Polsko-radziecki traktat pokojowy zawarty w Rydze w 1921 r. (aspekty polityczno-narodowościowe)
Streszczenie
The peace treaty signed in capital of Latvia on 18 March 1921 between
Poland and Soviet Russia ended an armed conflict taking place between 1919
and 1920. In the treaty both sides agreed to guarantee mutual rights regarding
language, culture and religion for the Russian and Ukrainian minorities on the
western side of the border as well as for the Polish minority on the eastern side of
the border. Russia and Ukraine committed themselves to give back all Polish
works of art, museum collections, libraries and archives acquired from the
territories of the Republic of Poland after 1772. Moreover, Poland was supposed
to receive a monetary compensation of 30 million roubles for its economic input
into the Russian Empire during the times of the Partition of Poland and also to
regain industrial and railway equipment 29 million roubles worth. Nonetheless,
the Russians did not meet the great majority of these obligations. The state
border established in Riga put Poland in the direct neighbourhood with Latvia in
the north and Romania in the south, thus isolating Soviet Russia from Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. These territorial changes made Poland a "cordon"
country against Bolshevik Russia and increased its geopolitical importance in
this part of Europe. The Treaty of Riga changed radically the political structure
of Europe and significantly complemented the Treaty of Versailles. which would
have remained a dead letter in its numerous decisions without ultimate settlements
between Poland and Soviet Russia. But this does not change the fact
that the Treaty of Riga divided the Belorussian and Ukrainian nations into two
parts: one remaining under the Polish administration and the second - doomed
to repressions and national degeneration in Bolshevik totalitarianism (including
over one million Poles). Weakness of the Ukrainian (and especially Belorussian)
national movement in no case should have been an excuse for Poland to
abandon its allies. Despite the war triumph of the Polish army. the Treaty of
Riga resolutions happened to be the Polish failure. The lands of the First Republic
of Poland (between the Bug River and the border before 1772) were divided in
a very unjust way. The majority of this territory remained under control of the
defeated Bolshevik Russia whereas victorious Poland gained a significantly
smaller area.
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