Lithuanian-Polish War 1920

Poland briefly went to war with Lithuania in 1920 over the disputed city and territory of Vilnius. Since the outbreak of the Lithuanian War of Independence in 1919, the territory had been occupied by Bolsheviks, Lithuanians and Poles. The Polish army was occupying Vilnius in the summer of 1920. At the end of June, during peace negotiations in Moscow, the Lithuanian government was informed of Bolshevik plans to launch an offensive against the Poles and it was suggested Lithuania join the ongoing war against Poland. The Lithuanians declined. Even so, in the Treaty of Moscow, signed July 12, 1920, Vilnius was ceded to Lithuania. On that day, the Red Army attacked along Polish front north of the Pripet Marshes. Lithuania declared itself strictly neutral in the Russo-Polish War and the government ordered the disarmament and internment of any Polish military units or individual soldiers found to be entering Lithuanian territory. In these circumstances, the Polish government, on July 14th, agreed to the transfer of the territory of Vilnius to Lithuania. However, the Poles were already retreating from Vilnius and engaged Lithuanian forces while the Red Army occupied the region, briefly, before Lithuanian troops arrived on July 15, 1920.

Toward the end of August, Poland took the offensive against the Bolsheviks and sought permission to cross Lithuanian territory but the request was denied; fruitless negotiations continued during September. Polish forces then attacked the Lithuanians long the disputed frontier and seized some territory, but not Vilnius, claiming the action was necessary for its war with Soviet-Russia. Poland then offered to renew negotiations. The Suwalki Agreement was signed on October 7th that put Vilnius under Lithuanian control and called for negotiations to settle all the border disputes. On the following day a Polish force under the command of General Lucjan Zeligowski marched on Vilnius. The government of Poland denied any knowledge of the action but the denial was widely deemed disingenuous. Vilnius fell to the forces under the command of Zeligowski on October 9th and he proclaimed the independence of central Lithuania, and established its government at Vilnius. Determined Lithuanian resistance continued as did the Zeligowski offensive. Meanwhile, on October 12th, the Soviet-Russians agreed to an armistice with Poland which in fact recognized Vilnius as Polish territory. The League of Nations intervened again to end the fighting between Poles and Lithuanians. A line of demarcation was established on November 29th and fighting had ceased by December 1, 1920.

Poland and Lithuania remained in a state of war for the next 18 years. To frustrate Polish aspirations in the region, Lithuania financed Belarusian nationalists when portions of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic were ceded to Poland after the Russo-Polish War. Negotiations mediated by the League of Nations ended on January 13, 1922, without progress.. Zeligowski arranged for elections of a regional assembly, which on February 20th voted to incorporate central Lithuania into Poland. The League of Nations accepted this arrangement which set the border almost along the Foch Line (first proposed in 1919). Lithuania rejected the settlement and, on the basis of the continuing Vilnius dispute, refused to arrange regular diplomatic relations with Poland. Only in 1938, under the pressure of a Polish ultimatum did Lithuania agree to receive a Polish representative. Vilnius was restored to Lithuania on October 10, 1939 after the partition of Poland by the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

References

COW117; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1096-7; Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania - Country Studies; Lukas, 234-246; Surgailis, 149-221.

Richard C Lukas. Seizure of Vilna, October 1920. The Historian, 23(2), 1961.

Gintautas Surgailis. The 1919–1920 Lithuanian War of Liberation. Gediminas Vitkus (Editor). Wars of Lithuania: A Systemic Quantitative Analysis of Lithuania's Wars in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centures. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 2014.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Eastern Europe

Belligerents

Lithuania, Poland

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

July 15, 1920

Termination Date

December 1, 1920

Duration

140 days

Outcome

Negotiated Settlement
(Polish victory)

Fatalities

Total: 1,000
Lithuania: 500
Poland: 500

Magnitude

3.0