1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division

1918–1923 Polish Army combat formation thumb|1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division The 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division (pl 1. Dywizja Litewsko-Białoruska, 1.DL-B; be 1-ая Літоўска-Беларуская дывізія; lt 1-oji Lietuvos-Baltarusijos divizija) was a volunteer unit of the Polish Army formed around December 1918 and January 1919 during the Polish–Soviet War. It was created out of several dozen smaller units of self-defence forces composed of local volunteers in what is now Lithuania and Belarus, amidst a growing series of territorial disputes between the Second Polish Republic, the Russian SFSR, and several other local provisional governments. The Division took part in several key battles of the war.Cossacks, Russians, and Ukrainians on the Polish side in the War of the 1920 Kozacy, Rosjanie i Ukraińcy po stronie polskiej w wojnie 1920 r. Jarosław Gdański http://ioh.pl/artykuly/pokaz/kozacy-rosjanie-i-ukraicy-po-stronie-polskiej-w-wojnie--r,1044/ Magazyn IOH Inne Oblicza Historii 2017 Toruń 1734-9060LW227 According to Lithuanian intelligence gathered in summer 1920 from questioning soldiers from the Polish army, around 15-18% of some units in the division's were possibly composed of ethnic Lithuanians.Pacevičius 2014 84 History thumb|upright=1.5|The Battle of Warsaw, the most important battle of the war, was one of the battles the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Infantry Division took part in. With the end of the World War I in the West, a growing series of territorial disputes between Poland, Soviet Russia and several other local provisional governments erupted in a series of wars in Central and Eastern Europe, the most prominent of these being the Polish–Soviet War. Starting in the last years of the First World War, many smaller units of self-defence forces were created out of local volunteers in those areas, among them likely the best known being the Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence (pl Samoobrona Litwy i Białorusi none). Self-Defence units were organized in the areas of the Kresy region with Polish majorities or significant minorities – usually urbanized areas like the cities of Vilnius, Minsk, Hrodna, Lida and Kaunas, or towns like Ašmiany, Wilejka, Nemenčinė, Świr and Panevėžys; until December 1918 those units had no central command or organization and many of them were named after the local cities or regions (like pl Samoobrona Lidy none). The first task of those units was curbing the crime wave by German deserters, and later, defence from the pro-Bolshevik groups. Despite its name, most of the members of that organization were either Poles or polonized, and therefore supported the cause of attaching those territories with the newly recreated Polish state.Grzegorz Łukowski, and Rafal E. Stolarski, Walka o Wilno. Z dziejow Samoobrony Litwy i Bialorusi, 1918-1919 (Fight for Wilno. From the history of the Self-Defence of Lithuania and Belarus, 1918-1919), Adiutor, 1994, 83-900085-0-5 Regarding the division, Michał Pius Römer wrote in his diary on December 9, 1918, that:the "Lithuanian-Belarusian" division, which is being formed and supposedly intended to eventually "rescue" Lithuania, in reality, harbors the seeds of a military annexation.Römer Michał Pius Michał Pius Römer https://archive.org/details/romer-dzienniki-t.-26-1918-xi-1920-iii-mab-f.-138-b.-2252-transk./mode/2up?q=%22Komitet+Obrony+Kres%C3%B3w+Wschodnich%22 Dzienniki 26: 1918 XI - 1920 III 12 pl Operational history The initial core of the division was formed in December 1918 in Minsk, where a group of roughly 1,500 Poles and Belarusians rose to arms to defend the city against the advancing forces of Soviet Russia.Krzysztof Janikula Wojna roku 1920 The War of 1920 Republika.pl 2004 Flotylle Rzeczne http://www.republika.pl/rzeczna2004/wojna%20roku%201920.htm 2006-06-27 pl https://web.archive.org/web/20070213041437/http://www.republika.pl/rzeczna2004/wojna%20roku%201920.htm 2007-02-13medic In June 1919, the Bolsheviks deployed the Jewish 1st Guard Battalion from Minsk (at the insistence of its own members)Budnitskii against the Polish Army which included the 1st and the 2nd Lithuanian–Belarusian Divisions.Cossacks, Russians, and Ukrainians on the Polish side in the War of the 1920 Kozacy, Rosjanie i Ukraińcy po stronie polskiej w wojnie 1920 r. Jarosław Gdański http://ioh.pl/artykuly/pokaz/kozacy-rosjanie-i-ukraicy-po-stronie-polskiej-w-wojnie--r,1044/ Magazyn IOH (Bimonthly) Inne Oblicza Historii 2017 Toruń 1734-9060 Also in: Battle of the Niemen; August 29 - October 18, 1920 Bitwa niemeńska 29 VIII - 18 X 1920 Collection of documents 1998 Marek Tarczyński 1 dywizja Litewsko-Białoruska (1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division) https://books.google.com/books?id=wDK1AAAAIAAJ&q=Litewsko-Bia%C5%82oruska Rytm Warsaw 83-87893-55-2 265, 345, 390, 647 The pro-communist Jews had won the first skirmish, forcing the Poles and Belarusians to retreat several kilometers.Russian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917-1920 Oleg Budnitskii Oleg Budnitskii University of Pennsylvania Press 2012 978-0812208146 373, 364 https://books.google.com/books?id=dLdhSUZI-AYC&q=First+Guard+June+1919+Minsk The battalion 'forced the Poles to retreat several versts' [one verst is roughly equal to 1 kilometer]. On August 8, 1919, Polish troops recaptured Minsk from the Bolsheviks. The main attack was in the direction of Maladzechna, Minsk, and Polatsk along the railroad lines.White Eagle, Red Star (Polish edition): Biały Orzeł, Czerwona Gwiazda Norman Davies Norman Davies Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Znak, 1st ed. Kraków 1998 Andrzej Pawelec First published in 1972 as White Eagle, Red Star (doctoral theses) 2006 83-240-0749-0 https://docer.pl/doc/n10x855 pp. 31–32 in PDF—— English ed. (2011) Random House, 1446466868, pp. 59, 70. Google Books.All in a Life-time Henry Morgenthau https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_P-UEAAAAYAAJ Minsk Bolsheviks. Doubleday & Page 414 1922 25930642 However, due to Russian numerical superiority and lack of support from the side of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic, the group withdrew towards central Poland. Other such self-defence groups, resistance organizations, and veterans of the Green Army of the Russian Civil War also reached Poland, where they were reformed into a single unit under the command of general Władysław Wejtko formerly from the Imperial Russian Army.A. Łowczak, J.M. Sołdek Gazetka Nałęczowski generał General from Nałęczow - biography of Władysław Wejtko http://www.spnaleczow.neostrada.pl/strona/gazetka_szkolna/kwiecien_maj%20index_pliki/Page470.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20070513151216/http://www.spnaleczow.neostrada.pl/strona/gazetka_szkolna/kwiecien_maj%20index_pliki/Page470.htm dead May 13, 2007 Part 1 Szkoła im. Stefana Żeromskiego w Nałęczowie (Part 2) Internet Archive May 13, 2007 thumb|upright=1.3|1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Infantry Division suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Niemen. Another large group of volunteers to join the division were the remnants of roughly 2,500 men strong force created in Vilnius to defend it against the Reds in January 1919. In the effect of four-day-long fights for the city and the area of Naujoji Vilnia, the Polish forces were pushed back and the city had to be abandoned. The newly formed division took part in the Battle of Brześć Litewski of January 8 of that year, one of the first battles of the Polish–Soviet War. The division, commanded by Gen. Jan Rządkowski, took part in many of the largest battles of that conflict. Among others, it played a major role in the Battle of Radzymin, a part of the Battle of Warsaw, the decisive struggle of the war. It also took part in the Battle of the Niemen, where it suffered heavy losses.Battle of the Niemen; August 29 - October 18, 1920 Bitwa niemeńska 29 VIII - 18 X 1920 Collection of documents 1998 Marek Tarczyński 1 dywizja Litewsko-Białoruska (1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division) https://books.google.com/books?id=wDK1AAAAIAAJ&q=Litewsko-Bia%C5%82oruska Rytm Warsaw 83-87893-55-2 265, 345, 390, 647 Finally, after the League of Nations-brokered Suwałki Agreement, the units of the division – then commanded by Gen. Lucjan Żeligowski – occupied the Vilnius Region from the Lithuanian forces and formed the core of the armed forces of the disputed Republic of Central Lithuania. Following the elections held in Polish-occupied Vilnius and the state merger with Poland in 1923, the division was partially demobilized, while its remnants were incorporated into the Polish 19th Infantry Division stationed in Vilnius.Wilno 1919-1920 Lech Wyszczelski Bellona 2008 https://books.google.com/books?id=OaW8Hu8IijIC&pg=PA227 227–230 9788311112490 Composition November 2025 81st Grodno Rifles Regiment 10th Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment 2nd Lithuanian–Belarusian Division Parts of the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division (1.DL-B) were transferred, in July 1919, to form the parallel 2nd Lithuanian–Belarusian Division (pl 2. Dywizja Litewsko-Białoruska, 2.DL-B) of the Polish Army. The division suffered heavy casualties during the Soviet invasion in summer 1920; some soldiers were forced to retreat into Lithuanian territory where they were interned by the Bolsheviks. The division was soon reinforced and renamed as the 20th Infantry Division. It temporarily returned to the old name of the 2nd Division after Żeligowski's Mutiny, when it became part of the Army of Central Lithuania.JG Citations and references Cited sources Pacevičius Paulius 2014 Lietuvos kariuomenės dezertyrai nepriklausomybės kovų ir valstybingumo įtvirtinimo laikotarpiu 1918–1923 m. [Chapter: Dezertyrai svetimų valstybių kariuomenėse, veikusiose Lietuvoje 1919–1920 m.] Karo Archyvas lt Vilnius Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos Karo Akademija XXIX 1392-6489 01 Category:Military units and formations established in 1918 Category:Military units and formations established in 1919 Category:Republic of Central Lithuania Category:Belarus–Poland relations Category:Lithuania–Second Polish Republic relations Category:Polish–Soviet War