CALENDAR. On October 9, 1920, one of the most extraordinary and controversial episodes in the history of the Second Polish Republic began. General Lucjan Żeligowski, commander of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division, feigning insubordination towards Supreme Commander Józef Piłsudski, entered Vilnius with his army and occupied the city and its surroundings. This event, which went down in history as the “Żeligowski rebellion”, was in fact a carefully planned political and military action aimed at annexing the Vilnius region to Poland, but in a way that avoided open violation of international law. The background of events was complicated. After the end of the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, there was a dispute between Poland and the resurgent Lithuania over the ownership of Vilnius. The city, the former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was mostly inhabited by Polish people, but the authorities in Kaunas considered it an inseparable part of the Lithuanian state. International decisions, especially the position of the League of Nations, forced Poland to withdraw its troops from the area. For Piłsudski, who himself came from the Vilnius region and dreamed of a federal alliance of the nations of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, this was a difficult situation to accept. So he decided on a maneuver that was intended to both protect his international position and enable the achievement of his political goals. He secretly agreed for General Żeligowski to “rebel” and take over Vilnius on his own, pretending to act against the orders of the Commander-in-Chief. On October 9, 1920, soldiers of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division moved towards Vilnius. The operation was performed quickly and with almost no resistance. The city’s inhabitants, mostly Poles, welcomed the army enthusiastically. After occupying Vilnius, Żeligowski announced the establishment of a new state – the Republic of Central Lithuania. It was supposed to be formally an independent entity, but in fact it remained under the influence of Warsaw. An administration was established, its own army and authorities that were to manage the territory until its future was decided. #Calendar #History of Poland #Żeligowski #Vilnius 1920 #Piłsudski #Central Lithuania #IIIRepublic of Poland #Vilnius region #Żeligowski’s rebellion #History of Central Europe
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