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: ''See also Riga Peace Treaty for other treaties concluded in Riga .'' The Peace of Riga (also known as the '''Treaty of Riga'''; on 18 March , 1921 , between Poland and the Russian SFSR and the Ukrainian SSR . The treaty ended the Polish-Bolshevik War . BACKGROUND Amidst the , 2004. Last accessed on 2 June 2006. THE TREATY The peace talks were started on . The chief negotiators were Jan Dąbski for Poland, and Adolph Joffe for the Soviets. The Treaty of Riga was controversial from the very beginning. Many argued that much of what Poland had won during the Polish-Bolshevik War, was lost in the peace negotiations that were characterized by many, as short-sighted and narrow-minded. They were lacking what brought Poland independence: talks as if Poland had not won, but lost the war. In fact, a special parliamentray delegation consisting of six members of the Sejm held a vote on whether to accept the Soviets' far-reaching concessions, which would leave Minsk on the Polish side of the border. Pressured by the National Democrat Stanisław Grabski , the 100 km of extra territory were rejected, a victory for the nationalist doctrine and a stark defeat for Piłsudksi's Federalism , for the national democrats envisioned a unitary Polish state with no more than 1/3 minorities within its borders, a prequisite for any successful Polonization attempts in their eyes. The Poles were and their public opinion demanded an end to the hostilities; both sides were also under pressure from the League Of Nations . On the other hand, the negotiations for a peace treaty dragged on for months due to Soviet reluctance to sign. However, the Soviets faced increased unrest. Between February 23 and March 17 they faced A Sailors’ Revolt in Kronstadt which was suppressed; peasants Were Also Rising Up against Soviet authorities, who collected grains to feed the army and starving consumer regions. In view of this situation, Lenin ordered the Soviet plenipotentiaries to secure a peace treaty. Eventually both sides decided to sign the Peace of Riga on March 18 , 1921 , splitting the disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine , between Poland and Russia. The Ukrainians led by , 1921 , during Piłsudski's visit to the internment camp at Szczypiorno . The context however was clearly the same. 2 3 The treaty violated Poland's military alliance with Ukraine, which had explicitly prohibited a separate peace. It also worsened relations between Poland and its Ukrainian minority, who felt Ukraine had been betrayed by its Polish ally, a feeling that would be exploited by Soviet propaganda and result in The Growing Tensions And Eventual Violence in the 1930s and 1940s. By the end of 1921, the majority of Ukrainian, Belarusian and White Russian forces had either crossed the Polish border and laid down their arms or had been annihilated by the Soviets. However, Józef Piłsudski 's dream of creating an Eastern Europe alliance ( Międzymorze ) of independent countries was thwarted by this treaty, as Poland was unable to fulfill the obligations of its alliance with Ukraine and support its independence, and Polish-Lithuanian relations deteriorated as well as a result of Poland's annexation of the city of Vilnius , which the Lithuanians claimed as their capital. border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth marked]] Lenin also considered the treaty unsatisfactory. He had to temporarirly give up his plans for exporting the revolution West. On the other hand, the Treaty of Riga led to the stabilization of the eastern border of Poland. The new Polish state surrendered most of land lost in 1st and 2nd partition to Russia by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during Partitions Of Poland , with a sizeable Polish minority (less than 1 million) especially around Słuck and Żytomierz . This would allow Soviets to carry out harsh reprisals against those Poles — begun with confiscation of immense property (land, forests), religious persecution (bishop Cieplak 1923) and eventually full scale deportation of Poles to Kazakhstan 1931-1934. Population living on the Polish side of the Riga border, including Poles and (approx. 6 million citizens) minorities of Ukrainians , Belarusians , Lithuanians and Jews were largely spared from communist rule, and guaranteed freedom of property and religious faith — for the next 17 years until 1938. However, this didn't protect them from ethnic conflicts, especially during the Great Depression from 1929 on. Poland also was to receive monetary compensation (30 million Rubles ) for its economic input into the Russian Empire during the times of Partitions Of Poland . Russians were also to surrender arts and other Polish national treasures pillaged after 1772 (like the Załuski Library ). Both sides renounced claims to war compensation. NOTES AND REFERENCES ::In-line: ::General:
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