A neglected event in history, the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20 was
not the final episode in the wars of intervention, but an independent enterprise
on the Polish side with minimal support from the Entente Powers. In many English
history books, it appears under the erroneous title of the 'Russo-Polish War',
and is treated as just one spot in the rash of border conflicts which broke out
all over Europe at this time. As far as Soviet history is
concerned, the war with Poland represents the first occasion when the Red
Army set out to revolutionise the whole of Europe - for the Poles, it was an occasion when they
finally justified their claim to independent statehood.
In White Eagle, Red Star, Professor Norman Davies gives a full
account of the war, with its dramatic climax in August 1920 when the Red Army -
sure of victory and pledged to carry the Revolution across Europe to 'water our
horses on the Rhine' - was crushed by a devastating Polish attack, since known
as the 'miracle on the Vistula'. Drawing on
both Polish and Russian sources, Davies illustrates the narrative with
documentary material which hitherto has not been readily available and shows how
the war was far more than an 'episode' in East European affairs, but largely
determined the course of European history for the next twenty years or
more.
