✦ History

Part of Russian Civil War, Polish–Soviet War

Battle of Warsaw (1920)

August 12–25, 1920 · Warsaw

Result Polish victory

Decisive battle of the Polish-Soviet War (12-25 August 1920), related to the Russian Civil War but a distinct conflict. Tukhachevsky's Western Front reached Warsaw; Pilsudski's 16 August counteroffensive from the Wieprz shattered the Soviet advance ('Miracle on the Vistula'). Lenin called it 'an enormous defeat' for the Bolsheviks.

On the map Contemporaries

Reds

Poland

Reds Western Front under Tukhachevsky
Russia
Poland Polish forces under Pilsudski (side left unset: neither Red nor White)
Mikhail Tukhachevsky Commander of the Western Front, Led the Soviet drive on Warsaw; defeated 12-25 August 1920 Sergey Kamenev belligerent leader Aleksandr Shuvayev military commander August Kork military commander
Józef Piłsudski Commander-in-Chief of Polish forces, Directed the 16 August counteroffensive that decided the battle Władysław Sikorski belligerent leader Edward Rydz-Śmigły belligerent leader Józef Haller belligerent leader Franciszek Latinik belligerent leader Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski military commander

Strength and losses

Strength
160,000
Casualties
50,000
Tanks
1
Guns
179

Units

Red Army Western Front (1920) 11th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) 12th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) 2nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union) 4th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) 5th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) 6th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
16th Mechanised Division (Poland) 1st Legions Infantry Division