The
Peace of Riga, also known as the
Treaty of Riga; (
Russian ??´????? ??´???? ?????ó? (
Rízhsky Mírny dogovór),
Latvian Rigas miera ligums and
Polish Traktat Ryski) was signed in
Riga on
18 March 1921, between
Poland on one side and
Soviet Russia and
Soviet Ukraine on the other. The treaty ended the
Polish-Soviet War.
Amidst the Russian Civil War the Poles were eager to regain all the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from their historical enemy, Russia. Meanwhile, the Soviets tried to export the revolution to the West, by force if necessary. If the Soviets had occupied Poland they would have been in a position to come to the aid of German Communists, and possibly ensure the success of a Soviet revolution in Germany. The historian J.F.C. Fuller described the Battle of Warsaw as one of the most significant battles in history. After that military setbacks that followed a defeat in that battle, the Soviet side was eager to begin peace treaty negotiations.[1]
Peace talks were started on August 17, 1920, in Minsk, but as the Polish counter-offensive drew near, the talks were moved to Riga, and resumed on September 21. In September in Riga the Soviet side made two offers on September 21st and 28th. The Polish delegation made a counteroffer on the 2nd of October. On the 5th the Soviets offered amendments to the Polish offer, which Poland accepted. An armistice was signed on October 12.[2] and went into effect on October 18.
The chief negotiators were Jan Dabski for Poland, and Adolph Joffe for RSFSR.
