How Poland Stopped the Red Army in 1920

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The Polish-Soviet War was one of the most important conflicts in the aftermath of the First World War when Eastern Europe was in flux. Both the Polish and the Bolshevik Army had the advantage numerous times and at the Battle of Warsaw is looked like the Bolsheviks would carry the revolution into Western Europe.
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» SOURCES
Smele, Jonathan. The ‘Russian’ Civil Wars 1916-1926 (London: Hurst, 2015).
Mawdsley, Evan. The Russian Civil War (New York: Pegasus Books, 2005).
Leonhard, Jörn. Der überforderte Frieden. Versailles und die Welt 1918-1923 (CH Beck, 2018).
Macmillan, Margaret. The Peacemakers: Six Months That Changed the World (London: John Murray, 2001)
Dudko, Oksana: Polish-Ukrainian Conflict over Eastern Galicia , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2014-10-08 encyclopedia.1914-1918-online...
Davies, Norman. White Eagle Red Star (Random House, 2003 (1972))
Böhler, Jochen. Civil War in Central Europe, 1918-1921 (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Timothy Snyder. The Reconstruction of Nations. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003)
Centek, Jarosław: Polish-Soviet War 1920-1921 , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2014-10-08
Borzecki, Jerzy. The Polish-Soviet Peace of 1921 and the Creation of Interwar Europe (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008)
Engelstein, Laura. Russia in Flames (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Lehnstaedt, Stephan. Der Vergessene Sieg. Der Polnisch-Sowjetische Krieg 1919-1921 und die Entstehung des modernen Osteuropa (CH Beck, 2019)
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images and AP Archive
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2022

[@tdb7992]

Poland has such an interesting history. I am on the other side of the world in Australia with zero Slavic blood, but I cannot stop myself from watching videos on Poland.

[@danielm81]

Wow, that's a hm... surprising comment :) I wish you and your beautiful country all the best! With love, From Poland :)

[@hanskloss9482]

there are some polish mountains in Australia

[@arthura4442]

Than you have to visit Poland

[@tdb7992]

@@hanskloss9482 Our tallest mountain is named after a Polish freedom fighter - General Tadeusz Kościuszko.

[@tdb7992]

@@arthura4442 I will actually be in Europe next month and was thinking about visiting Krakow or Gdansk.

[@dc1313drc]

Fact: The last veteran of the Polish-Soviet War, Józef Kowalski, passed away on December 7, 2013, age 113.

[@TymexComputing]

Not funny :(

[@dc1313drc]

@@TymexComputing Who said anything about funny???

[@TymexComputing]

@@dc1313drc I said, you only used "fun" word - not funny - why do you ask?

[@Elivo1]

@@dc1313drc you should have just said "War Fact" or just "Fact"

[@dc1313drc]

@@Elivo1 Ok I changed it.

[@leszyj8174]

My great-grandfather fought for 3 days near Radzymin, near Warsaw. He was a machine gun operator. Twenty-three years later, during the Second World War, the Soviet army entered his village. Three officers lived in his house, and when they drank vodka in the evening, it turned out that one of them had also fought in Radzymin on the side of the Bolsheviks. When my ancestor criticized Stalin, the officer who had fought at Radzymin beat him severely. The next morning, this officer approached him and said, "I had to beat you because my friend, an NKVD officer, would have shot you." He saved his life.

[@shroudedindarkness79]

Ale historia

[@georgecarlin2097]

😅😅6😅😅😅

[@amarewskyy7341]

Russia and their moral standards raised specific understanding of survival.

[@Larrymh07]

Yikes!

[@lepio126p]

Why he say something about Stalin to russians? Sueside

[@DunderSwist]

There was also a small but significant episode with the Czechs, who, counting on Poland's defeat, attacked and seized the town of Cieszyn.

[@NC-oi5id]

20 years later the polish took some back

[@DunderSwist]

@@NC-oi5id Yes but more important is, that this ruined possibility of common defence against German.

[@madtechnocrat9234]

@@DunderSwist Unfortunatly both sides were at fault.

[@DunderSwist]

@@serebii666 From the Polish perspective, it was a stab in the back during the war with the Soviets. Crimes against the Polish population and the seizure of territory blocked the possibility of any agreement until the Second World War. Poland treated the Czech Republic as a hostile state and Hitler got a divided Central Europe on a platter.

[@arekszalinski5349]

​@@DunderSwist also Czechoslovakia didn't let Hungarian to send weapon and ammunition to Poland through their railroads. Poland received it by the Sea 2-3 days before battle of Warsaw. Czechoslovakia was also very difficult country to sustain - because Chech who has majority power in country, was actually Les then 50% of population, with high discrimination to Slovak, Hungarian, German or Polish (read about removing polish from their origin "Zaolzie" territory, and lack of Slovak representatives in high military ranks). Attack Poland during war with soviet union was backstabbing and later on gave "green light" to Third Reich to do exactly the same to Czechoslovakia.

[@mareka3740]

The brother of my grandfather was a volunteer in that war when Russia wanted to recapture the newly independent Poland. Unfortunately he was killed by Russians in July 1920 in the region of Białystok defending his homeland. His body was never found. After more than 100 years we in our family still remember him, a young boy who sacrificed his life for the freedom of Poland.

[@u47mkbg]

Marek, in 1920 Russian empire did no exist any more. The war was between Soviet Bolsheviks and Poland. And you know the ethnicity of those Bolsheviks.....

[@zhangzy123]

@@u47mkbg I know this - Moskale . Why are you Russians so selective about your history? . For example - It wasn't the Russians who invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, but the Soviets lol. But it was the Russians (the same soldiers) who "liberated" Poland. You always write or say that. Learn to take responsibility for the past. It teaches a lot. Maybe because you don't do it, you're still stuck in the Middle Ages.

[@bazej1080]

​@@u47mkbg what do you mean by ethnicity? Russian Empire just changed name. It was the same people and roughly the same territory as Russian Empire few years earlier, just different government. Consisted of corrupted criminals and thieves.

[@whitelivesmatter2]

@@u47mkbg still ruSSians

[@tw0million]

glory to the unknown soldiers for their greatest sacrifice

[@morgwai667]

it's worth to mention that the Polish victory in the battle of Warsaw was achieved in a huge extent thanks to the fact that the Polish army was able to finally break Soviet communication codes and ciphers and knew quite precisely all Soviet battle plans and where each red army unit was.

[@oliwiastanisawska6545]

Knowledge is so attractive

[@saitodosan9377]

Stuff like this makes me really admire just how stupid I am compared to all these people who are WAAAAAY smarter than me, that they can do something like this.

[@miklosfabian4722]

What a miracle happened near Warsaw and the Red Army was horrified and fled ?The Virgin Mary appeared on the battlefield in front of the Russian soldiers.

[@veryangryduckpl2122]

There is even a short free steam game about this. Its called Gra Szyfrów.

[@halthammerzeit]

At times Poles even knew better about enemy location than enemy himself.😊

[@jn1205]

I love Poland, they are the definition of when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Much love from the Scotland..

[@1_YourLocal1diot]

Fr

[@michaskora2317]

@@helltownsfinest8753 You apparently. Enough to comment that.

[@dominikjabonski8303]

FREEEDOOOOM !!!!

[@jn1205]

@stantheman276Stalin and Hitler, two powers, 3 million soldiers per million Polish

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

@stantheman276 They certainly were not aware of the potential of the German Blitzkrieg because no one knew of it. But they charged tanks with horses and broke their lances on them before being killed. LOL back to you.

[@avnrulz8587]

So many people think fighting stopped in November 1918 until September 1939.

[@Real-Ruby-Red]

I did, my education made it seem that way

[@metanoian965]

@@Real-Ruby-Red In the brainwashed West, WW i is conveniently over with on - 11 / 11 / 11 == 33* "they" openly show who won and why = 33* When did it really end ? Didn't on that date. Why contrive that ? To show 33*

[@Troynl66]

well it did... in the west

[@oldesertguy9616]

There was pretty much just one long war, with the locations shifting and minor breaks here and there.

[@jamesgarner327]

Anyone with a bit of historical knowledge knows that eastern Europe was a mess after the first World War. I watched a documentary about the chinese-russians, you could say the russian civil war lasted well into the 30's.

[@Severyn26]

Correction. Prior to ww1 Poland was occupied by Austria, Germany AND Russia.

[@sza2562]

Austria, Prussia and Russia

[@tyranq13]

@@sza2562 prussia == germany

[@1x3x23]

​​@@sza2562prussia became germany 60 years before ww1

[@Not_Evil_]

@@sza2562prussia was gone by that time.

[@tomaszzap9574]

I am impressed, how well it is done. Correct prounciation of Polish, Russian Ukrainian names. Quite a lot of details, views from various parts of the conflict.

[@egertroos-qh7hw]

Greetings from Estonia my polish friend

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

Lwów was Polish, historically Polish, ethnically Polish. Lviv is a thing after Stalin's ethnic cleansing.

[@egertroos-qh7hw]

@@user-mh2uj7ns6h Taganrog and Belgorod was Ukraine before ukrainians were swiped off the map there and were replaced by russians

[@aulus3792]

​@@egertroos-qh7hw Belarus was also much more eastern than it is now

[@egertroos-qh7hw]

@@aulus3792 Belarusians ethnic territories also include Smolensk

[@toastertastic5085]

Thank you so much for talking about lesser known conflicts during the Interwar period! It’s really fascinating to learn about what happened after WW1

[@bortaloanzia8775]

Merian C. Cooper and American Kosciuszko Squadron. Its story for Hollywood.

[@dariusztrocyszyn4971]

"Lesser" ? If Russia had won, in 1922 whole Europe (except UK) would be communist.

[@marcinbazucki6919]

It would be not lesser if Poland would fall. Bolshevics would stop on Spain and You would live in different world now. France, Germany and others were weak after WWI. That was war not of two countries but on two civilizations.

[@pawedrupiewski8009]

It's 18th most imporntant battele in entire human history, one of those that chages history course, I woudlnt call it less known conflict.

[@Filip-ct1in]

It's literally the most important and most known war of the Interwar period. What do you mean "lesser known conflicts"?

[@lukaszkulasek]

My wife’s grand-grandfather was 17 at that time and he faked his birthday to be able to join army and fight the Soviets. His framed portrait in military uniform still hangs on the wall and always reminds me about this war.

[@cactuslietuva]

You need to frame Stephan Bandera portrait, to remember how ukranians celebrated having polish in volyhnia and easter Galicia.

[@barti3883]

@@cactuslietuva jakie ty musisz miec nieudane zycie....

[@cactuslietuva]

@@barti3883 Mówi ten, który zapomniał o swojej historii

[@lukaszkulasek]

@@cactuslietuva We're talking about the war with the Soviets. Why are you bringing Ukraine here. Is someone paying you for this or what is your problem?

[@cactuslietuva]

@@lukaszkulasek I lost my grandfather while he was defending Vilnius from Poland invaders, so i have anti polish bias. That's all

[@gienol]

This was an impressive experience. As a Pole I have never seen /listened such a comprehensive material about the war neither in school nor anywhere else. Many thanks.

[@jessealexander2695]

:)

[@pucioy]

Worth of mention is that Pilsudski was Born close to Vilno. He really wanted to have it as a part of Poland.

[@MaxSchtirlitz]

They should take it back! Same as Lwow.

[@DrHouseMusic]

Wilno and Lwów are Polish cities

[@f-86zoomer37]

@@DrHouseMusicno they’re not

[@Roflejowski]

​@@f-86zoomer37Lwów zawsze był polski. Czy ze względu na położenie czy etniczność tego miasta gdzie mieszkali głównie polacy

[@alexwallachian7720]

​@@DrHouseMusic were Polish cities. This is in the past. They are no longer Polish cities today.

[@siwykinol6053]

One of the main authors of Polish success was General Tadeusz Jordan Rozwadowski, polish army's chief of staff. Former officer of the Austro-Hungarian army and the only Pole who was awarded the two highest orders by both emperors, german Hohenzollern Wilhelm and Aus-Hungarian Habsburg. However the Germans finally refused to hand over the Iron Cross to a Pole.

[@aldovk6681]

"I've wasted my life... You will not ne able to keep this Poland" History proved him right

[@MrNonejm]

Well, he was right about Poland, but also he was too harsh for himself. I definetely wouldn't say his life was wasted.

[@markg1531]

I don’t think it has. Poland lives on.

[@impact0r]

@@markg1531 not THIS Poland.

[@Not_Evil_]

@@markg1531It exists only because it was at the mercy of the Soviets after world war 2

[@markg1531]

@@Not_Evil_ The wheel of fortune. Soviet Union fell apart.

[@piotrzbies8683]

13:45 You forgot about one a bit important mention. Prince Lubomirski was one of three regents (members of Regency Council) in Kingdom of Poland (between 1917 and 1918) who later gave power to Piłsudski. 18:15 Also General Latinik was commander of 1st Army, not General Haller. Volunteer Division fought near Modlin (under Sikorski's 5th Army command).

[@asinner9096]

What would be interesting to know, is which of the military thinking schools influenced the polish military the most. Polish army nucleated around Polish National units of 4 different armies of WW1 era, all commanded by charismatic and independent personalities like heller, pilsudski, zeligowski or dowbor-musnicki, and with a strong influx of diaspora poles from the Americas, who constituted the core of the French trained blue army. How could that army possibly function?

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

The author also didn't mention the role of the general Rozwadowski who played the leading role in the most crucial battles.

[@MrNonejm]

I would say it was the French and Austrians. Almost all major Polish commanders served in Austro-Hungarian army before (during WWI they were mostly in Polish Legions though), and the French provided quite a big military support and sent military mission to Poland during a war to help creating an army. But i don't know much about details. I agree, it would be great to see a video covering that topic.

[@jakubbasaj]

There was also problem with language differences between people from different occupations. I know a story of some soldiers who blew up a railway station instead of taking it, because they didn't misunderstood the command (wysadzić - explode sth, obsadzić - take sth into control)

[@asinner9096]

@@MrNonejm well not quite.. Look at the battle at Niemen. Its operational plan is almost identical to the battle of Mukden: deceptive strike on the right + artillery barrage on the center. And when the enemy bites and moves to the right envelop him with a swift motion on the left, capture him on the march and destroy. Both times with a devastating effect. Now the one who carried out this main assault was general Żeligowski, himself a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war (guess which side) and later graduate from the imperial academy of general staff in St.-Petersburg.

[@przemekkamieniarz]

Improvisation is our special national sport

[@anturnix1148]

Great video, but you forgot about key help from Hungarians, who transported 20 millions of ammunition torwards Romain into poland in hungarian trains (Czechoslovakia refused transit, Romania under a pressure let to transport ammo, but on the hungarian trains). Battle of Warsaw could change the tides of war without that help. Love Hungarians from Poland

[@szarvaskoppany]

I wish Hungary repeated that ballsy help against Muscovian imperialism today too.

[@franktuminski8460]

Hungarians were also helping our Freedom Fighters ( AK) during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. They were warning Poles about German troops movements

[@szarvaskoppany]

@@franktuminski8460 I heard they even gave some provisions and weapons to them and claimed that Polish partisans "somehow" took them.

[@franktuminski8460]

@@szarvaskoppany Yes you are right. My dad told me about the noble Hungarians. He was a member of the Freedom Fighters ( Home Army) and took part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

[@szarvaskoppany]

@@franktuminski8460 Even the 1956 uprising in Hungary, which Hungarians take quite a pride of, has started as a solidarity protest with the workers' uprising in Poznan. And yet lots of Hungarians today seem to have forgotten the common enemy, the Muscovian imperialism and refuse to show any meaningful solidarity with Ukraine. I'm ashamed and hear that Hungary is becoming embarrassing for Poles too nowadays and I can only hope that this situation will be remedied too once this Muscovian puppet government is removed, be it as long as it takes.

[@colinjohnston5734]

Glad to see this channel still pumping out beautiful content!

[@galahad-history]

Thank you for the video! I waited for the Polish-Soviet war on your channel for a long time.

[@eifelitorn]

they have a couple of videos on this already, just search their channel .

[@julio5prado]

Incredibly well done, well explained, exceptional pictures and films, congratulations! One of the very best of your excellent documentaries

[@wadejustanamerican1201]

Thanks Jesse and everyone there at Real Time. Great content.

[@Randrico]

I appreciate that you adding subtitles. They are a relatively small detail but they improve the quality of a video by a lot.

[@extrahistory8956]

Nice to see an updated version of the 1920 episodes on the subject, though I wished you could have used this opportunity to cover inter-war topics that you have yet to cover, such as the Mongolian and Egyptian Revolutions.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

Many pro chinese forget if it wasn't for ussr Mongolia would have been currently under china. They forget and try erase this history. Hopefully somebody makes a video on this

[@jonmcgee6987]

Give them time. I expect they'll get around to it eventually.

[@actionjackson4982]

​@@jonmcgee6987 I think they will, too. It's a lot of info to cover and a lot of research to conduct.

[@PersonOfEarth117]

Plus Jesse also has the blood and iron channel to work on

[@tomaszzap9574]

​@@actionjackson4982 Is it about about unification of Germany by Prussia?

[@bafloski]

My grandfather serve in 1920 / We have 21 US pilot volunteers ; weterans WWI from France. Polish 7th Air Escadrille better known as the Kościuszko Squadron (their successors defended Britain in 1940) , was one of the units of the Polish Air Force during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. American volunteers, including Major Cedric Fauntleroy and Captain Merian C. Cooper, arrived in Poland from France where in September 1919 they had been officially named the Kościuszko Squadron (after the Polish American hero Tadeusz Kościuszko) with Major Fauntleroy as its commander.[1] After reaching Poland the men from Kościuszko Squadron joined the 7th Squadron. More pilots arrived during the following weeks - in all, there served 21 American pilots, along with several Polish pilots, including Ludwik Idzikowski, the ground crew was all Polish. In August 1920 the Kościuszko Squadron took part in the defense of Lwów, and after the Battle of Warsaw it participated in the Battle of Komarów which crippled Budionny's cavalry. Most active days were August 16 and 17, when Escadrille, reduced to 5 uninjured pilots, fulfilled 18 ground attack missions each day. In 1920 the Kościuszko Squadron made over 400 combat flights. The most famous successor to the original Kościuszko Squadron would be the World War II No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron, the most successful fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain.

[@Wiez4]

Actually, the thing You didn't say was that in 1919-20 Poland had 3 border conflicts at this same time: 01. With Bolshewics in the east. 02. In the southwest with Germany about Silesia. 03. And last was west border conflict in the Wielkopolska with Germany as well. So it was not like "fighting against" but against USSR and Germany at the same time.

[@eugengrzondziel1706]

and the question is: whose interests was to weak Germany and Russia at the same time and to risks it's own undergoing?

[@dencetrov7099]

You also should remember that there was war within Russia, and they had fight with turks, fins, japanese, polish in 1920s when they had white vs red, red vs green in civil war.

[@invisiblehandofadamsmith]

my gandfather worked with poles in battle of britan. he always like them a lot and even met with them in krakow in poland after 2 ww

[@memer7987]

Considering what Stalin would do later its a shame Józef Piłsudski wasn't able to establish a federation with Ukraine

[@polishgigachad7097]

It's hard to build something with these "Ukrainian" morons. In the past, instead of sticking to the Poles, they preferred to join Muscovites and act against the Kingdom of Poland.

[@lordraydens]

indeed. a polish-ukrainian coalition would've crushed the soviets and it would've been glorious

[@thalassinos1]

@@lordraydens LMAO 🤣 😂

[@lordraydens]

@Nikola S. ok stalinbot

[@rebralhunter6069]

@@nikolas.2732 lmfao what?

[@r.pr.wojciechmichniewicz6375]

Awesome work, congratulations!

[@Naganopl]

Shame you didn't mention inteligence background of Battle of Warsaw. That was the great story!

[@PolishHussar04]

What Story could you explain

[@Naganopl]

@@PolishHussar04 Story of Polish officer Jan Kowalewski who broke the red army code. He and his team were intercepting most of messages easily follow every enemy movement. Thanks to that The Poles has striked counter-attack south of Warsaw exposing the flank as it was known that Budionnys Horse Army will not come for help. Moreover Kowalewski and his team had orders to start jamming enemy radio frequency. For approximately 48 hours they were using morse alphabet to read the bible thus bolsheviks communication were paralized during the Battle of Warsaw. Kowalewski's team effort was priceless.

[@brucealbert4686]

@@Naganopl Also political factors, the cavalry corps being led by Budionny (mustache) was friendly to Stalin (as political commisar) posted in the Soviet grouping facing Lwow, and hostile to the political robotniki in the Soviet Army grouping opposite Warsaw. The two did NOT cooperate and one of the reasons for the position of the Soviet cavalry was an attempt to send certain forces south to the Lwow-Lemberetc. grouping, being a buddy with Joseph.

[@alh6255]

@@PolishHussar04 Many historians believe that it was the excellent Polish intelligence and knowledge of every bogus movement of the Bolsheviks and the disruption of their communication (ironically - with quotations from the Bible, which certainly amused Poles) - turned out to be a key factor when it comes to o The Battle of Warsaw.

[@Ahrlin9]

Great content as always.

[@jjforcebreaker]

Fantastic work as always!

[@alh6255]

Many historians point out that it was the excellent Polish intelligence (and mathematicians who broke Russian codes), and knowledge of every bogus movement of the Bolsheviks plus the constant disruption of Russian radio communication (ironically and funny - with quotations from the Bible) - turned out to be a key factor when it comes to o The Battle of Warsaw. Hence, among other things, the fact that the Poles were still faster, and the Russians - too slow. I'm surprised you didn't mention this in the video.

[@alh6255]

@CipiRipi00 exactly

[@thomasdyman5607]

The absence of any mention of the success of Polish cryptographers is an extraordinary omission. Description of the northern front battles as arguably the real turning points is inconsistent with mainstream Polish and Western historiography on the war and seems to reflect more the Sikorski/Haller vs Pilsudski alignment that grew with the passage of time.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Judging by that Polish have had strong intelligence services since Day 1 of their independence. Having two potential hostiles both east and west really gives incentive to know what they are planning.

[@thefoe76]

Soviets use non-breakable XOR cifer, but they quickly ran out of single-use cifers, and use them repeatidly. Polsih mathematicans as war was going they quicker decoded soviets radio orders

[@saltyroe3179]

​@@thefoe76 what makes a Cypher unbreakable is a one time pad, not the encypherment method.

[@Rasheed9957]

Excellent production! 👏

[@martinmortyry7444]

Great video! Wish you had talked more about the support for Poland from other countries - France was key to ensuring armoured forces for Poland. Hungary, too, was of great importance for Poland, sending guns and munitions despite Czechoslovakia's blockade of their convoys.

[@brucealbert4686]

Did France provide aircraft. I remember from the Polish Ministry of Culture film on Warsaw battle that aircraft were present for Polish recon. Maybe not an entirely accurate movie. I assume the Polish tanks are the Renault 17?

[@stachwel5547]

@@brucealbert4686 Yes, tanks were 120 Renault FT given by France to the Polish Blue Army fighting in western front and later shipped to Poland. But planes were mostly captured from Germans and Austrians.

[@brucealbert4686]

@@stachwel5547 Enough tanks for a full brigade. It is a big advantage on top of the aircraft and poor Soviet Intel and primitive communication also.

[@giantsbaby]

Wait, why was Czechoslovakia doing a blockade?

[@brucealbert4686]

@Adam Nowaczyński I think the territory disputes in both present day Slezko-Morava region (NE CZ) and Zilina Okr. (NW SK) erupted right after WW1, with Polish forces taking the former on the Polish Silesia border (I forget the Polish name off hand but you will know it) after the famous agreement in Munich (mind, PL and German relations had not yet become very bad due to Gdansk, that became a problem in March 1939, and you pribably know about Pilsudski's pact with Germany in January 34). I recall the Poles were not able to move into Zilina because the Germans were reserving this for the future vassal Slovak state (Tiso, I think, was born in Bytca in Zilina Ork.). I am not a Czech or Slovak but I have worked over there and they of course have a slightly different POV. I am used to this in your part of the world! :)

[@markheithaus]

This channel is great. People really need to learn more about Eastern Europe. It's complicated, but it's important.

[@PBT2]

In this case Central Europe.

[@franktuminski8460]

And Central Europe ( Poland)

[@__BmZ___A]

Es tan curioso que Polonia tomó hasta Moscú

[@joeshmoe8345]

Thanks for sharing, y’all!

[@yunggravy7533]

great video as always!

[@prof.2248]

Poland has always had great soldiers, the best of the best were Polish hussars - phenomenal. The last 200 years have been catastrophic, and during World War II was attacked from two sides, I hope Poland will be as strong as it was before the 18th century.

[@ligametis]

Please not. I prefer Lithuania continues to exist.

[@datdude119]

@@ligametis Lithuania joined willingly and stayed for hundreds of years to the point where even Lithuanian nobles converted. I don't really see where you're coming from?

[@ligametis]

@@datdude119 Union was needed for Lithuanian survival. But as time went by it became less and less of a union, Poland constantly gained more rights in government. That has happened because way more polish nobles had voting right and could vote for rulers that cared about Lithuania very little. After Jagiellon dynasty rulers even stopped regularly visiting Lithuania. And don't let me start with interwar and how Vilnius was occupied.

[@ak5659]

​@@ligametis Lithuania doesn't strike me as that fragile, lol. Russification was just as much an epic fail in Lithuania as it was in Poland and you had far fewer people. Anyway, back to point... I thought the most of the upper levels of government in the Commonwealth were Lithuanian majority.

[@polgamedriver993]

Będziemy, tylko już nigdy nie damy się podzielić! Imperia nigdy nie umierają!

[@markgendala5689]

Quite a few historians attribute Polish 1920 victory to cryptographers who deciphered Russian military signals - yup, guys from tha same school that in late 1930's helped break the German "Enigma" codes.

[@ancientpatrician]

The victory upon Vistula was no miracle - it was all thanks to the excellent planning of polish general Tadeusz Rozwadowski!

[@zeothorn]

Thank you for this history lesson!

[@CreedK]

My great grandfather was a veteran of WW1 and this conflict, being awarded the order of the white eagle for the latter while serving under Pilsudski. Unfortunately, the specifics of his actions are stories that are lost to history; and the physical medal itself (along with others) was stolen from my father by a family memeber decades ago before he emigrated to the US. I really wish we still owned such a piece of history and knew those war stories.

[@shroudedindarkness79]

Pisałeś do Centralnego Archiwum Wojskowego? Ja dostałam stamtad dokumenty o bracie pradziadka, było zdjęcie, życiorys, w tym krótki opis co robił na wojnie w 1920 r.

[@kml8732]

Very accurate. Nicely done. Congratulations. Instant subscribtion.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@Obcybr]

I'm from Poland and I was unaware of the extent of fighting in this war. In history lessons, especially younger classes, it was mostly abridged to the invasion of Poland's core in 1920

[@ElzariusUnity]

Russian schools don't even nother beyond "another small conflict in the former Russian Empire" University level goes into detail, but really like to drive home the point of "Han shot first" History will always be the tool of propaganda.

[@Losowy]

In my books it was clearly showed that it was Poland who attacked first

[@paradise2586]

@@Losowy In my books it was clearly shown that Austria, Prussia and Russia attacked first.

[@cactuslietuva]

​@@Losowy Sshh, you gonna brake polish myth that they were 'just defending' and surely didn't had any imperialistic ambition. As lithuanian we remember who took our capital and refused to give it back and run like cowards when soviet came.

[@Losowy]

@@cactuslietuva I mean They were in fact defending but they just attacked first France and Britain didn't intend to use Germany as a wall to stop soviets for no completely no reason

[@lech1985wawaify]

Great job, congrats This is one of the best, if not the best foreign (not Polish) depiction of the 1920 war I even learned another fact about this story Piłsudski's words about defeats Thank you for such a great job

[@dansmith4077]

Thank you for the new video.

[@rfukrs]

The Russians did not leave Poland alone. From 1920 to 1939, the NKVD made a large number of terrorist attacks and sabotage on the territory of Poland.

[@mihuhih2186]

Ukrainians did a lot of sabotage acts as well

[@user-mc8ow8me9o]

@@mihuhih2186 but they didnt kill 150k poles during 1937-8 NKVD operation

[@Cris-if8kf]

I would a love a source on this I'm very curious never heard of this before

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Ah yes, because the poles never, ever committed mass murder against ethnic minorities...

[@cordial001]

Your documentaries are peerless, guys. Thank you so much for making things like this.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@canadiandrumer]

kings and generals is close

[@albertsalinas5671]

always informative and interesting

[@ThygeRRR]

wow, such a beautiful in depth documentary for free... thank YOU

[@user-tl5dd8yq2f]

Awesome work. Is it possible to get a video about the Finnish Civil War? Also about Switzerland during WW1 to go along with the other videos about countries in WW1?

[@druidia9]

Although I consider myself a history buff, I have learned much from your detailed series about lesser-known conflicts. Many thanks!

[@kakitakenzo5013]

"Funny" is the fact that the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-20 was not a "lesser-conflict" but one of the turning points in human history. If Poland had been defeated then and flooded by a wave of barbarian Bolsheviks, communist revolutions would have broken out all over Europe (e.g. at the same time in Germany or Hungary there was almost an open civil war between local communists supported by Moscow and government forces) and if Poland had not resisted - then the whole of Europe (maybe apart from Iceland and for some time the British Isles) would be flooded with the plague of Bolshevism and later communism... Today's world would look completely different if not for this history-changing key event from over a hundred years ago.

[@TheInterestedObserver]

@@kakitakenzo5013 Yes, 1m dead or injured is certainly no 'minor conflict'

[@Earthstein]

Top quality presentation, again. Thank you, Jesse.

[@marcelovolcato8892]

"and the only KZbin channel whose updates I wait anxiously for!"

[@Xsidon]

after all he did Piłsudzki was like "meh" regarding his life. This is gold

[@Wojti0182]

Great job!!!

[@mikepenny8940]

Love your channel. I didn't know about this conflict very interesting

[@ottovonbismark5083]

This channel has come farther than I thought it would without Indie. Great job and keep it up.

[@WitaSzulc-xw4ee]

2 Things ommited 1) the stabon theback by the Czechs, everybidy talks about Cieszyn 1939 occupation by Poland but IT was the Czechs who invaded Poland during the zwarwith Russia. 2. Enigma decodinf starter in 1920.

[@davidcook8230]

Perfect timing on this video! We are setting up a Red Star White Eagle wargame campaign for our first play.

[@sabrekai8706]

Interesting vid, I learned something new. Thanks.

[@EsotericRogue]

@The Great War I really like your narration, in particular the widely varied inflection on key words and phrases. 🤓

[@EpicBattlesEpicBattles]

Nice video!

[@sebastianzukowski7985]

Maybe because we didn't count on the Brits at that time. As a great French statesman said: "You cannot trust people who have such bad cuisine. It is the country with the worst food after Finland"

[@commanderfox7384]

Bruh Finland has better food than France

[@ragnargrabson1287]

Poland has great food too, perfect in their climate: 300 soups , pierogi, cabbage rolls, hunters stew, schabowy ( Polish version of snitzel ), kotlet mielony etc😁

[@skierskymichael2681]

Gen. De Gaul supported Poland … and traditionally Hungary… but Great Britain is not possible to trust. The same now.

[@szpunar85]

Ok, there are so many youtubers that tried and couldn't convince me to spend money on Nebula that I won't even bother to name them all, but somehow you just did it with battle of Berlin, and also this is the first yt video of yours that I've watched. Well done.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@horrorny207]

Poland 1920 - Ukraine 2020.

[@mbaxter22]

I would never have known about this crazy heroic little war if I hadn’t read the excellent book “Poland” by James Michener. Polish history is insane!

[@paradakrost]

A "little" war?!? We're talking about over 1 million victims here! You just can't be serious!

[@mbaxter22]

@@paradakrost Well, it’s all relative. The Polish-Soviet War is overshadowed by the even bigger events of WW1 and virtually forgotten to history. It’s a shame because the struggle was epic and there were some great heroes on the Polish side.

[@piotrd.4850]

That's .... very unconventional book.

[@veritasaequitas2386]

it was not a little war, if poland fell you would have communist revolution in entire europe

[@mbaxter22]

@@veritasaequitas2386 Nah, the "domino theory" has been widely discredited by history. Europe wouldn't have just "gone red" automatically, just like SE Asia didn't fall after the commies won Vietnam.

[@mechanical_voice]

During defence of Warsaw Poles were jamming invaders communications by broadcasting voice reading bible, in addition, supposedly there was a storm that attenuated RF signals. Great video, thank you.

[@meteorplay3487]

Who else is the invaders, the Poles themselves attacked

[@varia6688]

@@meteorplay3487 Not really, there were skirmishes going on between Polish and Soviet skirmishers in eastern controlled Poland (and outside as pockets of Polish collectives also fought) It was seen by both sides that a larger clash will emerge and be unavoidable, Lenin leadership was too busy on other fronts and probably hoped to stall and win in other sections first before engaging with Polish army in any significant way (that was the mindset of Piłsudski). So a offensive began towards Kiev with hope and plan to install a pro-Polish Ukrainian regime (Ukraine was one big faction mess) Later on Soviets counter-attacked all way to Warsaw. This was a conflict both sides didn’t need or want cause of too many other fronts and problems, but a conflict neither side could afford to ignore. It’s hard to pinpoint blame on this really, but yes. First major offensive came from Polish side. Who started it is a lot harder to say

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@@varia6688 The Polish literally started advancing into the Soviet controlled areas and when stopped, prepared an OFFENSIVE. It was definitely the Poles.

[@aulus3792]

​@@Gustav_KurigaNo. You forgot that Poland was allied with Ukraine and gave it capital back.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@aulus3792 which Ukraine? lol at this point Ukraine was basically a free for all.

[@twilinski1]

Fantastic documentary. Love it for its details and impartiality. My gran-grandpa in 1920 survived as the only one from the whole group during the cavalry attacks.

[@user-uz7dm6qn3y]

My grandfather lived in Bryansk, Belarus. In 1920 at the age of sixteen the Russians impressed him into the Soviet army, he escaped and returned home. Then the Poles came and impressed him into the Polish army. He escaped back home again. As a deserter from two waring armies, and at the age of 17 his family sent him to New York via Hamburg in the summer on 1921. He traveled on the SS Samland.

[@aslan_kz_97]

Paternal or maternal grandfather?

[@user-uz7dm6qn3y]

Maternal. Does it matter?@@aslan_kz_97

[@ggsay1687]

In soviet history books it called “fight against belopolyaks”. Belopolyak means white polaks in association with white movement in Russia. Although the movement was not united, many regional powers fought for independence from Russian Empire.

[@adamciemniewski764]

Thank you.

[@polska7497]

Poland was the only one who ruled in Moscow for 2 years and was never conquered by one country...In this war, Poland fielded about 1,200,000 men against about 4,500,000 attacking Soviets, remember that a few years earlier Poland returned to the map after 123 years of absence - occupation and partition.

[@BartoszSewerynWilk]

Poland was conquered by Sweden

[@MrFreemanPolish]

💯

[@user-bf7ix7fq3d]

Poland WAS returned to the map...

[@budowniczypylonow7026]

Don't forget about the Mongols. Although by that time Moscow was merely a village

[@PiotrSobierski]

@@user-bf7ix7fq3d you wanted to sound important, but failed

[@alancranford3398]

Thank you. The period between the two world wars needs to be better understood--if it's not too late. The same problems exist today, a century later.

[@francisconsole3892]

Bless Poland

[@paradakrost]

Poland has saved a Europe. And that's a fact!

[@yaboyed5779]

No

[@dieinternationalesolidarit8540]

No

[@Elcicikos]

Yes

[@majkel1]

@@yaboyed5779cry

[@majkel1]

@@dieinternationalesolidarit8540cry

[@TheBora72]

Tuckhachevskiy’s Polish origin, which was mentioned, is rather disputable. Even if his family name looks a bit of Polish type, he was born in Russian Orthodox family and no any direct Polish relatives witnessed.

[@Goldberg1234]

To prawda.

[@frankj.thomas9429]

You're right. He wasn't of polish origin.

[@joeadams3228]

I love the episode but can we have more about the use of armored trains!

[@chmmielu111]

Quite accurate. Also bit heartbroken to see how it develops.

[@afchehiro]

Thank you!!! Your efforts to give us all these.... thank you again!!!! And probably you are a factor in world politics 😉

[@erj3397]

It is wonderful to recall the statement of a German observer accusing the Poles that they will not be welcomed with open arms by the natives and will have to use force. We all know that this could be applied to the Germans in the Second World War. And the later comment of the English observer, accusing the Poles of arrogance. Also very significant for the colonial power that Britain was at the time. It seems to be the case that we pay attention to the deficits in other people that occur in our own. Of course, I think that all the comments about Poles are right, but who they are making is a bit funny.

[@lookie4448]

@lazarus921 Isn't that just hypocrisy?

[@ilikeonions1051]

@@lookie4448 i think both would be correct, but projecting seems to be more specific to this case

[@penguinsfan251]

Churchill referred to Poland as a hyena at the time. Considering Great Britain stuck its nose in everybody's business all over the world...that was rich.

[@skullmaster6888]

@@penguinsfan251 fake quote

[@helloworld-wy4vq]

Given that the Weimar republic was in power at the time and that they could not have existed the rise of the nsdap, it was most likely not projection in the part of the German observer.

[@Zielony_Ork]

In Poland, no one used the term White Poland, only Poland. White Poland is a term coined by the Bolsheviks.

[@olowrohek9540]

Very interesting 👌 The treat of Riga could be make now again.

[@andrzejpasieka4996]

Super material

[@FokaBezOka]

sto lat...i nic się nie zmieniło

[@erwinner8929]

O czym ty mówisz? Jesteśmy teraz niepodlegli nic naszej niepodległości nie zagraża mamy sojuszników wielu, relatywnie silną gospodarkę, i mamy państwa buforowe pomiędzy nami a Rosją

[@nataldoe3035]

Lance do boju, szable w dłoń bolszewika goń, goń, goń!

[@meteorplay3487]

Fool or what? Well, where are you with your market? What wars, oh, so this is Capitalism)

[@mikepenny8940]

Jessie, you are one of my favorite narrators

[@ralfgroh2719]

As a fervent student of eastern Europe, kudos on an excellent presentation. Thanks!

[@Erymanthios_Kafros]

You are one of the few unbiased guys out there right now, and I can trust that when I see your videos I listen to teh truth. GJ man.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@saulocpp]

Valeu!

[@JustinQuilling]

Superb.

[@emilyturowski3451]

My grandfather fought in this war.

[@markg1531]

I live in Poland and I love it, thanks to the glorious people like your grandfather.

[@TheHypnogog]

Jesse Alexander makes me think about the things I already knew, while feeding me additional perspectives and history. I am a massive fan of his (and his studio's) OUTSTANDING work. Some of these quotes are POWERFUL. Wow. Tell us how you REALLY feel about the Russian soldiers, Isaac Babel! OK, OK, I'll subscribe to Nebula.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@ttmalaga2323]

One of the most important victories in Polish history.

[@darksonlolo6039]

Not only polish history, if the Poles hadn't stopped the Russians back then, the Russians would probably have broken into the center of Europe and the maps might look different today.

[@f4ust85]

@@darksonlolo6039 So instead the Poles occupied big part of the Baltic states, Ukraine or Belarus, and set up a nationalistic and ethnocentric state. What a relief for "freedom"!

[@k4rpinsky420]

@@f4ust85 These lands were ours for hundreds of years. Moreover, since the beginning of our nation we had people of many nationalities, languages and religions under our rule and we were the most tolerant country. These traits remain to this day. We are the safest nation in Europe and of the safest in the world (we have a total of 0 terrorist attacks). No one cares if you are black, Jew, Muslim, Christian or anything else. We are an open nation. Just like we welcomed our brothers and sisters from Ukraine when the war started in 2022.

[@f4ust85]

@@k4rpinsky420 Bhah, lol, yeah that sounds very familiar, doesnt it? The only thing left to answer is, who is "WE", "OURS"? Theres no continuity with governments of the middle ages. Lastly, the Pilsudski regime was a nasty authoritarian place to be and one of the harshest in Europe, with military dictatorship and censorship, get your head out of the sand. Your hospitality towards immigrants from Syria was also legendary.

[@k4rpinsky420]

@@f4ust85 And yeah, Pilsudski regime was very far from being great but these were one of the most difficult times in our history. We came back as sovereign state after 123 years since we created first European constitution.

[@acg1970]

Muy buen trabajo...los mapas son fenomenales

[@scottlarson1548]

In high school they didn't teach us anything that happened in Europe between the two wars.

[@Fredior]

Long Live For Poland!

[@CharlesOffdensen]

16:51 the irony is that many convinced communist like Babel were shot by the USSR. Btw he has some very interesting short stories. Like "At the railroad station" from 1918.

[@mpingo91]

He was a great writer, but with the devil in his heart.

[@BolshevikCarpetbagger1917]

Shot by Stalin

[@paulbenedict1289]

That's because Stalin wanted whole world to forget about Soviet Union and world revolution. He didn't need bunch of clowns reminding everyone that a threat of communism was a thing. That's the reason why he let Trotsky out alive - because he was saying that Stalin betrayed the world revolution and was only building socialism in one country.

[@BolshevikCarpetbagger1917]

@@paulbenedict1289 Stalin failed miserably in getting the world to forget about the USSR, even with his bankrupt policy of Socialism in One Country. He was that clown believing the Western powers would accept him as an equal or leave him be.

[@paulbenedict1289]

@@BolshevikCarpetbagger1917 That is true, but it was mostly because of Tukachevsky(however you spell it). After the show of 1935 Kiev military maneuvers, it was obvious to western observers that Soviet Union was ready for an offensive war. That's why the British propped up Hitler - to create a buffer zone. Except that Stalin was more clever and supported Hitler too.