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The Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920, also known as Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to allow access to its territory in its war against Poland, Soviet Russia recognized the existence and eastern borders of Lithuania.

Background

In 1919, the re-established Polish army engaged Soviet forces. Vilnius, the historic capital of Lithuania, was seized by the Poles from the Soviets in April. The Soviets at that time considered the White movement to be the biggest threat and were pursuing a strategy of negotiations with their neighbors, including Poland. The first Lithuanian-Russian negotiations began in September 11 1919, after People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of Soviet Russia Georgy Chicherin sent a note with a proposal for a peace treaty. Lithuanians perceived it as recognition of a de facto state. At a trilateral meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed to begin peace talks with the Soviets simultaneously. Lithuania's Foreign minister, Augustinas Voldemaras, did not respond to this proposal until March 31, 1920, and then asked whether the Soviets would accept Lithuania's demands to recognise its boundaries for its claimed ethnic territory - i.e., the territories of former Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno and Suwałki (Suvalkai) gubernyas - an area which had been claimed by both Lithuania and the Second Polish Republic. The Soviets at that time were preparing a major counteroffensive against Poland and agreed to discuss the situation with Lithuania and suggested starting preliminary negotiations on April 15.

The talks began in Moscow on May 7. The proposed text of the treaty, written by Lenin, stated that the Soviet Union would withdraw all territorial claims to Lithuania, and promised to return any cultural and historical property. A working commission was created which evaluated the damage to Lithuania at about 816 million rubles, and 407 million rubles for the damage to the territory then controlled by Poland. During the peace talks, M. Balinsky's census of 1857 was provided as evidence that the territory was inhabited mainly by Lithuanians. Shimshon Rozenbaum of the Lithuanian delegation and a Soviet official Adolph Joffe agreed that the territory of Lithuania could be easily identified, as it was inhabited by Litvaks. However, the Soviets would not agree on the border proposed by Lithuania, and Lithuania was unwilling to offer military assistance and join the Soviets in their war against Poland. On May 22, 1920 the Lithuanian delegation threatened to withdraw from the peace talks.

The treaty

The talks continued only after the Foreign Ministry of Lithuania received an assurance that England would support Lithuanian demands in their negotiations with Poland. As the Soviet offensive against Poland was quite successful and the Red Army was approaching Vilnius, the Lithuanians signed the treaty on July 12, revising their previous territorial demands. The Soviets Union acknowledged Lithuanian authority over the Vilnius Region, including Brasłaŭ (Brasław), Hrodna, Lida, Pastavy and Vilnius. The fate of the Sudovia region, however, was not determined by the treaty. The Bolsheviks also promised to pay war reparations to Lithuania and allow Lithuanians stranded in the Soviet Union to return to their homeland. After some debate over whether the treaty was sincere, and whether the Soviets had assumed any real liability, the Lithuanian parliament (Seimas) ratified it on August 8 1920.

Military support

The treaty included a secret clause allowing Soviet forces free movement within Lithuanian territory. At the same time, the Lithuanian military would disarm and intern Polish forces. The treaty, however, did not create a formal military alliance between Soviets and Lithuanians because the Soviets, who had been pressing Lithuania for an alliance in May, were confident by July, after a series of successes, that they could conquer Poland by themselves.

The day after signing the treaty, the Lithuanian forces began to aid the Bolshevik offensive against Vilnius, and on July 14 engaged the Poles defending the city. Other historians argue whether or not it was the Polish army which attacked the Lithuanian forces first. Thus began the Polish-Lithuanian War.

When the Bolshevik forces entered Vilnius on July 14, they installed the puppet government of the former Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (or "Lit-Bel", for short) headed by Vincas Kapsukas. This government was intended to start a socialist revolution and began to prepare for action against the Lithuanian Republic. Lithuania issued a protest on August 21, followed by several others. Eventually, on September 11, about two weeks after Poland defeated Soviet forces during the Battle of Warsaw, the Red Army retreated from Vilnius and left it under Lithuanian control.

Aftermath

The treaty was a major breakthrough for international recogintion of Lithuanian Republic. It proved functional furthermore, because many people who had lived in Lithuania before World War I returned to their homeland, although the Soviet Union did not pay all its reparations and never seriously considered returning cultural and historical property. Today, Lithuanian politicians and historians are still seeking to regain those items, but the Russian government claims that they are lost.

Despite the treaty, the Soviet Politburo was already considering the occupation of non-communist Lithuania on July 23, and Trotsky and Tukhachevsky subsequently prepared an occupation plan. However, the Bolshevik defeat in the Battle of Warsaw forced them to try to reach an early peace agreement with Poland. The plan to annex Lithuania was abandoned for two decades, until a new balance of power in Europe allowed the Soviet Union to invade Poland and annex all three Baltic states.

See also

• Freedom wars of Lithuania
• Central Lithuania
• Lithuania proper

Notes

1. Čepėnas, "Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol II, p. 355
2. Čepėnas, "Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol II, p. 359
3. Čepėnas, "Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol II, p. 359
4. Łossowski, "Litwa", p. 85
5. Łossowski, "Po tej i tamtej ...", p. 137
6. Brecher, Michael; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan, "A study of crisis", p. 253
7. Łossowski, "Litwa", p. 86
8. Alfred Erich Senn, The Formation of the Lithuanian Foreign Office, 1918-1921, Slavic Review, Vol. 21, No. 3. (Sep., 1962), 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."
   Alfred Erich Senn, Lietuvos valstybes... 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."
   Antanas Ruksa, Kovos del Lietuvos nepriklausomybes, t.3, 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."
   Jonas Rudokas, Józef Piłsudski - wróg niepodległości Litwy czy jej wybawca? (Polish translation of a Lithuanian article) "Veidas", 25 08 2005: "defended both Poland and Lithuanian from Soviet domination"

References

• Čepėnas, Pranas (1986). Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija, vol. II (in Lithuanian). Chicago: Dr. Griniaus fondas. ISBN 5-899570121.
• Łossowski, Piotr (2001). "Litwa" (in Polish). Warszawa: TRIO. ISBN 83-85660-59-3.
• Łossowski, Piotr (1985). "Po tej i tamtej stronie Niemna" (in Polish). Warszawa: Czytelnik. ISBN 83-07-01289-9.
• Łossowski, Piotr, Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920 (The Polish-Lithuanian Conflict, 1918–1920), Warsaw, Książka i Wiedza, 1995, ISBN 8305127699
• Brecher, Michael (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472108069. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• 1920 in law
• Treaties of Lithuania
• Treaties of Russia
• 1920 in Lithuania