November 11, 1918. Concussed and reeling after four years of war, Europe greets the signing of the Armistice as much with relief as it does with joy. Empires have crumbled, and millions lie dead. And from this horror, the seeds for future conflict have already been sown.
For Poland, though, World War I was a win. The collapse of the powers that had previously partitioned it meant that an independent nation could emerge from the embers of the conflict – for the first time in 123 years, Poland was reintroduced to the world map.
However, there would be no honeymoon period. Just days after peace in Europe was declared, Lenin’s right-hand man, Leon Trotsky, told a Red Army briefing that he envisaged the Sovietisation of Poland. Poland, he said, would be the link that would bind “Soviet Russia with a future Soviet Germany”, and would mark the first step in the creation of a Communist bloc stretching westwards across Europe.
Having only just reclaimed its independence, Poland sat again in the crosshairs of a neighbor.
With so much eastern territory presenting a power vacuum after being abandoned by German troops, an emboldened Lenin seized the chance to send his armies creeping forward. Likewise, Poland also moved to carve out its own place in the region and consolidate a solid base of power. As such, 1919 was defined by territorial skirmishes aimed at establishing borders.
The following year brought with it an entirely different campaign, one driven by ideology. Although publicly calling for peace, Lenin had continued to build up his forces on Poland’s doorstep; for him, the time was right to sweep through Poland and spark Communist revolutions throughout Western Europe.
Seeking to pre-empt this threat, Poland’s leader, Józef Piłsudski, in alliance with Symon Petlyura’s Ukrainian People’s Republic, launched a thrust towards Bolshevik-occupied Kyiv.
“This is their weak spot,” said Piłsudski. “It is so for two reasons: first, Moscow will be in danger of starvation without Ukraine; second, if we threaten them with the establishment of an independent Ukraine, they will not be able to risk it and will be forced to meet us in battle”.
The Red Army, however, withdrew. Instead, it launched its own offensive in a different area aimed at punching through Belarus. Other fronts also erupted. With the newborn Polish army so thinly stretched, the Bolsheviks were soon able to gain the upper hand. Across all theaters, Poland began edging back.
By summer, a rout looked inevitable. Speaking on the eve of his July 4 Belarusian offensive, Mikhail Tukhachevski - a Soviet general known as ‘the Red Napoleon’ - rallied his troops: “Soldiers of the workers’ revolution – turn your eyes to the west. The fate of the world revolution is being decided… over the corpse of White Poland lies the road to worldwide conflagration.”
He added: “On our bayonets we will carry happiness and peace to working humanity… The hour of the offensive to Vilnius, Minsk and Warsaw has struck. Forward!”
Tukhachevski’s troops are said to have enjoyed a numerical superiority of 3:1 over the Poles, and as the Red Army surged forward, Poland was forced to appeal to the West for arms and troops. In response, Britain’s prime minister, David Lloyd George, offered to mediate peace talks. Others were more receptive.
For example, Hungary delivered 30,000 rifles; there was also a squadron of American aviators (among whom was Merian Cooper, an adventurer who would later find fame by writing King Kong).
Even so, the momentum was the Red Army’s, and Warsaw was in its sights.
With a large number of Red Army units engaged in the Battle of Lwów, the Soviet presence outside of Warsaw was not as large as it could have been. Even so, it seemed likely that Warsaw would be conquered and the gates to Europe unlocked for Lenin.
The Soviets attacked Warsaw on August 12 at Modlin in the north and at the Praga bridgehead. Radzymin fell, and so too did Izabelin just 13 kilometers from Warsaw city center. For three days fighting raged, with villages changing hands. While Lenin urged his commanders to “finish Poland off”, in Warsaw, the churches filled as residents prayed for a miracle. These were soon answered.
On August 14, Poland struck back with victory at Ossów in what many historians cite as being a seminal moment. Over the next couple of days, the Wkra River was crossed, Radzymin recaptured and likewise Ciechanów. By August 16, the defensive phase was truly over and Piłsudski’s own unit, which had been positioned some 120 kilometers away on the River Wieprz, sprung into action.
Hitting the Red Army in its flank, Piłsudski’s units advanced 70 kilometers in the space of 36 hours to drive a definitive wedge between the Soviet battle groups in Warsaw and the ones east in Lwów.
Each day, it seemed, brought new success. Making good use of aerial reconnaissance, the Poles were able to slash through Soviet lines. With panic the order of the day, the Red Army’s discipline crumbled and troops began retreating in disorder. Warsaw had been saved.
Some 4,500 Polish soldiers are known to have died, with around 10,000 listed as missing. For the Soviets, the results were far worse. Around 10,000 are known to have died, with another 65,000 taken prisoner.
Moreover, Lenin’s masterplan to expand Moscow’s influence had been thwarted. It is impossible to predict the effects had Warsaw fallen, but with the West’s appetite for war distinctly lacking in the wake of WWI, it is not difficult to understand why many historians emphasize the global significance of Poland’s victory.
But victory at the gates of Warsaw did not mean an end to the Polish-Soviet War. The two nations would continue to trade blows for another year, with peace only arriving when the Treaty of Riga was signed in 1921.
The Battle of Warsaw, or the Miracle on the Vistula as it later became known, had been the tipping point. Through their resolve and daring, the Polish military had turned the tide of war in the most challenging of circumstances. It is this that is remembered on August 15. Although tested to the limit, independent Poland had ultimately prevailed.
