Polish victory halted Soviet westward expansion, secured Poland's eastern borders, and prevented communist forces from reaching the German border.
Key Facts
- Date of Polish counterattack
- August 16, 1920
- Russian prisoners taken
- 66,000 soldiers
- Russian killed
- 10,000 soldiers
- Russian wounded
- 30,000 soldiers
- Polish killed
- 4,500 soldiers
- Polish wounded
- 22,000 soldiers
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Polish Kiev offensive, Soviet forces launched a successful summer counterattack in 1920, driving the Polish army westward toward Warsaw. The Red Army under Mikhail Tukhachevsky advanced rapidly, and most observers anticipated an imminent Soviet victory that would eliminate Polish resistance.
Red Army forces approached Warsaw and the Modlin Fortress in August 1920. On August 16, Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski launched a counterattack from the south, disrupting the Soviet offensive and forcing Russian troops into a disorganized retreat eastward, beyond the Neman River, with massive casualties and tens of thousands taken prisoner.
The defeat severely crippled the Red Army; Lenin described it as an enormous defeat. Subsequent Polish victories in the following months secured Poland's independence and culminated in a peace treaty with Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine, establishing Poland's eastern frontiers until 1939 and halting the westward spread of communism into Europe.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Józef Piłsudski.
Side B
1 belligerent
Mikhail Tukhachevsky.