100 years ago, in April 1920, the Polish army launched an offensive. The Polish army, with the support of the Petliurites, occupied the Right-Bank Ukraine and captured Kiev.
General situation
In the early spring of 1920, it seemed that Soviet Russia had defeated its main opponents. All the main opponents were defeated, almost all the white armies were destroyed. Only the Wrangel army remained in the Crimea, which at that time was not considered a strong threat, the small forces of the Petliurites in the Kamenets-Podolsk region, and the troops of the Kappelevites and Semyonovites in Transbaikalia. Finland's attempts to seize Karelia have already been defeated.
Thus, the remnants of the anti-Bolshevik forces were no longer taken seriously. It was only necessary to concentrate forces to extinguish the last hotbeds of unrest. True, the peasant war was still raging, but it was already a question of establishing order and legality within the country.
Excessive connections began to be disbanded or transferred to the position of the so-called. labor armies, which were used to overcome the devastation, restore the national economy. Some units were engaged in the fight against banditry. The most combat-ready units, if necessary, were transferred to dangerous areas. The first labor army was formed in January 1920 on the basis of the 3rd Soviet army on the Eastern Front (1st Revolutionary Labor Army). Then the formation of the Ukrainian Labor Army began. In February, the Petrograd Labor Army began to be created from units of the 7th Army, in March the 8th Army of the Caucasian Front was reorganized into the Caucasian Labor Army, etc.
To avoid a repetition of mass uprisings in the Cossack regions, the Soviet government began to pursue a more flexible policy. The rank-and-file Cossacks were transferred from the "reactionary" class to the "working people". During the new arrival of the Red Army in the Don, Kuban and Terek, the mass genocide did not happen again. The Cossacks were allowed to preserve some traditions and distinctive signs. The Cossacks had already been mobilized into the Red Army to fight against the Wrangel and Poles.
Greater Poland
From the very beginning of the restoration of the Polish state, it took an extremely hostile position towards Soviet Russia. The Polish ruling circles planned to use the turmoil in Russia to create a new Rzeczpospolita, to seize the eastern regions up to the Western Dvina and the Dnieper. In January 1919, the Poles and the Reds clashed in the battle for Vilna. In February 1919, a continuous Soviet-Polish front emerged in Belarus, from the Neman River to the Pripyat River. In March 1919, Polish troops captured Pinsk and Slonim. Then negotiations began, the Polish side proposed to establish a border on the basis of self-determination of the population of the disputed territories. Moscow agreed. In April 1919, Polish troops went on the offensive again, captured Lida, Novogrudok and Baranovichi. In August, the Poles captured Minsk, the Red Army withdrew across the Berezina River. Here the front has stabilized.
While the Entente supported the white generals, Kolchak and Denikin were advancing, Pilsudski took a break. Although the moment for the campaign of the Polish army to Kiev and Moscow was the most favorable. The main and best forces of the Red Army were linked by battles with the white armies. However, Warsaw feared that if the White Guards took Moscow, they would pursue a policy of "one and indivisible Russia." That is, Poland will receive nothing. Therefore, the Polish leadership was waiting. In the winter of 1919, it became clear that the White Army had lost. During the retreat of the White Guards from the territory of Podolia, Polish troops under the guise of seized the Proskurovsky, Mogilev-Podolsky and Starokonstantinovsky districts (the Kamenets-Podolsky district was occupied in November 1919).
Pilsudski decided that the most convenient moment had come for the Polish army to advance. Poland prepared a powerful, well-armed army, the backbone of which were experienced soldiers of the World War. A strong cavalry has been formed. The Entente, especially France, actively helped the Poles. The Polish army received 1,500 guns, about 2,800 machine guns, hundreds of thousands of rifles, about 700 aircraft, 200 armored cars, 3 million sets of uniforms, trucks, ammunition, etc. French officers helped train the troops. In early 1920, mobilization was carried out, new volunteers arrived from abroad, the total number of the Polish Army was brought to 700 thousand people.
Pilsudski needed a victorious war to strengthen his role as the "leader of the nation", to distract the people from internal problems. In Warsaw, it was believed that although Soviet Russia had defeated the White movement, it emerged from the civil war greatly weakened and drained of blood. In the rear of the Red Army, in Belaya and Little Russia, a peasant war was going on, the Petliurists, Makhnovists and Wrangel's army were sitting like thorns. You can talk with Moscow in the language of ultimatums, use the right to force. In Ukraine, they wanted to create a dependent buffer state, a raw material appendage and a sales market for “Greater Poland”. The Ukrainian regime, completely dependent on the mercy of Warsaw, cannot exist without the help of the Poles and will always fear Soviet Russia. Petliura promised Pilsudski that he would form 200 thousand people in Ukraine. army. Warsaw also wanted to involve Romania and Latvia in the war with Russia, but these states took a wait-and-see attitude.
Polish front
At the beginning of 1920, the Polish Front became more active. In the northern direction, between Pripyat and Dvina, there were three armies (1st, 4th and reserve, operational group). In the southern direction, from the Dnieper to Pripyat, there were three armies (6th, 2nd and 3rd). In January 1920, Polish troops under the command of Edward Rydz-Smigly took Dvinsk with an unexpected blow. The city was handed over to the Latvian authorities. Then there was a new calm. There were rare skirmishes and skirmishes when some dashing Polish nobleman wanted to show prowess.
In March 1920, the Red Army planned an offensive, but the Poles struck first. On March 5-6, the Polish army launched an offensive in Belarus, captured Mozyr, Kalinkovichi, Rogachev and Rechitsa. The Poles intercepted the strategic communication Zhitomir - Orsha. Attempts by the Western Front under the command of Gittis (15th Army of Cork and 16th Army of Sollogub) to counterattack were unsuccessful. Mozyr could not be recaptured. The 12th and 14th Soviet armies under the command of Mezheninov and Uborevich, which were part of the Southwestern Front under the command of Yegorov, tried to attack in Ukraine, but without success.
At the same time, Soviet-Polish contacts continued. The Polish side demanded that Moscow abandon all claims to the lands that belonged to the Commonwealth before its first partition in 1772. Agree to create a "security line". A precondition for the start of peace negotiations with Moscow near Warsaw was the withdrawal of Soviet armies from the lands that were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before 1772. The Poles agreed to start border negotiations on April 10, 1920 in Borisov, but they did not take place.
Meanwhile, the situation in the rear of the Red Army worsened. A new wave of uprisings began in Little Russia (Ukraine). On the one hand, the former freelancer did not want to return to a peaceful life. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks again began a tough surplus appropriation, began to disarm the peasants. Detachments of various chieftains and fathers went on a spree again. In the camps near Vinnitsa, the Galician riflemen, dissatisfied with their position, revolted, who at the beginning of 1920 went over to the side of the Reds. The uprising of the Galician army led to the intensification of the local rebel movement. To suppress the rebellion and riots, part of the forces of the 14th Soviet Army and the reserves of the front were sent to the rear.
The moment for the offensive of the Polish Army was the most favorable. On April 21, 1920, Pilsudski concluded an agreement with Petliura on joint actions against the Red Army. The conditions were difficult. The UPR leadership at that time did not have either its own territory or a full-fledged army (Ukrainian divisions were formed in the Polish zone of occupation), so there was no choice. In fact, the border of 1772 was approved. Volhynia, Galicia and Kholmshchina remained behind Poland. In military operations against Soviet Russia, Ukrainian troops were to obey the Polish command. The agreement provided for the inviolability of Polish land ownership in the future territories of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The Polish side recognized the Ukrainian state (in a very truncated form) under the leadership of Ataman Petliura. The Poles promised military assistance in the capture of Kiev, the supply of Petliura troops. Under a military agreement, the Poles promised to conduct an offensive on their own only to the Dnieper. Further to Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Odessa, Donbass, the troops of the UPR had to advance independently. The commander of the "Insurgent Army" ataman Tyutyunnik (former commander of the "army" of ataman Grigoriev) also joined the alliance of Poles and Petliurists. He recognized the supremacy of Petliura and received the rank of cornet-general of the UPR army.
Kiev operation
On April 17, 1920, the commander-in-chief and first Marshal of Poland, Pilsudski, issued a secret order for the Kiev offensive. The operation was scheduled to begin on April 25th. Seven infantry and one cavalry division were advancing in the Kiev direction, and three infantry divisions in the Odessa direction. On April 25, 1920, the Polish army and the Petliurites launched an offensive against Kiev. In Belarus, the Poles did not advance, the front remained along the Berezina.
The Polish campaign against Kiev began under the loud slogan "For our and your freedom!" Pilsudski announced that the war was being waged against "invaders, robbers and robbers" and for the "liberation" of Ukraine. About 65 thousand Poles took part in the offensive (there were about 140 thousand people in total in the Ukrainian direction) and 15 thousand Petliurites. In the Chernobyl area, the offensive was supported by the detachments of the ataman Bulakh-Balakhovich (2 thousand soldiers) and Struk (1 thousand). Polish troops advanced under the direct command of Pilsudski: the 6th Army struck from Proskurov on Zhmerinka, Vinnitsa and Mogilev-Podolsk; The 2nd Army advanced on Kazatin - Fastov - Kiev, cutting off parts of the 14th Soviet Army from the 12th, the 3rd Army inflicted the main blow on Zhitomir and Korosten.
Soviet troops were greatly inferior in number - only about 15, 5 thousand people directly at the front (only about 55 thousand people). The Red Army was also seriously inferior in the number of guns, machine guns and armored vehicles. In addition, the Reds were weakened by the uprisings in the rear and did not expect a large-scale invasion. The main miscalculation of the Soviet high command was that its strategists were waiting for a Polish strike together with the Latvian army in the northeast. Therefore, the main forces were concentrated in Belarus (over 70 thousand bayonets and sabers), reinforcements from Siberia and the Caucasus went there. At the end of April, the Red Army planned to strike in Belarus in the direction of Lida - Vilna. However, by the beginning of the Polish offensive, the troops had not yet been transferred, they were on the march.
Therefore, the Poles quite easily broke the red front, which was not continuous. Elite Polish units, soldiers who had previously served in the German army, were advancing on the main axes. Another elite part of the Polish Army were units of the former army of General Haller ("gallerchiki"), which the Entente formed in France and transferred to Poland in 1919 for the war with Soviet Russia. Petliurites and local insurgents - "green" who joined them, acted in the auxiliary directions.
The red front collapsed. Soviet troops retreated with little or no resistance. The units, scattered at a great distance from each other, lost communication and control, it was necessary to withdraw and regroup them. The victorious march of the Polish army began. On April 26, the Poles occupied Zhitomir, on the 27th - Berdichev and Kazatin. In the southern sector, the 6th Polish army of General Vaclav Ivashkevich captured Vinnitsa, Bar and Zhmerinka. In the northern section, the Poles captured Chernobyl and reached the Dnieper near Pripyat. As a result, the Polish army entered the line Chernobyl - Kazatin - Vinnitsa - Romanian border. In the very first days, 10 thousand Red Army soldiers were captured. True, the Poles failed to encircle and completely destroy the 12th Soviet army. Individual units fell into the "cauldrons", but the Poles lacked the strength and skill to create a stable encirclement ring. So, the 58th and 7th rifle divisions were blocked, but they were able to successfully break out of the encirclement areas.
In the very south, the cavalry of Ataman Tyutyunnik was advancing. The rebels occupied Balta, united with Sheparovich's insurgent Galician cavalry regiment. Then Tyutyunnik's cavalry took Voznesensk and began to threaten Odessa and Nikolaev. Those Galicians who found themselves in the zone of the offensive of the Polish units fell out of the fire and into the fire. Supporters of independent Galicia were not needed by Pilsudski. They were disarmed and sent to Polish concentration camps, where most died from hunger, disease and abuse.
Soviet troops continued to retreat with little or no resistance. During the invasion, Polish troops suffered minimal losses. On May 6, 1920, the Poles occupied Bila Tserkva and reached Kiev. The command of the 12th Army planned to fight for the capital of Ukraine and wait for the approach of units of the 1st Cavalry Army from the North Caucasus. However, the demoralized troops, at the sight of the evacuation of the command and administrative structures, panicked and began to withdraw. The advanced Polish units, having boarded ordinary trams, entered the center of Kiev, sowing great panic among the city's garrison. The Reds left Kiev without a fight. On May 7, the Poles and Petliurites occupied Kiev. The Poles crossed the Dnieper and seized a small bridgehead on the left bank, up to 15 km deep. On May 9, with emphasized pomp, Pilsudski held a Polish victory parade in Kiev. Thus, the Polish army captured the Right Bank Ukraine.
On the Dnieper, the Polish troops stopped. They planned to gain a foothold in the occupied territory, pull up the rear. It was also necessary to resolve the issue of further actions. In early May, Britain again proposed, through her mediation, to begin peace negotiations for peace, to establish the border of Poland with Soviet Russia according to the so-called. Curzon lines. Soviet troops were supposed to stop the offensive in the Caucasus, preserve the independence of Georgia and Armenia, and stop hostilities against the Crimea. The issue of Crimea was to be resolved through negotiations with Wrangel, with the future honorary surrender of the peninsula, free travel abroad for everyone and amnesty for those who remain in Russia.
In the meantime, the Soviet leadership was carrying out a new mobilization. The Polish front became the main one. New formations, units, reserves were transferred here. The Soviet command began preparations for a counteroffensive.
