Today, I'll tell you about the formation of Polish borders. I'll tell you about the Greater Poland Uprising and the plebiscite in Warsaw, Masuria, and Powiśle. You'll learn about the significance of the Polish-Bolshevik war and how Poland's southern border was established. I invite you, Poles. According to this plan, a uniform state in terms of nationality was to be established, consisting of the Zemstvo region (Upper Silesia), inhabited mainly by Poles. The Khans were to incorporate the western lands of Upper Silesia, Greater Poland, Pomerania, and the greater Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into Poland. Forced Polonization was to be waived. Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians were to be subjects, while Germans and Jews were to be persuaded to emigrate. The second concept, the federal concept, proposed by Józef Piłsudski, assumed the creation of a bloc of national states, which were to include Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. These states, as a federation, i.e., a state formed by the merger of other states, were to resist Bolshevik domination. The course of the Polish western border was planned to be determined at the Paris Peace Conference to avoid conflict with Germany. Eastern Galicia was largely inhabited by Ukrainians, and even before the outbreak of World War I, the Austrians surrendered their weapons to the Ukrainians from Lviv. Thanks to this, the Ukrainians occupied Lviv and announced the establishment of the Western Carniolan People's Republic, or ZURL for short, as Polish troops arrived there. General Haller's Blue Army and troops from Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) fought until July 1919, and the Ukrainians were pushed back across the Zbruc River in March 1933. The Lviv Eagle Cemetery is a reminder of this event. The Soviet authorities destroyed it after World War I, but thanks to Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, it was rebuilt after the fall of communism. We move to Greater Poland, which at the end of 1918 was a Polish People's Republic. The city's residents welcomed it enthusiastically, displaying national and state flags. They didn't like it. The Germans who began tearing down these flags and destroying the uprising in Greater Poland directed against the Germans. Its commander was General Józef Dow Muśnicki. The Poles managed to liberate most of Greater Poland in just a few days. Only after pressure from the Germans, through the posts in Lesno or Bydgoszcz, the situation in Gdańsk Pomerania was difficult because both Poles and Germans lived in the cities. The Germans were dominant and, in addition, numerous German troops were stationed. The local Polish people of Gdańsk lived in Gdańsk. The largest German population lived in Gdańsk, so the Western powers from the Gdańsk area created the Free City of Gdańsk. It was an autonomous city-state of the cities of Gdańsk and Toskowa. This was not liked internationally by the city authorities who wanted Gdańsk to be annexed to Germany in the Mazury region of Powiśle and in the army. In July 1920, plebiscites were organized. A small part of the population voted. Poland received access to the sea, it was only a 140 km coastal strip, and the largest port was tiny Puck. Nevertheless, on February 10th In 1920, in Puck, General Józef Haller, German troops were retreating from the east. Piłsud's Bolsheviks did not intend to passively observe this. In the spring of 1919, he organized an offensive of Polish troops. He managed to take Vilnius, and in the year General Ryszard Śmigły took over Daugavpils. This city was handed over to Latvia to encourage the creation of a federation with Poland, but these plans were not implemented. The Ukrainian People's Republic, abbreviated as UPR, was losing under the pressure of the Bolsheviks. Piłsud decided to support the Ukrainians. In April 1920, a military alliance was signed with Ataman C, a Ukrainian military commander named Syon Petl. The Ukrainians recognized Poland's right to eastern Galicia, and the Poles recognized the independence of other Ukrainian lands. Under the concluded agreement, the joint Polish-Ukrainian forces jointly launched an offensive and already in May 1920, they managed to oust the Bolsheviks and Kosovo. In order to take control of the country, Lenin intended to defeat Poland and expand the communist revolution, which would also encompass Western Europe. For this purpose, people began to be convinced that Poles had attacked Kiev. Anti-Polish sentiments increased. The Bolsheviks drew Polish-Ukrainian forces from the eastern territories, and the Bolshevik army managed to reach Włocławek near Toruń, i.e., Central Poland. In turn, Budyonny's cavalry army, known for its cruelty, invaded Poland from the Ukrainian side. The Bolsheviks assumed that Poland would quickly fall and that the Polish Soviet Republic would be established in its place. In this difficult situation, the Poles asked for help. The Western powers began to revolt. Poland agreed to the demarcation of the eastern border with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth along the partition, thus irreversibly compromising its eastern territories. They also had to agree to unfavorable decisions regarding Cieszyn Silesia and to granting Lithuania. Ultimately, these negotiations in Minsk were ineffective because the Bolsheviks were too confident. The Battle of Warsaw began on August 13 with an attack by General Władysław Sikorski's troops. On August 15, fierce fighting took place for Radzymin. On August 16, Piłsud himself led the decisive attack from the Wieprz River, and then on the Niemen River. On August 31, near Komarów near Zamość, Budyonny's cavalry army was defeated. In September, the so-called Battle of the Niemen River was fought. The Soviet armies were defeated. The Bolsheviks asked for a truce and peace negotiations began. Finally, on March 18, 1921, a peace treaty was signed in Riga. They agreed not to interfere in each other's internal affairs and waived additional compensation. The Bolsheviks paid millions of RI in gold and silver. The Russians were in the Tsarist hands. The owners of the UPR alliance lost their lives. As a result, a million Poles living in the east found themselves outside the borders of the Republic of Poland. This is the painting by Jerzy Kossak, "The Miracle on the Vistula" on August 15, 1920. Polish soldiers attack the Bolsheviks, and at the top above the fighters you can see the Holy Virgin Mary's Sculpture. The Vilnius claimed that the Poles were being paid by Providence. In July 1920, when the Bolsheviks attacked Poland, they handed Vilnius over to Lithuania. Lithuania established the city as its capital, and the Polish authorities, under pressure from Western powers, were forced to recognize it. The Bolsheviks staged a mutiny of their troops and attacked Vilnius. On October 9, 1920, they managed to capture the city. A referendum was held there, which resulted in the Vilnius region ceasing to belong to Poland in the Middle Ages, but many Poles continued to live there. Tensions grew between Poles and Germans living in Silesia until the First Silesian Uprising broke out in August 1919. The Germans suppressed it, but a year later, the Second Silesian Uprising broke out, also suppressed by the Germans. It was decided to hold a plebiscite in these lands, which took place in March 1921. A large number of women, born in Silesia, arrived in the Silesian region and gave birth to Poland brought 10,000 such people and the Germans over 200,000. Despite this, almost half a million voters, i.e. over 40%, voted for the majority of the Upper Silesian Voivodeship to belong to Poland. This ended the matter, however, because in May 1921, Wojciech Korfanty, the leader of the local Polish population, organized a general strike. Protests took place, which eventually turned into the third Silesian Uprising. Battles were fought for St. Anne's Mountain. In this situation, Western countries intervened. In October 1921, these lands were divided again, but this time Poland received 1/3 of the area where the plebiscite took place, including the Silesian industrial plants. Its borders are marked here with a yellow dashed line. There was still a border to be agreed upon. The southern border, the local Cieszyn Silesia, had remained outside the borders of the Republic of Poland since the 14th century, but these areas were inhabited mainly by Poles. For Czechoslovakia, these were their historical territories. In January 1919, the Czechs began military operations, but again Western countries intervened and in July In 1920, the disputed lands were divided in half, and the borders on the visible red line marked the Czech side. The local Industrial District was allocated to the Czechoslovak side. The border line was divided unfavorably. The borders were also drawn on the Spiš and Orava regions. The borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took shape for a total of 5 years, but finally, in March 1923, they were recognized by the Western powers. Poland had 390 square kilometers and a population of 27 million. Ian Odrz Rospol supported the first proposal, Romanowski supported the second, Józef Piłsudski supported Ignacy Jan Paderewski. In December 1918, this event led to the outbreak of the uprising against the Germans. Poles in 1920, only a few percent of the population voted for annexation to Poland, so most of these areas fell to the Germans. In 1920, the Bolsheviks attacked Poland and reached Warsaw. The defeat of the Red Army was determined by the victorious battles for the Poles: the Battle of Warsaw and the so- called Nadem near Warsaw. In Upper Silesia, three uprisings broke out, which was caused by tense Polish-German relations. Despite the plebiscite held in 1921, the division of this area was decided only by the third Silesian Uprising.