DISINFO: Before WWII, Poland unleashed a real genocide in Western Ukraine and Belarus
SUMMARY
In September 1939, the Red Army entered the Eastern Borderlands [Western Ukraine and Western Belarus], which were seized by Poland during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1920 and where Poland unleashed a true genocide of civilians.
RESPONSE
This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It presents Bolshevik Russia as a peaceful state and promotes the Russian imperialist idea that Belarus and Ukraine “naturally” belong to Russia. In addition, this message creates ideological reasoning for the Soviet attack on Poland in September 1939, which was secretly provided for in the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
The claim that the inter-war Polish authorities organised genocide in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus is not confirmed by any facts. Indeed, there were serious ethnic tensions in the Second Polish Republic, but describing this process as “genocide” is an evident historical falsification.
The only genocide, which took place in the 1930s in Eastern Europe, was the Holodomor, an artificial famine created by the Soviet authorities in Ukraine – this Soviet crime caused the deaths of between 3.3 and 7.5 million Ukrainians. Read more details about the Holodomor here.
After the collapse of the Russian Empire and the outbreak of the Russian Civil War in 1917, a number of countries proclaimed their independence in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Middle Asia. These territories had been captured by the Russian Empire throughout the XVIII-XIX centuries, so they decided to restore their statehood after the disappearance of the Empire. For example, read more about the newborn Ukrainian and Belarusian People’s Republics.
During the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922, the Bolsheviks fought with numerous alternative Russian political forces – a large part of the Russian population did not perceive them as having any legitimate authority; also, the Bolsheviks were internationally unrecognised. In this situation, the claim that the territory of Belarus and Ukraine naturally “belonged” to Bolshevik Russia is a manifestation of Russian imperialism. The Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920 started in February 1919, immediately after the end of WWI. As a result of the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919, the Bolshevik troops tried to advance as deep as possible into the territory of the former Western regions of the collapsed Russian Empire. In February 1919, the advancing Bolshevik forces entered into clashes with the units of the Polish Army. The statement that the Government of Pilsudski initiated this war is a historical manipulation.
Read similar examples of the Russian historical revisionism concerning Poland - It is thanks to Russia that Poland today exists as a country, Nazi Germany considered Poland its best ally, USSR was forced and reluctant to sign Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the Polish legions of Pilsudski organised the Volyn tragedy.