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Żeligowski's Mutiny ((ポーランド語:bunt Żeligowskiego) also ''żeligiada'', (リトアニア語:Želigovskio maištas)) was a Polish military operation led by General Lucjan Żeligowski in October 1920, which resulted in the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania. Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski had surreptitiously ordered Żeligowski to carry out the operation, and revealed the truth several years later. This operation paved the way for the Polish annexation of Vilnius, and the Vilnius Region, two years later. ==Background== In late 1920, the Polish-Soviet War was ending with the Soviets defeated at the Battle of Warsaw and in full retreat. The disputed Vilnius region centered around the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius (Polish ''Wilno''), which had been founded by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas in 1323 and had been the Lithuanian capital ever since. Vilnius had been retaken by the Soviets during their summer 1920 offensive. The Soviets returned the region to the Lithuanians because the latter had allowed Soviet troops to move through Lithuanian territory and engaged Polish forces in the disputed territories (see Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920, and Polish-Lithuanian War). This move allowed the Soviets to retain tactical control of the region, deny it to the Poles, and increase the already high tensions between the Poles and Lithuanians, both of whom claimed the disputed territory as their own.〔 Piotr Łossowski, ''Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920'' (The Polish-Lithuanian Conflict, 1918–1920), Warsaw, Książka i Wiedza, 1995, ISBN 83-05-12769-9, pp. 112–6.〕〔Piotr Łossowski, ''Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920'', pp. 112–28.〕 In early October 1920, under international pressure from the Spa and Suwałki Conferences,〔 Piotr Łossowski, ''Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920'', pp. 166–75.〕 the Poles and Lithuanians signed a ceasefire in the Sudova region, but, with the issue of Vilnius remaining under Lithuanian control, the issue was unresolved.〔 The Poles rested their claim on then current ethnographic considerations.〔Piotr Eberhardt. ''Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, Analysis''. M.E. Sharpe. 2003. p. 39.〕 Lithuania pointed to Vilnius as its historical capital and denied Polish claims to it as baseless.〔Michael MacQueen, ''The Context of Mass Destruction: Agents and Prerequisites of the Holocaust in Lithuania'', Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 12, Number 1, pp. 27-48, 1998, ()〕 The Poles did not wish to continue the war as the Polish army was tired, and Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski was still hoping to create a ''Międzymorze'' federation, to include a Lithuania friendly to Poland, but wanted to ensure that Vilnius would be part of a Polish sphere of influence. From the Lithuanian point of view, that was highly unlikely, as many Lithuanians saw Polish influence as pernicious and had wanted to be rid of Polish influence from as far back as the marriage of Grand Duke Jogaila to the then 11-year-old Queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386. In particular, Lithuanian nationalists opposed any further connection to Poland, especially after the Polish invasion occupied Vilnius. The negotiations on the future of the disputed area, held under the auspice of a Conference of Ambassadors in Brussels and Paris, reached a stalemate, and Piłsudski feared that the Entente might accept the ''fait accompli'' that had been created by the Soviets' transfer of territorial control to Lithuania. Poland and Lithuania were to adhere to a mutually agreed upon ceasefire in Suwałki Region on October 10, but the Poles decided to circumvent the ceasefire by creating a ''"fait accompli"'' of their own. Piłsudski concluded that the best course of action would be one that supported the pro-Polish faction in Lithuania, but that could not be traced directly to Poland. However, his plans for a coup d'état in 1919 had been foiled by the premature and unplanned Sejny Uprising, which had led to the destruction of the Polish Military Organization (P.O.W.) intelligence network in Lithuania by the Lithuanian Army and State Security Department.〔 Piotr Łossowski, ''Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920'', p. 68.〕〔 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「Żeligowski's Mutiny」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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