Battle of Warsaw (1920)

Battle of Warsaw
Part of the Polish–Soviet War
Date August 12–25, 1920 Location near Warsaw, Poland 52°18′N 20°49′E / 52.300°N 20.817°E / 52.300; 20.817Coordinates: 52°18′N 20°49′E / 52.300°N 20.817°E / 52.300; 20.817 Result Decisive Polish victory
Belligerents
Poland	Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Józef Piłsudski Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski Władysław Sikorski Józef Haller Edward Rydz-Śmigły Bolesław Roja Franciszek Latinik Leonard Skierski	Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Joseph Stalin Hayk Bzhishkyan Sergey Kamenev Aleksandr Yegorov
Strength
113,000–123,000	104,000–140,000
Casualties and losses
4,500 dead 22,000 wounded 10,000 missing Total: 36,500	15,000–25,000 dead unknown number of wounded 65,000–66,000 captured 30,000–35,000 interned in East Prussia Total: 110,000–126,000

The Battle of Warsaw refers to the decisive Polish victory in 1920 during the Polish–Soviet War. Poland, on the verge of total defeat, repulsed and defeated the invading Red Army. It was, and still is, celebrated as a great victory for the Polish people over Soviets and communism.

As Soviet forces invaded Poland in summer 1920, the Polish army retreated westward in disarray. The Polish forces seemed on the verge of disintegration and observers predicted a decisive Soviet victory.

The battle of Warsaw was fought from August 12–25, 1920 as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress. On August 16, Polish forces commanded by Józef Piłsudski counterattacked from the south, disrupting the enemy's offensive, forcing the Russian forces into a disorganized withdrawal eastward and behind the Neman River. Estimated Russian losses were 10,000 killed, 500 missing, 30,000 wounded, and 66,000 taken prisoner, compared with Polish losses of some 4,500 killed, 10,000 missing, and 22,000 wounded.

The defeat crippled the Red Army; Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, called it "an enormous defeat" for his forces. In the following months, several more Polish follow-up victories saved Poland's independence and led to a peace treaty with Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine later that year, securing the Polish state's eastern frontiers until 1939.

The British diplomat Edgar Vincent regards this event as one of the most important battles in history on his expanded list of most decisive battles, since the Polish victory over the Soviets stopped the spread of communism to Europe.

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Wikipedia