Polish-Lithuanian War. The Polish-Lithuanian War – a question of the future or the past? Excerpt characterizing the Polish-Lithuanian War

Polish-Lithuanian War (1920)
Polish-Lithuanian War 1920 - a rarely used designation for the armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania due to territorial disputes over the Vilna region. During the offensive of the Polish army in alliance with Petliura's units in Ukraine during the Soviet-Polish War, the Soviet government concluded the Moscow Treaty recognizing the independent Lithuanian state ( with the capital in Vilnius and vast territories southeast of the city, including Grodno, Oshmyany, Lida) on July 12, 1920. On July 14, 1920, the Red Army (3rd Cavalry Corps of G. Guy) reoccupied Vilna, and on July 19, Grodno, but the territories formally transferred to Lithuania were controlled by Soviet military leaders. Only after the evacuation of the red units (August 26) from Vilna did Lithuanian troops enter the city on August 28. However, already on September 22, Polish troops launched a new offensive. In some places, clashes between Polish and Lithuanian units occurred after Polish units crossed the Neman River in the Druskininkai area and occupied the city of Grodno on September 25. To prevent further clashes, under pressure from the military control commission of the League of Nations, on October 7, 1920, an agreement was signed in the city of Suwalki, which provided for the cessation of hostilities, the exchange of prisoners and a demarcation line delimiting Lithuanian and Polish territories in such a way that most of the Vilna region was under the control of Lithuania The agreement was to come into force on October 10, 1920. But the day before, October 9, Polish troops of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian division of General Lucian Zheligowski occupied Vilna. On October 12, Zheligovsky proclaimed himself the supreme ruler of the state “Central Lithuania” he created (pending elections to the body authorized to decide the fate of the region). Hostilities at the request of the League of Nations were stopped after the battles of Giedroytsy (November 19) and Shirvintami (November 21). According to the resolution of the Vilna Sejm, formed by the elections of January 8, 1922, adopted on February 20, 1922, and the Act of Reunification of the Vilna Region, adopted by the Constituent Sejm in Warsaw on March 22, 1922, the Vilna region unilaterally became part of Poland. Lithuania recognized the annexation of the Vilna region by Poland only in 1937. On October 10, 1939, after the liquidation of the Polish state, the USSR returned Vilna (part of the Vilna region) to independent Lithuania. In October 1940, the remaining part of the Vilna region, + part of the territory of the BSSR, was transferred to Lithuania.

Bibliography:

    “On October 7, 1920, in Suwalki, authorized delegations of Lithuania and Poland signed an armistice agreement, which was to begin on October 10. The agreement stipulated the demarcation line between the two states, according to which Vilnius was transferred to Lithuania. But on the eve of the entry into force of the agreement, the Polish general Lucian Zheligowski, staging a revolt of Polish soldiers and residents of the Vilnius region, occupied Vilnius with a sharp attack and created the state of Central Lithuania here.” Thomas CIVAS, Aras LUKSAS The agreement that brought disappointment to Veidas, July 18, 2007, Lithuania

Polish-Lithuanian War (1920)
Polish-Lithuanian War 1920 - a rarely used designation for the armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania due to territorial disputes over the Vilna region.

During the advance of the Polish army in alliance with Petlyura's units in Ukraine during the Soviet-Polish War, the Soviet government concluded the Moscow Treaty recognizing the independent Lithuanian state (with its capital in Vilnius and vast territories southeast of the city, including Grodno, Oshmyany, Lida) July 12, 1920. On July 14, 1920, the Red Army (3rd Cavalry Corps of G. Guy) reoccupied Vilna, and on July 19, Grodno, but the territories formally transferred to Lithuania were controlled by Soviet military leaders. Only after the evacuation of the red units (August 26) from Vilna did Lithuanian troops enter the city on August 28.

However, already on September 22, Polish troops launched a new offensive. In some places, clashes between Polish and Lithuanian units occurred after Polish units crossed the Neman River in the Druskininkai area and occupied the city of Grodno on September 25. To prevent further clashes, under pressure from the military control commission of the League of Nations, on October 7, 1920, an agreement was signed in the city of Suwalki, which provided for the cessation of hostilities, the exchange of prisoners and a demarcation line delimiting Lithuanian and Polish territories in such a way that most of the Vilna region was under the control of Lithuania .

The treaty was to come into force on October 10, 1920. But the day before, October 9, Polish troops of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian division of General Lucian Zheligowski occupied Vilna. On October 12, Zheligovsky proclaimed himself the supreme ruler of the state “Central Lithuania” he created (pending elections to the body authorized to decide the fate of the region). At the request of the League of Nations, hostilities ceased after the battles of Giedroytsy (November 19) and Shirvint (November 21).

According to the resolution of the Vilna Sejm, formed by elections on January 8, 1922, adopted on February 20, 1922, and the Act of Reunification of the Vilna Region, adopted by the Constituent Sejm in Warsaw on March 22, 1922, the Vilna Region unilaterally became part of Poland.

Lithuania recognized the annexation of the Vilna region by Poland only in 1937. On October 10, 1939, after the liquidation of the Polish state, the USSR returned Vilna (part of the Vilna region) to independent Lithuania. In October 1940, the remaining part of the Vilna region, + part of the territory of the BSSR, was transferred to Lithuania.

Bibliography:

1. “On October 7, 1920, in Suwalki, authorized delegations of Lithuania and Poland signed an armistice agreement, which was to begin on October 10. The agreement stipulated the demarcation line between the two states, according to which Vilnius was transferred to Lithuania. But on the eve of the entry into force of the agreement, the Polish general Lucian Zheligowski, staging a revolt of Polish soldiers and residents of the Vilnius region, occupied Vilnius with a sharp attack and created the state of Central Lithuania here.” Thomas CIVAS, Aras LUKSAS The agreement that brought disappointment to Veidas, July 18, 2007, Lithuania

At the end of the NATO summit in Wales, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that secret documents had been agreed upon, providing for the deployment of arms and military equipment in the country and a contingent of the Alliance's allied countries without restrictions. However, why do Poles have mixed feelings about this news?

The answer lies in the long-standing mutual hostility and enmity of the two countries - Poland and Lithuania, as well as mutual claims to the lands of their neighbor. Thus, the Lithuanians demand the return of the city of Sejny and its environs, lost in the 20s of the last century, and the Poles lay claim to the Vilnius region, where today more than 60% of citizens of Polish nationality live.

Here, for example, is what the Polish media say.

“In the name of unilateral anti-Russian solidarity in the name of Ukraine, Poland forgot about its commitment to the Poles living in Lithuania and about the standards in the field of the rights of national minorities guaranteed by the European Union,” this opinion was expressed by Polish publicist Rafal Zemkiewicz on the pages of the Do Rzeczy publication. According to him, “the Polish minority in Lithuania is clearly persecuted, and in Lithuanian foreign policy it is difficult to recognize any sign of gratitude for many years of Polish concern.”

Therefore, naturally, the growth of the military component in a neighboring state (albeit an ally in the NATO and EU bloc), which has made the oppression of the Polish minority a state policy, raises obvious fears of the possible outbreak of another conflict like the Ukrainian one.

This is especially important to remember in early September, when Vilnius celebrates City Day - the day of liberation from Polish invaders.

Then, in the fall of 1939, the residents of Vilnius rejoiced, welcoming the entry of Lithuanian soldiers into the city. Lithuanian leader Atanas Smetona wrote: “...thanks to the Soviet Union and the Red Army, historical justice was restored - Vilnius was liberated from the Poles, finally reunited with Lithuania and again became its capital.”

However, this was preceded by a bloody war, which went down in history as the Polish-Lithuanian war.

And for Lithuanians, September is associated not only with a joyful event - the return of the capital, but also with the loss of part of their territories. In 2014, it was 95 years since the end of the Polish-Lithuanian conflict, as a result of which the border town of Sejny and the adjacent territories were recaptured from the Lithuanians. This event, which occurred in September 1919, is the subject of an article by Polish historian Adam Grzeszak, published in the weekly Polityka.

Located in the north-east of present-day Poland (modern Podlaskie Voivodeship), the city of Sejny was inhabited mostly by Lithuanians, but in 1919, when German occupation forces began to withdraw from these territories, the new authorities in Warsaw, led by Józef Pilsudski, decided to recapture the city from Lithuania and annex it to Poland.

Meanwhile, for Lithuania, Sejny was a symbolic city, and not just a geographical point on the map. “Sejny is an outstanding place for Lithuanians. It was there and in Kaunas that the Lithuanian national movement was born at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century,” writes the Polish historian. In the city there was a Lithuanian Catholic seminary, whose graduates for the first time dared to conduct services in their churches not in Polish, but in Lithuanian.

In order not to attract too much attention to the annexation of the city, it was decided to occupy the city with the forces of the semi-regular Polish Military Organization (POW) - a structure specifically created for sabotage actions in territories that the country's leadership considered “occupied”.

The separation of this territory from Lithuania led to the fact that until the outbreak of World War II, relations between the two neighboring states could be defined as a “cold war,” writes A. Grzeszak.

Currently, in Sejny, taking into account assimilation, Lithuanians make up only 8% of the residents, but their relations with local Poles can hardly be called good. Analyzing the current situation in Sejny and its environs, Adam Grzeszak concludes that there are still “two different histories” there – Polish and Lithuanian, and “in the Polish version there is no place for Lithuanians, and in the Lithuanian version there are no Poles” .

It should be added that not so long ago, on the Internet, on the social network Facebook, Lithuanian programmers developed and implemented a strategy game “Lithuania needs your help in the war”, where gamers liberate the country from the Poles, killing the latter.

As they say, learning is hard, but fighting is easy...

Unfortunately, the forecasts are disappointing. The unjustified militarization of Lithuania through NATO donor countries could play a cruel joke on the issue of Warsaw-Vilnius relations. The Alliance strategists clearly did not foresee this scenario, filling the Baltic region with decommissioned armored personnel carriers and tanks.

To a large extent, I write posts in my LiveJournal for myself - to sort and write down what I read, so as not to forget. In his last post on the tag “chronology of wars,” he noted that compiling it is not an easy task, because for each “event” you have to conduct a source analysis (even to the point of whether it happened). Now on Wikipedia, and previously on some sites, descriptions of many military conflicts of past centuries were compiled (in a table or in plain text). But the more detailed they try to describe the events, the more “porridge” they get from different works and sources.
Previously, he repeatedly touched upon such a series of conflicts as the Polish-Lithuanian wars of the 13th-15th centuries. The events are not very well known (“Polish-Lithuanian” are more associated with the words troops/interventionists, etc.), although this does not lose their significance. Work on them is mainly found in works on the general history of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A good analysis of sources on the Polish-Lithuanian wars of the 1340-70s. was also produced by I. L. Filevich (The Struggle of Poland and Lithuania-Rus for the Galician-Vladimir Heritage. St. Petersburg, 1890), although they still use “evidence from sources” that is disputed or questioned there as “facts” (incl. on the maps below). The most “convenient sources” are Polish chronicles (and a little Hungarian). But besides the fact that they describe events from the point of view of one side, chroniclers who wrote much later than what happened often have confusion in chronology (duplication, overlapping, splitting dates, etc.). Russian chronicles provide little information. Chronicle records made on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century have practically not survived. The oldest “Lithuanian” chronicles are from the mid-15th century. (Nikiforovskaya, Supralskaya), and they contain records only from the second quarter of the 15th century, and before that - all-Russian records from Eastern Russian chronicles. In later Lithuanian chronicles, many descriptions of the events of the 14th century are given, but they are predominantly legendary in nature, and are clearly based on legends that found written form in the 15-16th centuries. Some events in Lithuania are mentioned in Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, and Moscow chronicles. A lot of information can be gleaned from diplomatic documents - papal messages, order correspondence, etc. Although they were compiled synchronously with events, they inevitably absorb a large number of rumors. Important information can be obtained from preserved economic, administrative, church and other documents that allow one to determine the state affiliation of a particular territory at a certain moment.
Accordingly, in order not to remember and delve into the texts every time, I compiled these sketches.

Lithuanian and Prussian raids on Poland (Mazovia) actively began back in the 12th century. (This is actually why the Teutonic Order was invited). In the 13th century Polish and Russian (Galician-Volynian) troops carried out joint operations against the Lithuanians and Yatvingians (about which, in particular, you can read a lot in the Galician-Volynian Chronicle). Lithuanians at the beginning of the 14th centuries. raided the Lesser Poland, Greater Poland and Mazovian lands (the latter were closest to the Lithuanian lands themselves). In 1326, a Polish-Lithuanian alliance was concluded against the Order, but in the 1330s. it actually collapsed, and the Lithuanians resumed raids on Mazovia (a large raid was noted in 1336).
Also Lithuanians from the beginning of the 13th century. fought with the crusaders. Not only the Livonian-Prussian forces themselves (the Order, etc.), but also the crusaders from Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Britain, and the Netherlands actively took part in the campaigns against Lithuania. Crusader raids are recorded more frequently, but Lithuanian raids into Prussia and Livonia were longer and more extensive. The almost continuous war continued until the conclusion of the peace treaty of 1398. Wars of Poland and Lithuania against the Teutonic Order took place in 1401-04, 1409-11, 1414, 1422.
Poland and Hungary from the 11th century. pursued a policy of interfering in Russian affairs, trying to annex the Galician-Volyn lands. The Russians made campaigns in these countries (from the mid-13th century - including together with the Horde). The Lithuanians, extending their power to Russian lands, became involved in these processes. The northern lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality (Berestey land and Podlasie with the city of Dorogichin) were annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania already at the beginning of the 14th century. These lands bordered on Mazovia, with which the conflicts with them escalated accordingly (the Mazovian princes laid claim to Podlasie, and the long border provided scope for Lithuanian raids).

War for the Galician-Volyn inheritance 1349-56.
In 1340, after the death of the Galician-Volyn prince Yuri Boleslav, by family right the Galician-Volyn throne was occupied by Lyubart Gediminovich. In Galicia, his governor was the boyar Dyadko. An attempt to seize Galicia by the Polish king Casimir III was stopped with the help of the Horde, i.e. Lyubar had to be elevated to the Galician-Volyn throne with their consent. In 1345, Casimir captured the Sanocka land in Galicia (from that year there is a trade charter showing the city in the power of the Polish king, and a papal charter talking about making peace with the “schismatics”). Earlier, in December 1343, a papal charter was known, giving the Polish king church income for the war with the Russians, Tatars and Lithuanians. (in the same year Poland made peace with the Order).
In 1348, a plague raged in the Horde, and the Lithuanians were defeated by the crusaders (though greatly exaggerated by German chroniclers). In 1351-52 the plague raged in Lithuania, but in 1349-52. There was a lull in the Crusaders' raids. In 1349, Kazimias captured Galicia and Lvov (his presence there was recorded in 1350). In the Novgorod First Chronicle under 1349: “ The king of Krakow came with much force, and took the land of Volyn with flattery and did a lot of evil to the Christians, and converted the holy churches into Latin abominations." But it is unclear whether the entire Galician-Volyn land was captured. The chronicle of Dlugosh speaks of the occupation of Volyn in 1349 - Lutsk, Vladimir, Kholm, Brest (during the capture of Kholm it was necessary to overcome resistance), but the accuracy of this information is in doubt (whether all of Volyn was captured). Documentedly, from a trade document of 1349, only the capture of Vladimir is confirmed. In any case, the Lithuanians soon took back possession of Volyn - the struggle was further noted only for Galicia (apparently, the Polish garrisons in the Volyn cities were not abandoned).
In 1350, the Lithuanians raided the Polish lands of Sandomierz, Łukowska, and Radomska, and in 1351 they attacked Lviv, took the outer fortifications and besieged the castle (the king was forced to come with a large army to the rescue). In 1351, Casimir entered into an agreement with the Hungarian king Louis (received the right to inherit the Polish throne) and the Mazovian princes (received the right to become independent if Casimir did not have a male heir). In the spring of 1352, both kings and the Mazovian princes set out on a campaign (apparently, Louis was advancing in one direction, and Casimir and the Mazovian princes in the other). The campaign of the Hungarians is described by the Dubnitsa Chronicle. Stubborn resistance to Louis's army was provided by the city of Belz, which was defended by a certain Drozge (presumably Yuri Narimuntovich, who received Belz as an inheritance). The local population did not leave supplies for the Hungarian army. Lubart was taken prisoner by the Hungarians (this is known from the concluded agreement on his release for a large ransom). The Horde took the side of the Russians - Russian-Horde raids reached Krakow. Military operations continued until the fall, when a truce was concluded. According to the agreement of the Lithuanian princes (Yevnut, Keisut and Lyubart Gediminovich, Yuri Narimuntovich, Yuri Koriatovich), Volyn (Lutsk, Vladimir, Belz, Kholm, Berestye) was recognized as Lithuania with Casimir, Galicia with Lvov was recognized as Poland; the dependence of the Russians on the Horde was recognized (including the Russians should act on the side of the Horde when they went on a campaign against Poland); Yuri Narimuntovich “from the princes of Lithuania and the king” was given Kremenets for two years (the document of 1361 already speaks of the governor of Kremenets, i.e. the city came under Polish rule).
Before the truce expired, in 1353, Lubart, supported by his brothers, raided Galicia (on Galicia according to Dlugosz, on Lvov - according to Miechowski), in September the Litvins appeared near the Polish Zalihvostya, and Casimir began to fortify Plock (according to Dlugosz). Polish sources do not report further events until 1366. From the pope's message in January 1357, it is known that Casimir made peace with Lithuania and paid tribute to the Horde for Russian lands. That. in 1349-56 The Polish-Lithuanian war took place with the participation of Hungary and the Horde. In 1358, an agreement was concluded between the Mazovian prince Samovit and the Lithuanian prince Keisut - the border between the Grodno land and Mazovia was determined. After 1357, there is no more evidence that the Poles paid tribute for Galicia - apparently during the Horde Memorial, payments stopped (in the 15th century the Poles paid tribute for Podolia).

Volyn War of 1366
In 1365, apparently, Casimir concluded an alliance with the Order against Lithuania, which intensified its offensive. In the Horde at this time, the Zamyatnya took place, which brought the Horde out of the Polish-Lithuanian confrontation. In 1366, the king launched an attack on Volhynia. According to the agreement concluded this year between Casimir and Lubart, Vladimir-Volynsky went to Poland. Vladimir was fortified with a stone castle. In the 19th century Narushevich published a document about the treaty between Casimir and Olgerd (there was no date on the document - the publisher attributed it to 1366), but the authenticity of this document (or at least that it was an actual treaty and not a preliminary draft) was disputed, and nothing is confirmed. Nevertheless, information from it is still used today. According to it, Casimir’s conquests in Volyn were more extensive, Yuri Narimutovich with his possessions (Kholm and Belz) became a vassal of the king, Vladimir and Kremenets were given into fief possession of Alexander Koriatovich. Contemporary to the events, the Chronicle of Jan from Charnkov says that the Vladimir land was given by the king to Alexander Koriatovich, and Yuri Norimutovich with his possessions (Belz) recognized royal power and also received Kholm.

Polish-Lithuanian War 1369-70
From the papal letter it is known that in 1369 the Litvins violated the truce and raided the lands of the Krakow diocese. On November 5, 1370, Casimir died (Louis of Hungary took the throne). Alexander Koriatovich left for the funeral. Immediately on this news, Lubart and Keistut besieged Vladimir, the Polish garrison capitulated without resistance, and then the stone fortifications were destroyed. According to Dlugosz, the Lithuanians raided as far as Sandomierz, but other sources do not confirm this. In 1371-76. The crusaders intensified their attack on Lithuania, reaching the northern lands of Volyn.

War of Lithuania with Poland and Hungary 1376-77.
In October-November 1376, Lubart, Keistut and Yuri Narimutovich reached Sandomierz through the Lublin land and took away a large full. In the spring of 1377, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgierd died. This year, Louis organized a large campaign (June-August). The Poles went to Kholm, the Hungarians to Belz (Yuri Narimutovich was sitting there). The hill was taken within a week, and then the Poles joined the Hungarians. Then Keistut arrived for negotiations. A peace was concluded, according to which the Litvins pledged to surrender Belz and return the prisoners. That. Kholm and Belz (as well as Grabovets, Gorodlo, Vsevolozh) belonging to Yuri Narimutovich went to Poland (in return he received the city of Lyubachev). Lubart became a vassal of Louis (this is what the Kujawian Annals say; there is a charter from 1379, where Lubart calls Louis “our lord and king”). Apparently the power of Louis was then recognized by the Koriatovichs who owned Podolia.
In 1379, the Russian cities of the Kingdom of Poland were occupied by Hungarian garrisons. On September 11, 1382, Louis of Hungary dies. The Hungarian elders of a number of Volyn cities (Oleksko, Gorodlo, Lopatin, Kremenets, Peremyl and Sesryatin) handed them over to Lyubart for ransom. Belz and Kholm remained with Poland.

Dorigichinsky war of 1382-85.
In 1382 In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania there was a war between Keistut and Jagiello. According to the chronicle of Jan of Czarnkov, the Mazovian prince Janusz, taking advantage of Keistut’s absence, devastated the surrounding area of ​​Berest, captured Melnik and Dorogiczyn; the next year, in the spring, “other Lithuanian princes” appeared and drove the Mazovian garrison out of Dorogichin. The Lithuanian Chronicle of Bykhovets says that when Keistut arrived in Grodno, intending to concentrate forces against Jagiello, Janusz, Keistut’s son-in-law, instead of providing assistance, occupied Dorogochin, fought the surroundings of Surazh and Kamenets-Litovsky, unsuccessfully tried to take Berestey, then returned back, leaving Dorogichin and Melnik garrisons (these events date back to the summer of 1382); Having killed Keitsut and seized power in Lithuania, Jagiello began a war against Mazovia and Poland, carrying out a series of devastating raids to the river. Vistula, burned the cities of Zavikhvoste and Opatov (the description in the Chronicle of this campaign is legendary, but could reflect actual raids of the Lithuanians that year). From July 1383, Jagiello had to wage war against Vytautas (until the spring of 1384) and the crusaders, which objectively distracted the Lithuanians from Poland, and with the conclusion of the Union of Krevo on August 13, 1385, the Polish-Lithuanian confrontation ceased (Bykhovets' Chronicle connects this event with successful raid of Jagiello).

Galich War of 1387
In the spring of 1387, Polish troops led by Queen Jadwiga ousted the Hungarian garrisons from Russian cities (Galich was occupied with the help of the Lithuanians).

War for the Lithuanian throne 1389-92.
Polish troops participated on the side of Jagiello in the war for the throne in Lithuania of 1389-92. (from the very beginning they were garrisoned in Vilna). At the same time, the Order (including foreign “guests”) fought on the side of Vytautas. In 1391, Jagiello gave the Mazovian prince Janusz Dorogoczyn land, but the following year Vytautas returned it.


Lutsk War of 1430-31
After the death of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas (October 27, 1430), the Poles occupied Kamenets and other cities of Western Podolia (Smotrich, Skala, Chervonogorod). The Polish king Jagiello was in Lithuania at that time, and was detained by the new Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo. Jagiello was forced to order the Polish garrisons to leave the captured fortresses, but they did not comply with the order. Svidrigailo and the Lithuanian princes supporting him entered into an alliance with the Order, Moldavia, and received the support of Khan Ulu-Muhammad and the emperor. Polish sources say that immediately after Jagiello’s return to Poland, the Lithuanians made a campaign in Zapadna Podolia (they tried to take Smotrich), strengthened themselves in the Volyn cities of Kremenets, Zbarazh and Oleska, making raids on the outskirts of Lvov and Terebovl (apparently, these were the actions of local authorities ).
The military actions of the summer of 1431 (the Lutsk War itself) are mainly known from the Chronicle of Dlugosz. Some information is provided by Svidrigailo’s correspondence with the Order. On June 25, Jagiello set out from Przemysl, and on July 9, he was in captured Volyn Gorodlo. The Lithuanian garrisons abandoned and burned Zbarazh and Vladimir. Polish troops approached Lutsk. Having waited for reinforcements from Lesser Poland, the king moved to the burned Vladimir, and from there, together with the approaching Greater Poland army, to Lutsk. Svidrigailo approached Lutsk, but he burned the city, leaving a garrison in the castle, and after unsuccessful clashes (several representatives of the Lithuanian nobility were captured) he retreated (the first days of August). Jagiello besieged the Lutsk castle, but never took it.
During the siege of Lutsk, Lithuanian-Russian troops attacked the Kholm land, burned the Ratnensky castle - the Kholm garrison acted against them. A raid was carried out on the Belz lands, where Buzhsk was burned - a Polish detachment from near Vladimir was sent against the attackers. This Polish detachment unsuccessfully tried to take Olesko. The Moldavian ruler Alexander made raids in Western Podolia, Pokuttya and adjacent areas of Galicia. A detachment was sent against the Moldovans from near Lutsk.
Polish chronicles described victories in battles over numerically superior Lithuanian-Tatar, Lithuanian and Moldavian troops, but sources do not allow these data to be confirmed. Svidrigailo, on the contrary, noted in letters to the allies that he did not suffer any special losses, but the Poles were losing a lot of people. The Tatars in Svidrigailo’s army are mentioned in the Chronicles of Dlugosh and in Jagiello’s letter to the master.
The Order began the war against Poland on the 20th of August. The Poles feared the arrival of large Horde troops. On September 1, a truce was concluded - Western Podolia remained with Poland, and Volyn with Lithuania.

War for the throne in Lithuania in 1432-35.
In August 1432, a war began in Lithuania between Svidrigail and Sigismund Keistutovich. Sigismund's power extended to Lithuania proper, Samogitia, Podlasie, Grodno, and Minsk. The power of Svidrigailo was recognized by the bulk of Russian lands.
In June-September 1433, Poland, in alliance with the Hussites, fought against the Teutonic Order, which in turn used the help of foreigners. The rest of the time, Poland had the opportunity to allocate large forces to participate in the Lithuanian Troubles. Polish troops formed the backbone of Sigismund's army in 1432-35, including in such key clashes as the battle of Oshmyany (December 8, 1432) and the Battle of Vilkomir (September 1, 1435). If the second battle is the fact of the defeat of Svidrigailo, then the first battle is more complicated: Dlugosh wrote about the complete victory of Sigismund; Svidrigailo in the order’s correspondence denied the defeat, writing that the enemy lost more; The Pskov Chronicle notes the fact of heavy losses on both sides and the fact of Svidrigailo’s retreat to Polotsk; The Tver Chronicle and the Nikiforov Chronicle, compiled in Lithuania in the mid-15th century, speak of the victory of Sigismund. “Polyakhs” are mentioned (Nikeforov Chronicle) when describing Sigismund’s campaign against Mstislavl and his 3-week unsuccessful siege (October-November 1433).
On the side of Svidrigailo in 1432-35. The Livonian Order actively fought (including relying on “guests” from Germany), which carried out an invasion of Lithuanian lands. Significant Livonian forces took part in the Battle of Vilkomir. The Pskov Chronicle notes the participation of “Germans” in the Battle of Oshmyany; On November 7, the Livonian master wrote to the Grand Master that he had sent 80 people to help Svidriailo, who were supposed to move through Pskov; On November 30, Svidrigailo from Oshmyany thanked him for his help and asked him to send a cannon if possible (most likely, these “Germans” did not participate in the battle itself).
Svidrigailo’s ally was Khan Ulu-Mukhammed (from Svidrigailo’s correspondence with the Order and from the reports of the order’s resident Louis von Lansee, it follows that in the winter of 1432-33 the khan sent significant forces to Svidrigailo’s army, “because of the snows” they did not come further than Kyiv, and in the spring the khan sent new forces, but there is no data on their arrival), and from the fall of 1433 - Khan Said-Ahmed (from correspondence it is known that in the spring of 1434 the khan sent troops to Kyiv, but there is no fact of their arrival). Dlugosh wrote about the Tatars in the Battle of Oshmyany. The description of the Battle of Vilkomir by a Polish clergyman speaks of the Tatars near Svidrigailo. However, these Polish sources could distort reality by showing that they were fighting with a non-Christian army and generally emphasizing the scale of the battle (or these were Tatars living in Lithuania). In general, there is no verified data that the Horde participated on the side of Svidrigailo in military operations on the Lithuanian-Belarusian lands, so they are not mentioned in any of the Russian chronicles - even the Nikiforov Chronicle, describing the composition of Svidrigailo’s army, names, in addition to local forces, only members of the Order and Tverechey. In any case, if there were Horde members, then there were not many of them - then the war for the Khan’s throne was actively going on.
According to the Tver Chronicle, the Tver prince in the fall of 1432 sent his son Yaroslav to the army of Svidrigailo - he participated in the Battle of Oshmyany. The Nikiforov Chronicle notes that in the summer of 1433 the Tver prince sent troops to Svidrigailo. From correspondence with the Order (April 1, 1434) it is known that after Yuri Dmitrievich seized the throne in March in Moscow, he entered into an alliance with Svidrigailo and promised help, and on April 25 Svidrigailo already wrote that Yuri of Moscow and the Prince of Tver sent to help sons with the army (but he took part in further military events - no data). The proposal that Yaroslav Tverskoy participated and died in the Battle of Vilkomir is only a speculative assumption.

The struggle for Volyn and Podolia in 1432-39.
Between the Poles and supporters of Svidrigailo in 1432-36. fighting took place in Galicia, Volyn and Podolia. At first (until the summer of 1433), the Moldavian ruler was on the side of Svidrigailo, who carried out attacks on Polish possessions. Fedor Koributovich Nesvitsky (owner of Eastern Podolia and Volyn Kremenets) carried out raids on Western Podolia occupied by the Poles. The Poles made a campaign against Eastern Podolia in October-December 1432. Dlugosh wrote that in these campaigns there were Moldovans and Tatars on Fedor’s side, and spoke of a Polish victory; and according to a letter from L. Lansee, Fedor, before Christmas, in December 1432, reported to Svidrigailo about his victory with the help of the Moldovans and Horde - in fact, the Poles never took Eastern Podolia. In the spring of 1433, Fedor and the Tatars (the Tatars in his army were written about in a letter dated June 3 from L. Lansee) continued to carry out raids, capturing in one of them the Kamenets headman Theodor Buchatsky.
In April 1433, the Lutsk governor Alexander Nos went over to the side of Svidrigailo (in November 1432, the Lutsk princes and boyars recognized the citizenship of the Polish king). He carried out raids on the Kholm land (Dlugosh wrote that in one of these raids, the Kholm elder Jan Gritsko Kerdei defeated Nos, and from the order’s correspondence it follows that Nos defeated the Poles at Sambir). Nose also marched north against the Russian lands that recognized Sigismund, captured Berestye, made raids in Polesie (Slutsk, Kletsk), but the Polish army ousted his garrison from Berestye.
In the summer of 1434, Nos went over to the side of Sigismund, and Lutsk fell into his possessions. Fyodor Nesvitsky fought in Podolia against the Poles in the spring (according to correspondence) (they invaded his possessions, and he carried out a retaliatory raid), and after the betrayal of Nos with his possessions, he went over to the side of Poland. Svidrigailo ordered the capture of Fedor, but the Polish elders (Kamenetsky and Russian) freed him, and on September 14, 1434 he handed over Kremenets and Bratslav to Poland. According to Dlugosh, in 1435 the Moldavian ruler invaded Podolia and captured Bratslav for the Poles (apparently, Fedor’s transition did not assign it to Poland).
At the end of 1435 Svidrigailo arrived in Kyiv. On April 1, 1436, he wrote to the Order that he had returned Podolia (obviously eastern) and Kremenets. At the same time he occupied Lutsk. Back on February 24, he wrote that he was waiting for the khan - it is possible that in subsequent operations he relied on Horde help (in April, the Livonian master wrote to the grand master that Svidrigailo, with the help of the Tatars, made a campaign against Podolia). In the spring of 1436, Svidrigailo agreed to a truce with Poland. In September 1436, Svidrigailo entered into an alliance with the confederation of the gentry of the Russian lands of the Kingdom of Poland - the forces of the Galician elders entered Lutsk. When in 1437 Sigismund sent an army to occupy Lutsk, the Galician garrison repelled the attack. The Galician elders did not obey the order of the central authorities to leave Lutsk. Only when the local Volyn princes and boyars went over to Sigismund’s side did he, in 1439, capture Volyn and the Bratslav region.

Dorogichin War 1440-44.
According to the agreement, after the death of Sigismund Keistutowicz in 1440, the Masovian prince Boleslav captured Podlasie with Dorogiczyn. The new Lithuanian prince Casimir was forced to deal with the problems of separatism in other regions. At first, he tried to resolve the issue diplomatically, but Poland sided with Mazovia (at the congress of Polish and Lithuanian lords in 1441). In 1443, Lithuanian and Tatar troops launched campaigns against Mazovia and Galicia. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was assembled in Poland. But at this time the Polish king was on a crusade against the Turks, and the peace party prevailed. In 1444, Boleslav ceded Dorogichin to Lithuania for a ransom. On November 10, 1444, the Polish king Vladislav fell in the Battle of Varna, and Casimir first became regent and then king (crowned on June 27, 1447). From that time on, the Polish-Lithuanian union ensured peace on the border.

If you look at the military component of these conflicts, you can see that the Lithuanian-Russian forces operated mainly in raids, often very deep. The Polish side could not effectively defend against such raids, and at the same time it did not conduct large raid operations (unlike the crusaders). The offensive operations of the Polish and Hungarian troops mainly consisted of systematic sieges of cities. Field encounters were usually part of raid operations. In fact, there were only two decisive field battles (Oshmyany and Vilkomir), and even then they belong to the Lithuanian Time of Troubles, when Lithuanian-Russian forces were on both sides. At the same time, we do not know the balance of forces in them (and we have a very vague idea of ​​the circumstances and course of the clashes). And in general, there is no reliable information at all on the ratio of forces involved in the wars under consideration. And this question is already closely related to the political component of conflicts - how socio-political realities affected the possibility of mobilization

Polish-Lithuanian War (1920)
Polish-Lithuanian War 1920 - a rarely used designation for the armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania due to territorial disputes over the Vilna region.

During the advance of the Polish army in alliance with Petlyura's units in Ukraine during the Soviet-Polish War, the Soviet government concluded the Moscow Treaty recognizing the independent Lithuanian state (with its capital in Vilnius and vast territories southeast of the city, including Grodno, Oshmyany, Lida) July 12, 1920. On July 14, 1920, the Red Army (3rd Cavalry Corps of G. Guy) reoccupied Vilna, and on July 19, Grodno, but the territories formally transferred to Lithuania were controlled by Soviet military leaders. Only after the evacuation of the red units (August 26) from Vilna did Lithuanian troops enter the city on August 28.

However, already on September 22, Polish troops launched a new offensive. In some places, clashes between Polish and Lithuanian units occurred after Polish units crossed the Neman River in the Druskininkai area and occupied the city of Grodno on September 25. To prevent further clashes, under pressure from the military control commission of the League of Nations, on October 7, 1920, an agreement was signed in the city of Suwalki, which provided for the cessation of hostilities, the exchange of prisoners and a demarcation line delimiting Lithuanian and Polish territories in such a way that most of the Vilna region was under the control of Lithuania .

The treaty was to come into force on October 10, 1920. But the day before, October 9, Polish troops of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian division of General Lucian Zheligowski occupied Vilna. On October 12, Zheligovsky proclaimed himself the supreme ruler of the state “Central Lithuania” he created (pending elections to the body authorized to decide the fate of the region). At the request of the League of Nations, hostilities ceased after the battles of Giedroytsy (November 19) and Shirvint (November 21).

According to the resolution of the Vilna Sejm, formed by elections on January 8, 1922, adopted on February 20, 1922, and the Act of Reunification of the Vilna Region, adopted by the Constituent Sejm in Warsaw on March 22, 1922, the Vilna Region unilaterally became part of Poland.

Lithuania recognized the annexation of the Vilna region by Poland only in 1937. On October 10, 1939, after the liquidation of the Polish state, the USSR returned Vilna (part of the Vilna region) to independent Lithuania. In October 1940, the remaining part of the Vilna region, + part of the territory of the BSSR, was transferred to Lithuania.

Bibliography:

1. “On October 7, 1920, in Suwalki, authorized delegations of Lithuania and Poland signed an armistice agreement, which was to begin on October 10. The agreement stipulated the demarcation line between the two states, according to which Vilnius was transferred to Lithuania. But on the eve of the entry into force of the agreement, the Polish general Lucian Zheligowski, staging a revolt of Polish soldiers and residents of the Vilnius region, occupied Vilnius with a sharp attack and created the state of Central Lithuania here.” Thomas CIVAS, Aras LUKSAS The agreement that brought disappointment to Veidas, July 18, 2007, Lithuania