Suwałki Treaty

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suwałki Treaty. Left Polish, right Lithuanian delegation

The Suwałki Treaty of October 7, 1920 between Poland and Lithuania , also known as the Agreement or Armistice, was an event in the context of the border conflicts between the two countries after their independence as a result of the First World War and the Russian October Revolution .

Interests

While Polish efforts aimed at the restoration of the national territory within the borders of the old aristocratic republic Poland-Lithuania , which included Lithuania, Belarus and large parts of the Ukraine , there were similar intentions in Soviet Russia to incorporate Belarus, Ukraine and the former Baltic provinces of the Baltic Sea . Lithuania had to assert itself between these opposing goals, whose nationalists, although united with those of Poland in the fight against the Bolsheviks, bitterly defended themselves against the Polish plans on the question of Lithuania's independence.

Military situation

When the Red Army troops marched on Warsaw in the summer of 1920 and Poland seemed on the verge of defeat, a Lithuanian-Russian peace treaty was signed in Moscow on July 12, 1920, in which both parties shared a border 100 km east of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius agreed. Poland defeated the Soviets in the victorious Battle of Warsaw in August, and since Lithuania suffered a number of setbacks, Poland had the upper hand militarily.

negotiations

On a proposal by the Polish Foreign Minister Eustachy Sapieha and through the mediation of the League of Nations , there was ceasefire negotiations between Poland and Lithuania, from 15 to 18 September 1920 in Calvary began and from 29 September to 7 October in already occupied Polish Suwałki continued were. The Lithuanian delegation consisted of General Maksimas Katche , Major Aleksandras Šumskis, Bronius Balutis, Voldemaras Čarneckis and Mykolas Biržiška. Poland was represented by Colonels Mieczysław Mackiewicz and Juliusz Łukasiewicz . While the Lithuanian delegation was in contact with their government in Kaunas , the Polish negotiators received instructions from their head of state, Marshal Józef Piłsudski , who was in a railway carriage at the Białystok train station .

Result

In the presence of observers from the League of Nations , an agreement was signed in Suwałki on October 7, 1920, which, in accordance with Article V, came into force on October 10 and was to remain in force until all territorial conflicts were finally settled. The agreement consists of five articles as follows:

  • Article I: The line of demarcation. Describes the course according to the so-called Curzon Line , which divides the region so that towns like Sejny , Suwałki and Augustów remain in Polish hands.
  • Article II: cessation of hostilities. Includes the armistice along the demarcation line.
  • Article III: The Orany Railway Station. Free transit permit for Lithuanian civil trains, but restricted military traffic subject to conditions.
  • Article IV: Exchange of Prisoners.
  • Article V: Date of entry into force, duration, outline in German General Staff Map 1: 100000, copies in Lithuanian and Polish.

The status of Vilnius was not affected.

Breach of agreement

Even before it came into force, the agreement was broken on October 9th when the troops of the Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski took Vilnius in a raid . Poland did not accept the surrender of Vilnius to Lithuania agreed in the Lithuanian-Russian peace treaty of July 12, 1920 and the demarcation line agreed in Suwałki and wanted to create a fait accompli with a military coup. Although the Polish head of state originally described Marshal Piłsudski Żeligowski's coup as unauthorized, he later assumed responsibility for this action. On October 19, 1920, the League of Nations condemned the breach of the Suwałki Agreement; the Lithuanian government broke off relations with Poland. Żeligowski's offensive could be stopped in November, but Vilnius remained in Polish hands until the occupation by the Soviet Union in September 1939.

See also

literature

  • League of Nations: Treaty series. Vol. 8. 1922, pp. 181-185.
  • Encyclopedia Lituanica . Vol. 5. Boston Mass., 1976.
  • Arūnas Bubnys: The Lithuanian-Polish conflict 1919–1923 from an international law perspective. In: Poland after communism. Erwin Oberländer (Ed.) Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06213-0 , pp. 106-114.
  • Piotr Łossowski: Conflict polsko-litewski 1918–1920. Warszawa 1996, ISBN 83-05-12769-9 .
  • Vytautas Lesčius: Lietuvos kariuomenė nepriklausomybės kovose 1918–1920. Vilnius 2004. With German version udT: The Lithuanian Armed Forces in the Struggle for Independence 1918–1920, ISBN 9955-423-23-4 .

Web links