This volume gives a full account of the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20, when
the Red Army was crushed by a devasting Polish attack. The author draws on
documentary material and shows how this episode largely determined the course
of European history for the next 20 years.A neglected event in history, the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20 was not the
final episode in the wars of intervention, but an independent enterprise on the
Polish side with minimal support from the Entente Powers. In many English
history books, it appears under the erroneous title of the 'Russo-Polish War',
and is treated as just one spot in the rash of border conflicts which broke out
all over Europe at this time. As far as Soviet history is concerned, the war
with Poland represents the first occasion when the Red Army set out to
revolutionise the whole of Europe - for the Poles, it was an occasion when they
finally justified their claim to independent statehood. In White Eagle, Red
Star, Professor Norman Davies gives a full account of the war, with its
dramatic climax in August 1920 when the Red Army - sure of victory and pledged
to carry the Revolution across Europe to 'water our horses on the Rhine' - was
crushed by a devastating Polish attack, since known as the 'miracle on the
Vistula'.; Drawing on both Polish and Russian sources, Davies illustrates the
narrative with documentary material which hitherto has not been readily
available and shows how the war was far more than an 'episode' in East European
affairs, but largely determined the course of European history for the next
twenty years or more.
