Educational Thread about Educational Stuff.

[Emil]

The Polish-Soviet War

In 1917, a revolution sprung up in the Russian Empire. At the time, Russia was in the midst of one of the greatest conflicts in history - the Great War, also know as the First World War. The Revolution happened in February and aimed to restrict the Russian monarchy's power. The Revolution succeeded, making Russia a constitutional monarchy. But later, in October, another revolution would start - the October Revolution. The Communists, also known as the Bolsheviks, wanted to make Russia Communist. The revolution would take much longer than the February Revolution would - the October Revolution would last around 4 years, although it became more inactive in the later years.

The October Revolution would later become part of a much greater conflict, the Russian Civil War. Nations like Poland, Ukraine and others became independent from Russia and were eager to claim lands they thought of as rightfully theirs. The Polish attempted to expand as far east as possible.

Now, in early 1919, the Soviets decided to make a counter-attack, taking large parts of Poland in just two weeks. But it soon came to a halt, only to start up again in march. The Polish crossed the Neuman River, which would lead to a series of victories for the Polish, as they came as far as Daugava River.

In late May, 1920, the Soviets would end up in a series of victories, as they started their march westwards - pushing the Polish back. In early August, 1920, the Polish had been pushed back deep into Poland.

On the 10th of August 1920, Soviet Cossacks crossed the Vistula River towards Warsaw, the capital of Poland. They attacked from the west, but the main attack would actually come from the east.
However, the Polish had decoded transmissions from the Soviets and they were now trying to trick the Soviets into doing exactly that.
The Polish soon counterattacked, turning the tides of the attack on Warsaw.
Soon, a gap was found in the Soviet fronts and the Polish exploited this, continuing their march north.

The Soviet general, Tukhachevsky, ordered a general retreat to the Bug River to reassemble the armies. But his orders didn't make it or were too late when they arrived.

The Soviet northern divisions were now trapped, cut off from supply lines and from any communication with the Soviet leadership.
Meanwhile, the Soviet forces on the other side of Warsaw are starting to retreat back, as Tukhachevskys orders finally start to come in, but the Polish are still pushing at the same time.
The Soviet forces then take a defensive stance at the Polish-Lithuanian border, but the defense is broken in the Battle of the Niemen River.

Soon, the Bolsheviks sue for peace, ending the war and making the Polish independent for the second last time in history so far.