Żeligowski's Mutiny
| Żeligowski's Mutiny | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Polish–Lithuanian War | |||||||||
Polish soldiers in Vilnius in 1920. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Poland | Lithuania | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Lucjan Żeligowski |
Silvestras Žukauskas Kazys Ladiga | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 14,000 | 6,000–7,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 222 killed | ||||||||
Żeligowski's Mutiny (Polish: bunt Żeligowskiego, also żeligiada, Lithuanian: Želigovskio maištas) was a Polish false flag operation led by General Lucjan Żeligowski in October 1920, which resulted in the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania. Józef Piłsudski, the Chief of State of Poland, surreptitiously ordered Żeligowski to carry out the operation, and revealed the truth only several years afterwards.
The Second Polish Republic formally annexed Vilnius and its region on 4 March 1922 and the area was recognized by the Conference of Ambassadors as Polish territory on 15 March 1923, which was unrecognized by Lithuania, that claimed Vilnius and its region, and by the Soviet Union. The International Court of Justice in The Hague arbitrated in 1931 that Poland broke international law by occupying Vilnius.