Suwałki Agreement
Agreement between Poland and Lithuania in 1920 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Suwałki Agreement, Treaty of Suvalkai,[1] or Suwalki Treaty[2] (Polish: Umowa suwalska, Lithuanian: Suvalkų sutartis) was an agreement signed in the town of Suwałki between Poland and Lithuania on October 7, 1920. It was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on January 19, 1922.[3]
Both countries had re-established their independence in the aftermath of World War I. They lacked well-defined borders, which caused the Polish–Lithuanian War over territorial disputes in the Suwałki and Vilnius Regions. In late September 1920, Polish forces defeated the Soviets at the Battle of the Niemen River, thus militarily securing the Suwałki Region and opening the possibility of an assault on the city of Vilnius (Wilno). Polish Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, had planned to take over the city since mid-September in a false flag operation known as Żeligowski's Mutiny.
After pressure from the League of Nations, Poland agreed to negotiate, hoping to buy time and divert attention from the upcoming Żeligowski's Mutiny. The Lithuanians sought to achieve as much protection for Vilnius as possible. The agreement resulted in a ceasefire and established a demarcation line running through the disputed Suwałki Region up to the Bastuny [lt; pl] railway station. The line was incomplete and did not provide adequate protection to Vilnius.[4] Neither Vilnius nor the surrounding region was explicitly addressed in the agreement.
Shortly after the agreement was signed, the clauses calling for territorial negotiation and an end to military actions were unilaterally broken by Poland. Polish general Lucjan Żeligowski, acting under Piłsudski's secret orders, pretended to disobey stand-down orders from the Polish military command and marched on Vilnius. The city was occupied on October 9. The Suwałki Agreement was to take effect at noon on October 10. Żeligowski established the Republic of Central Lithuania which, despite intense protests by Lithuania, was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic in 1923. The Vilnius Region remained under Polish administration until the autumn of 1939.