Battle of the Berezina (1920)

Last updated
Second Battle of Berezina
Part of Polish–Soviet War
Date15 May-8 June 1920
Location
Result Indecisive
Belligerents
Flag RSFSR 1918.svg  Russian SFSR Flag of Poland (1919-1928).svg  Poland
Commanders and leaders
Flag RSFSR 1918.svg Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Flag RSFSR 1918.svg August Kork
Flag of Poland (1919-1928).svg Kazimierz Sosnkowski
Flag of Poland (1919-1928).svg Leonard Skierski

The Second Battle of Berezina was fought on 15 May 1920 around the Berezina in the Polish-Soviet war. It ended indecisively.

Contents

Battle of Berezina (1920)

Led by August Kork, six divisions of the Soviet XV Army, crossed the Dvina River on 15 May 1920 under orders from Trotsky and Tukhachevsky, and attacked the left wing of the Polish Army, before Pilsudski could attack the Zhlobin-Mogilev rail network. The Soviet XVI Army soon took Borisov under siege. Advancing seventy miles, the Soviet line extended from Koziany to Lake Pelic before Polish General Kazimierz Sosnkowski formed the First Army at Švenčionys and General Leonard Skierski formed a second group in Lahoysk, and prepared to encircle the Soviet advancement. However, on 8 June, Tukhachevsky retreated to the Auta and Berezina rivers. [1] :133,140

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Warsaw (1920)</span> Battle of the Polish–Soviet War

The Battle of Warsaw, also known as the Miracle on the Vistula, was a series of battles that resulted in a decisive Polish victory in 1920 during the Polish–Soviet War. Poland, on the verge of total defeat, repulsed and defeated the Red Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish–Soviet War</span> 20th-century conflict between Poland and Russia

The Polish–Soviet War was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic before it became a union republic in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, on territories which were previously held by the Russian Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy following the Partitions of Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikhail Tukhachevsky</span> Soviet military leader from 1918 to 1937

Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky, nicknamed the Red Napoleon, was a Soviet general who was prominent between 1918 and 1937 as a military officer and theoretician. He was later executed during the show trials of 1936-38.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Bagration</span> Large Soviet military offensive in WW2

Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation, a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing Nazi Germany to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Komarów</span> 1920 battle of the Polish-Soviet War

The Battle of Komarów, or the Zamość Ring, was one of the most important battles of the Polish-Soviet War. It took place between 20 August and 2 September 1920, near the village of Komarowo near Zamość. It was the last large battle in Europe in which cavalry was used as such and not as mounted infantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919</span> Invasion by the Russian SFSR

The Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919 was part of the campaign by Soviet Russia into areas abandoned by the Ober Ost garrisons that were being withdrawn to Germany following that country's defeat in World War I. The initially successful offensive against the Republic of Estonia ignited the Estonian War of Independence which ended with the Soviet recognition of Estonia. Similarly, the campaigns against the Republic of Latvia and Republic of Lithuania ultimately failed, resulting in the Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty and Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty respectively. In Belarus, the Belarusian People's Republic was conquered and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia proclaimed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiev offensive (1920)</span> Part of the Polish–Soviet War

The 1920 Kiev offensive was a major part of the Polish–Soviet War. It was an attempt by the armed forces of the recently established Second Polish Republic led by Józef Piłsudski, in alliance with the Ukrainian People's Republic led by Symon Petliura, to seize the territories of modern-day Ukraine which mostly fell under Soviet control after the October Revolution as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

The Battle of Wołodarka was a clash between the Polish Army and Siemion Budionnyi's First Cavalry Army. It took place between 29 and 31 May 1920, near the Ukrainian village of Volodarka, in the course of the Polish Offensive on Kiev during the Polish-Soviet War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16th Army (RSFSR)</span> Military unit

The 16th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War era. It was originally formed as the Western Army on November 15, 1918, by the Russian SFSR for the purpose of recovering territories lost by the Russian Empire during the First World War and establishing Soviet republics in those territories. The Western Army engaged various local forces from the Baltic States, Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, and its actions contributed to starting the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920. The army fought in the Polish–Soviet War under the command of Nikolai Sollogub and advanced westwards into Poland in July 1920 before being thrown back during the Battle of Warsaw in August. The army retreated east into Belarus and was disbanded in May 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Niemen River</span>

The Battle of the Niemen River was the second-greatest battle of the Polish–Soviet War. It took place near the middle Neman River between the cities of Suwałki, Grodno and Białystok. After suffering almost complete defeat in the Battle of Warsaw, Mikhail Tukhachevsky's Red Army forces tried to establish a defensive line, against Józef Piłsudski's counter-attacking Polish Army, running northward from the Polish-Lithuanian border to Polesie, and centering on Grodno. Between September 15 and September 25, 1920, the Poles outflanked the Soviets, once again defeating them. After the mid-October Battle of the Szczara River, the Polish Army had reached the Tarnopol-Dubno-Minsk-Drissa line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Lwów (1920)</span> 1920 battle during the Polish–Soviet War

During the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 the city of Lwów was attacked by the forces of Alexander Ilyich Yegorov. Since mid-June 1920 the 1st Cavalry Army of Semyon Budyonny was trying to reach the city from the north and east. At the same time Lwów was preparing its defenses. The inhabitants raised and fully equipped three regiments of infantry and two regiments of cavalry as well as constructed defensive lines. The city was defended by an equivalent of three Polish divisions aided by one Ukrainian infantry division. Finally after almost a month of heavy fighting on August 16 the Red Army crossed the Southern Bug River and, reinforced by additional 8 divisions of the Red Cossacks, started an assault on the city. The fighting occurred with heavy casualties on both sides, but after three days the assault was halted and the Red Army retreated. With the crushing defeat of the main forces of the Red Army in the battle of Warsaw, and the Polish victories at Komarów and Zadwórze, the Russian forces were forced to retreat from Lwów.

The Polish–Soviet War erupted in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I. The root cause was a territorial dispute dating back to Polish–Russian wars in the 17–18th centuries. At that time both countries had just undergone transition: in 1918 Poland reclaimed independence after 123 years of partitions. In 1917 the October Revolution replaced the liberal, democratic Provisional Government, that had previously displaced the Tsar in Russia, with Soviet rule. The war ended with the Treaty of Riga in 1921, which settled the border issue and regulated Polish-Soviet relations until the German invasion of Poland in 1939.

The 6th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army. Formed multiple times, it participated in several battles, most notably the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919, the Estonian War of Independence, the Polish–Soviet War. In the latter war, the division was severely defeated by Polish troops. The division's first formation was awarded the Order of the Red Banner twice and the Order of Suvorov 2nd class for its valor in combat. In November 1945, the division was disbanded. It was briefly reformed in 1955 but disbanded again in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Infantry Division (Poland)</span> Historic division of the Polish Army

The 9th Infantry Division was a unit of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic. For most of 1919, the 9th Division's regiments were dispersed across the regions of Podlachia, Polesie and Volhynia, with one battalion sent to Dąbrowa Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ossów</span>

The Battle of Ossów took place in the fields near Wołomin on 14 August 1920. It was a part of a much larger battle on the outskirts of Warsaw during the Polish-Bolshevist War. During the day Soviet units managed to capture the strategically important village of Ossów, but were repelled in the evening by a Polish counter-attack. The battle was one of the first skirmishes won by the Poles since the beginning of the Soviet offensive in late spring.

The First Battle of Berezina was fought around the Berezina in the Polish-Soviet war. It ended with a Polish victory and the capture of 1000 Soviet prisoners.

The Battle of Głębokie took place during the Polish–Soviet War (1919–21). It took place near the town of Głębokie, 80 kilometres (50 mi) south-west of Polotsk, between July 4 and July 6, 1920. It was a part of a larger offensive by three armies of Red Army's Western Front, aimed at encircling the 1st Polish Army operating in central Belarus. In the battle both sides suffered heavy losses. While the town of Głębokie was captured by the Soviets, they failed at outflanking the Polish defenders. Because of that, the battle, being less decisive than the Soviets hoped for, was both a tactical victory and a strategic defeat for them.

The Battle of Ostrołęka took place on 2–6 August 1920, during the Polish–Soviet War. Polish forces of the 108th Uhlan Regiment, supported by the 1st Maritime Rifle Regiment clashed with Red Armys 18th Rifle Division. The battle ended in Soviet victory.

The Battle of Dęblin and Mińsk Mazowiecki took place on August 16–18, 1920 during the Polish–Soviet War. It resulted in the victory of the Polish Army, commanded by Józef Piłsudski, General Edward Śmigły-Rydz, General Leonard Skierski and Colonel Stanisław Wrzaliński. The Soviet forces were led by General Mikhail Tukhachevsky and General Nikolai Sollogub.

The Western Front was a front of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, which existed between 12 February 1919 and 8 April 1924. The Western Front was first established on the basis of the administration of the disbanded Northern Front. The Front headquarters were located consequently in Staraya Russa, Molodechno, Daugavpils, Smolensk and Minsk.

References

  1. Davies, N., 1972, White Eagle, Red Star, London: Macdonald & Co, ISBN   9780712606943

54°13′54″N28°30′31″E / 54.23167°N 28.50861°E / 54.23167; 28.50861