Battle of Warsaw (1920) - Aftermath

Aftermath

Although Poland managed to achieve victory and push back the Russians, Piłsudski's plan to outmaneuver and surround the Red Army did not succeed completely. On July 4 four Soviet armies of the North-Western Front began to advance on Warsaw. After initial successes, by the end of August, three of them - the 4th, 15th and 16th Armies, as well as the bulk of Bzhishkyan's 3rd Cavalry Corps - had all but disintegrated, their remnants either taken prisoner or briefly interned after crossing the border to German East Prussia. The 3rd Army was the least affected, due to the speed of its retreat, as the pursuing Polish troops could not catch up with it.

Russian Red Army losses were about 15,000 dead, 500 missing, 10,000 wounded, and 65,000 captured, compared to Polish losses of approximately 4,500 killed, 22,000 wounded, and 10,000 missing. Between 25,000 and 30,000 Soviet troops managed to reach the borders of Germany. After crossing into East Prussia territory, they were briefly interned, then allowed to leave with their arms and equipment. Poland captured about 231 pieces of artillery and 1,023 machine guns.

The southern arm of the Red Army's forces had been routed and no longer posed a threat to the Poles. Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army besieging Lwów had been defeated at the Battle of Komarów (August 31, 1920) and the Battle of Hrubieszów. By mid-October, the Polish Army had reached the Tarnopol-Dubno-Minsk-Drisa line.

Tukhachevsky succeeded eventually in reorganizing his eastward-retreating forces, but not in regaining the initiative. In September he established a new defensive line near Grodno. In order to break it, the Polish Army fought the Battle of the Niemen River (September 15–September 21), once again defeating the Red Army. After the Battle of the Szczara River, both sides were exhausted and on October 12, under heavy pressure from France and Britain, a ceasefire was signed. By October 18, the fighting was over, and on March 18, 1921, the Treaty of Riga was signed, ending hostilities.

Bolshevik propaganda before the Battle of Warsaw had described the fall of Poland's capital as imminent, and the anticipated fall of Warsaw was to be a signal for the start of large-scale communist revolutions in Poland, Germany, and other European countries, economically devastated by the First World War. For example, the Soviet attempts to overthrow the government of Lithuania (planned for August) had to be canceled after the loss of this battle. The Soviet defeat was therefore considered a setback for Soviet leaders supportive of that plan (particularly Vladimir Lenin).

A National Democrat Sejm deputy, Stanisław Stroński, coined the phrase, "Miracle at the Wisła" (Polish: "Cud nad Wisłą"), to underline his disapproval of Piłsudski's "Ukrainian adventure." Stroński's phrase was adopted with approval by some patriotically or piously minded Poles unaware of Stroński's ironic intent.