Peace of Riga facts for kids

The Peace of Riga (also called the Treaty of Riga) was a very important agreement signed in Riga, Latvia, on March 18, 1921. It officially ended the war between Poland and Soviet Russia. The treaty was signed by the Second Polish Republic, Soviet Russia, and Soviet Ukraine.

The borders between Poland and Soviet Russia that were set by this treaty stayed the same for almost 20 years, until World War II. After World War II, these borders were changed again by big meetings like the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference.

Why the War Started

World War I changed the maps of Europe a lot. After the war ended in 1918, and after the Russian Revolution, Poland became an independent country again. For over 100 years, Poland had been split up and controlled by other countries.

At this time, Russia was going through a civil war. This gave Poland a chance to try and get back some land that used to be part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This old kingdom had lost its land to Russia many years before.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Soviet Russia wanted to spread their ideas of Communism to Western Europe. They saw Poland as a "land bridge" they could cross. When Poland's leader, Józef Piłsudski, moved his army into Ukraine, the Soviets decided to attack Poland. This started the Polish-Soviet War.

The Battle of Warsaw

The war ended with a big victory for Poland at the Battle of Warsaw. This battle made both sides want to stop fighting. The Soviets had more defeats after Warsaw, which made them even more eager to end the war. Poland, on the other hand, had taken a lot of land and their army was tired. Also, the League of Nations (an international organization for peace) was putting pressure on them to make peace.

How Peace Talks Happened

Peace talks first began in Minsk on August 17, 1920. But because the Polish army was pushing forward, the talks moved to Riga. They started again there on September 21.

The Soviets made two different peace offers. The Poles then suggested their own plan on October 2. Three days later, the Soviets suggested a small change to the Polish offer, and Poland agreed. A ceasefire (an agreement to stop fighting) was signed on October 12, and the war officially ended on October 18, 1920.

Who Negotiated the Treaty

The main people who negotiated the treaty were Jan Dąbski from Poland and Adolph Joffe from Soviet Russia. It's important to know that the Soviets did not allow the non-Communist Ukrainian leaders to be part of these important discussions.

What Poland Gained and Lost

The Soviet Union was having military problems, so they gave up a lot of the land they were arguing over. However, to many people, it looked like Poland had lost the war. This was partly because most of the Polish negotiators were members of the National Democrats. This group was against Józef Piłsudski, the leader of Poland.

The National Democrats did not want more than one-third of the people in a larger Poland to be non-Polish. Because of this, they agreed to take less land than they could have gotten. This meant that many Poles ended up living on the Soviet side of the new border.

Images for kids

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  Belarusian nationalist caricature: "Down with the infamous Riga partition! Long live a free peasant indivisible Belarus!"

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  Poland after the Peace of Riga with the pre-partition borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also indicated

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  Second page of the treaty, Polish version

See also

In Spanish: Paz de Riga para niños