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A neglected event in history, the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20 was not the final episode in the wars of intervention, but an independent enterprise on the Polish side with minimal support from the Entente Powers. In many English history books, it appears under the erroneous title of the 'Russo-Polish War', and is treated as just one spot in the rash of border conflicts which broke out all over Europe at this time. As far as Soviet history is concerned, the war with Poland represents the first occasion when the Red Army set out to revolutionise the whole of Europe - for the Poles, it was an occasion when they finally justified their claim to independent statehood. In WHITE EAGLE, RED STAR, Professor Norman Davies gives a full account of the war, with its dramatic climax in August 1920 when the Red Army - sure of victory and pledged to carry the Revolution across Europe to 'water our horses on the Rhine' - was crushed by a devastating Polish attack, since known as the 'miracle on the Vistula'. Drawing on both Polish and Russian sources, Davies illustrates the narrative with documentary material which hitherto has not been readily available and shows how the war was far more than an 'episode' in East European affairs, but largely determined the course of European history for the next twenty years or more.… (more)
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Poland sprang back to life after WWI, and some Poles had
Davies makes the interesting contention that the Poles would have been better off if they had lost in 1920, or at least not won as dramatically. The victory over the Soviets gave the Poles the impression that their military forces were considerably stronger than they actually were, and that they could “go it alone” against both Russia and Germany without having to ally with one or the other. The success of Polish cavalry lead to more emphasis on that arm than it deserved, and the popularity of Pisudski prompted him to stage a military coup and lead to a “government of colonels” until 1939.
This book was written in 1972, and, as mentioned above, the contrast between it and Davies’ book on the Warsaw Rising is quite interesting. Davies is extremely circumspect in his treatment of the USSR and communist Poland here; he is a historian of eastern Europe and, in 1972, saying anything unpleasant about communism would have cut him off from his sources. By the time Rising ‘44 was written, the USSR was the XSSR, Davies had access to previously secret archives, and the wartime actions of the Soviet army and government do not get kid glove treatment. It would be interesting to see a second edition of White Eagle Red Star with new information.
Good maps and a nice selection of photographs. Not very well indexed, and the bibliography is, of course, obsolete. Still worth reading for an account of an interesting military campaign between the lines as a commentary on the practice of history in the days of the USSR.