Operation Mińsk was a military offensive of the Polish Army resulting in the recapture of Minsk from the Bolsheviks around August 8, 1919. The victory allowed the Polish troops to advance further into the Russian-controlled Lithuania and Belarus, and thus present the Bolsheviks with a fait accompli by driving them out of the newly acquired territories. The main Polish attack was in the direction of Maladzechna, Minsk, and Polatsk along the railroad lines. On August 6 the Polish Army took over Slutsk, and Minsk two days later. The Polish control over the railway lines, prevented the Russians from bringing in reinforcements. By the end of August, the forces of Józef Piłsudski took over Barysau and Babruisk, and forced Lenin to return to the negotiating table. Operation Mińsk was considered critical for the confirmation of Polish presence in the Kresy macroregion at the time of the reconstitution of sovereign Poland. The negotiations however, failed, which led to the Soviet invasion of ethnic Poland in July 1920.
History
In early 1919 on the Eastern front the Directorate of Ukraine collapsed, and by spring, the Ukrainian insurrection had failed under attack from all sides, including by the White armies. In the summer of 1919 after the Polish successes in several skirmishes with the Bolsheviks, the two combatants have been near the limits of their capability to wage war against each other; they needed time to regroup and concentrate their forces. In June 1919, the Jewish First Guard Battalion from Minsk – at the insistence of its own members – was deployed by the Bolsheviks against the Polish Army which included the First and the Second Lithuanian–Belarusian Divisions. The Jews had won the first skirmish, forcing the Poles to retreat several kilometers. In July, the Polish High Command decided to strike one more blow against the Bolsheviks, and cripple the Western ArmyWestern Division, headquartered in Minsk. The assault on the vital railway center by the 'Northern Group' was led by General Stanisław Szeptycki whose officers included Władysław Anders, Jozef Lasocki and Stefan Mokrzecki. Their forces were composed of 12,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 40 guns. Polish plan involved a wide pincer movement around the city of Minsk. The battle raged throughout the first week of August. The Soviet forces took heavy casualties and retreated. On 8 August 1919, the Polish troops took over Minsk. Perhaps as retribution against the Jewish regiments, they killed 31 Jews suspected of supporting the Bolshevist movement, beat and attacked many more, looted 377 Jewish-owned shops and ransacked many private homes. in August 1919 The success of the Polish offensive allowed the Poles to move forward again, and by the end of August Józef Piłsudski ordered his armies to stop, as he considered all territories important to Poland - and feasible to take before winter - secured.
