21/4/1919 Poland pushes the Red Army out of Vilnius

In January the Red Army forced the Poles to withdraw from Vilna. Since then Piłsudski, Poland’s military commander, has been determined to recover the city. After a series of engagements in which the Poles successfully deceive the Soviets as to their true objective, Polish cavalry race into the city, catching the Reds by surprise. Fighting continues for a few days but by today the city is securely in Polish hands. Unfortunately the victory is then marred by assaults on the city’s large Jewish population, who are believed by many Poles to be in league with the Soviets.

Piłsudski hopes that by occupying Vilna he will create a fait accompli and ensure that the city remains in Polish hands. But he is creating problems for Poland with its northern neighbour. Vilna is known as Vilnius by the Lithuanians, and they see it as the ancient capital of their newly…