114 - Poland: Europe's Eastern Shield
The Red Line
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The Bolsheviks and the Russian Civil War
The Whites were abandoned by the Allies during the Russian Civil War as Russia's situation in the East was not seen as a direct threat to Western European capitals. The Bolsheviks eventually emerged victorious in the war, leading Moscow to turn its sights towards expanding westwards by targeting the Baltic states, Ukraine, and the new Polish Republic. Senior communists like Leon Trotsky believed that the Bolshevik victory in Poland would inspire revolutions in Germany and the rest of Europe. Despite initial losses, the Poles managed to turn the tide in August 1920 using a combination of a broken Soviet radio, bold strategy, and favorable weather conditions, thwarting the Bolshevik advance towards Warsaw.
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