060116140351/http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/495/46522/ |archive-date=16 January 2006}}</ref>

<ref name="Porter 82–84">{{ill|Brian Porter–Szűcs|pl}}, ''Poland in the World: Beyond Martyrdom'', pp. 82–84.</ref>

<ref name="Porter 126">Brian Porter-Szűcs, ''Poland in the World: Beyond Martyrdom'', p. 126.</ref>

<ref name="Porter 137">Brian Porter-Szűcs, ''Poland in the World: Beyond Martyrdom'', p. 137, [[Wiley-Blackwell]] 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-4443-3219-3}}.</ref>

<ref name="Pyrig">Prof. Ruslan Pyrig, "''Mykhailo Hrushevsky and the Bolsheviks: the price of political compromise''", ''[[Zerkalo Nedeli]]'', 30 September – 6 October 2006. {{cite web |url=http://www.zn.ua/3000/3150/54623/ |title=Михаил Грушевский и большевистская власть: цена политического компромисса. Руслан ПЫРИГ &#124; История &#124; Человек |access-date=29 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210143915/http://www.zn.ua/3000/3150/54623/ |archive-date=10 December 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="Roshwald1">[[Aviel Roshwald]], "[https://books.google.com/books?id=ef0wXYsJATwC&q=0415178932 Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914–1923]", p.  37, Routledge (UK), 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-415-17893-8}}</ref>

<ref name="Rummel1990">{{cite book|author=Rudolph J. Rummel|title=Lethal politics: Soviet genocide and mass murder since 1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sK5CJFpb2DAC&pg=PA55|access-date=5 March 2011|date=1990|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-56000-887-3|page=55}}</ref>

<ref name="Russia under the Bolshevik Regime 1919-1924">{{cite book |title=Russia under the Bolshevik Regime 1919–1924 |last=Pipes |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Pipes |year=1997 |publisher=Harvill |isbn=978-1-86046-338-9}}</ref>

<ref name="Sebestyen Lenin 457–458">[[Victor Sebestyen]], ''Lenin: The Man, The Dictator, and the Master of Terror'', pp. 457–458, [[Vintage Books]], New York 2017, {{ISBN|978-1-101-97430-8}}.</ref>

<ref name="Sebestyen Lenin 45">Victor Sebestyen, ''Lenin: The Man, The Dictator, and the Master of Terror'', p. 45.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder 139">[[Timothy Snyder]], ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', Yale University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-300-10586-5}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpEynLxJ1MC&pg=PA139 Google Books, p. 139]</ref>

<ref name="Snyder-P">[[Timothy Snyder]], ''Covert Polish missions across the Soviet Ukrainian border, 1928–1933'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA55 p. 55], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA56 p. 56], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA57 p. 57], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA77 p. 58], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA78 p. 59], in ''Cofini'', Silvia Salvatici (a cura di), Rubbettino, 2005).<br />Timothy Snyder, ''Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine'', Yale University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-300-10670-1}}, ([https://books.google.com/books?id=LkZlidUKEl8C&pg=PA41 p. 41], [https://books.google.com/books?id=LkZlidUKEl8C&pg=PA42 p. 42], [https://books.google.com/books?id=LkZlidUKEl8C&pg=PA43 p. 43])</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 60–65">[[Timothy Snyder]], ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 60–65, [[Yale University Press]], New Haven @ London 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-300-10586-5}}.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 65–68">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 65–68.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 68–69">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 68–69.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 72">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', p. 72.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 78">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', p. 78.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 90–98">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 90–98.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 127">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', p. 127.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 136">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', p. 136.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 137–138">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 137–138.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder Nations 141–142">Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', pp. 141–142.</ref>

<ref name="Snyder140">Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpEynLxJ1MC&pg=PA140 Google Print, p. 140]</ref>

<ref name="Snyder144">Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpEynLxJ1MC&pg=PA144 Google Books, p. 144]</ref>

<ref name="Subtelny375">{{cite book| author=Subtelny, O. | title=Ukraine: A History| location= Toronto | publisher= [[University of Toronto Press]] | year = 1988 | page = 375}}</ref>

<ref name="Suny">[[Ronald Grigor Suny]], ''The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-508105-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8RPJuAW9dQYC&pg=PA106 Google Print, p. 106]</ref>

<ref name="Szczep">{{in lang|pl}} Janusz Szczepański, [http://www.polonica.ru/node/208 Kontrowersje Wokol Bitwy Warszawskiej 1920 Roku] (Controversies surrounding the Battle of Warsaw in 1920). ''Mówią Wieki'', online version.</ref>

<ref name="The History of Poland Since 1863">{{cite book|title=The History of Poland Since 1863|author=Roy Francis Leslie|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tYVKUsnw9IC&q=pilsudski+coup+1919+lithuania&pg=PA135|page=135|isbn=978-0-521-27501-9}}</ref>

<ref name="The Unofficial History of Russia">{{cite book |script-title=ru:Неофициальная история России |trans-title=The Unofficial History of Russia |author=Вольдемар Николаевич Балязин |year=2007 |publisher=Olma Media Group |isbn=978-5-373-01229-4 |page=595 |language= ru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ks2pauQ5kJMC&pg=PA595 |access-date=9 October 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Urb 291">Urbankowski, op.cit., p. 291.</ref>

<ref name="Urb 45-2">Urbankowski, op.cit., Volume 2, p. 45.</ref>

<ref name="Urb 83-2">Urbankowski, op.cit., p. 83.</ref>

<ref name="Urb 90-2">{{in lang|pl}} [[Bohdan Urbankowski]], ''Józef Piłsudski: marzyciel i strateg'' [Józef Piłsudski: Dreamer and Strategist], Volume 2, Wydawnictwo Alfa, Warsaw, 1997, {{ISBN|978-83-7001-914-3}}, p. 90.</ref>

<ref name="Wandycz1962">{{cite book |first=Piotr Stefan |last=Wandycz |title=France and her eastern allies, 1919–1925: French-Czechoslovak-Polish relations from the Paris Peace Conference to Locarno |url=https://archive.org/details/francehereastern0000wand_w3 |url-access=registration |access-date=26 January 2011 |year=1962 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]] |isbn=978-0-8166-5886-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/francehereastern0000wand_w3/page/154 154]–156}}</ref>

<ref name="Watt">{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Watt |title=Bitter Glory: Poland and its Fate 1918–1939 |location=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-671-22625-1 |page=119}}</ref>

<ref name="What Really Happened at Paris">{{cite book |title=What Really Happened at Paris |first1=Edward |last1=Mandell House |first2=Charles |last2=Seymour |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] |year=1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatreallyhappe00seymgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/whatreallyhappe00seymgoog/page/n108 84] |quote=1919 curzon december ethnographic. |access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Winston Churchill and Eastern Europe">{{cite web |title=Winston Churchill and Eastern Europe |last=Smith |first=Stanley |work=Finest Hour |publisher=The Churchill Centre |url=http://www.winstonchurchill.org/images/finesthour/Vol.01%20No.83.pdf |access-date=25 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703044218/http://www.winstonchurchill.org/images/finesthour/Vol.01%20No.83.pdf |archive-date=3 July 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Zgórniak 180–187">Zgórniak, Marian; Łaptos, Józef; Solarz, Jacek (2006). Wielka historia świata, tom 11, wielkie wojny XX wieku (1914–1945) [The Great History of the World, vol. 11: Great Wars of the 20th century (1914–1945)], pp. 180–187. Kraków: Fogra. {{ISBN|83-60657-00-9}}.</ref>

<ref name="pipes2">{{cite book |title=The unknown Lenin: from the secret archive |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UBnv9I_guMUC&q=stalin+battle+of+warsaw+pipes&pg=PA7 |first=Richard |last=Pipes |page=7 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-300-07662-2 |author-link=Richard Pipes |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

<!-- <ref name="pipes6-7">Richard Pipes, David Brandenberger, Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, ''The unknown Lenin: from the secret archive'', Yale University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-300-07662-2}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UBnv9I_guMUC&dq=battle+warsaw+1920+stalin&pg=PA7 Google Print, pp. 6–7]</ref> -->

<ref name="pwn_polbol">{{cite encyclopedia |language=pl |url=http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3997498 |title=Wojna polsko-bolszewicka |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111103019/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3997498 |archive-date=11 November 2013 |encyclopedia=[[Internetowa encyklopedia PWN]] |access-date=27 October 2006}}</ref>

<ref name="senn">{{cite web |url=http://www.lituanus.org/1980_1/80_1_02.htm |title=Lithuania through Polish eyes 1919–24 |publisher=Lituanus.org |access-date=14 March 2009 |archive-date=19 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719125315/http://www.lituanus.org/1980_1/80_1_02.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="Ścieżyński">{{in lang|pl}} Mieczysław Ścieżyński (colonel of the Polish General Staff), ''Radjotelegrafja jako źrodło wiadomości o nieprzyjacielu'' (Radiotelegraphy as a Source of Intelligence on the Enemy), Przemyśl, Printing and Binding Establishment of Corps District No. X HQ, 1928, p. 49.</ref>

<ref name="ultim">''The Military History of the Soviet Union'', Palgrave, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-312-29398-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBNrnEcRNjsC&dq=11+July+1920+ultimatum&pg=PA41 Google Print, p. 41]</ref>

<ref name="Łossowski126-128">{{cite book |first= Piotr |last= Łossowski |author-link =Piotr Łossowski |title= Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 | location = Warszawa | publisher= Książka i Wiedza |year= 1995 | isbn= 978-83-05-12769-1 |pages=126–128|language=pl}}</ref>

<ref name="Łossowski85">{{cite book |first= Piotr |last= Łossowski |author-link =Piotr Łossowski |title= Litwa | location = Warszawa | publisher= TRIO |year= 2001 | isbn= 978-83-85660-59-0 |pages=85–86|language=pl}}</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Chwalba |first=Andrzej |author-link=Andrzej Chwalba |title=Przegrane zwycięstwo. Wojna polsko-bolszewicka 1918–1920 |language=pl |trans-title=The Lost Victory: Polish–Bolshevik War 1918–1920 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Czarne |location=Wołowiec |date=2020 |isbn=978-83-8191-059-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cisek |first=Janusz |author-link=Janusz Cisek |title=Sąsiedzi wobec wojny 1920 roku. Wybór dokumentów. |language=pl |trans-title=Neighbors Attitude Towards the War of 1920. A collection of documents. |publisher=Polish Cultural Foundation Ltd |year=1990 |location=London |isbn=978-0-85065-212-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Czubiński |first=Antoni |author-link=Antoni Czubiński |title=Historia Polski XX wieku |language=pl |trans-title=The History of 20th Century Poland |publisher=Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje |location=Poznań |date=2012 |isbn=978-83-63795-01-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman Richard |author-link=Norman Davies |title=White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20|edition=New |publisher=Pimlico / [[Random House]] Inc. |year=2003 |orig-year=1972 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7126-0694-3 |title-link=White Eagle, Red Star}}
* {{cite book |last=Duraczyński |first=Eugeniusz |author-link=:pl:Eugeniusz Duraczyński |title=Stalin. Twórca i dyktator supermocarstwa |language=pl |trans-title=Stalin: the creator and dictator of a superpower |publisher=Akademia Humanistyczna im. Aleksandra Gieysztora |location=Pułtusk-Warszawa |date=2012 |isbn=978-83-7549-150-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sikorski |first=Władysław |author-link=Władysław Sikorski |title=Nad Wisłą i Wkrą. Studium do polsko–radzieckiej wojny 1920 roku |language=pl |trans-title=At Vistula and Wkra: Study of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920) |edition=latest |publisher=Agencja Omnipress |year=1991 |orig-year=1928 |location=Warsaw |isbn=978-83-85028-15-4}}
* {{cite book|first=J. D.|last=Smele|title=The "Russian" Civil Wars 1916-1926. Ten Years That Shook the World|publisher=[[C. Hurst & Co.]]|location=[[London]]|year=2015|isbn=9781849047210}}
* {{Cite book |last=Szczepański |first=Janusz |author-link=:pl:Janusz Szczepański |title=Wojna 1920 na Mazowszu i Podlasiu |language=pl |trans-title=War of 1920 in Mazovia and Podolia) |publisher=Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczna / Gryf |year=1995 |isbn=978-83-86643-30-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Szcześniak |first=Andrzej Leszek |author-link=Andrzej Leszek Szcześniak |title=Wojna polsko-radziecka 1918-1920 |language=pl |trans-title=Polish-Soviet War 1918–1920 |date=1989 |publisher=Wydaw. Ośrodka Dokumentacji i Studiów Społecznych |location=Warszawa |isbn=83-7012-045-8}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Dąbrowski, Stanisław. "The Peace Treaty of Riga." ''The Polish Review'' (1960) 5#1: 3-34. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25776284 Online]
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLLLdbxDfAAC |last=Babel' |first=Isaak Emmanuilovich |author-link=Isaak Babel |title=Red Cavalry |trans-title=Конармия |editor1-last=Babel |editor1-first=Nathalie |editor2-last=Constantine |editor2-first=Peter |publisher=[[W. W. Norton and Company]] |year=2003 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-32423-5 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* Fiddick, Thomas C. "The 'Miracle of the Vistula': Soviet Policy versus Red Army Strategy", ''The Journal of Modern History'', vol. 45, no. 4 (Dec. 1973), pp.&nbsp;626–643.
* Fiddick, Thomas C. ''Russia's Retreat from Poland, 1920'', Macmillan Press, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-333-51940-0}}
* Materski, Wojciech. "The Second Polish Republic in Soviet Foreign Policy (1918–1939)." ''Polish Review'' 45.3 (2000): 331–345. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25779203 online]
* Ponichtera, Robert M. and [[David R. Stone]], "The Russo-Polish War", ''The Military History of the Soviet Union'' New York, Palgrave, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-312-29398-7}}.
* [[Piotr Wandycz|Wandycz, Piotr]], "General Weygand and the Battle of Warsaw", ''Journal of Central European Affairs'', 1960.
* [[Richard M. Watt|Watt, Richard M.]], ''Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918–1939'', New York, Hippocrene Books, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-7818-0673-2}}.
* [[Adam Zamoyski|Zamoyski, Adam]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy9pAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:ISBN 0-00-722552-0 Warsaw 1920: Lenin's Failed Conquest of Europe]''. [[HarperCollins]], 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-00-722552-1}}

;Historiography
* Drobnicki, J. A. (1997). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25778970 The Russo-Polish War, 1919–1920: A Bibliography of Materials in English]. ''The Polish Review'', 42(1), 95–104. 
* McCann, J. M. (1984). [http://www.jstor.org/stable/151929 Beyond the Bug: Soviet Historiography of the Soviet-Polish War of 1920]. ''Soviet Studies'', 36 (4), 475–493. 
{{refend}}

=== Non-English ===

==== Polish ====
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Antoni Czubiński|Czubiński, Antoni]], ''Walka o granice wschodnie Polski w latach 1918–1921'' (''Fighting for eastern borders of Poland in 1918–1921''), Instytut Śląski w Opolu, Opole, 1993
* Drozdzowski, Marian Marek (ed.), ''Międzynarodowe aspekty wojny polsko-bolszewickiej, 1919–1920. Antologia tekstów historycznych'' (''International aspects of the Polish-Bolshevik War, 1919–1920. Anthology of historical texts.''), Instytut Historii PAN, 1996, {{ISBN|978-83-86417-21-6}}
* Golegiewski, Grzegorz, ''Obrona Płocka przed bolszewikami, 18–19 sierpnia 1920 r.'' (''Defence of Płock from the Bolsheviks, 18–19 August 1920''), Novum, 2004, {{ISBN|978-83-89416-43-8}}
* Kawalec, Tadeusz. ''Historia IV-ej Dywizji Strzelców Generała Żeligowskiego w zarysie'' (''History of 4th Rifleman Division of General Żeligowki in brief''), Gryf, 1993, {{OCLC|32178695}}.
* Konieczny, Bronisław. ''Moje życie w mundurze. Czasy narodzin i upadku II RP'' (''My life in the uniform. Times of the birth and fall of the Second Polish Republic''), Księgarnia Akademicka, 2005 {{ISBN|978-83-7188-693-5}}
* Kopański, Tomasz Jan, ''16 (39-a) Eskadra Wywiadowcza 1919–1920'' (''16th (39th) Scouting Escadrille 1919–1920''), Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny, 1994, {{ISBN|978-83-901733-5-1}}
* [[Marian Kukiel|Kukiel, Marian]], ''Moja wojaczka na Ukrainie. Wiosna 1920'' (''My fighting in Ukraine. Spring 1920''), Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny, 1995, {{ISBN|978-83-85621-74-4}}
* Łukowski, Grzegorz. ''Walka Rzeczpospolitej o kresy północno-wschodnie, 1918–1920. Polityka i dzialania militarne.'' (''Rzeczpospolita's fight for the northeastern borderlands, 1918–1920. Politics and military actions.''), Wydawnictwo Naukowe Universytetu Adama Mickiewicza, Poznań, 1994, {{ISBN|978-83-232-0614-9}}
* Pruszyński, Mieczysław. ''Dramat Piłsudskiego: Wojna 1920'' (''The drama of Piłsudski: War of 1920''), Polska Oficyna Wydawnicza BGW, 1995, {{ISBN|978-83-7066-560-9}}
* Odziemkowski, Janusz. ''Leksykon Wojny Polsko-Rosyjskiej 1919–1920'' (''Lexicon of Polish-Russian War 1919–1920''), Rytm, 2004, {{ISBN|978-83-7399-096-8}}
* Rozstworowski, Stanisław (ed.), ''Listy z wojny polsko-bolszewickiej'' (''Letters from the Polish-Bolshevik War''), Adiutor, 1995, {{ISBN|978-83-86100-11-8}}
{{refend}}

==== Russian ====
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Meltyukhov |first=Mikhail |author-link=Mikhail Meltyukhov |title=Советско-польские войны. Военно-политическое противостояние 1918–1939 гг. |language=ru |trans-title=Soviet-Polish Wars. Political and Military standoff of 1918–1939) |location=Moscow |publisher=Вече (Veche) |year=2001 |isbn=978-5-699-07637-6 |url=http://militera.lib.ru/research/meltyukhov2/index.html |access-date=29 October 2010}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* Centek, Jarosław: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/polish-soviet_war_1920-1921 Polish-Soviet War 1920–1921], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home.html 1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].
* [http://marxismoa.blogspot.com/2011/11/polish-soviet-war.html The Bolsheviks and the "Export of Revolution": The Russo-Polish War].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060521030420/http://raven.cc.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/BiblPt2.htm#32 Bibliography of the Polish-Soviet War] by [[Anna M. Cienciala]], [[University of Kansas]].
* Maps of the Polish-Bolshevik War: {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027144158/http://www.geocities.com/hallersarmy/maps.html |date=27 October 2009 |title=Campaign Maps (Battle of Warsaw) by Robert Tarwacki }}.
* [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/004430.html A Knock on the Door] – chapter three of Wesley Adamczyk's memoirs of the Polish-Soviet war ''When God Looked the Other Way''.
* [http://www.york.cuny.edu/~drobnick/russo.html The Russo-Polish War, 1919–1920: A Bibliography of Materials in English] by John A. Drobnicki. Originally Published in the Polish Review, XLII, no. 1 (Mar. 1997), 95–104.

{{Polish-Soviet War}}
{{Polish wars and conflicts}}
{{Russian Conflicts}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polish-Soviet War}}
[[Category:Polish–Soviet War| ]]
[[Category:Invasions of Poland]]
[[Category:Invasions by Poland]]
[[Category:Invasions of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Invasions by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Subsidiary conflicts of World War I]]
[[Category:Ukrainian War of Independence]]
[[Category:Poland in the Russian Civil War|Soviet]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1919]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1920]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War I in Russia and in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Polish–Russian wars]]
[[Category:Poland–Ukraine military relations]]
[[Category:Ukraine in the Russian Civil War]]
[[Category:Wars involving communist states]]
[[Category:Wars involving Soviet Russia (1917–1922)]]
[[Category:Wars involving Ukraine]]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Poland]]
[[Category:History of Ukraine (1918–1991)]]
[[Category:Second Polish Republic–Soviet Union relations]]