Is there any possible method for the Bolsheviks to spread their 'world revolution' to Eastern Europe after a potential Central Powers victory in WW1? At least, could the Bolsheviks [if the Germans don't have much incentive to fight the latter and vice versa] take on [a chaotic or agitating] Austria-Hungary and the Balkans besides the actual territory they received in reality as of 1922? On the other hand, what is the maximum extent of territory the Bolsheviks could take with an Entente victory [which is not limited to reality or any p.o.d. after 11 November 1918]? Finally, how would Germany [or the Entente] respond to this [if the Soviets capture Poland and threaten Czechoslovakia, Romania and Ukraine]?
The Bolsheviks Spreading The 'World Revolution'
- Thread starter ghappy1000
- Start date
In OTL the Bolsheviks had more than enough fighting the whites. If you want to increase the chances of revolutions in Eastern Europe, the best would be to weaken the German state sufficiently for a revolution to occur even here. Not sure if this would be possible without a POD quite a bit of time earlier for OTL WW1 to get butterflied completely.
I am seeing fewer Russian-Bolshevik victories and more local, nationalist discontent.
After seeing all the bloodshed of the Russian Revolution, Eastern European communists would be wiser to work with the ballot box to force slower and gentler change.
Eastern Europe had plenty of Poles, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgars, Turks, Greeks, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Serbs, Croats, Kosovars, Czechs, Slovaks, etc who were unhappy with the Austrian Emperor and would be eager to oust him from ruling their little corner of Eastern Europe.
After seeing all the bloodshed of the Russian Revolution, Eastern European communists would be wiser to work with the ballot box to force slower and gentler change.
Eastern Europe had plenty of Poles, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgars, Turks, Greeks, Macedonians, Albanians, Montenegrins, Serbs, Croats, Kosovars, Czechs, Slovaks, etc who were unhappy with the Austrian Emperor and would be eager to oust him from ruling their little corner of Eastern Europe.
The problem is, spreading world revolution will almost always be against Russia's interests. Even during the Cold War, the Soviets spent more energy discouraging revolutions than they did encouraging them.
The only exception would be if the other Great Powers are united in laying seige to the Soviets, making the spread of revolution the only way to break Soviet isolation.
fasquardon
The only exception would be if the other Great Powers are united in laying seige to the Soviets, making the spread of revolution the only way to break Soviet isolation.
fasquardon
See https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/soc.history.what-if/qSAUM1-eguw/zudQj2x2P2gJ for why I believe the Germans could and would have crushed the Bolsheviks if the Central Powers won the war. As I state there, "Even *with* the war still raging in the West, she came very close [to] intervening, and the difference between Ludendorff (who wanted to liquidate the Bolsheviks immediately) and the Foreign Office (which wanted to tolerate them for now) concerned only the short run. Nobody in the German government wanted the Bolsheviks to stay in power for long." Note the Kaiser's words in deciding to temporarily support the Bolsheviks: "without foreclosing future opportunities."
Introduction
Although the Central Powers were victorious in the Great War, it was a pyrrhic; albeit decisive victory for them. The Bolsheviks were planning on spreading their 'World Revolution' to Europe, but they had White Russian forces and rebels to fight with and German troops watching the Soviet-German border ready to intervene in the event the Bolsheviks and their allies would intervene. The Bolsheviks needed to spread their revolution, but had to wait for the defeat of the White Russians and several newly independent [or German puppet] 'bourgeois-capitalist' states. Luckily, Germany was almost exhausted and war weary with heavy military losses [especially to its navy] even with the heavy reparations and the peace treaties to be signed were under planning.
[Like its actual Entente victory counterpart, this Central Powers victory scenario assumes American neutrality and an ending to WW1 in 1918 or 1919.]
There was an alternative to spreading 'World Revolution' without passing through Germany. Instead of passing through the German controlled Baltic, it was to pass through Poland and from there, the theory could be used to justify a strike on Germany and/or Austria-Hungary. It was suggested that the Czechoslovak Legions could be used if they stop counterrevolutionary 'pro-White and Monarchist' activities and the operation commence after the defeat or crippling of White Russian forces but before the Germans could find an opportunity for intervention.
This was assisted by the fact that the Czechoslovak Legions were about to abandon their fight against the Bolsheviks. Even with German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism and anti-communism, it was believed that the former agreed with the Bolsheviks about the Czechoslovaks; the threat of a resurgent 'White, Imperialist and Pan-Slavic Russia' and the usefulness of fighting the Entente [in the civil war and the next world war to follow] with the latter, although the Central Powers would be wrong when the White Russians faced complete defeat in 1920 and the Bolsheviks were prepared to strike on the Central Powers' new puppet states and regional organizations. And the catalyst proved to be another undoing by the Bolshevik and Central Powers' agreements.
When the Czechoslovaks and White Russians in Siberia were defeated in late 1919, the Czechoslovaks were punished for 'counterrevolutionary crimes' along with the White Russians. Surprisingly, the Bolsheviks showed more mercy for the Czechoslovaks, thanks to the intervention of Trotsky's 'permanent revolution' ideas and several politicians besides a few executed officers. However, the choices for the survivors were simple; death, long times in prison or joining the Bolsheviks to fight 'for the victory of the communist revolution in the motherland and elsewhere in the world'. [It would be Eastern Europe before being stopped by a last ditch German-Austrian counteroffensive.]
Next Chapter: [Austro-Hungarian] workers of the world, unite! [Note that in this scenario, the Bolsheviks are slightly stronger because they wouldn't be attacking German occupied Europe [as of 1918] and the Czechoslovak Legions are disarmed earlier after capture and defeat in 1919.]
Although the Central Powers were victorious in the Great War, it was a pyrrhic; albeit decisive victory for them. The Bolsheviks were planning on spreading their 'World Revolution' to Europe, but they had White Russian forces and rebels to fight with and German troops watching the Soviet-German border ready to intervene in the event the Bolsheviks and their allies would intervene. The Bolsheviks needed to spread their revolution, but had to wait for the defeat of the White Russians and several newly independent [or German puppet] 'bourgeois-capitalist' states. Luckily, Germany was almost exhausted and war weary with heavy military losses [especially to its navy] even with the heavy reparations and the peace treaties to be signed were under planning.
[Like its actual Entente victory counterpart, this Central Powers victory scenario assumes American neutrality and an ending to WW1 in 1918 or 1919.]
There was an alternative to spreading 'World Revolution' without passing through Germany. Instead of passing through the German controlled Baltic, it was to pass through Poland and from there, the theory could be used to justify a strike on Germany and/or Austria-Hungary. It was suggested that the Czechoslovak Legions could be used if they stop counterrevolutionary 'pro-White and Monarchist' activities and the operation commence after the defeat or crippling of White Russian forces but before the Germans could find an opportunity for intervention.
This was assisted by the fact that the Czechoslovak Legions were about to abandon their fight against the Bolsheviks. Even with German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism and anti-communism, it was believed that the former agreed with the Bolsheviks about the Czechoslovaks; the threat of a resurgent 'White, Imperialist and Pan-Slavic Russia' and the usefulness of fighting the Entente [in the civil war and the next world war to follow] with the latter, although the Central Powers would be wrong when the White Russians faced complete defeat in 1920 and the Bolsheviks were prepared to strike on the Central Powers' new puppet states and regional organizations. And the catalyst proved to be another undoing by the Bolshevik and Central Powers' agreements.
When the Czechoslovaks and White Russians in Siberia were defeated in late 1919, the Czechoslovaks were punished for 'counterrevolutionary crimes' along with the White Russians. Surprisingly, the Bolsheviks showed more mercy for the Czechoslovaks, thanks to the intervention of Trotsky's 'permanent revolution' ideas and several politicians besides a few executed officers. However, the choices for the survivors were simple; death, long times in prison or joining the Bolsheviks to fight 'for the victory of the communist revolution in the motherland and elsewhere in the world'. [It would be Eastern Europe before being stopped by a last ditch German-Austrian counteroffensive.]
Next Chapter: [Austro-Hungarian] workers of the world, unite! [Note that in this scenario, the Bolsheviks are slightly stronger because they wouldn't be attacking German occupied Europe [as of 1918] and the Czechoslovak Legions are disarmed earlier after capture and defeat in 1919.]
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Here Comes The Bolsheviks In The Ukraine!
The Russian Civil War was nearly over by 1920. Moscow and Petrograd were cleared of enemy forces and the White Russians were effectively defeated as the remnants retreated to the Crimea, Siberia and Baltic. Now, the time was right to start the new offensive, an offensive that would make the 'proletarians of the world, unite!' and 'world revolution' aims come true.
[My laptop is having some battery shortage issues this moment. I'll elaborate on this post after getting the battery stocks ready.]
When the Bolshevik offensive against Ukraine began in March 1919, Kiev was captured only to be lost to Ukrainian soldiers fighting for their [German occupied] homeland. However, the failure of a joint Austro-Hungarian-German puppet states offensive against the Bolsheviks to regain Ukrainian territory failed and after the decisive defeat of the White Russians during their Moscow offensive in October 1919, the time was ripe for a second Bolshevik offensive against Ukraine. This was proven by the heavy White Russian losses after being encircled in the winter of 1919 and the recapture of Kharkov.
By March 1920, the Red Army was readied for the offensive against Kiev. The puppet Ukrainian and Polish Kingdom States of Germany and Austria-Hungary were invaded and the hastily mobilised armies were defeated. Kiev was captured on 6 June after a failed German counteroffensive and the German, Austro-Hungarian, Polish and Ukrainian troops began their retreat that wouldn't stop until the very edge of Eastern Europe.
Saving the Central Puppets with a counteroffensive
On March 24, Germany began its first major offensive since the end of WW1, intended to save Ukrainian independence and enable it to become part of Germany's 'MitteEuropa' Federation besides forming an ally against the Soviets. It was assisted by the allied forces of Pavlo Skoropadsky's Ukrainian State, Friekorps, Eastern Front garrisons and Austro-Hungarian troops in the east. The Austro-Hungarian-Polish 3rd Army under Rydz-Śmigły, supported by the 6th Army under Alois Schonburg-Hartenstien and the 2nd Army under Archduke Joseph, easily won border fights with the Red Army in Ukraine, which was weakened by dissent, supply issues and Galician uprisings. The combined Central Powers had Kharkov besieged on May 1, facing only minimal resistance, but were attacked by Bolshevik forces as although they were in bad shape, avoided complete destruction when the offensive stopped. The offensive halted at Kharkov, although a bridgehead into the Don River and Rostov was captured on 10 May. While preparing for a continued offensive towards the Russian hinterland and the city of Rostov, which would open land communication between Ukraine and southern Russia. A Central Powers campaign propagating for the formation of a Ukrainian-Polish army able to defend Ukraine, while initially successful, had to be aborted before it reaped bore sufficient fruit. The natives were tired of several years of war and occupation, and the newly formed Ukrainian Army achieved a strength of only two corps.
The Central Powers soon met a counterattacking Red Army. On May 14, 1920 their forces in Ukraine encountered the renowned First Calvary Army under the command of Semyon Budionny. Two days later, Budionny's cavalry and the Russian 12th Army began their offensive on the forces based around Kharkov and took the city. After a week of heavy fighting to the south, the Russian assault succeeded and prospects for an Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were restored. On May 23, 1920 another Russian assault began with the intention of capturing Kiev.
Meanwhile, intercepts of military intelligence reports revealed Russian preparations for a counteroffensive, and Polish commander-in-chief Jozef Pilsudski of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army ordered the commander of Central Power forces on the Ukrainian Front, General Alois Schonburg-Hartenstien, to prepare for a strategic withdrawal. From the opinion of the General Staff, it was clear that the newly formed puppet armies were too weak to survive both the offensive in the southern [Ukrainian] sector and the spring offensive underway in Belarus and north of the Pripyat Marshes. However, the commander of the Polish 3rd Army, who was in the vicinity of Kiev, was seeking a way to stop and defeat the Russian offensive instead of retreating, and even suggested to his superiors in the Austro-Hungarian General Staff that regrouping all his forces at Kiev and defending there until assistance arrived. His plan was rejected by Piłsudski, who knew that there would be no relief coming any time soon for them. He repeated his demand to permit the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 6th Armies to retreat from Ukraine east of Kiev.
Repeated attacks by the Soviet 1st Calvary Army eventually broke the Ukrainian front on May 25 and on June 1, Polish armies were retreating deeply along the entire front. On June 13, Kiev was encircled and left to face a siege by the Soviets. As the withdrawal was started too late, the forces of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army found themselves in an extremely complicated dilemma as to defending Ukraine. The Soviet 12th Army and the 1st Cavalry Army managed to seize some strategically crucial positions behind the Polish lines and the risk of the Austro-Hungarian-Polish armies being surrounded and defeated became high as one [the 1st Polish] was effectively destroyed with heavy casualties. However, mainly because of a lack of reconnaissance, poor command and disunity within the staff of the South-Western Front, political commanders and soldiers, the Polish-Ukrainian units were able to retreat orderly and relatively undamaged. Such a result of the operation was equally unanticipated by the belligerents. Although the Poles retreated to their initial positions, they remained in Ukraine and lacked adequate troops to assist the Polish Northern Front and the defence line on the Auta River during the imminently crucial battle that was soon to occur. On the other hand, the Bolshevik objectives were not sufficiently reached either and the Soviet troops had to remain in Ukraine and found themselves tied down with heavy July combat for the area of the city of Lvov and Galicia.
On 13 June 1920, Kiev was encircled with the loss of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army after its surrender a week later and the newly stabilized empire was threatened by the loss of another army, which was the mainly [1st] Polish Army of its puppet kingdoms. Now, the time was coming for a march on Warsaw and Berlin or Austria-Hungary through Poland or the same option against Austria-Hungary through Lvov or Krakow and the Carpathians.
Following the defeat in Ukraine, the Polish government of Antoni Ponikowski was forced to resigned on June 23, and political issues gripped the Polish imperial puppet state for most of June. Bolshevik [later Soviet propaganda] used the Kiev Offensive to demonstrate the fact that the Polish kingdom and its sponsors were imperialist aggressors
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Soviet_War and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Offensive_(1920)
The Russian Civil War was nearly over by 1920. Moscow and Petrograd were cleared of enemy forces and the White Russians were effectively defeated as the remnants retreated to the Crimea, Siberia and Baltic. Now, the time was right to start the new offensive, an offensive that would make the 'proletarians of the world, unite!' and 'world revolution' aims come true.
[My laptop is having some battery shortage issues this moment. I'll elaborate on this post after getting the battery stocks ready.]
When the Bolshevik offensive against Ukraine began in March 1919, Kiev was captured only to be lost to Ukrainian soldiers fighting for their [German occupied] homeland. However, the failure of a joint Austro-Hungarian-German puppet states offensive against the Bolsheviks to regain Ukrainian territory failed and after the decisive defeat of the White Russians during their Moscow offensive in October 1919, the time was ripe for a second Bolshevik offensive against Ukraine. This was proven by the heavy White Russian losses after being encircled in the winter of 1919 and the recapture of Kharkov.
By March 1920, the Red Army was readied for the offensive against Kiev. The puppet Ukrainian and Polish Kingdom States of Germany and Austria-Hungary were invaded and the hastily mobilised armies were defeated. Kiev was captured on 6 June after a failed German counteroffensive and the German, Austro-Hungarian, Polish and Ukrainian troops began their retreat that wouldn't stop until the very edge of Eastern Europe.
Saving the Central Puppets with a counteroffensive
On March 24, Germany began its first major offensive since the end of WW1, intended to save Ukrainian independence and enable it to become part of Germany's 'MitteEuropa' Federation besides forming an ally against the Soviets. It was assisted by the allied forces of Pavlo Skoropadsky's Ukrainian State, Friekorps, Eastern Front garrisons and Austro-Hungarian troops in the east. The Austro-Hungarian-Polish 3rd Army under Rydz-Śmigły, supported by the 6th Army under Alois Schonburg-Hartenstien and the 2nd Army under Archduke Joseph, easily won border fights with the Red Army in Ukraine, which was weakened by dissent, supply issues and Galician uprisings. The combined Central Powers had Kharkov besieged on May 1, facing only minimal resistance, but were attacked by Bolshevik forces as although they were in bad shape, avoided complete destruction when the offensive stopped. The offensive halted at Kharkov, although a bridgehead into the Don River and Rostov was captured on 10 May. While preparing for a continued offensive towards the Russian hinterland and the city of Rostov, which would open land communication between Ukraine and southern Russia. A Central Powers campaign propagating for the formation of a Ukrainian-Polish army able to defend Ukraine, while initially successful, had to be aborted before it reaped bore sufficient fruit. The natives were tired of several years of war and occupation, and the newly formed Ukrainian Army achieved a strength of only two corps.
The Central Powers soon met a counterattacking Red Army. On May 14, 1920 their forces in Ukraine encountered the renowned First Calvary Army under the command of Semyon Budionny. Two days later, Budionny's cavalry and the Russian 12th Army began their offensive on the forces based around Kharkov and took the city. After a week of heavy fighting to the south, the Russian assault succeeded and prospects for an Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were restored. On May 23, 1920 another Russian assault began with the intention of capturing Kiev.
Meanwhile, intercepts of military intelligence reports revealed Russian preparations for a counteroffensive, and Polish commander-in-chief Jozef Pilsudski of the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army ordered the commander of Central Power forces on the Ukrainian Front, General Alois Schonburg-Hartenstien, to prepare for a strategic withdrawal. From the opinion of the General Staff, it was clear that the newly formed puppet armies were too weak to survive both the offensive in the southern [Ukrainian] sector and the spring offensive underway in Belarus and north of the Pripyat Marshes. However, the commander of the Polish 3rd Army, who was in the vicinity of Kiev, was seeking a way to stop and defeat the Russian offensive instead of retreating, and even suggested to his superiors in the Austro-Hungarian General Staff that regrouping all his forces at Kiev and defending there until assistance arrived. His plan was rejected by Piłsudski, who knew that there would be no relief coming any time soon for them. He repeated his demand to permit the Austro-Hungarian 3rd and 6th Armies to retreat from Ukraine east of Kiev.
Repeated attacks by the Soviet 1st Calvary Army eventually broke the Ukrainian front on May 25 and on June 1, Polish armies were retreating deeply along the entire front. On June 13, Kiev was encircled and left to face a siege by the Soviets. As the withdrawal was started too late, the forces of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army found themselves in an extremely complicated dilemma as to defending Ukraine. The Soviet 12th Army and the 1st Cavalry Army managed to seize some strategically crucial positions behind the Polish lines and the risk of the Austro-Hungarian-Polish armies being surrounded and defeated became high as one [the 1st Polish] was effectively destroyed with heavy casualties. However, mainly because of a lack of reconnaissance, poor command and disunity within the staff of the South-Western Front, political commanders and soldiers, the Polish-Ukrainian units were able to retreat orderly and relatively undamaged. Such a result of the operation was equally unanticipated by the belligerents. Although the Poles retreated to their initial positions, they remained in Ukraine and lacked adequate troops to assist the Polish Northern Front and the defence line on the Auta River during the imminently crucial battle that was soon to occur. On the other hand, the Bolshevik objectives were not sufficiently reached either and the Soviet troops had to remain in Ukraine and found themselves tied down with heavy July combat for the area of the city of Lvov and Galicia.
On 13 June 1920, Kiev was encircled with the loss of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army after its surrender a week later and the newly stabilized empire was threatened by the loss of another army, which was the mainly [1st] Polish Army of its puppet kingdoms. Now, the time was coming for a march on Warsaw and Berlin or Austria-Hungary through Poland or the same option against Austria-Hungary through Lvov or Krakow and the Carpathians.
Following the defeat in Ukraine, the Polish government of Antoni Ponikowski was forced to resigned on June 23, and political issues gripped the Polish imperial puppet state for most of June. Bolshevik [later Soviet propaganda] used the Kiev Offensive to demonstrate the fact that the Polish kingdom and its sponsors were imperialist aggressors
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish–Soviet_War and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Offensive_(1920)
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Campaigning in Poland [To Warsaw]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War
On 30 May 1920, General Alexei Brusilov, the last Czarist Commander-in-Chief and the only one serving the Red Army, published an appeal entitled “To All Former Officers and non-Russians, Wherever They Might Be”, encouraging them to forgive past grievances and to join the Red Army in a campaign against 'the Tsar, Central Powers and foreign invaders'. Brusilov believed it was a patriotic duty of all Russian officers to join hands with the Bolshevik government, that in his opinion, the 'revolutionary offensive' was helping Russia against foreign invaders.
Lenin noticed the use of Russian [and ethnic] ['social'] patriotism, but decided against criticism temporarily, if only for the sake of 'world revolution' and communism. Thus, the Central Committee asked "respected citizens of Russia and Ukraine“ to defend the Soviet Union against a Polish-Central Powers-White Russian usurpation of power, which might even include the Entente and neutrals. In fact, historians remembered Polish offensives of the 17th century, WW1 and the German aggression against Russia from Prussia to the civil war.
The Soviet counter-offensive was indeed strengthened by Brusilov's efforts as 15,000 officers and over 125,000 deserters enlisted in or returned to the Red Army, and thousands of civilian volunteers and peasants assisted in the offensive. As mentioned, the commanders of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd [and Polish 1st] Armies in Ukraine decided to break through the Soviet line toward the northwest after being encircled, but failed and had to surrender. Other Polish forces in Ukraine escaped with little damage, but were unable to assist the northern front and the defence line at the Auta River for the imminently crucial battle that was to occur.
Due to inadequate troops, the long front Austria-Hungary, puppet kingdoms, German reserves and garrisons had to defend was manned by a partly insecure line of 320,000 troops backed by some 960 artillery pieces with no strategic reserves until German remobilisation post-1919, which would be planned in the event the Soviet Union defeated Poland. This solution to defending ground returned to the World War I tactic of "establishing a fortified defensive line of trenches". It had shown merit on the narrower and more constrained Western Front saturated with troops, machine guns, and artillery. The eastern fronts of WW1 and the Soviet Revolutionary War, however, was weakly manned, supported with a lack of guns and artillery, and had little fortresses.
Against the Polish line, the Red Army readied its Northwest Front under the budding General Mikhail Tukhachevsky. Their numbers exceeded 150,000 infantry and 11,000 cavalry, supported by 922 artillery pieces and 3,213 machine guns. The Soviets at some crucial points had the Poles outnumbered five-to-one.
On 4 July, Tukhachevsky's offensive to capture Belarus and cross the Auta and Berezina rivers was launched. The northern 3rd Cavalry Corps led by Hayk Bzhishkyan [Gay Dmitrievich Gay, Gaj-Chan), were to encircle Polish forces from the north, moving near the Lithuanian and German border regions (both of these belonging to nations hostile to Poland) and wait for German and Polish responses. The 4th, 15th, and 3rd Armies were to charge westwards with the 16th Army supporting the southern flank and including the Mozyr Group. For three days, the battlefield results were doubtful, but the Soviet numerical superiority couldn't be ignored as Austro-Hungarian-German-Polish forces were retreating along the entire front. However, due to the strong defensive actions undertaken by Polish units, Tukhachevsky's plan to break through the front and push the defenders out of the Pinsk Marshes failed other than diverting attention from the operations to the south.
Polish resistance was attempted on several "German trenches", a stretching line of heavy World War I field fortifications that might stop the Red Army offensive. However, the Polish troops were insufficient in number and defeated decisively. Soviet forces found a weakly defended gap across the line and broke through, capturing defending troops in the process. Lithuanian forces captured Vilnius on 14 July, forcing the Poles into retreat again. To the south, General Semyon Budionny's cavalry penetrated deep into the Polish rear and took Brody, approaching Lvov and Zamosc. In early July, it was apparent to the Poles, Austro-Hungarians and Germans that the Soviets' objectives were not restricted to moving their frontiers westwards. Poland's very [puppet] independence was at stake, along with the Central Powers and even the Entente.
Advancing Soviet forces pushed at a astonishing rate of 20 miles (32 km) a day. Grodno in Belarus fell on 19 July; Brest-Litovsk fell on 1 August. The Polish and Austro-Hungarian Armies attempted to defend the Bug River line with 4th Army and Grupa Poleska units, but were capable of holding the Red Army for less than one week. After crossing the Narew River on 2 August, the Soviet Northwest Front was only 60 miles (97 km) from Warsaw. Brest-Litovsk, which was a planned fortress and base for the headquarters of the planned Polish counteroffensive, was lost to the 16th Army in the first offensive. The Soviet Southwest Front kicked the Polish, German and Austro-Hungarian forces out of Ukraine. Stalin had then disobeyed his orders and asked his forces to converge on Zamość, as well as Lvov – the largest city in southeast Poland and an important industrial centre, occupied by the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army. The city was soon captured and a hole in the front of the Red Army was formed, but at the same time, opened the way to Austria-Hungary. Four Soviet armies approached Warsaw, with one on the southern flank ready to support any diversions or change of plans.
Polish forces in Galicia near Lvov were encircled and besieged after being sacrificed to impede the Soviet advance. This started the slow retreat of Polish forces on the southern front. However, the deteriorating situation near the Polish capital city of Warsaw stopped the Poles from relieving the southern front and pushing east as forces were mustered to participate in the crucial and approaching Battle of Warsaw.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Soviet_War
On 30 May 1920, General Alexei Brusilov, the last Czarist Commander-in-Chief and the only one serving the Red Army, published an appeal entitled “To All Former Officers and non-Russians, Wherever They Might Be”, encouraging them to forgive past grievances and to join the Red Army in a campaign against 'the Tsar, Central Powers and foreign invaders'. Brusilov believed it was a patriotic duty of all Russian officers to join hands with the Bolshevik government, that in his opinion, the 'revolutionary offensive' was helping Russia against foreign invaders.
Lenin noticed the use of Russian [and ethnic] ['social'] patriotism, but decided against criticism temporarily, if only for the sake of 'world revolution' and communism. Thus, the Central Committee asked "respected citizens of Russia and Ukraine“ to defend the Soviet Union against a Polish-Central Powers-White Russian usurpation of power, which might even include the Entente and neutrals. In fact, historians remembered Polish offensives of the 17th century, WW1 and the German aggression against Russia from Prussia to the civil war.
The Soviet counter-offensive was indeed strengthened by Brusilov's efforts as 15,000 officers and over 125,000 deserters enlisted in or returned to the Red Army, and thousands of civilian volunteers and peasants assisted in the offensive. As mentioned, the commanders of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd [and Polish 1st] Armies in Ukraine decided to break through the Soviet line toward the northwest after being encircled, but failed and had to surrender. Other Polish forces in Ukraine escaped with little damage, but were unable to assist the northern front and the defence line at the Auta River for the imminently crucial battle that was to occur.
Due to inadequate troops, the long front Austria-Hungary, puppet kingdoms, German reserves and garrisons had to defend was manned by a partly insecure line of 320,000 troops backed by some 960 artillery pieces with no strategic reserves until German remobilisation post-1919, which would be planned in the event the Soviet Union defeated Poland. This solution to defending ground returned to the World War I tactic of "establishing a fortified defensive line of trenches". It had shown merit on the narrower and more constrained Western Front saturated with troops, machine guns, and artillery. The eastern fronts of WW1 and the Soviet Revolutionary War, however, was weakly manned, supported with a lack of guns and artillery, and had little fortresses.
Against the Polish line, the Red Army readied its Northwest Front under the budding General Mikhail Tukhachevsky. Their numbers exceeded 150,000 infantry and 11,000 cavalry, supported by 922 artillery pieces and 3,213 machine guns. The Soviets at some crucial points had the Poles outnumbered five-to-one.
On 4 July, Tukhachevsky's offensive to capture Belarus and cross the Auta and Berezina rivers was launched. The northern 3rd Cavalry Corps led by Hayk Bzhishkyan [Gay Dmitrievich Gay, Gaj-Chan), were to encircle Polish forces from the north, moving near the Lithuanian and German border regions (both of these belonging to nations hostile to Poland) and wait for German and Polish responses. The 4th, 15th, and 3rd Armies were to charge westwards with the 16th Army supporting the southern flank and including the Mozyr Group. For three days, the battlefield results were doubtful, but the Soviet numerical superiority couldn't be ignored as Austro-Hungarian-German-Polish forces were retreating along the entire front. However, due to the strong defensive actions undertaken by Polish units, Tukhachevsky's plan to break through the front and push the defenders out of the Pinsk Marshes failed other than diverting attention from the operations to the south.
Polish resistance was attempted on several "German trenches", a stretching line of heavy World War I field fortifications that might stop the Red Army offensive. However, the Polish troops were insufficient in number and defeated decisively. Soviet forces found a weakly defended gap across the line and broke through, capturing defending troops in the process. Lithuanian forces captured Vilnius on 14 July, forcing the Poles into retreat again. To the south, General Semyon Budionny's cavalry penetrated deep into the Polish rear and took Brody, approaching Lvov and Zamosc. In early July, it was apparent to the Poles, Austro-Hungarians and Germans that the Soviets' objectives were not restricted to moving their frontiers westwards. Poland's very [puppet] independence was at stake, along with the Central Powers and even the Entente.
Advancing Soviet forces pushed at a astonishing rate of 20 miles (32 km) a day. Grodno in Belarus fell on 19 July; Brest-Litovsk fell on 1 August. The Polish and Austro-Hungarian Armies attempted to defend the Bug River line with 4th Army and Grupa Poleska units, but were capable of holding the Red Army for less than one week. After crossing the Narew River on 2 August, the Soviet Northwest Front was only 60 miles (97 km) from Warsaw. Brest-Litovsk, which was a planned fortress and base for the headquarters of the planned Polish counteroffensive, was lost to the 16th Army in the first offensive. The Soviet Southwest Front kicked the Polish, German and Austro-Hungarian forces out of Ukraine. Stalin had then disobeyed his orders and asked his forces to converge on Zamość, as well as Lvov – the largest city in southeast Poland and an important industrial centre, occupied by the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army. The city was soon captured and a hole in the front of the Red Army was formed, but at the same time, opened the way to Austria-Hungary. Four Soviet armies approached Warsaw, with one on the southern flank ready to support any diversions or change of plans.
Polish forces in Galicia near Lvov were encircled and besieged after being sacrificed to impede the Soviet advance. This started the slow retreat of Polish forces on the southern front. However, the deteriorating situation near the Polish capital city of Warsaw stopped the Poles from relieving the southern front and pushing east as forces were mustered to participate in the crucial and approaching Battle of Warsaw.
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Battle of Warsaw and the end of Poland [part 1]
[Next Chapter: [Austro-Hungarian] workers of the world, unite! [Note that in this scenario, the Bolsheviks are slightly stronger because they wouldn't be attacking German occupied Europe [as of 1918] and the Czechoslovak Legions are disarmed earlier after capture and defeat in 1919.]
[Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)]
Introduction
Now, the decisive time to spread 'world revolution' to Europe and provoke German intervention had arrived. With over 250,000 Soviet troops [due to reduced casualties and more reinforcements] versus the [weak] German 8th Army in East Prussia and the Baltics [watching the northern flank and Soviet operations], the German 1st Army [transferred from France and underway as of August] and the decimated Austro-Hungarian 1st Eastern Army Group [with the remnants of the Polish Army and the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army], the Soviet Union gambled on victory in the offensive and another to the south. As anticipated, the destruction of the Polish puppet kingdom was an objective of the offensive while the other was to ensure the success of the 'revolutionary campaign'.
By the beginning of August, the Polish withdrawal became less chaotic due to supply issues in favour of them and foreign assistance. The initial plan to stop the Soviets by Prime Minister Joseph Pilsudski [who replaced the former prime minister after defeat] was to resist at the Bug River and the city of Brest-Litovsk, but the Soviet offensive resulted in their forces piercing that line and making the suggestion useless. On the night of August 5, Pilsudski, contemplated a revised plan while staying at the Belweder Palace in Warsaw. In the initial stage, it called for Polish, German and Austro-Hungarian troops to retreat across the Vistula River and defend bridgeheads across Warsaw and at the Wieprz River, a tributary of the Vistula southeast of Warsaw. A quarter of the Austro-Hungarian and Polish troops available would be concentrated to the south for a strategic counterattack. Next, his plan called for the 1st and 2nd Armies of General Archduke Joseph's Central Front (10 divisions) to take a passive role, holding the Soviet main westward offensive and defending their entrenched positions, Warsaw city's last defensive line at all costs. At the same time, the 5th Army (6 divisions) under General Wladislaw Sikorski, subordinate to the Archduke, would defend the northern area near the fortress of Modlin; when it became possible, they were to strike from the front of Warsaw, thus cutting off Soviet forces attempting to envelop Warsaw from that direction, and break through the enemy front and fall upon the rear of the Soviet Northwestern Front. Additionally, five divisions of the 5th Army were to assist Warsaw from the north. General Franciszek Latinik's 1st Army would defend Warsaw city itself, while the newly constituted 3rd [formerly 2nd] Army was to hold the Vistula River line from Gora Kawalria to Deblin.
[Next Chapter: [Austro-Hungarian] workers of the world, unite! [Note that in this scenario, the Bolsheviks are slightly stronger because they wouldn't be attacking German occupied Europe [as of 1918] and the Czechoslovak Legions are disarmed earlier after capture and defeat in 1919.]
[Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)]
Introduction
Now, the decisive time to spread 'world revolution' to Europe and provoke German intervention had arrived. With over 250,000 Soviet troops [due to reduced casualties and more reinforcements] versus the [weak] German 8th Army in East Prussia and the Baltics [watching the northern flank and Soviet operations], the German 1st Army [transferred from France and underway as of August] and the decimated Austro-Hungarian 1st Eastern Army Group [with the remnants of the Polish Army and the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army], the Soviet Union gambled on victory in the offensive and another to the south. As anticipated, the destruction of the Polish puppet kingdom was an objective of the offensive while the other was to ensure the success of the 'revolutionary campaign'.
By the beginning of August, the Polish withdrawal became less chaotic due to supply issues in favour of them and foreign assistance. The initial plan to stop the Soviets by Prime Minister Joseph Pilsudski [who replaced the former prime minister after defeat] was to resist at the Bug River and the city of Brest-Litovsk, but the Soviet offensive resulted in their forces piercing that line and making the suggestion useless. On the night of August 5, Pilsudski, contemplated a revised plan while staying at the Belweder Palace in Warsaw. In the initial stage, it called for Polish, German and Austro-Hungarian troops to retreat across the Vistula River and defend bridgeheads across Warsaw and at the Wieprz River, a tributary of the Vistula southeast of Warsaw. A quarter of the Austro-Hungarian and Polish troops available would be concentrated to the south for a strategic counterattack. Next, his plan called for the 1st and 2nd Armies of General Archduke Joseph's Central Front (10 divisions) to take a passive role, holding the Soviet main westward offensive and defending their entrenched positions, Warsaw city's last defensive line at all costs. At the same time, the 5th Army (6 divisions) under General Wladislaw Sikorski, subordinate to the Archduke, would defend the northern area near the fortress of Modlin; when it became possible, they were to strike from the front of Warsaw, thus cutting off Soviet forces attempting to envelop Warsaw from that direction, and break through the enemy front and fall upon the rear of the Soviet Northwestern Front. Additionally, five divisions of the 5th Army were to assist Warsaw from the north. General Franciszek Latinik's 1st Army would defend Warsaw city itself, while the newly constituted 3rd [formerly 2nd] Army was to hold the Vistula River line from Gora Kawalria to Deblin.
Battle of Warsaw and the end of Poland [part 2]
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)
While the Red Army pushed forward, the Soviet 1st Cavalry and 4th Armies crossed the Wkra River and took the town of. The 15th and 3rd Armies had the fortress of Modlin captured and the 16th Army was observed to be entering Warsaw. The first Russian assault on Warsaw began on August 12, when the Soviet 16th Army captured the town of Radzymin (only 23 kilometres east of the city]. This initial Red Army victory caused Pilsudski to accelerate his plans by 24 hours.
The first battle stage started on August 12, with a Red Army offensive capturing bridgeheads near Warsaw. In heavy fighting, Radzymin changed hands several times before falling at night and most foreign diplomats left Warsaw; except for the German, British and Vatican ambassadors who chose to remain to observe battlefield and humanitarian events. On August 13, Radzymin fell to the Red Army, and the Polish 5th Army was mauled. The 5th Army was destroyed by three Soviet armies at once: the 3rd, 4th, and 15th. Although Modlin was reinforced with reserves (from White Russians, the Polish Army and the Central Powers such as the fresh 18th Infantry Division, which was a battle-tested elite unit), the advance on Warsaw and its fall were imminent as the city was encircled on 17 August.
At the same time, the Polish 1st Army opposed a direct Red Army offensive on Warsaw by 6 rifle divisions before being encircled. The loss of control of Radzymin forced Józef Haller, commander of the Polish Northern Front, to start the Polish Army's counterattack earlier than planned and it failed, thanks to events.
Piłsudski was contemplating his plans for the counter-offensive during this time. He considered taking responsibility for the attack and handled a letter of resignation from all state events to permit him to concentrate on the military situation, and so that his state wouldn't be paralyzed in the event of death or capture. He failed to raise the morale of the troops as Soviet and anti-German and Austrian propaganda were distributed, between August 12 and August 15, visiting units of the 4th Army were based around Pulawy, about 100 kilometres south of Warsaw.
At that time, Piłsudski noted that the logistical state of the Polish army: "In the 21st Division, almost half of the soldiers paraded in front of me barefoot." The recently formed Polish army had few choices of equipment in selection and ownership; its rifles and artillery pieces were produced in at least five countries with different ammunition and measurements being used. Disunity among commands and troops would contribute to the near Soviet victory, especially among Austria-Hungary, Poland and the German Army High Command in the east.
Tukhachevsky was certain that everything was according to plan although Pilsudski's intended trap nearly cost him the campaign. The token Polish troops to the direction of the main Russian offensive north and across the Vistula were defeated and their larger organization was destroyed, securing the right flank of the battle (from the perspective of the Soviet's advance]. Simultaneously, south of Warsaw and on the left flank, the crucial connection between the Northwestern and Southwestern Fronts was much more vulnerable, protected only by a small Soviet force, the Mozyr Group.
Further south, the 1st Cavalry Army under its notorious commander, Semyon Budionny, proved to be a unit much more feared by Piłsudski and other Polish commanders, obeyed instructions from the Soviet High Command, which at Tukhachevsky's demands, ordered him to advance at Warsaw from the south. Budyonny followed this order, influenced by a grudge between Alexander Ilyich Yegorov and Tukhachevsky, generals commanding the South-Western Front generals. In addition, the aborted political games of future Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, at the time the chief political commissar of the South-Western Front, nearly contributed to Yegorov's and Budyonny's disobedience until the fall of Lvov on 10 August changed his opinion. Stalin had achieved the personal glory he looked at as the besieged city of Lvov (Lviv), an important industrial centre, was captured. This, along with the surrender of troops in the fortress, caused Budyonny's forces to march on Warsaw and thus, an Austro-Hungarian Army missed the battle due to the threat, although the Soviet cavalry didn't play a significant role other than diversions in the battle.
The Soviet 16th, 3rd and 15th Armies attacked fully on August 14 after crossing the Wkra River. It faced the reinforcement and opposition of the Polish 1st and Ottoman 2nd Armies (which were both superior numerically and technically]. The fight at Plock lasted until August 15 and caused virtual devastation of the town. However, the Soviet advance toward Warsaw and Modlin continued after August 16 was over and on the next day, Soviet troops took Modlin, which boosted Soviet morale and cut off Warsaw from the outside world.
From that moment on, Soviet Armies pushed demoralised and exhausted Polish units into Warsaw, in an almost mobile operation, before besieging the city. Sikorski's units were provided with assistance of virtually all of the minimal number of mechanized units [such as tanks and armoured cars] that the Polish army owned, as well as the movement of two Polish armoured trains. The Soviet advance was so rapid and successful on an average day of battle, stopping the Polish defence and "enveloping" northern manoeuvre that were planned and making the transportation useless.
To the south, the counterattack by Pilsudski failed to achieve anything as the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army was sent to reinforce Warsaw to prevent the city's encirclement. In the process, the counterattack was reduced in scale and the Soviet 12th Army filled the gap in between the Mozyr Group and the [other] advancing Soviet Armies. The counterattack failed and the troops retreated into Warsaw, which surrendered on 27 August, after a siege of 10 days. With the fall of Warsaw came the fall and punishment of the Polish royal government, army officers and soldiers caught, landowners and urban bourgeois.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)
While the Red Army pushed forward, the Soviet 1st Cavalry and 4th Armies crossed the Wkra River and took the town of. The 15th and 3rd Armies had the fortress of Modlin captured and the 16th Army was observed to be entering Warsaw. The first Russian assault on Warsaw began on August 12, when the Soviet 16th Army captured the town of Radzymin (only 23 kilometres east of the city]. This initial Red Army victory caused Pilsudski to accelerate his plans by 24 hours.
The first battle stage started on August 12, with a Red Army offensive capturing bridgeheads near Warsaw. In heavy fighting, Radzymin changed hands several times before falling at night and most foreign diplomats left Warsaw; except for the German, British and Vatican ambassadors who chose to remain to observe battlefield and humanitarian events. On August 13, Radzymin fell to the Red Army, and the Polish 5th Army was mauled. The 5th Army was destroyed by three Soviet armies at once: the 3rd, 4th, and 15th. Although Modlin was reinforced with reserves (from White Russians, the Polish Army and the Central Powers such as the fresh 18th Infantry Division, which was a battle-tested elite unit), the advance on Warsaw and its fall were imminent as the city was encircled on 17 August.
At the same time, the Polish 1st Army opposed a direct Red Army offensive on Warsaw by 6 rifle divisions before being encircled. The loss of control of Radzymin forced Józef Haller, commander of the Polish Northern Front, to start the Polish Army's counterattack earlier than planned and it failed, thanks to events.
Piłsudski was contemplating his plans for the counter-offensive during this time. He considered taking responsibility for the attack and handled a letter of resignation from all state events to permit him to concentrate on the military situation, and so that his state wouldn't be paralyzed in the event of death or capture. He failed to raise the morale of the troops as Soviet and anti-German and Austrian propaganda were distributed, between August 12 and August 15, visiting units of the 4th Army were based around Pulawy, about 100 kilometres south of Warsaw.
At that time, Piłsudski noted that the logistical state of the Polish army: "In the 21st Division, almost half of the soldiers paraded in front of me barefoot." The recently formed Polish army had few choices of equipment in selection and ownership; its rifles and artillery pieces were produced in at least five countries with different ammunition and measurements being used. Disunity among commands and troops would contribute to the near Soviet victory, especially among Austria-Hungary, Poland and the German Army High Command in the east.
Tukhachevsky was certain that everything was according to plan although Pilsudski's intended trap nearly cost him the campaign. The token Polish troops to the direction of the main Russian offensive north and across the Vistula were defeated and their larger organization was destroyed, securing the right flank of the battle (from the perspective of the Soviet's advance]. Simultaneously, south of Warsaw and on the left flank, the crucial connection between the Northwestern and Southwestern Fronts was much more vulnerable, protected only by a small Soviet force, the Mozyr Group.
Further south, the 1st Cavalry Army under its notorious commander, Semyon Budionny, proved to be a unit much more feared by Piłsudski and other Polish commanders, obeyed instructions from the Soviet High Command, which at Tukhachevsky's demands, ordered him to advance at Warsaw from the south. Budyonny followed this order, influenced by a grudge between Alexander Ilyich Yegorov and Tukhachevsky, generals commanding the South-Western Front generals. In addition, the aborted political games of future Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, at the time the chief political commissar of the South-Western Front, nearly contributed to Yegorov's and Budyonny's disobedience until the fall of Lvov on 10 August changed his opinion. Stalin had achieved the personal glory he looked at as the besieged city of Lvov (Lviv), an important industrial centre, was captured. This, along with the surrender of troops in the fortress, caused Budyonny's forces to march on Warsaw and thus, an Austro-Hungarian Army missed the battle due to the threat, although the Soviet cavalry didn't play a significant role other than diversions in the battle.
The Soviet 16th, 3rd and 15th Armies attacked fully on August 14 after crossing the Wkra River. It faced the reinforcement and opposition of the Polish 1st and Ottoman 2nd Armies (which were both superior numerically and technically]. The fight at Plock lasted until August 15 and caused virtual devastation of the town. However, the Soviet advance toward Warsaw and Modlin continued after August 16 was over and on the next day, Soviet troops took Modlin, which boosted Soviet morale and cut off Warsaw from the outside world.
From that moment on, Soviet Armies pushed demoralised and exhausted Polish units into Warsaw, in an almost mobile operation, before besieging the city. Sikorski's units were provided with assistance of virtually all of the minimal number of mechanized units [such as tanks and armoured cars] that the Polish army owned, as well as the movement of two Polish armoured trains. The Soviet advance was so rapid and successful on an average day of battle, stopping the Polish defence and "enveloping" northern manoeuvre that were planned and making the transportation useless.
To the south, the counterattack by Pilsudski failed to achieve anything as the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army was sent to reinforce Warsaw to prevent the city's encirclement. In the process, the counterattack was reduced in scale and the Soviet 12th Army filled the gap in between the Mozyr Group and the [other] advancing Soviet Armies. The counterattack failed and the troops retreated into Warsaw, which surrendered on 27 August, after a siege of 10 days. With the fall of Warsaw came the fall and punishment of the Polish royal government, army officers and soldiers caught, landowners and urban bourgeois.
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[Austro-Hungarian] workers of the world, unite!
After the victory of the Bolsheviks in Poland, the time was ripe for socialism to reach Eastern Europe. The German Army was mobilized and prepared to encircle the advancing Soviet 16th and new Polish People's Red Armies in Poland just as German troops were mobilised and transferred. However, the logistics supporting the Soviets and Germany were weak and they needed a rest and planning for the next campaign. Also, a campaign against 'enemies of the people and proletariat' was launched and although this would be criticised as a torturing massacre of bourgeois from politicians, royalty, political; wealthy and famous foreigners, military officers and locally wealthy bourgeois to priests, 'counterrevolutionary' teachers and small property owners and farmers, this massacre was initially praised as 'getting rid of the bourgeois, exploiters and oppressors' and the role of proletariats and Soviet people being involved was glorified, although exaggeratedly unjustified and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, scenes of humiliation, violent shootings, interrogations, trials, hangings and mutilations of victims were immediately captured by capitalist nations across Europe, where it was known as the 'Rape and Massacre of Warsaw and Poland' by anti-communists with anger from photographic and first-hand verbal and written reports from survivors. Even Achille Ratti, the Holy See Representative to Poland, was hanged after his refusal to admit and apologize for his 'religiously reactionary crimes' and would be made a martyr in 1940 after evidence of his faith and suffering. No country [among the Entente and neutrals of WW1] would be willing to mobilise its individual army again to save a distant and obscure Eastern European puppet of the Central Powers, though.
However, Poland was only the beginning for the rampage of the Red Army into Eastern Europe. The loss of Austro-Hungarian troops in the pockets of Lvov and Warsaw was a blow to the recovering empire after the losses of WW1 and citizens were wondering why the Germans didn't assist as promised, although the encirclement of the Polish Army might have been averted with a strike from East Prussia and an offensive from the Baltics, lack of cooperation due to a lack of unity, deceptions and communicating issues made it unlikely. Anyway, Germany was suffering from the effects of the previous war, preparing the peace to follow, solving financial and conscription issues and even rebuilding the navy which had suffered heavy losses in naval battles that defeated the British.
After mopping up southern Poland and the remnants of the Polish Army, piecemeal units from the newly arrived German 1st Army and disorganized Austro-Hungarians, the offensive against Austria-Hungary's Carpathian defences began on 20 September. Offensives from the Baltic flanks were defeated by Soviet reinforcements, although an army had to be sent just to defend Petrograd. The German 1st Army arrived only to face trouble from communists and Poles while revolution and even the possibility of French revenge would tie up an army group or two, resulting in only sufficient troops for defence.
When the 'Autumn liberation' of the Carpathians began, the Austro-Hungarians were outnumbered by 1:1.25 from the Soviets and were threatened with encirclement. Desertions were also epidemic thanks to pro-Slavic, communist and Russian propaganda while the reverse was shown for the Central Powers' rulers and imperialism. [Romania,] Italy and Serbia might mobilise and take revenge on their former [WW1] enemy for the sake of territory even with communist threats and German troops that would be otherwise demobilised or sent elsewhere were watching over the countries. After 2 weeks, a gap was exploited and the Carpathian Pocket was formed with 300,000 Austro-Hungarian troops by the end of October, lasting until surrender in early 1921. The formerly notorious 'Czechoslovak Legion', which changed sides in 1919 and was responsible for the Soviet victories in Poland under the name '1st Czechoslovak Red Army', crossed over the gap and intruded into the organization's soldiers' homeland before being defeated by German occupation forces.
When the Soviet offensive against Hungary began in October 1920, the attack was initially successful due to propaganda and an astonishing rate of advance from the Red Army. Suddenly, the Soviet troops were running out of logistics just as Pressburg was within the taking thanks to a German-Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive and the Red Army was routed. The Red Army was able to retreat to the Carpathians to maintain the siege of Austro-Hungarian forces there. The next offensive would decide Austria-Hungary's fate. [More details will be posted when edited after sleeping.]
After the victory of the Bolsheviks in Poland, the time was ripe for socialism to reach Eastern Europe. The German Army was mobilized and prepared to encircle the advancing Soviet 16th and new Polish People's Red Armies in Poland just as German troops were mobilised and transferred. However, the logistics supporting the Soviets and Germany were weak and they needed a rest and planning for the next campaign. Also, a campaign against 'enemies of the people and proletariat' was launched and although this would be criticised as a torturing massacre of bourgeois from politicians, royalty, political; wealthy and famous foreigners, military officers and locally wealthy bourgeois to priests, 'counterrevolutionary' teachers and small property owners and farmers, this massacre was initially praised as 'getting rid of the bourgeois, exploiters and oppressors' and the role of proletariats and Soviet people being involved was glorified, although exaggeratedly unjustified and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, scenes of humiliation, violent shootings, interrogations, trials, hangings and mutilations of victims were immediately captured by capitalist nations across Europe, where it was known as the 'Rape and Massacre of Warsaw and Poland' by anti-communists with anger from photographic and first-hand verbal and written reports from survivors. Even Achille Ratti, the Holy See Representative to Poland, was hanged after his refusal to admit and apologize for his 'religiously reactionary crimes' and would be made a martyr in 1940 after evidence of his faith and suffering. No country [among the Entente and neutrals of WW1] would be willing to mobilise its individual army again to save a distant and obscure Eastern European puppet of the Central Powers, though.
However, Poland was only the beginning for the rampage of the Red Army into Eastern Europe. The loss of Austro-Hungarian troops in the pockets of Lvov and Warsaw was a blow to the recovering empire after the losses of WW1 and citizens were wondering why the Germans didn't assist as promised, although the encirclement of the Polish Army might have been averted with a strike from East Prussia and an offensive from the Baltics, lack of cooperation due to a lack of unity, deceptions and communicating issues made it unlikely. Anyway, Germany was suffering from the effects of the previous war, preparing the peace to follow, solving financial and conscription issues and even rebuilding the navy which had suffered heavy losses in naval battles that defeated the British.
After mopping up southern Poland and the remnants of the Polish Army, piecemeal units from the newly arrived German 1st Army and disorganized Austro-Hungarians, the offensive against Austria-Hungary's Carpathian defences began on 20 September. Offensives from the Baltic flanks were defeated by Soviet reinforcements, although an army had to be sent just to defend Petrograd. The German 1st Army arrived only to face trouble from communists and Poles while revolution and even the possibility of French revenge would tie up an army group or two, resulting in only sufficient troops for defence.
When the 'Autumn liberation' of the Carpathians began, the Austro-Hungarians were outnumbered by 1:1.25 from the Soviets and were threatened with encirclement. Desertions were also epidemic thanks to pro-Slavic, communist and Russian propaganda while the reverse was shown for the Central Powers' rulers and imperialism. [Romania,] Italy and Serbia might mobilise and take revenge on their former [WW1] enemy for the sake of territory even with communist threats and German troops that would be otherwise demobilised or sent elsewhere were watching over the countries. After 2 weeks, a gap was exploited and the Carpathian Pocket was formed with 300,000 Austro-Hungarian troops by the end of October, lasting until surrender in early 1921. The formerly notorious 'Czechoslovak Legion', which changed sides in 1919 and was responsible for the Soviet victories in Poland under the name '1st Czechoslovak Red Army', crossed over the gap and intruded into the organization's soldiers' homeland before being defeated by German occupation forces.
When the Soviet offensive against Hungary began in October 1920, the attack was initially successful due to propaganda and an astonishing rate of advance from the Red Army. Suddenly, the Soviet troops were running out of logistics just as Pressburg was within the taking thanks to a German-Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive and the Red Army was routed. The Red Army was able to retreat to the Carpathians to maintain the siege of Austro-Hungarian forces there. The next offensive would decide Austria-Hungary's fate. [More details will be posted when edited after sleeping.]
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[Part 2 of the previous chapter]
When the Soviet Carpathians Campaign started on 20 September 1920, the operation which followed the consolidation of Polish gains and purges to spread 'world revolution' to Austria-Hungary saw Soviet forces being repulsed on the first offensive, which lasted over the last full week of September. Aerial reconnaissance and geography proved that the gap on the 'boundary between Hungary and Austria' was true and Soviet troops, with the assistance of Czechoslovaks and mobile units crossed into Ostrava.
To prevent any Austro-Hungarian counterattacks, the Soviet 3rd, 15th and 1st Calvary Armies launched attacks on the Austro-Hungarians defending the mountains and found another gap that was exploited. This paid off as 300,000 Austro-Hungarian troops were encircled after 2 weeks of fighting from 4-18 October, helped by communist subversion, disunity within ethnic groups and 'no retreat' orders.
The 1st Calvary Army then proceeded through the Slovakian countryside in an attempt to reach Vienna, Pressburg and Hungary and contribute to Austria-Hungary's collapse. However, reinforcing German Armies proceeding to the east noticed the threat and encircled the 1st Calvary Army, dealing it a heavy blow and destroying the organization in mid-November. At the time, Slovakia was under the verge of falling into Soviet and Czechoslovak communist hands, but the German 5th Army noticed the Soviet advance and the dangers it posed. It launched an offensive that struck the 1st Calvary Army's northern flank on 10 November which diverted a corps and the resulting defeat that ensured resulted in the 15 November defeat of the Soviet Union on the Danube. The victorious German armies finished the 1st Calvary Army in 5 days as there were no reinforcements forthcoming after the Soviet organization's encirclement.
That said, despite its defeat, the failed offensive diverted the German South-eastern Army Group at a time when a relief offensive to the Carpathians might have succeeded as Soviet reinforcements began arriving from the Caucasus and Siberia.
Also, winter was approaching and supplies could be sent only by plane. The lack of combat planes opposing the Soviets was responsible for the failure of a November relief operation. Now, it was winter with Austria-Hungary's last 'Austro-Hungarian' armies being besieged in cold mountains and although the mountain range was relieved once, a risky Soviet counteroffensive restored the pocket by 1 January 1921 following heavy losses. Meanwhile, communist revolutions occurred in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and even in Germany proper, causing disruptions to offensive schedules. It was precisely the wish of the Soviet Union despite concerns about Petrograd, the advancing Red Army and Ukraine being attacked from the rear to form an encirclement.
Now, the second chance for a 'world revolution' was getting closer with each passing day. The Red Army was gambling on surprise and uprisings in Eastern Europe should it continue the offensive and the Austro-Hungarian troops in the Carpathians faced starvation as a result of supplies failing to reach the frontline. Even the plane-dropped supplies missed the target and rebels among the besieged were collecting supplies and recruits for the strengthening Soviets. For want of fresh German and Austro-Hungarian troops, relief operations had to be launched using weaker quality troops from the nearly threatened Ukraine. When the pocket of troops surrendered on 22 February 1921, all 250,000 troops remaining inside the pocket [except for 1,000 evacuated personnel, several deserters and dead casualties] were surrendered to the mercy of Soviet hands before undergoing a long march to captivity and hopelessness for their support of Austria-Hungary.
After defeat in the snow, the Bolsheviks would start their next offensive.
When the Soviet Carpathians Campaign started on 20 September 1920, the operation which followed the consolidation of Polish gains and purges to spread 'world revolution' to Austria-Hungary saw Soviet forces being repulsed on the first offensive, which lasted over the last full week of September. Aerial reconnaissance and geography proved that the gap on the 'boundary between Hungary and Austria' was true and Soviet troops, with the assistance of Czechoslovaks and mobile units crossed into Ostrava.
To prevent any Austro-Hungarian counterattacks, the Soviet 3rd, 15th and 1st Calvary Armies launched attacks on the Austro-Hungarians defending the mountains and found another gap that was exploited. This paid off as 300,000 Austro-Hungarian troops were encircled after 2 weeks of fighting from 4-18 October, helped by communist subversion, disunity within ethnic groups and 'no retreat' orders.
The 1st Calvary Army then proceeded through the Slovakian countryside in an attempt to reach Vienna, Pressburg and Hungary and contribute to Austria-Hungary's collapse. However, reinforcing German Armies proceeding to the east noticed the threat and encircled the 1st Calvary Army, dealing it a heavy blow and destroying the organization in mid-November. At the time, Slovakia was under the verge of falling into Soviet and Czechoslovak communist hands, but the German 5th Army noticed the Soviet advance and the dangers it posed. It launched an offensive that struck the 1st Calvary Army's northern flank on 10 November which diverted a corps and the resulting defeat that ensured resulted in the 15 November defeat of the Soviet Union on the Danube. The victorious German armies finished the 1st Calvary Army in 5 days as there were no reinforcements forthcoming after the Soviet organization's encirclement.
That said, despite its defeat, the failed offensive diverted the German South-eastern Army Group at a time when a relief offensive to the Carpathians might have succeeded as Soviet reinforcements began arriving from the Caucasus and Siberia.
Also, winter was approaching and supplies could be sent only by plane. The lack of combat planes opposing the Soviets was responsible for the failure of a November relief operation. Now, it was winter with Austria-Hungary's last 'Austro-Hungarian' armies being besieged in cold mountains and although the mountain range was relieved once, a risky Soviet counteroffensive restored the pocket by 1 January 1921 following heavy losses. Meanwhile, communist revolutions occurred in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and even in Germany proper, causing disruptions to offensive schedules. It was precisely the wish of the Soviet Union despite concerns about Petrograd, the advancing Red Army and Ukraine being attacked from the rear to form an encirclement.
Now, the second chance for a 'world revolution' was getting closer with each passing day. The Red Army was gambling on surprise and uprisings in Eastern Europe should it continue the offensive and the Austro-Hungarian troops in the Carpathians faced starvation as a result of supplies failing to reach the frontline. Even the plane-dropped supplies missed the target and rebels among the besieged were collecting supplies and recruits for the strengthening Soviets. For want of fresh German and Austro-Hungarian troops, relief operations had to be launched using weaker quality troops from the nearly threatened Ukraine. When the pocket of troops surrendered on 22 February 1921, all 250,000 troops remaining inside the pocket [except for 1,000 evacuated personnel, several deserters and dead casualties] were surrendered to the mercy of Soviet hands before undergoing a long march to captivity and hopelessness for their support of Austria-Hungary.
After defeat in the snow, the Bolsheviks would start their next offensive.
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1921 plans for Europe
In the aftermath of the Soviet victories over Europe, the survival of Austria-Hungary was at stake. The Ottomans were struggling with a civil war that needed Soviet and Entente assistance to begin with and this was decision year for their survival. Although the Baltic states were secure, they might be the next target and the situation was such that they would be the next target for the Soviet Union, especially with Austria-Hungary's collapse. Communist revolutions and supressing them took up the better of the German Army efforts and the failed German offensive from the Ukraine would put the nation's remnants under threat from communism again.
On 3 March 1921, an unexpected offensive to prevent Soviet movements failed after being defeated from the now Soviet-controlled Carpathian defences. Exactly a month later, the Soviets would counter respond by attacking into Slovakia. This time, the German Army was mobilised, but so were its enemies.
In Italy, there were plans to attack Austria-Hungary from the Piave and Adige, having lost previously Austrian-Italian territory as a result of their WW1 defeat. Politicians were agitating for an offensive against the Bolsheviks, though, and the same was applicable for Romania and Serbia. Even France might contemplate abandoning its aspirations against Germany for an offensive against the newly growing Soviet Union. So were neutrals and Britain. Japan was already tied up in its Siberian adventure and couldn't contribute further assistance logistically. Finally, the nationalists and communists of several liberated countries were fighting over the decision to install communism.
The second offensive was more successful than the first and the 3rd and 15th Soviet Armies were in Pressburg and Budapest by 1 May respectively to celebrate May Day. Meanwhile, Romania prepared to mobilize its armies and Bulgaria was encouraged to counter-respond. The formerly Soviet Caucasian Front and non-Bolshevik forces were responsible for the offensive in the Ukraine against German and White Russian forces in the area simultaneously and caused the latter's retreat. Also, native Bolshevik revolutions started with the intention of disrupting supplies for enemy military operations and diverting attention away. Romania declared war on 27 April 1921 with the intention of gaining Transylvania and Serbia its aspired territory from Austria-Hungary and the intervention of these countries were responsible for the Second [or Third] Hungarian Soviet Republic.
On 3 May, the siege of Budapest began with an encirclement of the city, which was completed on 8 May and followed by heavy shelling with 200,000 German and Austro-Hungarian troops encircled. Although useful as a fortress, it was faced with starvation in 2 months without resupply and the fate of the Austro-Hungarian Armies in the 'Polish pockets of 1920' was obvious to the German and Austro-Hungarian High Commands. To support the city, a counteroffensive would pierce into the flanks of the besieging Soviets and rip them up. Meanwhile, Bulgarian, German and White Russian attention might be needed to keep Romania from intervening with the operation, but luckily, the Soviets would provide the assistance through betrayal of its fellow 'rightist-bourgeois-monarchical' Balkan co-belligerents.
In the aftermath of the Soviet victories over Europe, the survival of Austria-Hungary was at stake. The Ottomans were struggling with a civil war that needed Soviet and Entente assistance to begin with and this was decision year for their survival. Although the Baltic states were secure, they might be the next target and the situation was such that they would be the next target for the Soviet Union, especially with Austria-Hungary's collapse. Communist revolutions and supressing them took up the better of the German Army efforts and the failed German offensive from the Ukraine would put the nation's remnants under threat from communism again.
On 3 March 1921, an unexpected offensive to prevent Soviet movements failed after being defeated from the now Soviet-controlled Carpathian defences. Exactly a month later, the Soviets would counter respond by attacking into Slovakia. This time, the German Army was mobilised, but so were its enemies.
In Italy, there were plans to attack Austria-Hungary from the Piave and Adige, having lost previously Austrian-Italian territory as a result of their WW1 defeat. Politicians were agitating for an offensive against the Bolsheviks, though, and the same was applicable for Romania and Serbia. Even France might contemplate abandoning its aspirations against Germany for an offensive against the newly growing Soviet Union. So were neutrals and Britain. Japan was already tied up in its Siberian adventure and couldn't contribute further assistance logistically. Finally, the nationalists and communists of several liberated countries were fighting over the decision to install communism.
The second offensive was more successful than the first and the 3rd and 15th Soviet Armies were in Pressburg and Budapest by 1 May respectively to celebrate May Day. Meanwhile, Romania prepared to mobilize its armies and Bulgaria was encouraged to counter-respond. The formerly Soviet Caucasian Front and non-Bolshevik forces were responsible for the offensive in the Ukraine against German and White Russian forces in the area simultaneously and caused the latter's retreat. Also, native Bolshevik revolutions started with the intention of disrupting supplies for enemy military operations and diverting attention away. Romania declared war on 27 April 1921 with the intention of gaining Transylvania and Serbia its aspired territory from Austria-Hungary and the intervention of these countries were responsible for the Second [or Third] Hungarian Soviet Republic.
On 3 May, the siege of Budapest began with an encirclement of the city, which was completed on 8 May and followed by heavy shelling with 200,000 German and Austro-Hungarian troops encircled. Although useful as a fortress, it was faced with starvation in 2 months without resupply and the fate of the Austro-Hungarian Armies in the 'Polish pockets of 1920' was obvious to the German and Austro-Hungarian High Commands. To support the city, a counteroffensive would pierce into the flanks of the besieging Soviets and rip them up. Meanwhile, Bulgarian, German and White Russian attention might be needed to keep Romania from intervening with the operation, but luckily, the Soviets would provide the assistance through betrayal of its fellow 'rightist-bourgeois-monarchical' Balkan co-belligerents.
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Despite the diplomacy and ultimatums given by the Soviet Union against Serbia and Romania regarding their invasions of Hungarian territory, the Balkan countries refused and eastern Croatia [with Bosnia], Vojvodina, the Banat and Transylvania were under the control of the respective Balkan countries by 31 May 1921. Consequently, the Soviets started planning for their invasions of these countries as their support for the Soviet Union was of opportunistically insincere co-belligerence in return for permanently useless 'territorial gains'.
However, the Germans and Austro-Hungarian remnants had other plans in hand. Troops were withdrawn from the defence of Austro-Hungarian and German borders for the counteroffensive against Budapest. This time, the German Army's best troops were focused on the resurgent eastern front after 2 years of rest and in best quality, with total remobilisation and conscription on the plan and the Germans would reap benefits from their shift in priorities. The first German tanks would be sent to the east and assist in the Spring Awakening counteroffensive.
On 6 June 1921, the first German tanks began their encirclement of the besieging Soviet Armies in Budapest and pushed through Lake Balaton from the Danube, reaching the suburbs of Budapest in 10 days and completing the encirclement of the 16th, 3rd, 15th, 8th and 1st Soviet Armies holding onto the city surroundings. Surprisingly, the Soviet Armies were assaulted by their besiegers and attention was diverted. After the completion of the encirclement, the city was relieved on 12 July and on 15 July, the next phrase of the German counteroffensive was launched, helped by the fact that the Soviet Armies in Ukraine attacked Romania after mopping up the remnants of the German puppet state's military and White Russians still operating. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians proceeded with the counteroffensive into Central Europe, unaware of the threat to the south.
The Central Powers saw that Romania was now another co-belligerent and Bulgaria was ordered to stop military operations against Romania in order to defend its territory or face a Soviet invasion. Time for a change in plans was short since a communist government was declared on 3 August and military operations stopped over the week in Romania. On 15 August, Bulgaria was attacked and the Soviets were entering the Balkans, aided by Serbia, fellow communists and even anarchists and liberals. However, the Central Powers' offensive in Poland was endangering the Soviet gains of 1920 and the Soviets had to stop operations against the Balkan states temporarily. It was virtually the same situation as 1915 and the Soviets might transfer communist ideologies to the now attacking Central Powers.
Also, the 'Kaiserliche Marine' [Imperial German Navy] was mobilised. Anything overseas would be required to operate off Siberia or against Russian ships [with expected Japanese support] while Austro-Hungarian ships would operate against the Black Sea and Aegean in support of the Ottomans, White Russians and foreign interests. A fleet of surviving German ships was ordered into the Baltic to defend against the Soviets and conduct necessary amphibious and raiding operations to divert Soviet troops. Now, the Germans had lost 2 battleships and smaller bases for want of basing to scuttling or internment and the Bolsheviks might get them soon.
However, the Germans and Austro-Hungarian remnants had other plans in hand. Troops were withdrawn from the defence of Austro-Hungarian and German borders for the counteroffensive against Budapest. This time, the German Army's best troops were focused on the resurgent eastern front after 2 years of rest and in best quality, with total remobilisation and conscription on the plan and the Germans would reap benefits from their shift in priorities. The first German tanks would be sent to the east and assist in the Spring Awakening counteroffensive.
On 6 June 1921, the first German tanks began their encirclement of the besieging Soviet Armies in Budapest and pushed through Lake Balaton from the Danube, reaching the suburbs of Budapest in 10 days and completing the encirclement of the 16th, 3rd, 15th, 8th and 1st Soviet Armies holding onto the city surroundings. Surprisingly, the Soviet Armies were assaulted by their besiegers and attention was diverted. After the completion of the encirclement, the city was relieved on 12 July and on 15 July, the next phrase of the German counteroffensive was launched, helped by the fact that the Soviet Armies in Ukraine attacked Romania after mopping up the remnants of the German puppet state's military and White Russians still operating. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians proceeded with the counteroffensive into Central Europe, unaware of the threat to the south.
The Central Powers saw that Romania was now another co-belligerent and Bulgaria was ordered to stop military operations against Romania in order to defend its territory or face a Soviet invasion. Time for a change in plans was short since a communist government was declared on 3 August and military operations stopped over the week in Romania. On 15 August, Bulgaria was attacked and the Soviets were entering the Balkans, aided by Serbia, fellow communists and even anarchists and liberals. However, the Central Powers' offensive in Poland was endangering the Soviet gains of 1920 and the Soviets had to stop operations against the Balkan states temporarily. It was virtually the same situation as 1915 and the Soviets might transfer communist ideologies to the now attacking Central Powers.
Also, the 'Kaiserliche Marine' [Imperial German Navy] was mobilised. Anything overseas would be required to operate off Siberia or against Russian ships [with expected Japanese support] while Austro-Hungarian ships would operate against the Black Sea and Aegean in support of the Ottomans, White Russians and foreign interests. A fleet of surviving German ships was ordered into the Baltic to defend against the Soviets and conduct necessary amphibious and raiding operations to divert Soviet troops. Now, the Germans had lost 2 battleships and smaller bases for want of basing to scuttling or internment and the Bolsheviks might get them soon.
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The Balkans and the Central Counteroffensive
With the collapse of the Soviet positions in Poland, the Soviet Armies in Romania were prepared to strike at the south, but Romanian Army remnants and Bulgarian troops did push the 1st Serbian Army out of the war by counterattacking after its retreat and getting the Serbian Army encircled inside the 'Romanian pocket'. This allowed the liberation and restoration of monarchist Romania and an advance into the Ukraine.
After the retreat proceeded to the extent where the Soviet Union was threatened with invasion, Lenin demanded the dismissal of several Soviet Army commanders and ordered the formation of several Soviet Armies from White Russian, German, Polish and Austro-Hungarian prisoners in Siberia and Central Asia to be formed. Overall, an army group was made ready for action after the loss of Soviet troops and to be used in action against Central Power forces in the east, mostly German dominated now, but quite deep into Russia.
The Central Powers' counteroffensive began to show its severity after Slovakia was entered by the German 'Crown Prince' Southern Army Group on 17 July. On the northern flank, the German Navy and Baltic states diverted Soviet attention from the coming thrust to meet the Southern Army Group while the Central Army Group met up.
On 1 August, the German 10th Army struck the flanks of the Polish People's Army and began an offensive that lasted for 2 weeks, reaching the Carpathians on 15 August and cutting the Polish 1st, 2nd and 3rd People's Armies. It was almost 2 months before the pocket could be cleared, though, and the Soviet Union was willing to assist with the failed breakout that saved only the strength of a defeated army. Now, it was time to defend and put ambitions of 'world revolution' away, especially with the Japanese attacking in Siberia and Turkish ambitions for the Black Sea and south.
The Soviets also lost an army and some isolated or relief troops in the pocket and breakout. However, the time taken to mop the pocket up diverted sufficient troops that the offensive against Ukraine was postponed, allowing the Soviets to retreat into the interior of the country. That said, the Soviets lost most of their Polish allies who might be brainwashed by the Central Powers. Also, the safety of the Ukrainian SSR and Petrograd were under danger as German and Baltic troops threatened the areas and had the latter city besieged. If Finland agreed to intervene, it would be the end of the revolutionary city and a blow to Soviet morale. The Soviets had to act quickly and save the former while holding the latter.
Also, Serbia was defeated for the second time by Bulgaria and invaded. This time, the country was defeated, being too small to resist effectively. Apparently, the Habsburg installed government was useless as a coup d' etat by nationalists replaced it with a republic. The Habsburg King would be restored while the Serbian nationalists would be executed for treason. At least the Bulgarians wouldn't be participating on the Eastern Front, although another Balkan adventure might be more likely to assert its gains.
With the collapse of the Soviet positions in Poland, the Soviet Armies in Romania were prepared to strike at the south, but Romanian Army remnants and Bulgarian troops did push the 1st Serbian Army out of the war by counterattacking after its retreat and getting the Serbian Army encircled inside the 'Romanian pocket'. This allowed the liberation and restoration of monarchist Romania and an advance into the Ukraine.
After the retreat proceeded to the extent where the Soviet Union was threatened with invasion, Lenin demanded the dismissal of several Soviet Army commanders and ordered the formation of several Soviet Armies from White Russian, German, Polish and Austro-Hungarian prisoners in Siberia and Central Asia to be formed. Overall, an army group was made ready for action after the loss of Soviet troops and to be used in action against Central Power forces in the east, mostly German dominated now, but quite deep into Russia.
The Central Powers' counteroffensive began to show its severity after Slovakia was entered by the German 'Crown Prince' Southern Army Group on 17 July. On the northern flank, the German Navy and Baltic states diverted Soviet attention from the coming thrust to meet the Southern Army Group while the Central Army Group met up.
On 1 August, the German 10th Army struck the flanks of the Polish People's Army and began an offensive that lasted for 2 weeks, reaching the Carpathians on 15 August and cutting the Polish 1st, 2nd and 3rd People's Armies. It was almost 2 months before the pocket could be cleared, though, and the Soviet Union was willing to assist with the failed breakout that saved only the strength of a defeated army. Now, it was time to defend and put ambitions of 'world revolution' away, especially with the Japanese attacking in Siberia and Turkish ambitions for the Black Sea and south.
The Soviets also lost an army and some isolated or relief troops in the pocket and breakout. However, the time taken to mop the pocket up diverted sufficient troops that the offensive against Ukraine was postponed, allowing the Soviets to retreat into the interior of the country. That said, the Soviets lost most of their Polish allies who might be brainwashed by the Central Powers. Also, the safety of the Ukrainian SSR and Petrograd were under danger as German and Baltic troops threatened the areas and had the latter city besieged. If Finland agreed to intervene, it would be the end of the revolutionary city and a blow to Soviet morale. The Soviets had to act quickly and save the former while holding the latter.
Also, Serbia was defeated for the second time by Bulgaria and invaded. This time, the country was defeated, being too small to resist effectively. Apparently, the Habsburg installed government was useless as a coup d' etat by nationalists replaced it with a republic. The Habsburg King would be restored while the Serbian nationalists would be executed for treason. At least the Bulgarians wouldn't be participating on the Eastern Front, although another Balkan adventure might be more likely to assert its gains.
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Second Soviet offensive against the Central Powers
After the Germans and Austro-Hungarians besieging Lvov, Lutsk and Przemysl were stopped by fierce resistance from the fortresses, the general advance of the Central Powers was halted way short of Kiev, but the fortresses could hold out for only a month. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians were restricted by mud, logistics and supplies; but Kiev was within reach when December snow fell to halt the advance abruptly.
As a consequence, the Soviet Armies on the Ukrainian and Belorussian fronts decided to counterattack with an operation starting on 20 December 1921. By the beginning of the next year, the German Army was heavily in retreat, with an army of troops trapped in fortresses recently captured in Western Ukraine and another Austro-Hungarian Army destroyed by encirclement. Now, the Red Army was within reach of the Carpathians, but the Germans held out as long as they had supplies and adequate troops. However, an ill conceived operation to encircle the Soviet Armies in Galicia turned to be another fiasco that would doom the German 'Crown Prince' Southern Army Group and the Austro-Hungarian Army. On the northern flank, Petrograd would be relieved as a result of the defeat after a siege of several months that began in November 1921.
Operation 'Crown Prince' began on 15 February 1922 amidst heavy snow after halting a recent Soviet offensive against the Carpathians. This time, the German 6th, 9th, 17th and Austro-Hungarian 12th Armies were sacrificed in the failed offensive to liberate the Galician fortresses and faced snowy ground without adequate supply and welfare, which caused trauma, starvation, deaths and desertions. Mutiny eventually stopped the offensive flat and the troops retreated with 250,000 casualties, some being left behind while retreating and declared missing or captured in action. French belligerent attitudes might turn towards anti-German sentiment with such a defeat and victory on the Eastern Front was all the more desirable.
After the defeat of the 1st offensive, the German 18th Army was withdrawn from besieging Petrograd and prepared for a defence of the Carpathians in anticipation of the second offensive. It was controversial decision because the siege was almost coming to a victorious conclusion and this boosted Soviet morale tremendously. Also, the defending 25th, 13th and 2nd Red Armies cleared Petrograd's approaches and prepared for a successful offensive against Finland. 1922 was really an anticipated year of disaster if the second Carpathian offensive failed.
The 'Second Carpathian Offensive' [Operation Kurfurst] began on 15 March 1922, amidst the heavily disadvantageous conditions as the previous offensive and the fiasco failed with 250,000 casualties like the previous offensive, including some desertions and disappearances. Operation Kurfurst proceeded despite the circumstances, including the surrender of the Galician fortresses on 2 April while the third offensive was prepared and the Soviets were destroying isolated units guarding the rear-guard and receiving valuable information from prisoners captured. On 15 April, the second Soviet offensive against the Carpathians began and it would be another success, including the earlier prisoners of war captured from the Central Powers.
After the Germans and Austro-Hungarians besieging Lvov, Lutsk and Przemysl were stopped by fierce resistance from the fortresses, the general advance of the Central Powers was halted way short of Kiev, but the fortresses could hold out for only a month. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians were restricted by mud, logistics and supplies; but Kiev was within reach when December snow fell to halt the advance abruptly.
As a consequence, the Soviet Armies on the Ukrainian and Belorussian fronts decided to counterattack with an operation starting on 20 December 1921. By the beginning of the next year, the German Army was heavily in retreat, with an army of troops trapped in fortresses recently captured in Western Ukraine and another Austro-Hungarian Army destroyed by encirclement. Now, the Red Army was within reach of the Carpathians, but the Germans held out as long as they had supplies and adequate troops. However, an ill conceived operation to encircle the Soviet Armies in Galicia turned to be another fiasco that would doom the German 'Crown Prince' Southern Army Group and the Austro-Hungarian Army. On the northern flank, Petrograd would be relieved as a result of the defeat after a siege of several months that began in November 1921.
Operation 'Crown Prince' began on 15 February 1922 amidst heavy snow after halting a recent Soviet offensive against the Carpathians. This time, the German 6th, 9th, 17th and Austro-Hungarian 12th Armies were sacrificed in the failed offensive to liberate the Galician fortresses and faced snowy ground without adequate supply and welfare, which caused trauma, starvation, deaths and desertions. Mutiny eventually stopped the offensive flat and the troops retreated with 250,000 casualties, some being left behind while retreating and declared missing or captured in action. French belligerent attitudes might turn towards anti-German sentiment with such a defeat and victory on the Eastern Front was all the more desirable.
After the defeat of the 1st offensive, the German 18th Army was withdrawn from besieging Petrograd and prepared for a defence of the Carpathians in anticipation of the second offensive. It was controversial decision because the siege was almost coming to a victorious conclusion and this boosted Soviet morale tremendously. Also, the defending 25th, 13th and 2nd Red Armies cleared Petrograd's approaches and prepared for a successful offensive against Finland. 1922 was really an anticipated year of disaster if the second Carpathian offensive failed.
The 'Second Carpathian Offensive' [Operation Kurfurst] began on 15 March 1922, amidst the heavily disadvantageous conditions as the previous offensive and the fiasco failed with 250,000 casualties like the previous offensive, including some desertions and disappearances. Operation Kurfurst proceeded despite the circumstances, including the surrender of the Galician fortresses on 2 April while the third offensive was prepared and the Soviets were destroying isolated units guarding the rear-guard and receiving valuable information from prisoners captured. On 15 April, the second Soviet offensive against the Carpathians began and it would be another success, including the earlier prisoners of war captured from the Central Powers.
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Intruding into 'revolutionary Hungry' territory
The Soviet-Romanian invasion of Hungary and the Balkans
On 15 April 1922, the official invasion of Hungary began with an offensive against the Carpathians. After 10 days of ferocious fighting, the Soviet Western Army Group exploited 2 recently detected gaps within the frontlines and cut the Austro-Hungarian 15th Army in the 'Ruthenian pocket', causing its defeat in 5 days. By 1 May, a critical gap between several German and Austro-Hungarian troops was formed, leaving the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army Group in a crisis.
To the south, the recently formed Balkan Army Group of prisoners, Romanians and hasty reinforcements launched its invasion on Romania, crossing into Moldavia on 10 May from its bases in Western Soviet Ukraine and entering Romania in 3 weeks. A coup d'état would depose and execute the Romanian King and government before declaring the 'permanent socialist republic' in Bucharest. By early June, it was all over for Romania despite an intervention attempt ordered by the puppet state of Serbia to relieve the pocket of Romanian-Bulgarian troops.
On 25 June, an attempt was made to cross the Danube by Soviet and Romanian troops with the intention of 'liberating Bulgaria from the [pro]-German monarchy, militarists and bourgeois'. The first offensive failed with several casualties, but the 'July offensive' succeeded and cities across the Danube were besieged by the month. Following the 31 July deposal of the Bulgarian government, the Bulgarian Socialist Republic was created and the next offensive would take the Red Army deep into the Balkans to assist the ongoing siege of Budapest.
Back in the Carpathians, the decimated Army Group South was encircled partly and although a counteroffensive initially forced Soviet retreat, the Romanian collapse caused a retreat into the south of Hungary to defend the Danube and Serbia and the Carpathian mountains were cut off from assistance on 15 July, after another encirclement of the Austro-Hungarian 13th Army. The gaps resulting from the disaster would send the Soviet Army into Budapest by 12 August and seal its encircled fate by 16 August. During the same month [August 1922] of the Red Army's Hungarian Campaign, the Balkan Army Group cleared Serbia and entered Hungary by the Danube after creating the Serbian Socialist Republic on 31 August.
The Soviet-Romanian invasion of Hungary and the Balkans
On 15 April 1922, the official invasion of Hungary began with an offensive against the Carpathians. After 10 days of ferocious fighting, the Soviet Western Army Group exploited 2 recently detected gaps within the frontlines and cut the Austro-Hungarian 15th Army in the 'Ruthenian pocket', causing its defeat in 5 days. By 1 May, a critical gap between several German and Austro-Hungarian troops was formed, leaving the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army Group in a crisis.
To the south, the recently formed Balkan Army Group of prisoners, Romanians and hasty reinforcements launched its invasion on Romania, crossing into Moldavia on 10 May from its bases in Western Soviet Ukraine and entering Romania in 3 weeks. A coup d'état would depose and execute the Romanian King and government before declaring the 'permanent socialist republic' in Bucharest. By early June, it was all over for Romania despite an intervention attempt ordered by the puppet state of Serbia to relieve the pocket of Romanian-Bulgarian troops.
On 25 June, an attempt was made to cross the Danube by Soviet and Romanian troops with the intention of 'liberating Bulgaria from the [pro]-German monarchy, militarists and bourgeois'. The first offensive failed with several casualties, but the 'July offensive' succeeded and cities across the Danube were besieged by the month. Following the 31 July deposal of the Bulgarian government, the Bulgarian Socialist Republic was created and the next offensive would take the Red Army deep into the Balkans to assist the ongoing siege of Budapest.
Back in the Carpathians, the decimated Army Group South was encircled partly and although a counteroffensive initially forced Soviet retreat, the Romanian collapse caused a retreat into the south of Hungary to defend the Danube and Serbia and the Carpathian mountains were cut off from assistance on 15 July, after another encirclement of the Austro-Hungarian 13th Army. The gaps resulting from the disaster would send the Soviet Army into Budapest by 12 August and seal its encircled fate by 16 August. During the same month [August 1922] of the Red Army's Hungarian Campaign, the Balkan Army Group cleared Serbia and entered Hungary by the Danube after creating the Serbian Socialist Republic on 31 August.
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'Finnish'[ing] the Campaign
Soviet invasions of Finland and the Baltic states
While the campaigns for the Balkans and Austria-Hungary were underway, an offensive was launched against the German Baltic puppet states with the intention of diverting German troops, spreading communism to the countries and securing the northern flanks. This would be assisted by workers and communists revolting in Germany and impeding the flow of supplies to the active fronts. Also, the expected defection of German troops and ships would be expected with Soviet victories and propaganda.
After liberating Petrograd and damaging German Baltic Army organizations, the Soviet invasion of Finland began on 1 July 1922, assisted by [Finnish] communists exiled after the civil war, Russians and ethnic minorities. When the offensive started, the Finnish Army was mobilised, but several issues in its defensive planning and ammunition weakened the troops and losses incurred heavily in several divisions. Vyborg, the offensive's first objective, was captured on 15 July after a short siege and the Soviets made some progress in Karelia and Ingria, but weather bogged down any offensive operations despite gradually increasing and heavy Finnish troop losses in piecemeal defeats.
After 3 months, a breakthrough was made in Eastern Karelia and the southern front was diverted of troops for a counterattack. The Soviet 23rd and German 1st People's Armies exploited the gap, destroyed the counterattack and entered Helsinki on 1 November 1922. Mopping up operations would occur under arduous conditions throughout the winter while the German communist troops would be moved southwards for the Baltic and German offensives.
To the south, the Soviet 25th Army launched its offensive into the Baltic states and captured Tallinn on 31 July after besieging Narva despite German naval superiority in the Baltic. The Soviet 13th Army assisted the offensive with an attack on the southern flank that took Daugavpils on 25 August after a short siege and blockaded Riga starting from early September and Estonia was evacuated with the German 16th Army to restore connections. To recapture the lost Baltic territory, the German 17th Army in Poland launched an offensive to the north with a flanking attack despite the opportunity to prevent the threat to Hungary with a counteroffensive although the Baltic counteroffensive was successful. This counteroffensive began on 30 September, 10 days after the 2 week long breakout and Soviet offensive against the operation was completed and took the Soviet 13th Army by surprise, defeating it decisively and cutting the Soviets from Russian supply through Petrograd after Narva was besieged in 3 weeks following the Soviet 13th Army's destruction.
After the siege of Narva, which took another 2 weeks before the damaged town surrendered, the Soviet armies in the Baltic were effectively encircled after the event. An attempt to breakout by counterattacking and stopping the German offensive was halted by a German naval amphibious attack that threatened the left flank of the Soviet Army with encirclement. After a naval attack that defeated the Red Navy decisively on 10 November 1922, the Soviet armies in the Baltic had to rely on their own supplies and airdrops to keep them sustaining until the defeat of Austria-Hungary and the transfer of Soviet reinforcements northwards. German communists transferred from Finland might make a relief attempt, but winter and southern defeats won't make this option sustainable as only a small corridor was opened that could be shelled by a 15-25 December 1922 counteroffensive jointly involving besieged Soviet troops and German communists.
However, the pocket might make it into the spring.
Soviet invasions of Finland and the Baltic states
While the campaigns for the Balkans and Austria-Hungary were underway, an offensive was launched against the German Baltic puppet states with the intention of diverting German troops, spreading communism to the countries and securing the northern flanks. This would be assisted by workers and communists revolting in Germany and impeding the flow of supplies to the active fronts. Also, the expected defection of German troops and ships would be expected with Soviet victories and propaganda.
After liberating Petrograd and damaging German Baltic Army organizations, the Soviet invasion of Finland began on 1 July 1922, assisted by [Finnish] communists exiled after the civil war, Russians and ethnic minorities. When the offensive started, the Finnish Army was mobilised, but several issues in its defensive planning and ammunition weakened the troops and losses incurred heavily in several divisions. Vyborg, the offensive's first objective, was captured on 15 July after a short siege and the Soviets made some progress in Karelia and Ingria, but weather bogged down any offensive operations despite gradually increasing and heavy Finnish troop losses in piecemeal defeats.
After 3 months, a breakthrough was made in Eastern Karelia and the southern front was diverted of troops for a counterattack. The Soviet 23rd and German 1st People's Armies exploited the gap, destroyed the counterattack and entered Helsinki on 1 November 1922. Mopping up operations would occur under arduous conditions throughout the winter while the German communist troops would be moved southwards for the Baltic and German offensives.
To the south, the Soviet 25th Army launched its offensive into the Baltic states and captured Tallinn on 31 July after besieging Narva despite German naval superiority in the Baltic. The Soviet 13th Army assisted the offensive with an attack on the southern flank that took Daugavpils on 25 August after a short siege and blockaded Riga starting from early September and Estonia was evacuated with the German 16th Army to restore connections. To recapture the lost Baltic territory, the German 17th Army in Poland launched an offensive to the north with a flanking attack despite the opportunity to prevent the threat to Hungary with a counteroffensive although the Baltic counteroffensive was successful. This counteroffensive began on 30 September, 10 days after the 2 week long breakout and Soviet offensive against the operation was completed and took the Soviet 13th Army by surprise, defeating it decisively and cutting the Soviets from Russian supply through Petrograd after Narva was besieged in 3 weeks following the Soviet 13th Army's destruction.
After the siege of Narva, which took another 2 weeks before the damaged town surrendered, the Soviet armies in the Baltic were effectively encircled after the event. An attempt to breakout by counterattacking and stopping the German offensive was halted by a German naval amphibious attack that threatened the left flank of the Soviet Army with encirclement. After a naval attack that defeated the Red Navy decisively on 10 November 1922, the Soviet armies in the Baltic had to rely on their own supplies and airdrops to keep them sustaining until the defeat of Austria-Hungary and the transfer of Soviet reinforcements northwards. German communists transferred from Finland might make a relief attempt, but winter and southern defeats won't make this option sustainable as only a small corridor was opened that could be shelled by a 15-25 December 1922 counteroffensive jointly involving besieged Soviet troops and German communists.
However, the pocket might make it into the spring.
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Italian intervention
Posting this on mobile. Contents will be posted later.
On 28 October 1922, in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Italy faced a fascist takeover; assisted by the defeats of WW1, local economic issues and the need to retake Austro-Hungarian territory and fight communism. After the deposal of the former government [except for a figurehead king], the Italian Army was quickly mobilised and launched its offensive against the Veneto starting from 11 November, winning the battle by 24 November after 10 days of encircling Central Powers' divisions across the new frontier and proceeding to the mountains of the Isonzo. After previous defeats, the Italians broke through and besieged Trieste following 3 weeks of battle in the snow, threatening the German ['Italian'] 14th Army with defeat in the following spring.
Although the Soviets succeeded in encircling Budapest initially, a German-Hungarian counterattack forced the besiegers out of Budapest over 20-30 August 1922. Then, the Red Army declared the Serbian Socialist Republic and launched an offensive [involving a Serbian/Yugoslavian Red Army] after capturing Belgrade on 31 August and on 8 September, Novi Sad was captured, with the German counteroffensive being encircled on 16 September and the following 5 days of retreat into the more defensible city of Budapest by the troops resulting in subsequent defeat when the city surrendered in late November 1922.
The success was helped by the imminent threat of French intervention in the west, troops withdrawals to the east and a gap that was exploited and destroying the Austro-Hungarian troops in Italy as a result. Austro-Hungarian ships were sent to relieve pressure on the city by raiding the Italian coastline and bombarding ports at hand, however, this was to no avail as the city surrendered in late January 1923 after failed relief efforts and the frontline was threatened with encirclement from the south. Budapest had surrendered and the city of Vienna faced revolution and siege. It was hoped that the Italians link up with the Red Armies in Austria-Hungary and link up with them before launching an anti-communist offensive against the Red Army's overstretched lines, with [ironic] German support.
However, the last reserves from Germany might be arriving and helping the Austro-Hungarians to destroy the Soviet Armies like the 1921 miracle. If it failed, Austria-Hungary would cease to exist when Vienna starved to surrender by spring 1923 and ethnic communists would be raised to support the Soviet drive on Imperial Germany. That would be the final straw for the French [and British] to intervene and the Soviet Union to achieve its 'world revolution' aims. Why the Soviet offensive against Poland failed and the German failure to exploit the defeat [properly] would be debated by many historians in the future, even with the success of the Baltic counteroffensive as it wasn't an acceptable alternative to an attack on the Soviet Eastern European offensive flank.
By April 1923, though, the tide might change. If only, if only certain circumstances favoured the Soviet Union as the fall of Austria would make previously-propagated world revolutionary objectives attainable. This was due to the counterattack of March-April 1923.
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On 28 October 1922, in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Italy faced a fascist takeover; assisted by the defeats of WW1, local economic issues and the need to retake Austro-Hungarian territory and fight communism. After the deposal of the former government [except for a figurehead king], the Italian Army was quickly mobilised and launched its offensive against the Veneto starting from 11 November, winning the battle by 24 November after 10 days of encircling Central Powers' divisions across the new frontier and proceeding to the mountains of the Isonzo. After previous defeats, the Italians broke through and besieged Trieste following 3 weeks of battle in the snow, threatening the German ['Italian'] 14th Army with defeat in the following spring.
Although the Soviets succeeded in encircling Budapest initially, a German-Hungarian counterattack forced the besiegers out of Budapest over 20-30 August 1922. Then, the Red Army declared the Serbian Socialist Republic and launched an offensive [involving a Serbian/Yugoslavian Red Army] after capturing Belgrade on 31 August and on 8 September, Novi Sad was captured, with the German counteroffensive being encircled on 16 September and the following 5 days of retreat into the more defensible city of Budapest by the troops resulting in subsequent defeat when the city surrendered in late November 1922.
The success was helped by the imminent threat of French intervention in the west, troops withdrawals to the east and a gap that was exploited and destroying the Austro-Hungarian troops in Italy as a result. Austro-Hungarian ships were sent to relieve pressure on the city by raiding the Italian coastline and bombarding ports at hand, however, this was to no avail as the city surrendered in late January 1923 after failed relief efforts and the frontline was threatened with encirclement from the south. Budapest had surrendered and the city of Vienna faced revolution and siege. It was hoped that the Italians link up with the Red Armies in Austria-Hungary and link up with them before launching an anti-communist offensive against the Red Army's overstretched lines, with [ironic] German support.
However, the last reserves from Germany might be arriving and helping the Austro-Hungarians to destroy the Soviet Armies like the 1921 miracle. If it failed, Austria-Hungary would cease to exist when Vienna starved to surrender by spring 1923 and ethnic communists would be raised to support the Soviet drive on Imperial Germany. That would be the final straw for the French [and British] to intervene and the Soviet Union to achieve its 'world revolution' aims. Why the Soviet offensive against Poland failed and the German failure to exploit the defeat [properly] would be debated by many historians in the future, even with the success of the Baltic counteroffensive as it wasn't an acceptable alternative to an attack on the Soviet Eastern European offensive flank.
By April 1923, though, the tide might change. If only, if only certain circumstances favoured the Soviet Union as the fall of Austria would make previously-propagated world revolutionary objectives attainable. This was due to the counterattack of March-April 1923.
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