The
Peace of Riga, also known as the
Treaty of Riga; ( (
Rízhsky Mírny dogovór), and ) was signed in
RigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava...
on 18 March, 1921, between
PolandThe Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; from the creation of an independent Polish state in the aftermath of World War I, to the invasion of Poland in 1939 by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic,...
on one side and Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine on the other. The treaty ended the
Polish-Soviet WarThe Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, four states in post-World War I Europe. The war was the result of the belligerents' desire to expand their territories and their influence...
.
Background
Amidst the
Russian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Soviets under the domination of the Bolshevik party assumed power, first in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a multi-party war that...
the Poles were eager to regain all the territories of the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
from their historical enemy,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Meanwhile, the Soviets tried to export the revolution to the West, by force if necessary. If the Soviets had occupied Poland they would have been in a position to come to the aid of German Communists, and possibly ensure the success of a Soviet revolution in
GermanyThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
. The historian
J.F.C. FullerMajor General John Frederick Charles Fuller CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J.F.C. Fuller, , was a British Army officer, military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare...
described the
Battle of WarsawThe Battle of Warsaw was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War, which began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga .The battle was fought from August 12–25, 1920 as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish...
as one of the most significant battles in history. After that military setbacks that followed a defeat in that battle, the Soviet side was eager to begin peace treaty negotiations.
The treaty
Peace talks were started on August 17 1920, in
MinskMinsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States . As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the administrative centre of Minsk...
, but as the Polish counter-offensive drew near, the talks were moved to Riga, and resumed on September 21. In September in Riga the Soviet side made two offers: on September 21 and 28th. The Polish delegation made a counteroffer on the 2nd of October. On the 5th the Soviets offered amendments to the Polish offer, which Poland accepted. An
armisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed on October 12. and went into effect on October 18.
The chief negotiators were
Jan DąbskiJan Dąbski was a Polish politician.Founder of Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast in 1913. He was the chief negotiator for Poland at the peace negotiations in Riga after the Polish-Soviet war . Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland in 1921...
for Poland, and
Adolph JoffeAdolph Abramovich Joffe was a Communist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and a Soviet diplomat of Karaite Jewish descent.-Revolutionary career:Joffe was born in Simferopol, Crimea in a...
for RSFSR.
Poland also was to receive monetary compensation (30 million
rublesThe ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is Fiat money. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire prior to their breakups...
in gold) for its economic input into the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
during the times of
partitions of PolandThe Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands...
. Russia was also to surrender works of art and other Polish national treasure acquired from Polish territories after 1772 (like the Załuski Library). Both sides renounced claims to war compensation.
Reactions to the treaty
The Treaty of Riga was controversial from the very beginning. Many argued that much of what Poland had gained during the Polish-Soviet war was lost in the peace negotiations, which were characterized by many as short-sighted and narrow-minded. By 1921, Piłsudski was no longer the head of state, and only participated as an observer during the Riga negotiations, which he called
an act of cowardice.
Due to their military setbacks, the Bolsheviks offered the Polish peace delegation substantial territorial concessions in the contested border areas. However, to many observers it looked like the Polish side was conducting the
RigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava...
talks as if Poland had lost the war. In fact, a special parliamentary delegation consisting of six members of the
SejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
held a vote on whether to accept the Soviets' far-reaching concessions, which would leave Minsk on the Polish side of the border. Pressured by the
national democratNational Democracy was a Polish right-wing nationalist political movement active from the latter 19th century to the end of the Second Polish Republic in 1939...
Stanisław Grabski, the 100 km of extra territory were rejected, a victory for the nationalist doctrine and a stark defeat for Piłsudksi's
federalismFederalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent...
, for the national democrats envisioned a unitary Polish state with no more than 1/3 minorities within its borders, a prerequisite for any successful
Polonization Polonization is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland.-Piast Poland:...
attempts in their eyes. The National Democrats were also motivated by internal political concerns. While the National Democrats' base of support was among Poles in central and western Poland, many of the hundreds of thousands of Poles left by them to live under Soviet rule were supporters of Pilsudski. The elections within the territories of the Treaty of Riga were evenly split. If the Poles and eastern Slavs in the territories given to the Soviet Union has remained in Poland, the National Democrats would have never won an election. by the Public opinion in Poland also demanded an end to the hostilities; both sides were also under pressure from the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
.
On the other hand, the negotiations for a peace treaty dragged on for months due to Soviet reluctance to sign. However, Soviet leadership faced increased internal unrest. Between February 23 and March 17
a sailors’ revoltThe Kronstadt rebellion was an unsuccessful uprising of Soviet sailors, soldiers and civilians led by Stepan Petrichenko against the government of the early Russian SFSR in March 1921 during a period of left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks....
occurred in
KronstadtKronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt is a Russian seaport town, located on Kotlin Island, thirty kilometers west of Saint Petersburg near the head of the Gulf of Finland. It is under the administration of the federal city of Saint Petersburg and is also its main port...
, which was suppressed; peasants were also rising up against Soviet authorities, who collected grain to feed the army and starving consumer regions. In view of this situation,
LeninVladimir Ilyich Lenin , born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov , was the Bolshevik Leader of the 1917 October Revolution, and the first Head of State of the Soviet Union; in the course of his political career, he used the pseudonyms Lenin, V. I. Lenin, Nikolai Lenin, and N. Lenin...
ordered the Soviet plenipotentiaries to secure a peace treaty.
Eventually both sides agreed to sign the Peace of Riga on March 18, 1921, splitting the disputed territories in
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
and
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, between Poland and Russia.
The
Ukrainian People's RepublicThe Ukrainian People's Republic was a republic in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Tsentralna Rada:The socialist-dominated Tsentralna Rada was established on...
led by Symon Petliura had been allied with Poland by
Treaty of WarsawThe Treaty of Warsaw of April 1920 was an alliance between the Second Polish Republic, represented by Józef Piłsudski, and the Ukrainian People's Republic, represented by Symon Petlura, against Bolshevik Russia...
, but in Riga, Poland went back on this treaty. Piłsudski felt the agreement was a shameless and short-sighted political calculation. Allegedly, having walked out of the room, he told the Ukrainians waiting there for the results of the Riga Conference: "Gentlemen, I deeply apologize to you". The new treaty violated Poland's military alliance with the UPR, which had explicitly prohibited a separate peace. It also worsened relations between Poland and its Ukrainian minority, who felt Ukraine had been betrayed by its Polish ally, a feeling that would be exploited by
Ukrainian nationalistsOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN is a Ukrainian political movement originally created in 1929 in interwar Poland . The OUN at one time accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies of their cause as the revenge upon the occupation of...
and result in the growing tensions and
eventual violenceThe Massacres of Poles in Volhynia were part of an ethnic cleansing operation in Volhynia and its environs that took place mainly between late March 1943 and August 1947 during and after World War II....
in the 1930s and 1940s. By the end of 1921, the majority of Poland-allied Ukrainian, Belarusian and
White RussianThe White movement , whose military arm was the White Army aka the White Guard , and as the Whites comprised some of the politico-military Russian forces who unsuccessfully fought the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and...
forces had either crossed the Polish border and laid down their arms or had been annihilated by Soviet forces.
Consequences
However, Józef Piłsudski's dreams of creating a Polish-led federation of
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an countries (
MiędzymorzeMiędzymorze was a project pursued after World War I by Józef Piłsudski, of a Polish-led federation of Central and Eastern European countries...
) was thwarted by this treaty, as much of the territory proposed for the federation has been claimed by the Soviets, and Polish-Lithuanian relations deteriorated as well as a result of Poland's annexation of the city of
WilnoVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
, which the Lithuanians claimed as their capital.
Lenin also considered the treaty unsatisfactory. He had to temporarily give up his plans for exporting the revolution West.
On the other hand, the Treaty of Riga led to the stabilization of the Soviet-Polish conflict. The new Polish state surrendered to
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Ukraine most of the land it had previously lost in the
1st and 2nd partitionsThe Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands...
. These territories had a sizeable Polish minority (less than 1 million) especially around
SłuckSlutsk is a town in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. In 1995 it had a population of 62,800.Slutsk was first mentioned in writing in 1116. It was part of the Principality of Turov and Pinsk, but in 1160 it became the capital of a separate Slutsk Principality. From 1320–1330 it...
and
ŻytomierzZhytomyr is a historic city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Rayon...
. Soviet authorities had later repressed those Poles — starting with confiscation of property (land, forests), religious persecution (bishop
Jan CieplakServant of God Archbishop Jan Cieplak was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and bishop.-Early Life:...
, 1923). Most Poles left in the Soviet Union by the Treat of Riga would be deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan in the 1930's.
See also
- Aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War
- The Aftermath :According to the British historian Chantelle Rivest, the Polish-Soviet War "largely determined the course of European history for the next twenty years or more.[...] Unavowedly and almost unconsciously, Soviet leaders abandoned the cause of international revolution." Certainly the...
- West Belarus
West Belarus is the name used referring to the territory of modern Belarus that belonged to the Second Polish Republic pursuant to the Treaty of Riga between the Polish-Soviet War and World War II, as opposed to East Belarus that was a Soviet Republic - part of the USSR.-Location and...
- Belarusian minority in Poland#1918-1939
- Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...
- History of Ukrainian minority in Poland
'The history of the Ukrainian minority in Poland dates back to the mid-14th century, when King Casimir III the Great annexed Red Ruthenia, whose population was predominantly Ukrainian . In 1340, Poland annexed the lands of Przemysl, and in the following years, Polish rule was extended further east,...
External links
Photocopies of the Polish version of the treaty