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The Soviet-Polish War of 1919-1920 was part of a larger civil war on the territory of the former Russian Empire. But this war was perceived by the Russian people - those who fought for the Reds, as well as those who fought on the side of the Whites - as a war with an external enemy. Before the First World War, most of Poland was Russian territory, other parts belonged to Germany and Austria-Hungary - an independent Polish state had not existed for almost a century and a half. It is noteworthy that with the outbreak of the world war, both the tsarist government and the Germans and Austrians officially promised the Poles to recreate an independent Polish monarchy after victory. This led to the fact that thousands of Poles fought on both sides of the front. The political fate of Poland was predetermined by the fact that in 1915, the Russian army, under pressure from the enemy, was forced to retreat from the Vistula to the east. The entire Polish territory came under German control, and in November 1918, after Germany's capitulation, power over Poland automatically passed to him - this is Józef Klemens Pilsudski. This Polish nationalist had been engaged in the anti-Russian struggle for a quarter of a century, and with the outbreak of World War I, he formed "Polish legions" - volunteer units as part of the Austro-Hungarian troops against Russia. And after the capitulation of Germany and Austria, the "legionnaires" became the basis of the new Polish government, and Pilsudski officially received the title of "Chief of State", that is, dictator. At the same time, the new Poland, led by a military dictator, was supported by the victors of the First World War, primarily France and of course the USA... Support me on Boosty: https://boosty.to/ivanzaitsevskii My VK: https://vk.com/publiczaitsevskogo My telegram: https://t.me/IvanZaitsevskii #SovietPolishWar #IvanZaitsevsky #History #HistoryoftheUSSR #HistoryofPoland