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Secret Soviet-Polish Peace Talks in 1919

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Piotr S. Wandycz
Piotr S. Wandycz*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
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Extract

History sometimes has its simple moments, and it is tempting to draw the early struggle between the Bolsheviks and the Poles in terms of a clash between Red Russia and White Poland. Most Soviet and some Western historians see it only as a fragment of the general conflict between revolution and reaction. Closer scrutiny, however, belies the seeming simplicity of dialectics. The story is tortuous and involved; moves behind the scenes accompanied the fighting at the front. The gulf which separated the Bolsheviks from the Entente and from Poland did not preclude clandestine contacts, and Poland's leader Józef Piłsudski played his own game with the Soviet regime.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 1965 , pp. 425 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1965

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References

1 As the Soviet commander in chief put it: “A victory for us on the southern and eastern fronts will deliver into the hands of the Soviet regime the entire territory of the former Russian Empire, and hence a temporary reverse on the western front will not be reflected in the final result.” I. I. Vatsetis to Lenin, April 23, 1919, in The Trotsky Papers 1917-1922, ed. Jan Meijer (The Hague, 1964), I, 354-55.

2 Ioffe explained that the Soviet government “was obliged from the moment of its birth to pass to a ‘peaceful offensive’ against the bourgeois order because an armed offensive was not possible, while the coexistence of a Soviet government with the imperialistic ones appeared unthinkable“; quoted in Xenia J. Eudin and H. Fisher, eds., Soviet Russia and the West 1920-1927 (Stanford, 1957), p. 63. Compare ), (Moscow, 1961), p. 148. A classic statement by Lenin on exploiting the differences between imperialists was made at the meeting of the Communist Party faction at the Eighth Congress of Soviets; see (3d ed.; Moscow, 1935-37), XXVI, 8.

3 Wieckowski, an old Polish socialist, had been sent to Moscow by Premier I. J. Padcrewski; the purpose of his mission still remains somewhat obscure.

4 The dates Fischer gives for the talks, namely, October 9 to December 22, 1919, are incorrect; the Polish negotiator was Captain Boerner, not Colonel Berner; Marchlewski, who is described as a “passionate hunter,” never hunted in his life; finally, it seems improbable that Marchlewski and Boerner saw each other only four times.

5 Livre rouge: Recueil des documents diplomatiques re'latifs aux relations entre la Russie et la Pologne 1918-1920 (Moscow, 1920), p. 7. This volume, a publication of the RSFSR People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, appeared also in Russian and several other languages.

6 See ) (Moscow, 1926), p. 16, and later articles of Radek in

7 The Soviets in World Affairs (London, 1930), I, 241.

8 See especially Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Wyprawa kijowska (Warsaw, 1937), pp. 25-32, based on the diary, since lost, of Boerner; Pobóg-Malinowski, W., Najnowsza historia polityczna Polski 1864-1945 (Paris, 1953; London, 1956-60), II, 217–19Google Scholar; Komarnicki, T., The Rebirth of the Polish Republic (London, 1957), pp. 476–78Google Scholar; Korbel, Josef, Poland between East and West 1919-1933 (Princeton, 1963), pp. 22–26 Google Scholar; and Lewandowski, Józef, Federalizm: Litwa i Bialorus w polityce obozu belwederskiego (Warsaw, 1962), pp. 135–46Google Scholar. The only monograph on the subject is Sieradzki, Józef, Bialowieza i Mikaszewicze (Warsaw, 1959)Google Scholar.

9 Thus the second volume of N. Gasiorowska, ed., Materialy archiwalne do historii stosunkdw polska-radzieckich (Vol. I was published in Warsaw in 1957, under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Sciences), which was supposed to include Marchlewski's diary and correspondence and the minutes of meetings of the Polish Communist Party in Russia for July 1919, has not appeared. The publication which seemingly replaced it, edited jointly by the Polish and Soviet Academies of Science, Dokumenty i materialy do historii stosunkdw polsko-radzieckich (2 vols.; Warsaw, 1962), or (2 vols.; Moscow, 1963-64), contains none of this material.

10 (Moscow, 1954), passim.

11 Compare (Moscow, 1928), pp. 24-25; and Sieradzki, p. 13. The story was denied by Colonel B. Miedziriski in a letter to the author dated March 17, 1965.

12 A curious statement by Piłsudski to S. M. Kossakowski was recorded by Kossakowski in his diary: “I told Kujawski [pseudonym of Marchlewski] when he explained to me the possibility of reaching agreement with the Soviet government: I fully believe in the possibility of agreement about the borders but I doubt whether the Soviet government will agree to our conditions of a complete closing of the borders for export and propaganda. He became silent and did not answer me.” S. M. Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 81, 1919 (Archiwum Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warsaw).

13 See J. Marchlewski, , No. 6 (Sept.-Oct.) and Nos. 7-8 (Nov.-Dec), 1919. The article was expanded and published as a pamphlet in Moscow in 1920.

14 See especially “Kolczak” by J. M. Borski, in Robotnik, June 11, 1919.

15 Marchlewski, Pisma wybrane (Warsaw, 1952-56), II, 755.

16 See Artur Leinwand, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna wobec wojny polsko-radzieckiej 1919-1920 (Warsaw, 1964), p. 86. Among the opponents were M. Koziowski, J. Dolecki, J. Unszlicht, and J. Leszczyriski.

17 ) (Moscow, 1958), 200-201 (a publication of the USSR Ministry for Foreign Affairs); hereafter cited as дBи CCCP. Chicherin's concern for the refugees was largely propagandistic, and Moscow encouraged illegal return to Poland of agitators and people it wanted to get rid of; see Lenin's instructions in , XXXIV (Moscow, 1942), 136.

18 According to Fischer, I, 136, the radio message was sent on July 5, 1919, but a copy of it (numbered 23w38) is dated July 4, and reads: “Le citoyen Jean Kujawski est autorise a quitter la Russie et se trouvera a Molodetchno le dix juillet stop le commissariat du peuple pour affaires étrangerès” (Akta Adjutantury Generalnej Naczelnego Dowodztwa LXXXIV/2158, Jézef Piłsudski Institute of America; hereafter cited as AGND).

19 The Adjutant General's Office, July 14, 1919, AGND, XVII/1121.

20 Telegram of July 18, 1919, ibid. See also Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 18, 1919.

21 Wieckowski's handwritten note (with underlinings in text), July 24, 1919, AGND, XVII/1179.

22 Ibid.; also instructions of July 26, 1919. See also Kasprzycki to Skrzyriski, Aug. 1, 1919, in Odpisy róznych akt Oddzialu Drugiego, Jozef Piłsudski Institute of America.

23 See Marchlewski's incomplete note of July 30, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy do historii stosunkow polsków-radzieckich, II, 212-13.

24 See Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 31, 1919.

25 Ibid., July 28, 1919. On Soviet fears about the western front see Stalin to Lenin, Aug. 11, 1919, in (Moscow, 1946-55), IV, 272-74.

26 Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 31, 1919. Marchlewski himself wrote later that he had offered territorial concessions because “in the near future all frontier lines would lose significance since a revolutionary upheaval in all of Europe and also in Poland was only a question of time, a question of a few years. Then in these contested territories, inhabi t ed mainly by Belorussian peasants, a Soviet republic would emerge” (pisma wybrane, II, 755-56).

27 Marchlewski, Pisma wybrane, II, 756.

28 See Sieradzki, pp. 122-27, and AGND, X/5218.

29 Kossakowski, Diariusz, Aug. 5, 1919.

30 Ibid., July 31, 1919.

31 For description and analysis of the so-called Federalist orientation see, among others, Lewandowski's Federalizm (highly critical), E. Charaszkiewicz, “Przebudowa wschodu Europy: Materialy do polityki wschodniej Józefa Piłsudskiego,” Niepodlegtosd, Vol. V (1955); and M. K. Dziewanowski, “Piłsudski's Federal Policy 1919-1921,” Journal of Central European Affairs, X, No. 2 (July 1950), 113-28; No. 3 (Oct. 1950), 271-87.

32 Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 31, 1919.

33 Lenin allegedly wrote Paderewski twice, in the spring and in the autumn of 1919; Piisudski, when informed about it, told the Premier not to meddle in Soviet-Polish relations. See Sieradzki, p. 24.

34 Piłsudski's distrust of Russia was well known. There is some interesting material on it in the unpublished memoirs of Karol W?dziagolski, who acted as Pitsudski's representative in the latter's dealings with Boris Savinkov. Mr. Wedziagolski, who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, kindly allowed me to read the relevant parts of his memoirs.

35 Kossakowski, Diariusz, July 31, 1919.

36 T h e y suggested as candidates Marchlewski and K. Brodzki (Dokumenty i materialy, I I , 313 note).

37 Copy of telegram in AGND, XVIII/1339.

38 дBи CCCP, II, 235; French text in Livre rouge, p. 75.

39 Telegram of Sept. 4, 1919, дBи CCCP, II, 341; a n d i n Livre rouge, p. 76.

40 Note of Aug. 12, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 327.

41 See ibid., II, 339-40, 341 note; and photocopy of the protocol of the cabinet meeting on Aug. 26, 1919, in Sieradzki, pp. 120-21.

42 Telegram of Sept. 23, 1919, AGND, XIX/1543.

43 For Paderewski's statement in February 1921, see Lewandowski, p. 139 note, quoting from the Paderewski Archive in Warsaw.

44 U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: The Paris Peace Conference, 1919 (Washington, 1942-47), VIII, 209 ff.

45 Rumbold to Curzon, Oct. 24, 1919, in E. L. Woodward and R. Butler, eds., Documents on British Foreign Policy 1918-1945, First Series (London, 1947—), III, 612; hereafter cited as DBFP.

46 Leon Wasilewski, Józef Piłsudski jakim go znatem (Warsaw, 1935), p. 202.

47 Sapieha (Polish minister in London) to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, Oct. 28, 1919, in Dokumenty i materiaty, II, 417. Sapieha's thinking was parallel to Piłsudski's.

48 Instruction of Sept. 12, 1919, ibid., II, 346-47. Colonel W. Sikorski mentioned at this time “a secret instruction which ran: Do not beat the Bolsheviks so as to favor Denikin“; see Kossakowski, Diariusz, Nov. 3, 1919.

49 See Skrzyński to Paderewski, Sept. 22, 1919, in S. Arski, My pierwsza brygada (Warsaw, 1962), p. 293, quoting from Paderewski Archive.

50 Leszczyński belonged to the most extreme Polish Communists and had previously opposed Marchlewski's talks with the Poles. Marchlewski had Leszczyński and his followers in mind when he wrote that “the ‘radicalism’ and ‘revolutionary spirit’ of these blockheads can cause much trouble yet” (quoted in Leinwand, p. 86).

51 Kossakowski, Diariusz, Oct. 3, 1919.

52 The two Red Cross documents (numbered 1616 and 1617) and the Narkomindel authorization (No. 11/856) all bore the same date, Oct. 7; see copies in AGND, XX/1733.

53 Photocopy of secret credentials of Oct. 4,1919, in Fischer, I, 238.

54 Kossakowski, Diariusz, entry dated Oct. 10, 1919. For meetings of Polish delegation see minutes of Sept. 29-30, Oct. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10-12, 15, 23, 24, 28, 31, Dec. 3, 6, 9, 1919, in AGND, LXXXIV/2158. The dramatic description of the arrival of the Bolsheviks at Mikaszewicze in , pp. 25-26, sounds utterly unconvincing.

55 She stayed for a while in Poland and then returned to Russia, but I could not determine the exact dates.

56 All these details are based on Kossakowski's diary, his reports, and other material in AGND, XX/1732-36.

57 Protocol of this meeting and of the meetings of Oct. 28-31, Nov. 2 and 9 (Nos. 1-7, and 9) in AGND, LXXXIV/2158.

58 He had not yet known of his death.

59 Kossakowski to Piłsudski, Oct. 13, 1919, AGND, XX/1733. Compare Diariusz, Oct. 12, partly reprinted in Sieradzki, pp. 73-74. There is a handwritten copy of the credentials in Russian in AGND, XX/1733, but I could not determinie whether it is the one made by Marchlewski. It is odd that Kossakowski should have noted in his diary that the credentials were signed by Lenin.

60 Kossakowski's report, Oct. 14, 1919, AGND, XX/1734. Compare Diariusz, Oct. 12 and following entries, reprinted with omissions in Sieradzki, pp. 74 ff.

61 Report of Oct. 20, 1919, AGND, XX/1772; also Diariusz, Oct. 20, 1919.

62 See Diariusz, Oct. 16, 19, 25, 1919, partly reprinted by Sieradzki, pp. 77, 82. Boerner was no outstanding political figure, but he could claim long association with Piłsudski and had been active in the 1905 revolution, during the war, and in November 1918. He later became a colonel, and Minister of Post and Telegraph.

63 Diariusz, Oct. 21, 1919.

64 Copy in Russian, No. 11704, Oct. 22, 1919, AGND, LXXXIV/2158.

65 Ibid., also Diariusz, Oct. 29, 1919. Both Dokumenty i materialy, II, 413-14, and JIBU CCCP, II, 265-66, reprinted Marchlewski's declaration from (Moscow, 1920) with the date of October 23, clearly a mistake.

66 Russian text in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 419-22.

67 Polish text of November 9 agreement, ibid., II, 433-37; Russian in дBи CCCP, II, 278-83.

68 Kossakowski expressed some bitterness over this procedure, especially since he learned about the exchanges from Marchlewski. See Diariusz, Nov. 10, 1919.

69 It was defined as running from Novograd Volynskii (Zviahel), through Olevsk, along the river Ptich', Bobruisk with its bridgehead, Berezina River, Berezina Canal, to the Dvina.

70 See Kutrzeba, pp. 26-27, quoting from Boerner's diary.

71 Diariusz, Nov. 5, 1919.

72 Protocol of the meeting in Trotsky Archives, T. 407, Houghton Library, Harvard. The English translation here follows that of the Trotsky Papers, I, 758-61, except for transliteration.

73 Marchlewski to Karakhan, Nov. 26, 1919, in Dokumenty i materiaty, II, 447.

74 Kutrzeba, pp. 27-29, quoting from Boerner's diary.

75 Trotsky Papers, I, 764-65. According to Boerner's account, Marchlewski returned to Mikaszewicze on November 21, not November 22, 1919 (Kutrzeba, p. 27).

76 Kossakowski, Diariusz, Nov. 13, 1919. The interview as reprinted in Sieradzki, pp. 86-89, is incomplete.

77 Summarized telegram of Rumbold to Foreign Office, received Oct. 25, 1919, DBFP, I I I , 630 note.

78 Rumbold to Curzon, Nov. 7, 1919, ibid., I l l , 633-36.

79 Litvinov's credentials, signed by Lenin and Chicherin, empowered him to enter peace negotiations “avec les Gouvernements des Républiques constitutes sur les confins de l'ancien Empire de Russie ainsi que avec les gouvernements des autres pays en etat de guerre ou de hostilite contre la République Sovietiste.” Ibid., I l l , 672.

80 Kutrzeba, pp. 29-31, quoting Boerner's diary.

81 See Lenin's speeches on Oct. 25 and Nov. 22, 1919, in , XXIV, 496, 548.

82 Die Kommunistische Internationale, No. 5, Sept. 1919, p. 651.

83 Diariusz, Nov. 29, 1919. There is some discrepancy regarding dates, because according to Kutrzeba's account Boerner communicated with Marchlewski at the beginning of December.

84 Chicherin to Marchlewski, Dec. 6, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 477-78.

85 Diariusz, Dec. 7, 1919.

86 Ibid., Nov. 26, 1919. Compare Marchlewski to Karakhan, Nov. 28, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 447.

87 Chicherin to Marchlewski, Dec. 11, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 447.

88 Kossakowski suggested that this was his view. See Diariusz, Nov. 31, 1919.

89 See Marchlewski, Pisma wybrane, II, 756 ff.; his letter to the Polish Red Cross, Dec. 30, 1919, in Dokumenty i materialy, II, 522-23.

90 Kossakowski, Diariusz, Dec. 7, 1919.

91 Ibid., Dec. 9, 1919. Kossakowski referred here to an incident involving the Soviet courier Kubelis and Polish guards. While the courier had not been harmed, the episode indicated a growing tension on the Polish side.

92 Ibid., Dec. 13, 1919.

93 Birnbaum to chief of Second Bureau, Feb. 3, 1920, AGND, LXXXIV/2158.

94 See Piłsudski, Pisma zbiorowe (Warsaw, 1937-38), VI, 147. The weekly Rzqd i Wojsko, which stood close to Piłsudski, wrote on November 23, 1919, that “our troops have reached a line in the east which guarantees our possessions, secures the foundations for a settlement of political relations in Eastern Europe, and in case of need permits our armed intervention.“

95 Marchlewski, Pisma wybrane, II, 758.

96 This point is well brought out in A. Przybylski, Wojna polska 1918-1921 (Warsaw, 1930), p. 129.

97 Kutrzeba, p. 25.

98 While the actual fear of Communist agitation in the army was not great (see report of B. Miedziński to General Leśniewski and the latter's orders in AGND, V/1681), the intense propaganda of the Polish Communists could not go unnoticed. On the latter see Dokumenty i materiaty, II, 431 ff.; and on the subject of fraternization see instructions of Lenin in , XXXIV (1942), 323, and of Trotsky in , I, 710 note.

99 Session of Nov. 12, 1919, Sejm Ustawodawczy R.P., Sprawozdanie stenograficzne, XCVII/16.

100 Piłsudski emphasized again and again the might of the Polish army. See Colonel Talents to Curzon, Oct. 28, 1919, in DBFP, III, 129; Piłsudski's interviews for Havas Agency and the London Times, quoted in Piłsudski, Pisma zbiorowe, V, 108, 109-11; and the previously mentioned remarks to Kossakowski and Sir Horace Rumbold.

101 The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote its minister in London, Eustachy Sapieha, on November 13, 1919; “Judging by all that Marchlewski has said, one can assume that the Bolsheviks definitely want to conclude peace with us and that they might accept all our conditions, especially in the sphere of territorial concessions.” Files of the Polish Embassy, London, Archive of the Polish Government-in-Exile, Montreal: “Rosja, I.“

102 See Kutrzeba, p. 32.

103 See , p. 16, and Kutrzeba, p. 24. Compare Lewandowski, Federalizm, pp. 145-46.