Attitudes of Russian Officers in the Conditions of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 Based on Savinkov’s Memoirs

Abstract

The Polish-Soviet War of 1920 is a key period to understanding the history of Poland as well as Polish-Russian relationships. Despite the amount of research on the topic, there are still many gaps to be filled. One of them is the attitudes and behaviour of Russian officers in war conditions. The main source for this article is Viktor Savinkov’s memoirs written in 1927 and kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Viktor Viktorovich Savinkov (1886–1954) was a Russian publicist, writer, and artist; younger brother of Boris Savinkov, a famous writer and revolutionist. During the Russian Civil War, he was a soldier of the Don Army. In early 1920, he was captured by the Bolsheviks and offered to join the Red Army. The article characterises the way Savinkov was concealing his socio-political views, expressing his attitudes towards new authorities, and how he managed to desert during the Polish-Soviet war. The conditions of the offensive of the Red Army on Warsaw are also described in the memoirs, including the sentiments and behaviour of the soldiers. Savinkov’s memoirs make it possible to study the behaviour of other officers and soldiers of the former Russian army, who had been forced to serve in the Red Army.

Keywords

• виктор савинков
• красная армия
• советско-польская война 1920 г.
• русское офицерство
• белая эмиграция