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The Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was an armed conflict that pitted Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic over the control of an area equivalent to today's Ukraine and parts of modern-day Belarus. Ultimately the Soviets, following on from their Westward Offensive of 1918–19, hoped to fully occupy Poland, and at some points in the war this appeared possible. Although united under communist leadership, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine were theoretically two separate independent entities since the Soviet republics did not unite into the Soviet Union until 1922. Poland's Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, felt the time was right to expand Polish borders as far east as feasible, to be followed by a Polish-led ''Intermarium'' federation of East-Central European states as a bulwark against the re-emergence of German and Russian imperialisms. Lenin, meanwhile, saw Poland as the bridge the Red Army had to cross to assist other communist movements and bring about other European revolutions. By 1919, Polish forces had taken control of much of Western Ukraine, emerging victorious from the Polish–Ukrainian War. The West Ukrainian People's Republic, led by Yevhen Petrushevych, had tried to create a Ukrainian state on territories to which both Poles and Ukrainians laid claim. At the same time in the Russian part of Ukraine Symon Petliura tried to defend and strengthen the Ukrainian People's Republic, but as the Bolsheviks began to gain the upper hand in the Russian Civil War, they started to advance westward towards the disputed Ukrainian territories, causing Petliura's forces to retreat to Podolia. By the end of 1919, a clear front had formed as Petliura decided to ally with Piłsudski. Border skirmishes escalated following Piłsudski's Kiev Offensive in April 1920. The Polish offensive was met by an initially successful Red Army counterattack. The Soviet operation threw the Polish forces back westward all the way to the Polish capital, Warsaw, while the Directorate of Ukraine fled to Western Europe. Meanwhile, Western fears of Soviet troops arriving at the German frontiers increased the interest of Western powers in the war. In midsummer, the fall of Warsaw seemed certain but in mid-August, the tide had turned again, as the Polish forces achieved an unexpected and decisive victory at the Battle of Warsaw. In the wake of the Polish advance eastward, the Soviets sued for peace and the war ended with a ceasefire in October 1920. A formal peace treaty, the Peace of Riga, was signed on 18 March 1921, dividing the disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. The war largely determined the Soviet–Polish border for the period between the World Wars. Much of the territory ceded to Poland in the Treaty of Riga became part of the Soviet Union after World War II, when Poland's eastern borders were redefined by the Allies in close accordance with the Curzon Line of 1920. == Names and dates == The war is known by several names. “Polish–Soviet War” may be the most common, but is potentially confusing as “Soviet” refers to the Soviet Russia, not the Soviet Union, which did not officially exist until 31 December 1922. Alternative names include “Russo–Polish War (Polish–Russian War ) of 1919–1921”〔See for instance (Russo-Polish War ) in Encyclopædia Britannica ''“The conflict began when the Polish head of state Józef Piłsudski formed an alliance with the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petlyura () and their combined forces began to overrun Ukraine, occupying Kiev on 7 May.”''〕 (to distinguish it from earlier Polish–Russian wars) and “Polish–Bolshevik War”.〔 This second term (or just “Bolshevik War” ((ポーランド語:Wojna bolszewicka))) is most common in Polish sources. In some Polish sources it is also referred as the "War of 1920" (Polish: ''Wojna 1920 roku'').〔For example: 1) ''Sąsiedzi wobec wojny 1920 roku. Wybór dokumentów.'' 2) ''Wojna 1920 roku na Mazowszu i Podlasiu'' 3) ''Nad Wisłą i Wkrą. Studium do polsko–radzieckiej wojny 1920 roku''〕 There is disagreement over the dates of the war. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' begins its article with the date range 1919–1920 but then states, "Although there had been hostilities between the two countries during 1919, the conflict began when the Polish head of state Józef Pilsudski formed an alliance with the Ukrainian nationalist leader Symon Petlyura (21 April 1920) and their combined forces began to overrun Ukraine, occupying Kiev on 7 May."〔 The Polish Internetowa encyklopedia PWN,〔 as well as Western historians such as Norman Davies,〔 consider 1919 the starting year of the war. The ending date is given as either 1920 or 1921; this confusion stems from the fact that while the ceasefire was put in force in the autumn of 1920, the official treaty ending the war was signed months later, in March 1921. While the events of 1919 can be described as a border conflict, and only in early 1920 did both sides realize they were engaged in all-out war, the conflicts that took place in 1920 were an inevitable escalation of fighting that began in earnest a year earlier.〔 In the end, the events of 1920 were a logical, though unforeseen, consequence of the 1919 prelude.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Polish–Soviet War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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