The revival of a part of the Polish political elite of plans for the construction of the Third Rzeczpospolita "from sea to sea" makes us recall the sad history of the II Rzeczpospolita (1918-1939). Its history is a good reminder of modern Poland that all its plans for expansion to the east end badly.
The participation of Poland, like the United States, in the events of the February revolution in Ukraine-Little Russia can hardly be overestimated. Realizing the plans of Washington, London and Brussels to turn Little Russia into a battlefield, Poland as a vassal of the Anglo-Saxons plays an important role. Obviously, there will be no European integration of Ukraine. Europe does not need labor resources (they themselves have an abundance of them), or industry, or infrastructure (the most tidbits have already been sold or are being sold off). The people of Little Russia, which for 23 years have been brainwashed with liberal, Russophobic, anti-Soviet and Ukrainianizing nonsense, are simply used as infantry in the war with Russia. A total war on the border between Little Russia and the Russian Federation should grind thousands of passionary Slavic guys who believed in the myth of the "great history of the ukrovs". And also to destroy the economy and infrastructure of the regions affected by the war (and the expansion of the war zone is almost inevitable), lead to a wave of hundreds of thousands and millions of refugees and, as a result, cause a new famine and mass death from disease. They want to bleed Little Russia, sacrificing millions of lives of Slav-Rus. Its remnants should become a springboard for aggression against the rest of the Russian civilization.
At the same time, part of the territory of Little Russia wants to be swallowed up by Poland. In Poland, they again remember the "Greater Poland" from the Baltic to the Black Seas. Former President of Poland A. Kwasniewski has already expressed the idea that the president of Ukraine should be a Pole who will restore order in the country and implement the plan to build Poland from sea to sea. Former director of the National Security Bureau, one of the associates of the ex-head of the Polish state Kwasniewski and a member of the European Parliament from Poland Marek Sivec bluntly stated: “Poland is obliged to support the idea of the partition of Ukraine in every possible way and do everything so that it comes as soon as possible, because there is always a danger that that the Russian-Ukrainian Ukraine will again be subjugated by Moscow”. First of all, Polish radicals claim the Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne and Ternopil regions. These areas supply workers to Poland who know the Polish language and are perfectly assimilated into Polish culture. Therefore, there will be no special problems with the assimilation of these areas to Poland, they can become the "Outskirts of Poland".
Poland is faced with the task of creating political conditions for the secession of the western regions of Ukraine. Hence the touchstones that Poland is launching with regard to the partition of Ukraine. So the speaker of the Polish Sejm, Radoslaw Sikorski, announced that allegedly in 2008, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to the then Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk who was visiting Moscow (he will soon become the head of the European Council) divide Ukraine. Sikorsky cited an alleged quote from Putin: "Ukraine is an artificially created country, and Lviv is a Polish city, and why don't we solve this problem together."In fact, this is a probing of Moscow (and other forces) on the subject of the division of Ukraine and the gradual introduction into international relations of the idea of a new redistribution of borders (changes in the architecture of the world community). True, Tusk himself immediately stated that he had never heard anything like it from the head of Russia. But the job has already been done. The trial balloon has been successfully launched.
Recently Sikorsky continued to develop the raised topic. Speaking at Harvard University on November 20, he told the Americans that Poland "thanks to its firm policy of reforms and joining the Atlantic structures" can be an example for Ukraine, leading it in the direction the West needs. As a result, Poland can fulfill its civilizing mission in Ukraine. True, Russia is hindering this process. Therefore, according to Sikorsky, "the military alliance of the West must return to its original mission - to intimidate Russia." Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna predicted a similar role for Ukraine. He compared the relations of Poland and Ukraine with the relations of Western European countries with their former colonies in Africa. “Discussing Ukraine without Poland is like solving the issues of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco without the participation of the French, Italians, Spaniards,” the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry said.
Thus, the old gentry ambitions have not yet been eradicated from Polish heads. The death of the First and Second Rzeczpospolita, which ruined the ambitions, excessive pride and greed of the Polish "elite", have already been forgotten. In relation to the "Ukrainian claps" proud arrogant Polish lords again see themselves as "civilized colonialists." History repeats itself at a new historical stage. However, blinded by the myth of the "Russian threat", historical grievances against Russia and revanchist claims, Warsaw forgets how the previous attempts to restore the Rzeczpospolita from sea to sea ended.
Creation of the Second Commonwealth
The collapse of the Russian Empire and the defeat of the German Empire allowed the Poles, with the support of the Entente, to recreate their state. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 transferred to Poland most of the German province of Posen, as well as part of Pomerania. Poland got access to the Baltic Sea. True, Danzig (Gdansk) did not become part of Poland, but received the status of a “free city”. In addition, during a series of Polish uprisings, part of Silesia ceded to Poland.
From the very beginning of the creation of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, she aimed at confrontation with Russia. There was no clear border in the east at that time. In Little Russia, Ukrainian nationalists tried to take power into their own hands. So, at the end of October 1918, Ukrainian nationalists captured Lviv. The Poles, who at the beginning of the 20th century accounted for up to 40% of the population in the Lviv region, put up armed resistance. At the same time, Polish troops occupied Przemysl, Romanians - part of Bukovina, and Transcarpathia remained with Hungary. In November, the Poles drove Ukrainian nationalists out of Lviv and continued their offensive. At this stage, the Bolshevik government did not participate in this battle, there were many other problems. On the other hand, France, remembering its traditional ties with Poland, sent 60,000 troops to help the government of Józef Pilsudski. army of Joseph Gallen. The soldiers in this army were mostly Poles, and the officers were French. The troops were equipped with French weapons. Paris planned to use the Poles to fight the Bolsheviks. However, Pilsudski first decided to solve the problem of access to the Black Sea. In the spring of 1919, Polish troops crushed the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). In the summer of 1919, Polish troops crossed the Zbruch River and entered Eastern Little Russia.
It was extremely difficult for Soviet Russia then to resist the aggression of Poland. The Soviet republic did not have a regular army, since the tsarist army had already collapsed. In the spring of 1918, the headquarters of the Western section of the veil detachments was established, it was supposed to defend the western border of Soviet Russia. For this, it was necessary to rebuild partisan-type formations into a regular army. As a result, the Western Defense District was created with the headquarters in Smolensk, which was soon transformed into the Western Army.
The dictator Pilsudski was a smart man to openly declare about the restoration of the Commonwealth within its former borders. He announced the same idea undercover, putting forward a plan to create a federation of states created in the western territories of the Russian Empire (up to Tiflis). The leader in this federation, naturally, should have been Poland. In fact, modern Polish politicians are promoting the same idea - Ukraine's European integration should take place under the leadership of Poland.
Moscow understood that a collision was inevitable. The Western army began to move. True, initially it was difficult to call it an "army" - only 10 thousand bayonets with a dozen guns (border guards, the Pskov division, the 17th rifle division - it included the Vitebsk and Smolensk divisions). The offensive of the Western Army at the end of 1918 took place without much resistance, but as the troops advanced to the west, the resistance of the Poles increased.
Soviet-Polish war
Moscow tried to negotiate with Warsaw. First, through the Russian Red Cross. However, by order of the Polish government in January 1919, the Red Cross delegation was shot. In January 1919, Lenin proposed to establish the Lithuanian-Belarusian Republic (Litbel). The Litbel government invited Poland to enter into negotiations on the establishment of a common border. But Pilsudski also ignored this peace proposal.
After resolving the situation on the border with Germany, the Poles were able to transfer additional forces to the east. In the spring of 1919, Polish troops occupied Slonim and Pinsk. In April, Pilsudski proposed to the nationalist government of Lithuania to restore the Polish-Lithuanian union, but was refused. Therefore, when the Polish troops drove the Reds out of Vilna, the occupied lands fell under the jurisdiction of Poland. After that, there was a long lull on the Soviet-Polish front. It was caused by the internal and external problems of Poland and Soviet Russia. Soviet Russia fought in a ring of fronts with the white armies of Denikin, Kolchak, Yudenich and Miller. Pilsudski was somewhat frightened by Denikin's march to Moscow, this white general, unlike many other idle talkers, in fact stood for "united and indivisible" Russia. The Poles themselves in the west faced the Germans, and in Galicia with the Ukrainian nationalists. The bad harvest in Poland itself did not add confidence. In August 1919, miners revolted in Silesia. Polish troops suppressed the unrest, but tension remained in Silesia.
In December 1919, the Entente powers announced the Declaration on the Provisional Eastern Frontiers of Poland. The border was supposed to be the line of predominance of the ethnic Polish population from East Prussia to the former Russian-Austrian border on the Bug. On December 22, 1919, the Soviet government again proposed to Warsaw to immediately begin negotiations to conclude a "lasting and lasting peace." However, Warsaw remained silent, she did not need peace.
On February 2, 1920, Moscow again repeated its proposal to conclude peace. On February 22, Soviet Ukraine sent the same proposal. On March 6, the peace proposal was repeated. It should be noted that the Entente powers during this period had already abandoned the idea of intervention in Russia, it failed. In January 1920, England informed Poland that she could not recommend a policy of war to Warsaw, since Russia no longer posed a threat to Europe. On February 24, the Supreme Council of the Entente announced that if the Polish government made excessive demands on Moscow, the Entente would not help her if Russia renounced peace. Thus, the Western powers washed their hands, not wanting to get involved in a new war in the east. At the same time, they carried out large-scale deliveries of weapons. The refusal of the Western powers to intervene in the war did not stop Poland.
In the meantime, the Soviet government was able to win over most of the territory of Russia. The Red Army completely defeated the army of Kolchak and Denikin. Admiral Kolchak was shot. Denikin surrendered his command and went to Europe. The remnants of the white troops under the command of Wrangel were entrenched in the Crimea. Peace was signed with the Estonian government, and an armistice with Latvia was also concluded.
The lull soon ended. In March 1920, the Polish army launched an offensive. During the lull, all resources were concentrated on strengthening the army. If in 1918 the Polish army consisted of volunteers, then in January 1919 the first compulsory conscription of young men born in 1899 was announced. In March 1919, the Sejm introduced universal military service and announced the conscription of already five ages - 1896-1901. birth. Parts of Gallen's army (five divisions) arrived from France. After the defeat of Denikin's army in Poland, the division of General Zheligovsky was transferred from the Kuban (it was formed from the Poles). As a result, by the spring of 1920, a powerful shock fist was formed: 21 infantry divisions and 2 brigades, 6 cavalry brigades, 3 separate cavalry regiments, 21 field artillery regiments and 21 heavy artillery battalions (a total of 189 field and 63 heavy batteries). In April 1920, the Polish army numbered 738 thousand bayonets and sabers.
At the beginning of the summer of 1920, when the Red Army went on the offensive, the conscription of young men in 1895-1902 was announced in Poland. birth, in July - 1890-1894, in September - 1885-1889. At the same time, in September 1920, they began to form a volunteer army. Thus, at the time of the most difficult battles, Poland called for 16 age categories, gathered about 30 thousand volunteers, bringing the total army up to 1.2 million people. The armament of the Polish army was extremely diverse. The bulk of the weapons were from the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian armies. In addition, at the end of 1919 - beginning of 1920, the supply of weapons was carried out by the United States, Britain and France. So, at that time, almost 1,500 guns, 2,800 machine guns, 385,500 rifles, 42,000 revolvers, 200 armored vehicles, 576 million cartridges, 10 million shells, 3 million sets of uniforms, communications equipment, medicines were delivered to Poland., shoes, etc. As part of the Gallen army, which arrived from France, Poland also received the first tank formation - a tank regiment (120 light French tanks).
Polish 1st Tank Regiment near Daugavpils
Polish troops were opposed by the Western and Southwestern fronts of the Red Army. By April 1, 1920, the Western Front had more than 62 thousand bayonets and sabers with 394 guns and 1567 machine guns. In the Southwestern Front there were 28, 5 thousand people with 321 guns and 1585 machine guns.
In mid-February 1920, the chief of the operational directorate of the headquarters Shaposhnikov, in his report, noted the contours of the future plan of military operations against Poland. Poland was identified as Russia's likely adversaries, as well as, possibly, Latvia and Lithuania, if Poland decides the Vilna issue in the interests of the Lithuanians. With regard to Romania, it was believed that she would not act, since she had already decided the issue of Bessarabia in her favor. Shaposhnikov believed that the main theater would be the area north of Polesie. Indeed, here the defeat of the Soviet troops could lead to the offensive of the Polish army on Smolensk and Moscow, and in case of failure of the Poles, the Red Army could move to Warsaw.
However, Pilsudski decided to strike at Ukraine (Little Russia). His goal was not a decisive defeat of the Red Army, but the capture of Little Russia and the creation of "Greater Poland" within the historical borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. As Pilsudski himself noted: “Closed within the borders of the 16th century, cut off from the Black and Baltic Seas, deprived of the land and fossil resources of the South and Southeast, Russia could easily go into the state of a second-class power, unable to seriously threaten Poland's newly acquired independence. Poland, as the largest and strongest of the new states, could easily secure a sphere of influence for itself, which would stretch from Finland to the Caucasus Mountains. "Pilsudski longed for glory, possibly for the Polish crown (there were persistent rumors in Warsaw that the Polish dictator wanted to become a monarch), and Poland - for Western Russian lands and bread.
Jozef Pilsudski in Minsk. 1919
After the war, Polish historians retrospectively began to rewrite history and prove that the insidious Bolsheviks from the Ukraine wanted to attack Poland. In reality, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Trotsky, and the commander-in-chief, Kamenev, were going to first defeat Wrangel's white army and only then engage in Poland. Kamenev in April 1920 told the commander of the Southwestern Front that the operation to capture the Crimea was a priority, and it was necessary to throw all the forces of the front on it, regardless of the weakening of the Polish direction. In addition, the rear of the Red Army was extremely unstable. A wave of mass banditry swept through the southwest of Russia. Little Russia was oversaturated with weapons that remained from the tsarist, German, Austro-Hungarian, Petliura, White and Red armies. Many thousands of people were cut off from peaceful life, weaned from work, and lived in robberies. All sorts of "political" and just bandits raged.
In early January 1920, the troops of Edward Rydz-Smigly took Dvinsk. In March, the Poles launched an offensive in Belarus, capturing Mozyr and Kalinkovichi. On April 25, 1920, Polish troops attacked the positions of the Red Army along the entire Ukrainian border. The position of the Soviet troops was worsened by the mutiny of the 2nd and 3rd Galician brigades. Polish intelligence did a good job in these units. Anti-Soviet agitation among the personnel of the two brigades led to an open mutiny. This mutiny completely destroyed the grouping of Uborevich's 14th Army. The army and divisional reserves of the 14th and partly of the 12th armies had to solve the problem of suppressing the mutiny and restoring the integrity of the front. This contributed to the rapid advance of the Polish troops. In addition, in the rear, various kinds of bandit formations, including the nationalist, were activated.
Already on April 26, most parts of the 12th Army lost contact with the army headquarters. On April 27, the 12th Army's command and control finally collapsed. On May 2, the troops of the Red Army retreated across the Irpen River. On May 6, Soviet troops left Kiev. On May 8-9, Polish troops captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper. Attempts by the 12th Army to throw the Poles into the river were unsuccessful.
Polish troops in Kiev
Heavy oncoming battles took place on May 15-16. The strategic initiative in the southwestern direction gradually began to pass into the hands of the Red Army. The 1st Cavalry Army under the command of Semyon Budyonny was transferred from the Caucasus (more than 16 thousand sabers with 48 guns and 6 armored trains). Red cavalry defeated Makhno's bandit formations in Gulyaypole. On May 26, after the concentration of all units in Uman, Budyonny's troops attacked Kazatin. On June 5, Budyonny's units broke through the enemy's front and went into the rear of the Polish troops, rapidly advancing on Berdichev and Zhitomir. On June 10, the 3rd Polish army of Rydz-Smigly, in order to avoid encirclement, left Kiev. The Red Army entered Kiev. In early July, General Berbetsky's troops launched a counterattack on the red cavalry near Rovno, but it was repulsed. On July 10, Soviet units occupied Rovno.
