Polish–Lithuanian War
| Polish–Lithuanian War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence and the Polish–Soviet War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 264 dead (incomplete data) | 232 dead against the Polish army; 222 dead against Żeligowski's troops | ||||||||
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The Polish–Lithuanian War was an undeclared war fought in the aftermath of World War I between newly independent Lithuania and Poland, with fighting mainly in the Vilnius and Suwałki regions, which was part of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence and lasted from May 1919 to 29 November 1920. Since the spring of 1920, the conflict happened alongside the wider Polish–Soviet War and was affected by its progress. It was subject to unsuccessful international mediation at the Conference of Ambassadors and the League of Nations.
After World War I, the military and political situation in the region was chaotic, as multiple countries, notably Lithuania, Poland, and Soviet Russia, vied with each other over control of overlapping areas. The Polish–Lithuanian conflict was centered on Vilnius, which the Council of Lithuania declared the capital of the restored Lithuanian state. Control of Vilnius was transferred from Germans to Poles on January 2, 1919, but the Polish paramilitary lost the city to the Bolsheviks on January 5. The Polish Army seized Vilnius again on April 19, 1919 and came in contact with the Lithuanian Army fighting in the Lithuanian–Soviet War. Despite the antagonism over Vilnius, the Lithuanian and Polish armies sometimes cooperated when fighting against a common enemy, the Bolsheviks. As Lithuanian–Polish relations worsened, the Entente drew two demarcation lines in hopes to stall further hostilities. The lines did not please either side and were ignored. The first clashes between Polish and Lithuanian soldiers occurred on April 26 and May 8, 1919, near Vievis. With the Polish coup against the Lithuanian government failing in August 1919, the front stabilized until the summer of 1920.
In July 1920, Polish forces retreated due to reverses in the Polish–Soviet War and the Lithuanians followed the retreating troops to secure their lands as delineated in the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty. However, the Red Army was the first to enter Vilnius. In August 1920, Poland won the Battle of Warsaw and forced the Soviets to retreat. The Polish Army encountered Lithuanian opposition, defending their new borders, which the Polish government considered illegitimate. Thus, the Polish invaded Lithuanian-controlled territory during the Battle of Sejny. Pressured by the League of Nations, Poland signed the Suwałki Agreement on October 7, 1920. The agreement left the Suwałki region on the Polish side and drew a new incomplete demarcation line, which left Vilnius vulnerable to a flanking maneuver.
On October 8, 1920, Polish general Lucjan Żeligowski staged a mutiny, secretly planned and authorized by the Polish chief of state Józef Piłsudski. Żeligowski's forces marched on Vilnius and captured it one day before the Suwałki Agreement was to formally come into effect. Żeligowski proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania with its capital in Vilnius. Their further offensive towards Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania, was halted by the Lithuanians, who thus defended their independence. On November 29, 1920, a ceasefire was signed. Overall, from early 1919 to late 1920, Vilnius would switch rule as many as seven times between Lithuanians, Poles and the Bolsheviks. The Republic of Central Lithuania was incorporated into Poland as the Wilno Voivodeship in 1922. The prolonged mediation by the League of Nations did not change the situation and the status quo was accepted in 1923. In March 1923, the Conference of Ambassadors recognized the armistice line as a de jure Polish–Lithuanian border, awarding Vilnius to Poland. However, the International Court of Justice in The Hague arbitrated in 1931 that Poland broke international law by occupying Vilnius. Lithuania remained adamant regarding its claim to Vilnius as its constitutional capital throughout the whole interwar, and breaking all diplomatic relations with Poland due to the latter's control of the city. Diplomatic relations were only restored as a result of the March 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania. Vilnius was regained by Lithuania on 28 October 1939, following the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty, twenty years after losing its capital. However, Lithuania as a whole lost its independence less than a year later following the Soviet ultimatum and occupation of the Baltic states.