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{{Short description|Short lived puppet state of Poland (1920-1922)}}
'''Central Lithuania''' was a semi-independent state, created in ] by allegedly rebelious soldiers of ]-] division of Polish army.
{{About|a former client state of Poland|the geographical and historical region|Vilnius Region}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Central Lithuania
| native_name = {{native name|pl|Republika Litwy Środkowej}}
| common_name = Central Lithuania
| image_flag = Flag of Central Lithuania 1920.svg
| image_coat = Coat of arms of Central Lithuania 1920.svg
| national_anthem = <br>]<br>]
| flag_type_article = Flag of Central Lithuania
| symbol_type_article = Coat of arms of Central Lithuania
| image_map = Rzeczpospolita Central Lithuania.png
| image_map_caption = Territory of the Republic of Central Lithuania (green)
| capital = ]
| government_type = ]
| title_leader = ]
| leader1 = ]
| year_leader1 = 1920–1922
| title_deputy = ]
| deputy1 = ]
| year_deputy1 = 1920–1921 (first)
| deputy2 = ]
| year_deputy2 = 1921–1922 (last)
| era = Interwar period
| status = ] of the ]
| event_start = ]
| date_start = 12 October
| year_start = 1920
| event1 = ]
| date_event1 = 24 March 1922
| event_end = Incorporation into Poland
| date_end = 18 April
| year_end = 1922
| today = {{ubl|]|]}}
| demonym = Central Lithuanian
| legislature = ]
| area_km2 = 13490
| area_year =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| common_languages = {{ubl|]|]|]|]|]}}
| currency = ]
| religion = {{ubl|]|]|]}}
| p1 = Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940){{!}}Lithuania
| flag_p1 = Flag of Lithuania 1918-1940.svg
| p2 = Second Polish Republic{{!}}Poland
| flag_p2 = Flag of Poland (1919–1928).svg
| s1 = Second Polish Republic{{!}}Poland
| flag_s1 = Flag of Poland (1919–1928).svg
}}
{{Coord|54|30|N|25|45|E|region:LT|display=title}}
The '''Republic of Central Lithuania''' ({{langx|pl|Republika Litwy Środkowej}}, {{Langx|lt|Vidurio Lietuvos Respublika}}), commonly known as the '''Central Lithuania''', and the '''Middle Lithuania''' ({{langx|pl|Litwa Środkowa}}, {{Langx|lt|Vidurinė Lietuva}}, {{langx|be|Сярэдняя Літва|translit=Siaredniaja Litva}}), was an unrecognized short-lived ] of ], that existed from 1920 to 1922.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Senn |first1=Alfred Erich |author-link1=Alfred E. Senn |title=On the State of Central Lithuania |journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas |date=1964 |volume=12 |issue=3 |publisher=] |pages=366–374 |jstor=41042359 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41042359 |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref> It was founded on 12 October 1920, after successful ], during which the volunteer ] under command of general ] seized the ] that Lithuania made claims to.<ref name=cepenas>{{cite book |last=Čepėnas |first=Pranas | author-link =Pranas Čepėnas | title=Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol. II | year=1986 | publisher=Dr. Griniaus fondas | location=Chicago | isbn= 5-89957-012-1|language=lt}}</ref> It was incorporated into Poland on 18 April 1922.


], the historical capital of Lithuania, had majority ]-speaking population with ]-speaking population of only 2–3%.<ref name="von Rauch">{{cite book | first=Georg von |last=Rauch |author-link=Georg von Rauch | editor=Gerald Onn | title =The Baltic States: Years of Independence – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 1917–40 | year =1974 | pages = 100–102 | chapter =The Early Stages of Independence | chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=emBIdi4LPz8C&pg=PA101 |publisher =C. Hurst & Co| isbn=0-903983-00-1 }}</ref> Therefore, the Polish authorities decided that the region should belong to the newly-established Polish state and attempted to implement this idea using military force, ignoring the ] and taking advantage of the fact that victorious Poles after the ] were advancing to the East against the Bolsheviks in the ]. Poles believed that for this reason they should grab as much mixed areas as deemed possible as well as to protect the Catholic, predominantly Polish-speaking population in disputed areas, thus because of the colossal military outnumbering, Lithuania could not stand a chance to maintain the control of the region. This led to the renewal of ], where the so-called ], secretly ordered by ] was a part of the military operation, fully supported and backed on flanks by the Polish army, and consequently to the establishment of the so-called Republic of Central Lithuania.<ref name="von Rauch" />
==Background==


The republic had features of a state administration, but actually was an imitation of a ] which repressed Lithuanian organizations, education, censored and suspended Lithuanian publications.<ref name="Nanevic">{{cite journal |last1=Nanevič |first1=Beata |title=Imitavusi valstybę: "Vidurio Lietuvos" (1920-1922) vidaus politika |journal=Darbai ir dienos |date=2004 |url=https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/38781 |access-date=12 February 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> After a variety of delays, ] took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed by Poland. Several years later the Polish leader ] confirmed that he personally ordered Żeligowski to stage a mutiny.


The Polish–Lithuanian border in the ], was recognized by the ] of the ]<ref name="conference">{{cite book | first=Eric |last=Phipps |author-link=Eric Phipps |author2=Romano Avezzana |author3=Raymond Poincaré |author3-link=Raymond Poincaré |author4=Maurycy Zamoyski |author4-link=Maurycy Zamoyski |author5=M. Matsuda | title =Decision taken by the conference of ambassadors regarding the eastern frontiers of Poland | year =1923| publisher =] | url =http://www.forost.ungarisches-institut.de/pdf/19230315-1.pdf | access-date =11 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="LoN">{{cite book | title =League of Nations, Treaty Series | year =1923 | pages = 261–265 | publisher =League of Nations | volume = 15 }}</ref> and the ].<ref name="Miniotaite">{{cite journal |last=Miniotaitė |first=Gražina |title=The Security Policy of Lithuania and the 'Integration Dilemma' |journal=NATO Academic Forum| year=1999 |url=http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/97-99/miniotaite.pdf |pages= 21|access-date=14 March 2008}}</ref> It was not recognized by ]-based ]<ref name="Vilna_problem">{{cite book | title=The Vilna problem |publisher=Lithuanian Information Bureau| location=London |year=1922| pages= 24–25}}</ref> until the ] in March, when Lithuania acknowledged the status quo of so-called demarcation line, but the newest edition of the ] in May 1938 one more time named ] the capital of ]. In 1931, an international court in ] stated that the Polish seizure of the region had been a violation of international law, but there were no political repercussions.<ref name="Miniotaite" />
In aftermath of WWI, historical ] was divided onto 3 parts.
*The historical ], or 'Lithuania proper' was the westernmost part with the population mostly ] and speaking ] language, with significant ], ] and ] ].
*The easternmost part, consisting mostly of present-day ], was mostly populated by ] ] with minorities of ] and ] inhabitating mostly the bigger towns.
*The Central Lithuania, with capital in ].


==History==
The national composition of the latter area is difficult to measure as many Lithuanian historians claim that both Russian, Polish and Soviet censuses are not reliable. The only source acceptable for both Poland and Lithuania seems to be the german 1916 census and, to some extent, the ] ] census. According to the earlier the inhabitants of the city of Wilno were mostly ] (), ], and '']'' (need info on 1916 census). On the other hand the Lithuanian authorities argued that the majority of Poles living there were polonized ] and that ] had the same right to create a multi-national country as ].
{{Main|Ethnic composition of Central Lithuania}}
Following the ], most of the lands that formerly constituted the ] were annexed by the ]. The Imperial government increasingly pursued a policy of ] of the newly acquired lands, which escalated after the failed ] of 1864.<ref>{{in lang|it}}Claudio Madonia, ''Fra l'orso russo e l'aquila prussiana'', Clueb Edizioni, 2013, 978-88-49-13800-9, p.82.</ref> The discrimination against local inhabitants included restrictions and outright bans on the usage of the ], ] (see ]), ], and ] (see ]) languages.<ref name="Roshwald24">{{cite book| first=Aviel |last=Roshwald |title= Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East, 1914–1923 |publisher= Routledge |year= 2001| isbn=0-415-17893-2 |pages= 24 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ef0wXYsJATwC&pg=PA24 }}</ref><ref name="Geifman116">{{cite book| first=Anna |last=Geifman |title=Russia Under the Last Tsar: Opposition and Subversion, 1894–1917 |publisher= Blackwell Publishing |year= 1999 |isbn=1-55786-995-2 |pages= 116 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HBg7tQ7BGY0C&pg=PA116 }}</ref> These measures, however, had limited effects on the ] effort undertaken by the Polish patriotic leadership of the Vilnius educational district.<ref name=Venc>{{cite journal| author-link=Tomas Venclova |first=Tomas |last=Venclova |url=http://www.lituanus.org/1981_2/81_2_01.htm |title=Four Centuries of Enlightenment. A Historic View of the University of Vilnius, 1579–1979 |journal=Lituanus |volume=1 |issue=27 |date= Summer 1981}}</ref><ref name=Yla>{{cite journal |first= Stasys |last=Yla |url= http://www.lituanus.org/1981_2/81_2_03.htm |title=The Clash of Nationalities at the University of Vilnius |journal=Lituanus |volume=1 |issue=27 |date= Summer 1981}}</ref> A similar effort was pursued during the 19th century ], which sought to distance itself from both Polish and Russian influences.<ref>{{cite journal| url= http://www.lituanus.org/1989/89_4_06.htm |title=The Lithuanian Language and Nation Through the Ages: Outline of a History of Lithuanian in its Social Context |first=William R. |last=Schmalstieg |journal= Lituanus | date=Winter 1989| volume=4 |issue=34}}</ref>


]'s bi-lingual '']'' (April 1919).]]
==Conflict==
] has long been disputed, since ]es from that time and place are often considered unreliable. According to the first census of the Russian Empire in 1897, known to have been intentionally falsified,<ref>{{cite book |trans-title=Od rządów ludowych do przewrotu majowego: zarys dziejów politycznych Polski 1918-1926 |title=From peoples assembly to May coup: overview of political history of Poland 1918-1926 |first=Andrzej |last=Ajnenkiel |year=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-1HAAAAIAAJq |publisher=Wiedza Powszechna |quote=According to falsified data of the Russian census of 1897, the Poles constituted 886,000 of the region's inhabitants, but the numbers have to be at least doubled.}}</ref> the population of the ] was distributed as follows:<ref name="Łossowski11">{{cite book |author-link=Piotr Łossowski |last=Łossowski |title=Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 |location=Warsaw |isbn=83-05-12769-9 |pages=11 |first=Piotr |language=pl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GlMsAAAAMAAJ&q=Nawet+spis+rosyjski+wykazuje+w+okolicach+Kowna+23%25+Polak%C3%B3w |publisher=Książka i Wiedza |year=1995}}</ref> ] at 56.1% (including Roman Catholics), ] at 17.6%, ]s at 12.7%, ] at 8.2%, ] at 4.9%, ] at 0.2%, ] at 0.1%, ] at 0.1%, and 'Others' at 0.1% as well.<ref name="Demoskop">{{cite journal |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517235216/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=32 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2008 |journal=Демоскоп Weekly |trans-title=Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и регионам |title=The first census of the Russian Empire in 1897 |language=ru |publisher=Институт демографии Высшей школы экономики |volume=331-332, 28 апреля - 18 мая 2008 |year=2008}}</ref>


The German censuses of 1915, 1916 and 1917 of the ] (published in 1919) however, reported strikingly different numbers.<ref name="Brensztejn">{{cite book |first=Michał Eustachy |last=Brensztejn |year=1919 |title=Spisy ludności m. Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od. 1 listopada 1915 r. |publisher=Biblioteka Delegacji Rad Polskich Litwy i Białej Rusi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7LBGmwEACAAJ |location=Warsaw |language=pl}}</ref> In 1917 in the Vilnius city Poles were at 53.65%, Jews at 41.45%, Lithuanians at 2.1%, Belarusians at 0.44%, Russians at 1.59%, Germans at 0,63% and 'Other' at 0.14%.<ref name="Łossowski104">{{cite book |author-link=Piotr Łossowski |last=Łossowski |title=Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 |location=Warsaw |publisher=Książka i Wiedza |year=1995 |isbn=83-05-12769-9 |pages=11, 104 |first=Piotr |language=pl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GlMsAAAAMAAJ&q=powiecie+wile%C5%84skim+184 |quote=Spis z grudnia 1919 r. jest bardzo dokładny; operuje danymi z poszczególnych gmin, wykazując ogólną liczbę mieszkańców, a następnie w rozbiciu na poszczególne narodowości — w liczbach bezwzględnych i w ujęciu procentowym. Z wielkiej ilości danych przytoczyć możemy tylko najważniejsze, najbardziej charakterystyczne liczby. W samym więc mieście Wilnie na 129 tysięcy mieszkańców spis wykazuje 72 tysiące Polaków, czyli 56,2% ogółu ludności (Żydów — 47 tysięcy, to znaczy 36,1%, Litwinów — 3 tysiące, to jest 2,3%). Jeszcze wyższy odsetek Polaków stwierdzono w powiecie wileńskim. Na 184 tysiące mieszkańców zapisano tam 161 tysięcy Polaków.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brensztejn |first=Michał (1874-1938) |url=https://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/publication/23532/edition/37961 |title=Spisy ludności miasta Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od d. 1 listopada 1915 r. |date=1919 |publisher=Warszawska Drukarnia Wydawnicza}}</ref> According to ], Poles constituted 89.8% of the inhabitants of Vilnius county (excluding the city) and Lithuanians only 4.3%.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Januszewska-Jurkiewicz |first=Joanna |title=Stosunki narodowościowe na Wileńszczyźnie w latach 1920—1939 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego |year=2010 |isbn=978-83-226-1817-2 |location=Katowice |language=pl |trans-title=National relations in the Vilnius region in the years 1920-1939}}</ref>


Censuses had encountered difficulties in the attempt to categorise their subjects. ] in the 1890s were often confronted with those who described themselves as both Lithuanians and Poles.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=God's Playground |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pJOhUSTBl4C&dq=russian+census+1897+identity&pg=PA69 |pages=69 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-05353-2}}</ref> According to a German census analyst, "Objectively determining conditions of nationality comes up against the greatest difficulties."<ref>{{cite book |last=Liulevicius |first=Vejas Gabrielas |title=War Land on the Eastern Front |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlrez-ylNUkC&dq=tutejszy&pg=PA34 |pages=34 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-66157-7 |year=2000}}</ref>
Following the start of ], in ] the territory was occupied by the ], but shortly afterwards the ] were pushed back by the Polish Army. ] saw the Central Lithuania occupied by the Red Army for the second time, although ] officially recognized sovereignity of Lithuanian Soviet Republic over the city. Probably ] was waiting for the capture of ], to occupy the remainder of Lithuania. However, when Red Army was defeated in the ], the Soviets made decision to hand over the city back to Lithuania. Despite the agreements, Lithuania seized southern ] region as well. When the polish army reached Lithuanian lines (], ]), a local war was started and lasted for several days until the Lithuanians were pushed back.


===Aftermath of World War I===
This made the compromise even harder to achieve and the newly-established state of Lithuania declined any negotiations on the status of the ] area, claimed it its' capital city and denied any polish influence over it whatsoever. A cease-fire agreemen was signed on ] ], but it did not solve the issue. Polish commander ] ordered his subordinate, general ], to defect with his '1st Lithuanian-Byelorussian Division' and capture the city, without declaring war on Lithuania.
In the ], both Poland and Lithuania regained independence. The conflict between them soon arose as both Lithuania and Poland claimed Vilnius (known in Polish as Wilno) region.


Demographically, the main groups inhabiting Vilnius were Poles and Jews, with Lithuanians constituting a small fraction of the total population (2.0%–2.6%, according to the Russian census of 1897 and the German census of 1916).<ref name="Łossowski11"/><ref name="Brensztejn"/> The Lithuanians nonetheless believed that their historical claim to Vilnius (former capital of the ]) had precedence and refused to recognize any Polish claims to the city and the surrounding area.<ref name="MacQueen_context">{{cite journal |first=Michael |last=MacQueen |title=The Context of Mass Destruction: Agents and Prerequisites of the Holocaust in Lithuania |journal= Holocaust and Genocide Studies |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages= 27–48 |year=1998 |doi= 10.1093/hgs/12.1.27}}</ref>
General Zeligowski entered the city on ] ], almost unopposed.


While Poland under Józef Piłsudski attempted to create a Polish-led federation in the area that would include a number of ethnically non-Polish territories (]), Lithuania strove to create a fully independent state that would include the ]. Two early 20th-century censuses indicated that Lithuanian speakers, ] by the Russian policies and had unfavourable conditions ], became a minority in the region. Based on this, Lithuanian authorities argued that the majority of inhabitants living there, even if they at the time did not speak Lithuanian, were thus ] (or ]) Lithuanians.<ref name="Łossowski13-16">{{cite book |author-link=Piotr Łossowski |last=Łossowski | title=Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920| location= Warsaw |publisher=Książka i Wiedza |year=1995 |isbn= 83-05-12769-9 |pages= 13–16 |first=Piotr|language=pl}}</ref><ref name="Merkys">{{cite book |title=Tautiniai santykiai Vilniaus vyskupijoje |location= Vilnius aureus |first=Vytautas|last=Merkys |publisher=Versus |year=2006|isbn= 9955-699-42-6|pages= 1–480|language=lt}}</ref>
==Central Lithuania==


Further complicating the situation, there were two Polish factions with quite different views on creation of the modern state in Poland. One party, led by ], saw modern Poland as an ethnic state, another, led by ], wished to rebuild the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name="Snyder64">{{cite book | author-link=Timothy Snyder |first=Timothy |last=Snyder |title=The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999| publisher= Yale University Press |year=2003 |isbn= 0-300-10586-X |pages= 65 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xSpEynLxJ1MC&pg=PA64 }}</ref> Both parties were determined to take the Poles of Vilnius into the new state. Piłsudski attempted to rebuild the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in a canton structure, as part of the ] federation:<ref name="Snyder64"/>
*Lithuania of Kaunas with Lithuanian language
*Lithuania of Vilnius or Central Lithuania with Polish language
*Lithuania of Minsk with Belarusian language


Eventually, Piłsudski's plan failed; it was opposed both by the Lithuanian government and by the Dmowski's faction in Poland. ], representative of Dmowski's faction, was in charge of the ] negotiations with the ], in which they rejected the Soviet offer of territories needed for the Minsk canton (Dmowski preferred Poland that would be smaller, but with higher percentage of ethnic Poles).<ref name="Snyder64"/> The inclusion of territories predominant with non-Poles would have weakened support for Dmowski.<ref name="Snyder64"/>
A new country was created under the name of Republic of Central Lithuania. General ] took command of all the military forces of the newly-established state and on ], ] he announced the creation of provisional government. Soon the courts and the police were formed and by his decree of ], ], the civil rights of Central Lithuania were granted to all people living in the area on ] ], or for five years prior to ], ].


===Polish–Lithuanian War===
The symbols of the state were red flag with Polish White Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis and with a ] being a mixture of polish, lithuanian and ] symbols.
] map showing the Polish territorial aspirations in both the so-called Central Lithuania as well as the Republic of Lithuania (see: ]) {{circa|1929}}.]]
{{Main|Polish–Lithuanian War|Żeligowski's Mutiny}}
At the end of World War I, the area of the former ] was divided between the ], the short-lived unrecognized ], and the ].<ref>Tomas Balkelis, Violeta Davoliūtė, ''Population Displacement in Lithuania in the Twentieth Century'', BRILL, 2016; {{ISBN|978-90-04-31410-8}} pp. 70-71.</ref> Following the start of the ], during the next two years, the control of Vilnius and its environs changed frequently. In 1919 the territory was briefly occupied by the ], which defeated the ], but shortly afterwards the Soviets ] by the ]. 1920 saw the Vilnius region occupied by the Red Army for the second time. However, when the Red Army was defeated in the ], the Soviets, knowing that they wouldn't be able to hold Vilnius, decided to hand it over to Lithuania. By making such a move, the Soviets hoped to intensify the Polish-Lithuanian dispute over the region.


The regular ] broke out on 26 August 1920, when the Polish Army clashed with Lithuanian troops occupying Suwałki region during the Polish autumn offensive following the Battle of Warsaw. The League of Nations intervened and arranged negotiations in ]. The League negotiated a cease-fire, signed on 7 October 7, placing the city of Vilnius in Lithuania.<ref name="Zigmas">{{cite book |last=Zinkevičius |first=Zigmas |author-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius |title=Rytų Lietuva praeityje ir dabar |publisher=] |location=Vilnius |year=1993 |pages=158 |isbn=5-420-01085-2}}</ref> The ] was to have taken effect at 12:00 on 10 October.
There were extensive diplomatic negotiatiations behind the scenes. Lithuania proposed to make confederation of baltic Western Lithuania, with Lithuanian as an official language and Central Lithuania with Polish. Poland added a condition, that the new state must be also federated with Poland. There were no approval from Lithuanian side for it.


] ] with ]s of Central Lithuania (''Środkowa Litwa''), made in 1920]]
The general elections have been decreed on ] ], and the voting law was to be issued prior to ] ]. However, due to the ] mediation and the boycott of the voting, the elections is postponed.
The Lithuanian authorities entered Vilnius in late August 1920. The ] cabinet rejected the proposal to hold a plebiscite to confirm the will of the region's inhabitants, knowing that a plebiscite would inevitably legitimize Polish claims to the region. His declaration was promptly accepted by the Seimas,<ref name="Senn49"/> for the percentage of Lithuanian population in Vilnius was very small.<ref name="Łossowski104"/> On 8 October, General ] and the ] numbering around 14,000 men, with local self-defense, launched the ] and engaged the Lithuanian 4th Infantry Regiment which promptly retreated.<ref name="von Rauch"/> Upon the Polish advance, on October 8, the Lithuanian government left the city for Kaunas, and during withdrawal, meticulously destroyed telephone lines and rail between the two cities, which remained severed for a generation.<ref name="Senn49"/> Żeligowski entered Vilnius on 9 October, to enthusiastic cheers of the overwhelmingly Polish population of the city. The French and the British delegation decided to leave the matter in the hands of the League of Nations.<ref name="Senn49"/> On October 27, while the Żeligowski's campaign still continued outside Vilnius, the League called for a popular referendum in the disputed area, which was again rejected by the Lithuanian representation.<ref name="Senn49">{{cite book |author=Alfred Erich Senn |publisher=Leiden: E.J. Brill Archive |year=1966 |title=The Great Powers Lithuania and the Vilna Question, 1920-1928 |pages=49–57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=180UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA49}}</ref> Poland disclaimed all responsibility for the action, maintaining that Żeligowski had acted entirely on his own initiative.<ref name="von Rauch"/> This version of the event was redefined in August 1923 when Piłsudski, speaking in public at a Vilnius theater, stated that the attack was undertaken by his direct order.<ref name="Venclova">{{cite book | first=Tomas |last=Venclova| author-link=Tomas Venclova |author2=Czesław Miłosz |author2-link=Czesław Miłosz | title =Winter Dialogue | year =1999 | pages = 146 | publisher =Northwestern University Press | isbn= 0-8101-1726-6 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t0_mJNrytgsC&pg=PA146}}</ref> Żeligowski, a native to Lithuania, proclaimed a new state, the Republic of Central Lithuania (''Litwa Środkowa''). According to historian ], it was a "]" which the Lithuanian Republic refused to recognize.<ref name=Jerzy>{{cite book |author-link=Jerzy J. Lerski |first=Jerzy J. |last=Lerski |author2=Piotr Wróbel |author3=Richard J. Kozicki |title= Historical Dictionary of Poland 966–1945 |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-26007-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FPxhOu_n1VYC&pg=PA309 |page=309}}</ref><ref>Royal Institute of International Affairs, Vol. 36, No. 3 (1960), pg. 354.</ref>


The seat of Lithuanian government moved to Lithuania's second-largest city, ]. Armed clashes between Kaunas and Central Lithuania continued for a few weeks, but neither side could gain a significant advantage. Due to the mediation efforts of the League of Nations, a new ceasefire was signed on November 21 and a truce six days later.<ref name="Łoss216-218">{{cite book |author-link=Piotr Łossowski |last=Łossowski | title=Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920| location= Warsaw |publisher=Książka i Wiedza |year=1995 |isbn= 83-05-12769-9 |pages= 216–218 |first=Piotr|language=pl}}</ref>
==Mediation==


===Founding of the Republic of Central Lithuania===
On 12 October 1920, Żeligowski announced the creation of a ]. Soon the courts and the police were formed by his decree of 7 January 1921, and the ] of Central Lithuania were granted to all people who lived in the area on January 1, 1919, or for five years prior to August 1, 1914. The symbols of the state were a red flag with Polish ] and Lithuanian ]. Its coat of arms was a mixture of Polish, Lithuanian and Vilnian symbols and resembled the ].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}


Extensive diplomatic negotiations continued behind the scenes. Lithuania proposed creating a ] of Baltic Western Lithuania (with Lithuanian as an ]) and Central Lithuania (with Polish as an official language).{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Poland added the condition that the new state must be also federated with Poland, pursuing ]'s goal of creating the ] Federation.<ref>], "Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914–1923", Routledge (UK), 2001; {{ISBN|0-415-17893-2}}, p. 37</ref><ref>Richard K Debo, '' Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-192'', McGill-Queen's Press, 1992; {{ISBN|0-7735-0828-7}}, pg. 59</ref><ref>James H. Billington, ''Fire in the Minds of Men'', Transaction Publishers; {{ISBN|0-7658-0471-9}}, pg. 432</ref><ref>], "The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom", Penn State Press, 2003; {{ISBN|0-271-02308-2}}, pg. 10</ref><ref>David Parker, ''The Tragedy of Great Power Politics'', W. W. Norton & Company, 2001; {{ISBN|0-393-02025-8}}, pg. 194</ref> Lithuanians rejected this condition. With nationalistic sentiments rising all over Europe, many Lithuanians were afraid that such a federation, resembling the ] from centuries ago, would be a threat to ], as during the Commonwealth times many of the Lithuanian nobility was ].
Meanwhile in ] the peace talks were held under the auspice of the ]. The initial agreement has been signed by both sides on ] ], and the talks started on ] ]. The ] decided that the polish proposal of a ] on the future of Central Lithuania. As a compromise, the so called 'Hymans' plan' was proposed(named after ] envoy to the conference. It consisted of 15 points, among them were:


] were decreed to take place on 9 January, and the regulations governing this election were to be issued prior to 28 November 1920. However, due to the ] mediation, and the Lithuanian boycott of the voting, the elections were postponed.<ref name="Saulius A. Suziedelis 2011">Saulius A. Suziedelis, ''Historical Dictionary of Lithuania'', Scarecrow Press, 2011; {{ISBN|978-08-10-87536-4}}, pg. 78: “The elections of the Central Lithuania (...) were boycotted by much of the non-Polish population”.</ref>
*Both sides guarantee each others independence

*Central Lithuania is incorporated into Federation of Lithuania, composed of two ] - the Lithuanian-inhabitated ] and Polish-inhabitated Wilno area. Both cantons will have separate governments, parliaments, ] and a common federative capital in Vilnius/Wilno.
===Mediation===
]
]
Peace talks were held under the auspice of the ]. The initial agreement was signed by both sides on 29 November 1920, and the talks started on 3 March 1921. The League of Nations considered the Polish proposal of a ] on the future of Central Lithuania. As a compromise, the so-called "Hymans' plan" was proposed (named after ]). The plan consisted of 15 points, among them were:<ref name="Moroz">{{cite book | first =Małgorzata | last =Moroz | title =Krynica. Ideologia i przywódcy białoruskiego katolicyzmu | year =2001 | chapter =Białoruski ruch chrześcijańsko—demokratyczny w okresie pierwszej wojny światowej | chapter-url =http://kamunikat.fontel.net/www/knizki/historia/moroz/krynica/krynica_02.htm | publisher =Białoruskie Towarzystwo Historyczne | location =Białystok | isbn =83-915029-0-2 | url =http://kamunikat.fontel.net/www/knizki/historia/moroz/krynica/krynica_spis.htm | language =pl | url-status =usurped | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110716070731/http://kamunikat.fontel.net/www/knizki/historia/moroz/krynica/krynica_spis.htm | archive-date =16 July 2011}}</ref>
*Both sides guarantee each other's independence.
*Central Lithuania is incorporated into the Federation of Lithuania, composed of two ]: Lithuanian-inhabited ] and multi-ethnic (Belarusian, Tatar, Polish, Jewish and Lithuanian) Vilnius area. Both cantons will have separate governments, parliaments, ]s and a common federative capital in Vilnius.<ref name="Geouffre de Lapradelle">{{cite book|first=Albert Geouffre de |last=Lapradelle | author-link=Albert Geouffre de Lapradelle |author2=André Nicolayévitch Mandelstam |author3=Louis Le Fur | title =The Vilna Question | year =1929| pages = 15–18 | publisher =Hazell, Watson & Viney, ld. | location =London | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8DO6_mnXAO4C}}</ref>
*Lithuanian and Polish governments will create interstate commissions on both foreign affairs, trade and industry measures and local policies. *Lithuanian and Polish governments will create interstate commissions on both foreign affairs, trade and industry measures and local policies.
*Poland and Lithuania will sign a defensive alliance treaty. *Poland and Lithuania will sign a defensive alliance treaty.
*Poland will gain usage of ports in Lithuania *Poland will gain usage of ports in Lithuania.

The plan was more or less acceptable for both sides, but it had certain disadvantages. The talks came to a halt when Poland demanded that a delegation of (boycotted by Lithuania) Central Lithuania be invited to ]. On the other hand Lithuanians demanded that the troops of Central Lithuania be relocated to the line of ], ] cease-fire agreement. Both claims were a step too far.

A new plan was presented to the governments of Lithuania and Poland in ] ]. It was basically a modification of 'Hymans' plan', with the difference that the area of ] was to be incorporated into Lithuania while the Central Lithuania region was to be granted certain level of internal authonomy instead of a ] system. However, both Poland and Lithuania openly critisized it and finally this turn of talks came to a halt as well.


]
==Resolution==
The talks came to a halt when Poland demanded that a delegation from Central Lithuania (boycotted by Lithuania) be invited to ].<ref name="Moroz"/> Hymans' proposal left Vilnius in Polish hands, which was unacceptable to Lithuania.<ref name="Moroz"/>


A new plan was presented to the governments of Lithuania and Poland in September 1921. It was basically a modification of "Hymans' plan", with the difference that the ] (the area in ] north of the ]) was to be incorporated into Lithuania. However, both Poland and Lithuania openly criticized this revised plan and finally this turn of talks came to a halt as well.<ref>John Besemeres, ''A Difficult Neighbourhood: Essays on Russia and East-Central Europe since WW II'', ANU Press, 2016, {{ISBN|978-17-60-46061-7}}, Acknowledgements.</ref>


===Resolution===
].]]
After the talks in Brussels failed, the tensions in the area grew. The most important issue was the huge army Central Lithuania fielded (27,000).<ref>{{in lang|it}}Fulvio Fusco, ''L’ammaliatrice di Kaunas'', Youcanprint, 2014; {{ISBN|978-88-91-16905-1}}, pg. 30.</ref> General ] decided to pass the power to the civil authorities and confirmed the date of ] (8 January 1922).<ref>Charles W. Ingrao, Franz A. J. Szabo, ''The Germans and the East'', Purdue University Press, 2008; {{ISBN|978-15-57-53443-9}}, pg. 262</ref> There was a significant electioneering ] campaign as Poles tried to win the support of other ethnic groups present in the area. The Polish government was also accused of various strong-arm policies (like the closing of Lithuanian newspapers<ref name=cepenas/> or election violations like not asking for a valid document from a voter).<ref name="Documents">{{cite book | title=Documents diplomatiques. Conflit Polono-Lituanien. Questions de Vilna 1918–1924 |year=1924}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2013}} The elections were boycotted by Lithuanians, most of the Jews and some Belarusians. Poles were the only major ethnic group out of which the majority of people voted.<ref name="Saulius A. Suziedelis 2011"/>


The elections were not recognized by Lithuania. Polish factions, which gained control over the parliament (Sejm) of the Republic (the ]), on February 20 passed the request of incorporation into Poland.<ref>Vilkelis, Gintautas (2006). ''Lietuvos ir Lenkijos santykiai Tautų Sąjungoje'' (in Lithuanian). Versus aureus. pp. 81–83. {{ISBN|9955-601-92-2}}.</ref> The request was accepted by the Polish ] on 22 March 1922.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
After the talks in ] failed, the tensions in the area grew. The most important issue was the huge army Central Lithuania fielded (27.000). General ] decided to pass the power to the civil authorities and confirmed the date of the elections (] ].


All of the Republic's territory was eventually incorporated into the newly formed ]. Lithuania declined to accept the Polish authority over the area. Instead, it continued to treat the so-called ] as part of its own territory and the city itself as its constitutional capital, with ] being only a ]. The dispute over the Vilnius region resulted in much tensions in the ] in the ] period.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
There was a significant propaganda campaign over the issue of the elections as both Poles and Lithuanians tried to win the support of other ethnic groups present in the area. Eventually, Lithuania decided to boycott the elections and only Socialist Party of Lithuania and Byelorussia took part in it.


==Aftermath==
Most of the parties that took part in the voting were supporting the idea of incorporation of the area into Poland - with different grades of authonomy.
] noted that if Poland had not prevailed in the ], Lithuania would have been invaded by the Soviets, and would never have experienced two decades of independence.<ref name="Senn"/> Despite the ] of 1920, Lithuania was very close to being invaded by the Soviets in summer 1920 and being forcibly incorporated into that state, and only the Polish victory derailed this plan.<ref name="Senn">{{cite book |last1=Senn |first1=Alfred Erich |title=Slavic Review |date=September 1962 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=500–507 |edition=21 |chapter=The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918–1921 |quote=A Bolshevik victory over the Poles would have certainly meant a move by the Lithuanian communists, backed by the Red Army, to overthrow the Lithuanian nationalist government... Kaunas, in effect, paid for its independence with the loss of Vilna.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Erich |first1=Senn Alfred |title=Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimas 1918-1920 |page=163 |date=1992 |language=lt-LT |quote=If the Poles didn't stop the Soviet attack, Lithuania would fell to the Soviets... Polish victory costs the Lithuanians the city of Wilno, but saved Lithuania itself.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rukša |first1=Antanas |title=Kovos dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomybės |date=1982 |publisher=Lietuvių Karių veteranų sąjunga "Ramovė" |page=417 |edition=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGIjAQAAMAAJ |language=lt-LT |quote=In summer 1920 Russia was working on a communist revolution in Lithuania... From this disaster Lithuania was saved by the ].}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rudokas |first1=Jonas |title=Józef Piłsudski - wróg niepodległości Litwy czy jej wybawca? |url=http://www.pogon.lt/_NCZ_ARCHYVAS/519/na_lamach.html |website=pogon.lt |publisher=Veidas |access-date=11 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814001959/http://www.pogon.lt/_NCZ_ARCHYVAS/519/na_lamach.html |archive-date=14 August 2018 |language=pl-PL |date=25 August 2005}}</ref>


After the ] and the ] in 1939, Vilnius and its surroundings of up to 30 kilometres were given to Lithuania in accordance with the ] of 10 October 1939, and Vilnius again became the capital of Lithuania.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} However, in 1940, Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union, forcing the country to become the ]. Since the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1991, the city's status as Lithuania's capital has been internationally recognized.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
63,9% of the entire population took part in the voting, but among different ethnic groups the attendance was lower (41% of Byelorussians, 15,3% Jews and 8,2% of Lithuanians). Two biggest political groups in the newly-elected parliament were 'Polish Voting Commitee' (43 seats) and Popular Councils (34 seats). All the other groups gained 29 seats altogether.


==See also==
The parliament gathered on ] ] and on ] after a fierce discussion incorporation into ] has been passed. Polish ] passed the law proposed by the Central Lithuanian parliament on ] ] and two days later the Central Lithuania ceased to exist.
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* The ]
* ]


==References==
Lithuania declined to accept the polish authority over Wilno area and it wasn't until the ] ultimatum, when the Lithuanian authorities resolved diplomatical relations with Poland and ''de facto'' accepted the borders of its' neighbour. After ] 1939 Lithuania was given the ].
{{reflist}}


==Links== ==External links==
*
*
*
*
*
* {{in lang|de}}
* , after ], ''God's Playground: A History of Poland: Volume II, 1795 to the Present''; Columbia University Press: 1982.
*
* {{in lang|pl}}
* {{in lang|pl}}
* {{in lang|pl}}


{{Authority control}}


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* see ]
* ]
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Latest revision as of 20:11, 22 December 2024

Short lived puppet state of Poland (1920-1922) This article is about a former client state of Poland. For the geographical and historical region, see Vilnius Region.

Republic of Central LithuaniaRepublika Litwy Środkowej (Polish)
1920–1922
Flag of Central Lithuania Flag Coat of arms of Central Lithuania Coat of arms
Anthem: 
Rota
Territory of the Republic of Central Lithuania (green)Territory of the Republic of Central Lithuania (green)
StatusPuppet state of the Second Polish Republic
CapitalVilnius
Common languages
Religion
Demonym(s)Central Lithuanian
GovernmentRepublic
Commander-in-chief 
• 1920–1922 Lucjan Żeligowski
Chairman 
• 1920–1921 (first) Witold Abramowicz
• 1921–1922 (last) Aleksander Meysztowicz
LegislatureSejm
Historical eraInterwar period
• Żeligowski's Mutiny 12 October 1920
• General election 24 March 1922
• Incorporation into Poland 18 April 1922
Area
• Total13,490 km (5,210 sq mi)
CurrencyPolish mark
Preceded by Succeeded by
Lithuania
Poland
Poland
Today part of

54°30′N 25°45′E / 54.500°N 25.750°E / 54.500; 25.750 The Republic of Central Lithuania (Polish: Republika Litwy Środkowej, Lithuanian: Vidurio Lietuvos Respublika), commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania (Polish: Litwa Środkowa, Lithuanian: Vidurinė Lietuva, Belarusian: Сярэдняя Літва, romanizedSiaredniaja Litva), was an unrecognized short-lived puppet state of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after successful Żeligowski's Mutiny, during which the volunteer 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division under command of general Lucjan Żeligowski seized the Vilnius Region that Lithuania made claims to. It was incorporated into Poland on 18 April 1922.

Vilnius, the historical capital of Lithuania, had majority Polish-speaking population with Lithuanian-speaking population of only 2–3%. Therefore, the Polish authorities decided that the region should belong to the newly-established Polish state and attempted to implement this idea using military force, ignoring the Curzon Line and taking advantage of the fact that victorious Poles after the Battle of Warsaw were advancing to the East against the Bolsheviks in the Polish–Soviet War. Poles believed that for this reason they should grab as much mixed areas as deemed possible as well as to protect the Catholic, predominantly Polish-speaking population in disputed areas, thus because of the colossal military outnumbering, Lithuania could not stand a chance to maintain the control of the region. This led to the renewal of Polish–Lithuanian War, where the so-called Żeligowski's Mutiny, secretly ordered by Józef Piłsudski was a part of the military operation, fully supported and backed on flanks by the Polish army, and consequently to the establishment of the so-called Republic of Central Lithuania.

The republic had features of a state administration, but actually was an imitation of a sovereign state which repressed Lithuanian organizations, education, censored and suspended Lithuanian publications. After a variety of delays, a disputed election took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed by Poland. Several years later the Polish leader Józef Piłsudski confirmed that he personally ordered Żeligowski to stage a mutiny.

The Polish–Lithuanian border in the interwar period, was recognized by the Conference of Ambassadors of the Entente and the League of Nations. It was not recognized by Kaunas-based Republic of Lithuania until the Polish ultimatum of 1938 in March, when Lithuania acknowledged the status quo of so-called demarcation line, but the newest edition of the Constitution of Lithuania in May 1938 one more time named Vilnius the capital of Lithuania. In 1931, an international court in The Hague stated that the Polish seizure of the region had been a violation of international law, but there were no political repercussions.

History

Main article: Ethnic composition of Central Lithuania

Following the partitions of Poland, most of the lands that formerly constituted the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed by the Russian Empire. The Imperial government increasingly pursued a policy of Russification of the newly acquired lands, which escalated after the failed January Uprising of 1864. The discrimination against local inhabitants included restrictions and outright bans on the usage of the Polish, Lithuanian (see Lithuanian press ban), Belarusian, and Ukrainian (see Valuyev circular) languages. These measures, however, had limited effects on the Polonisation effort undertaken by the Polish patriotic leadership of the Vilnius educational district. A similar effort was pursued during the 19th century Lithuanian National Revival, which sought to distance itself from both Polish and Russian influences.

Piłsudski's bi-lingual Proclamation to the inhabitants of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (April 1919).

The ethnic composition of the area has long been disputed, since censuses from that time and place are often considered unreliable. According to the first census of the Russian Empire in 1897, known to have been intentionally falsified, the population of the Vilna Governorate was distributed as follows: Belarusians at 56.1% (including Roman Catholics), Lithuanians at 17.6%, Jews at 12.7%, Poles at 8.2%, Russians at 4.9%, Germans at 0.2%, Ukrainians at 0.1%, Tatars at 0.1%, and 'Others' at 0.1% as well.

The German censuses of 1915, 1916 and 1917 of the Vilnius Region (published in 1919) however, reported strikingly different numbers. In 1917 in the Vilnius city Poles were at 53.65%, Jews at 41.45%, Lithuanians at 2.1%, Belarusians at 0.44%, Russians at 1.59%, Germans at 0,63% and 'Other' at 0.14%. According to the 1916 census, Poles constituted 89.8% of the inhabitants of Vilnius county (excluding the city) and Lithuanians only 4.3%.

Censuses had encountered difficulties in the attempt to categorise their subjects. Ethnographers in the 1890s were often confronted with those who described themselves as both Lithuanians and Poles. According to a German census analyst, "Objectively determining conditions of nationality comes up against the greatest difficulties."

Aftermath of World War I

In the aftermath of the First World War, both Poland and Lithuania regained independence. The conflict between them soon arose as both Lithuania and Poland claimed Vilnius (known in Polish as Wilno) region.

Demographically, the main groups inhabiting Vilnius were Poles and Jews, with Lithuanians constituting a small fraction of the total population (2.0%–2.6%, according to the Russian census of 1897 and the German census of 1916). The Lithuanians nonetheless believed that their historical claim to Vilnius (former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) had precedence and refused to recognize any Polish claims to the city and the surrounding area.

While Poland under Józef Piłsudski attempted to create a Polish-led federation in the area that would include a number of ethnically non-Polish territories (Międzymorze), Lithuania strove to create a fully independent state that would include the Vilnius region. Two early 20th-century censuses indicated that Lithuanian speakers, whose language in the second half of the 19th century was suppressed by the Russian policies and had unfavourable conditions within the Catholic church, became a minority in the region. Based on this, Lithuanian authorities argued that the majority of inhabitants living there, even if they at the time did not speak Lithuanian, were thus Polonized (or Russified) Lithuanians.

Further complicating the situation, there were two Polish factions with quite different views on creation of the modern state in Poland. One party, led by Roman Dmowski, saw modern Poland as an ethnic state, another, led by Józef Piłsudski, wished to rebuild the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Both parties were determined to take the Poles of Vilnius into the new state. Piłsudski attempted to rebuild the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in a canton structure, as part of the Międzymorze federation:

  • Lithuania of Kaunas with Lithuanian language
  • Lithuania of Vilnius or Central Lithuania with Polish language
  • Lithuania of Minsk with Belarusian language

Eventually, Piłsudski's plan failed; it was opposed both by the Lithuanian government and by the Dmowski's faction in Poland. Stanisław Grabski, representative of Dmowski's faction, was in charge of the Treaty of Riga negotiations with the Soviet Union, in which they rejected the Soviet offer of territories needed for the Minsk canton (Dmowski preferred Poland that would be smaller, but with higher percentage of ethnic Poles). The inclusion of territories predominant with non-Poles would have weakened support for Dmowski.

Polish–Lithuanian War

Interwar propaganda map showing the Polish territorial aspirations in both the so-called Central Lithuania as well as the Republic of Lithuania (see: 1919 Polish coup attempt in Lithuania) c. 1929.
Main articles: Polish–Lithuanian War and Żeligowski's Mutiny

At the end of World War I, the area of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania was divided between the Second Polish Republic, the short-lived unrecognized Belarusian People's Republic, and the Republic of Lithuania. Following the start of the Polish–Soviet War, during the next two years, the control of Vilnius and its environs changed frequently. In 1919 the territory was briefly occupied by the Red Army, which defeated the local self-defense units, but shortly afterwards the Soviets were pushed back by the Polish Army. 1920 saw the Vilnius region occupied by the Red Army for the second time. However, when the Red Army was defeated in the Battle of Warsaw, the Soviets, knowing that they wouldn't be able to hold Vilnius, decided to hand it over to Lithuania. By making such a move, the Soviets hoped to intensify the Polish-Lithuanian dispute over the region.

The regular Polish–Lithuanian War broke out on 26 August 1920, when the Polish Army clashed with Lithuanian troops occupying Suwałki region during the Polish autumn offensive following the Battle of Warsaw. The League of Nations intervened and arranged negotiations in Suwałki. The League negotiated a cease-fire, signed on 7 October 7, placing the city of Vilnius in Lithuania. The Suwałki Agreement was to have taken effect at 12:00 on 10 October.

Lithuanian postage stamps with overprints of Central Lithuania (Środkowa Litwa), made in 1920

The Lithuanian authorities entered Vilnius in late August 1920. The Grinius cabinet rejected the proposal to hold a plebiscite to confirm the will of the region's inhabitants, knowing that a plebiscite would inevitably legitimize Polish claims to the region. His declaration was promptly accepted by the Seimas, for the percentage of Lithuanian population in Vilnius was very small. On 8 October, General Lucjan Żeligowski and the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division numbering around 14,000 men, with local self-defense, launched the Żeligowski's Mutiny and engaged the Lithuanian 4th Infantry Regiment which promptly retreated. Upon the Polish advance, on October 8, the Lithuanian government left the city for Kaunas, and during withdrawal, meticulously destroyed telephone lines and rail between the two cities, which remained severed for a generation. Żeligowski entered Vilnius on 9 October, to enthusiastic cheers of the overwhelmingly Polish population of the city. The French and the British delegation decided to leave the matter in the hands of the League of Nations. On October 27, while the Żeligowski's campaign still continued outside Vilnius, the League called for a popular referendum in the disputed area, which was again rejected by the Lithuanian representation. Poland disclaimed all responsibility for the action, maintaining that Żeligowski had acted entirely on his own initiative. This version of the event was redefined in August 1923 when Piłsudski, speaking in public at a Vilnius theater, stated that the attack was undertaken by his direct order. Żeligowski, a native to Lithuania, proclaimed a new state, the Republic of Central Lithuania (Litwa Środkowa). According to historian Jerzy J. Lerski, it was a "puppet state" which the Lithuanian Republic refused to recognize.

The seat of Lithuanian government moved to Lithuania's second-largest city, Kaunas. Armed clashes between Kaunas and Central Lithuania continued for a few weeks, but neither side could gain a significant advantage. Due to the mediation efforts of the League of Nations, a new ceasefire was signed on November 21 and a truce six days later.

Founding of the Republic of Central Lithuania

On 12 October 1920, Żeligowski announced the creation of a provisional government. Soon the courts and the police were formed by his decree of 7 January 1921, and the civil rights of Central Lithuania were granted to all people who lived in the area on January 1, 1919, or for five years prior to August 1, 1914. The symbols of the state were a red flag with Polish White Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis. Its coat of arms was a mixture of Polish, Lithuanian and Vilnian symbols and resembled the Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Extensive diplomatic negotiations continued behind the scenes. Lithuania proposed creating a confederation of Baltic Western Lithuania (with Lithuanian as an official language) and Central Lithuania (with Polish as an official language). Poland added the condition that the new state must be also federated with Poland, pursuing Józef Piłsudski's goal of creating the Międzymorze Federation. Lithuanians rejected this condition. With nationalistic sentiments rising all over Europe, many Lithuanians were afraid that such a federation, resembling the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from centuries ago, would be a threat to Lithuanian culture, as during the Commonwealth times many of the Lithuanian nobility was Polonized.

General elections in Central Lithuania were decreed to take place on 9 January, and the regulations governing this election were to be issued prior to 28 November 1920. However, due to the League of Nations mediation, and the Lithuanian boycott of the voting, the elections were postponed.

Mediation

Curzon lines, ignored by Poland during the struggle for Central Lithuania.
Selected demarcation lines during the struggle for central Lithuania.

Peace talks were held under the auspice of the League of Nations. The initial agreement was signed by both sides on 29 November 1920, and the talks started on 3 March 1921. The League of Nations considered the Polish proposal of a plebiscite on the future of Central Lithuania. As a compromise, the so-called "Hymans' plan" was proposed (named after Paul Hymans). The plan consisted of 15 points, among them were:

  • Both sides guarantee each other's independence.
  • Central Lithuania is incorporated into the Federation of Lithuania, composed of two cantons: Lithuanian-inhabited Samogitia and multi-ethnic (Belarusian, Tatar, Polish, Jewish and Lithuanian) Vilnius area. Both cantons will have separate governments, parliaments, official languages and a common federative capital in Vilnius.
  • Lithuanian and Polish governments will create interstate commissions on both foreign affairs, trade and industry measures and local policies.
  • Poland and Lithuania will sign a defensive alliance treaty.
  • Poland will gain usage of ports in Lithuania.
Polish military celebrates the incorporation of Vilnius Region in Poland, 1922.

The talks came to a halt when Poland demanded that a delegation from Central Lithuania (boycotted by Lithuania) be invited to Brussels. Hymans' proposal left Vilnius in Polish hands, which was unacceptable to Lithuania.

A new plan was presented to the governments of Lithuania and Poland in September 1921. It was basically a modification of "Hymans' plan", with the difference that the Klaipėda Region (the area in East Prussia north of the Neman River) was to be incorporated into Lithuania. However, both Poland and Lithuania openly criticized this revised plan and finally this turn of talks came to a halt as well.

Resolution

Ribbon of the Cross of Merit of the Army of Central Lithuania.

After the talks in Brussels failed, the tensions in the area grew. The most important issue was the huge army Central Lithuania fielded (27,000). General Lucjan Żeligowski decided to pass the power to the civil authorities and confirmed the date of the elections (8 January 1922). There was a significant electioneering propaganda campaign as Poles tried to win the support of other ethnic groups present in the area. The Polish government was also accused of various strong-arm policies (like the closing of Lithuanian newspapers or election violations like not asking for a valid document from a voter). The elections were boycotted by Lithuanians, most of the Jews and some Belarusians. Poles were the only major ethnic group out of which the majority of people voted.

The elections were not recognized by Lithuania. Polish factions, which gained control over the parliament (Sejm) of the Republic (the Sejm of Central Lithuania), on February 20 passed the request of incorporation into Poland. The request was accepted by the Polish Sejm on 22 March 1922.

All of the Republic's territory was eventually incorporated into the newly formed Wilno Voivodeship. Lithuania declined to accept the Polish authority over the area. Instead, it continued to treat the so-called Vilnius Region as part of its own territory and the city itself as its constitutional capital, with Kaunas being only a temporary seat of government. The dispute over the Vilnius region resulted in much tensions in the Polish–Lithuanian relations in the interwar period.

Aftermath

Alfred Erich Senn noted that if Poland had not prevailed in the Polish–Soviet War, Lithuania would have been invaded by the Soviets, and would never have experienced two decades of independence. Despite the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty of 1920, Lithuania was very close to being invaded by the Soviets in summer 1920 and being forcibly incorporated into that state, and only the Polish victory derailed this plan.

After the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Vilnius and its surroundings of up to 30 kilometres were given to Lithuania in accordance with the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty of 10 October 1939, and Vilnius again became the capital of Lithuania. However, in 1940, Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union, forcing the country to become the Lithuanian SSR. Since the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1991, the city's status as Lithuania's capital has been internationally recognized.

See also

References

  1. Senn, Alfred Erich (1964). "On the State of Central Lithuania". Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. 12 (3). Franz Steiner Verlag: 366–374. JSTOR 41042359. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  2. ^ Čepėnas, Pranas (1986). Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol. II (in Lithuanian). Chicago: Dr. Griniaus fondas. ISBN 5-89957-012-1.
  3. ^ Rauch, Georg von (1974). "The Early Stages of Independence". In Gerald Onn (ed.). The Baltic States: Years of Independence – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 1917–40. C. Hurst & Co. pp. 100–102. ISBN 0-903983-00-1.
  4. Nanevič, Beata (2004). "Imitavusi valstybę: "Vidurio Lietuvos" (1920-1922) vidaus politika". Darbai ir dienos (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  5. Phipps, Eric; Romano Avezzana; Raymond Poincaré; Maurycy Zamoyski; M. Matsuda (1923). Decision taken by the conference of ambassadors regarding the eastern frontiers of Poland (PDF). League of Nations. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  6. League of Nations, Treaty Series. Vol. 15. League of Nations. 1923. pp. 261–265.
  7. ^ Miniotaitė, Gražina (1999). "The Security Policy of Lithuania and the 'Integration Dilemma'" (PDF). NATO Academic Forum: 21. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  8. The Vilna problem. London: Lithuanian Information Bureau. 1922. pp. 24–25.
  9. (in Italian)Claudio Madonia, Fra l'orso russo e l'aquila prussiana, Clueb Edizioni, 2013, 978-88-49-13800-9, p.82.
  10. Roshwald, Aviel (2001). Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East, 1914–1923. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-17893-2.
  11. Geifman, Anna (1999). Russia Under the Last Tsar: Opposition and Subversion, 1894–1917. Blackwell Publishing. p. 116. ISBN 1-55786-995-2.
  12. Venclova, Tomas (Summer 1981). "Four Centuries of Enlightenment. A Historic View of the University of Vilnius, 1579–1979". Lituanus. 1 (27).
  13. Yla, Stasys (Summer 1981). "The Clash of Nationalities at the University of Vilnius". Lituanus. 1 (27).
  14. Schmalstieg, William R. (Winter 1989). "The Lithuanian Language and Nation Through the Ages: Outline of a History of Lithuanian in its Social Context". Lituanus. 4 (34).
  15. Ajnenkiel, Andrzej (1986). From peoples assembly to May coup: overview of political history of Poland 1918-1926 [Od rządów ludowych do przewrotu majowego: zarys dziejów politycznych Polski 1918-1926]. Wiedza Powszechna. According to falsified data of the Russian census of 1897, the Poles constituted 886,000 of the region's inhabitants, but the numbers have to be at least doubled.
  16. ^ Łossowski, Piotr (1995). Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 (in Polish). Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza. p. 11. ISBN 83-05-12769-9.
  17. "The first census of the Russian Empire in 1897" [Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и регионам]. Демоскоп Weekly (in Russian). 331–332, 28 апреля - 18 мая 2008. Институт демографии Высшей школы экономики. 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008.
  18. ^ Brensztejn, Michał Eustachy (1919). Spisy ludności m. Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od. 1 listopada 1915 r. (in Polish). Warsaw: Biblioteka Delegacji Rad Polskich Litwy i Białej Rusi.
  19. ^ Łossowski, Piotr (1995). Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 (in Polish). Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza. pp. 11, 104. ISBN 83-05-12769-9. Spis z grudnia 1919 r. jest bardzo dokładny; operuje danymi z poszczególnych gmin, wykazując ogólną liczbę mieszkańców, a następnie w rozbiciu na poszczególne narodowości — w liczbach bezwzględnych i w ujęciu procentowym. Z wielkiej ilości danych przytoczyć możemy tylko najważniejsze, najbardziej charakterystyczne liczby. W samym więc mieście Wilnie na 129 tysięcy mieszkańców spis wykazuje 72 tysiące Polaków, czyli 56,2% ogółu ludności (Żydów — 47 tysięcy, to znaczy 36,1%, Litwinów — 3 tysiące, to jest 2,3%). Jeszcze wyższy odsetek Polaków stwierdzono w powiecie wileńskim. Na 184 tysiące mieszkańców zapisano tam 161 tysięcy Polaków.
  20. Brensztejn, Michał (1874-1938) (1919). Spisy ludności miasta Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od d. 1 listopada 1915 r. Warszawska Drukarnia Wydawnicza.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. Januszewska-Jurkiewicz, Joanna (2010). Stosunki narodowościowe na Wileńszczyźnie w latach 1920—1939 [National relations in the Vilnius region in the years 1920-1939] (in Polish). Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego. ISBN 978-83-226-1817-2.
  22. Davies, Norman (1982). God's Playground. Columbia University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-231-05353-2.
  23. Liulevicius, Vejas Gabrielas (2000). War Land on the Eastern Front. Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-521-66157-7.
  24. MacQueen, Michael (1998). "The Context of Mass Destruction: Agents and Prerequisites of the Holocaust in Lithuania". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 12 (1): 27–48. doi:10.1093/hgs/12.1.27.
  25. Łossowski, Piotr (1995). Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 (in Polish). Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza. pp. 13–16. ISBN 83-05-12769-9.
  26. Merkys, Vytautas (2006). Tautiniai santykiai Vilniaus vyskupijoje (in Lithuanian). Vilnius aureus: Versus. pp. 1–480. ISBN 9955-699-42-6.
  27. ^ Snyder, Timothy (2003). The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999. Yale University Press. p. 65. ISBN 0-300-10586-X.
  28. Tomas Balkelis, Violeta Davoliūtė, Population Displacement in Lithuania in the Twentieth Century, BRILL, 2016; ISBN 978-90-04-31410-8 pp. 70-71.
  29. Zinkevičius, Zigmas (1993). Rytų Lietuva praeityje ir dabar. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla. p. 158. ISBN 5-420-01085-2.
  30. ^ Alfred Erich Senn (1966). The Great Powers Lithuania and the Vilna Question, 1920-1928. Leiden: E.J. Brill Archive. pp. 49–57.
  31. Venclova, Tomas; Czesław Miłosz (1999). Winter Dialogue. Northwestern University Press. p. 146. ISBN 0-8101-1726-6.
  32. Lerski, Jerzy J.; Piotr Wróbel; Richard J. Kozicki (1996). Historical Dictionary of Poland 966–1945. Greenwood Press. p. 309. ISBN 0-313-26007-9.
  33. Royal Institute of International Affairs, Vol. 36, No. 3 (1960), pg. 354.
  34. Łossowski, Piotr (1995). Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918–1920 (in Polish). Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza. pp. 216–218. ISBN 83-05-12769-9.
  35. Aviel Roshwald, "Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914–1923", Routledge (UK), 2001; ISBN 0-415-17893-2, p. 37
  36. Richard K Debo, Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-192, McGill-Queen's Press, 1992; ISBN 0-7735-0828-7, pg. 59
  37. James H. Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men, Transaction Publishers; ISBN 0-7658-0471-9, pg. 432
  38. Andrzej Paczkowski, "The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom", Penn State Press, 2003; ISBN 0-271-02308-2, pg. 10
  39. David Parker, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001; ISBN 0-393-02025-8, pg. 194
  40. ^ Saulius A. Suziedelis, Historical Dictionary of Lithuania, Scarecrow Press, 2011; ISBN 978-08-10-87536-4, pg. 78: “The elections of the Central Lithuania (...) were boycotted by much of the non-Polish population”.
  41. ^ Moroz, Małgorzata (2001). "Białoruski ruch chrześcijańsko—demokratyczny w okresie pierwszej wojny światowej". Krynica. Ideologia i przywódcy białoruskiego katolicyzmu (in Polish). Białystok: Białoruskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. ISBN 83-915029-0-2. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  42. Lapradelle, Albert Geouffre de; André Nicolayévitch Mandelstam; Louis Le Fur (1929). The Vilna Question. London: Hazell, Watson & Viney, ld. pp. 15–18.
  43. John Besemeres, A Difficult Neighbourhood: Essays on Russia and East-Central Europe since WW II, ANU Press, 2016, ISBN 978-17-60-46061-7, Acknowledgements.
  44. (in Italian)Fulvio Fusco, L’ammaliatrice di Kaunas, Youcanprint, 2014; ISBN 978-88-91-16905-1, pg. 30.
  45. Charles W. Ingrao, Franz A. J. Szabo, The Germans and the East, Purdue University Press, 2008; ISBN 978-15-57-53443-9, pg. 262
  46. Documents diplomatiques. Conflit Polono-Lituanien. Questions de Vilna 1918–1924. 1924.
  47. Vilkelis, Gintautas (2006). Lietuvos ir Lenkijos santykiai Tautų Sąjungoje (in Lithuanian). Versus aureus. pp. 81–83. ISBN 9955-601-92-2.
  48. ^ Senn, Alfred Erich (September 1962). "The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918–1921". Slavic Review (21 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 500–507. A Bolshevik victory over the Poles would have certainly meant a move by the Lithuanian communists, backed by the Red Army, to overthrow the Lithuanian nationalist government... Kaunas, in effect, paid for its independence with the loss of Vilna.
  49. Erich, Senn Alfred (1992). Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimas 1918-1920 (in Lithuanian). p. 163. If the Poles didn't stop the Soviet attack, Lithuania would fell to the Soviets... Polish victory costs the Lithuanians the city of Wilno, but saved Lithuania itself.
  50. Rukša, Antanas (1982). Kovos dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomybės (in Lithuanian) (3 ed.). Lietuvių Karių veteranų sąjunga "Ramovė". p. 417. In summer 1920 Russia was working on a communist revolution in Lithuania... From this disaster Lithuania was saved by the miracle at Vistula.
  51. Rudokas, Jonas (25 August 2005). "Józef Piłsudski - wróg niepodległości Litwy czy jej wybawca?". pogon.lt (in Polish). Veidas. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2020.

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