November 11, 1918: The Return of Poland

November 11, 1918: On the same day as the Armistice that ends World War I, the Second Polish Republic is founded. Russian troops have withdrawn from Russian soil, which they had controlled for over 100 years, and the Germans have retreated from their formerly occupied territories. For the first time since the Third Partition in 1795, there was a country named Poland, not just a "Duchy of Poland" or a "Congress Poland."

My father's ancestors came from Poland: In 1909, his grandfather, then 18 years old, left in Borki Wielkie, Warmia-Masuria and found his way to Newark, New Jersey.

Józef Piłsudski had led the Polish Legions in fighting with Austria-Hungary against Russia during the war. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia (which became the centerpiece nation of the Soviet Union in 1922) dropped out of the war, and Piłsudski switched his efforts to diplomatic ones, to re-establish the nation. America's President, Woodrow Wilson, had the establishment of a new nation of Poland as one of his "Fourteen Points" for postwar peace.

With independence secured, Marshal Piłsudski served as the nation's Chief of State from 1918 to 1922, and then as Prime Minister from 1926 to 1928. In effect, though, his effect on the nation's elected leaders meant that he was, if not written into the law as such, then in practice, the nation's dictator from 1918 until his death in 1935.

Apparently, all dictators, even the enlightened ones,

feel the need to wear an epic mustache.

Keeping the nation going would not be easy. Over the next few years, Poland fought wars with 2 neighbors, Russia and Ukraine, surviving as a nation counting as "winning." In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded from the west, the Soviet Union from the east, each taking roughly half the land, with the result that Poland existed in name only.

After World War II, the Soviets held effective control over the country. In 1980, the country's labor movement showed the Communists what a real "workers' revolution" looked like, and the Soviets withdrew their troops in 1989. The Communist Party was outlawed, and Poland has been a democracy ever since.

On March 14, 1916, Piłsudski's Polish Legions founded a sports club. After independence in 1918, the club became known as Wojskowy Klub Sportowy Legia Warszawa -- Military Sports Club Legia Warsaw -- the official sports club of the Polish Army. Their soccer team is the most famous, most successful, most popular, and most hated sports team in their country.

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November 11, 1918 was a Monday. Baseball season was over. There was no NBA yet. The NHL season wouldn't start for another month. And there was no Monday Night Football, or even an NFL, back then. So there were no scores on this historic day.

The prominent people born on this day include comedian Stubby Kaye; Alabama politician and civil rights attorney Richmond Flowers; and Louise Tobin, a jazz singer, known for singing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Her hits included "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made." Once married to another bandleader, Harry James, she turns 104 on November 11, 2022. (UPDATE: She died on November 26, 2022.)

August 16, 1920: The Miracle On the Vistula

August 16, 1920: The Soviet Red Army withdraws from the Polish capital of Warsaw, a key moment in the Polish-Soviet War. It becomes known as the Miracle On the Vistula.

After the collapse of the Central Powers, and the Armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1918, Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that his new country negotiated with the now-dissolved German Empire. He sent the Red Army west to reclaim the Polish territory that was held by the Germans, because he viewed the newly independent Poland as a critical route for spreading communist revolutions into Europe.

Meanwhile, Polish leaders, including Józef Piłsudski, aimed to restore Poland’s pre-1772 First Partition borders and secure the country's position in the region. Throughout 1919, Polish forces occupied much of present-day Lithuania and Belarus, emerging victorious in the Polish-Ukranian War. However, Soviet forces regained strength after their victories in the Russian Civil War, and Symon Petliura, leader of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was forced to ally with Piłsudski in 1920 to resist the advancing Bolsheviks.

In April 1920, Piłsudski launched the Kiev offensive, with the goal of securing favorable borders for Poland. On May 7, Polish and allied Ukrainian forces captured Kiev, though Soviet armies in the area were not decisively defeated. The offensive lacked local support, and many Ukrainians joined the Red Army rather than Petliura’s forces. In response, the Soviet Red Army launched a successful counteroffensive starting in June 1920. By August, Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress.

On August 16, Piłsudski counterattacked from the south, disrupting the enemy's offensive, forcing the Russian forces into a disorganized withdrawal eastward and behind the Neman River. It became known as Cud nad Wisłą: The Miracle On the Vistula. Estimated Russian losses were 10,000 killed, 500 missing, 30,000 wounded, and 66,000 taken prisoner, compared with Polish losses of some 4,500 killed, 10,000 missing, and 22,000 wounded.

The defeat crippled the Red Army: Lenin called it "an enormous defeat." In the following months, several more Polish follow-up victories secured Poland's independence. The war ended with a ceasefire on October 18, 1920, and peace negotiations led to the Peace of Riga, signed on March 18, 1921.

Poland’s eastern border was established, securing Polish control over parts of what would become parts of Ukraine and Belarus after World War II. Despite the Soviet defeat, the war resulted in the official recognition of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as Soviet states, undermining Piłsudski’s ambitions for an Intermarium federation led by Poland. Despite this, Poland's success at the Battle of Warsaw cemented its position as an important player in Eastern European geopolitics in the interwar period.

With independence secured, Marshal Piłsudski served as the nation's Chief of State from 1918 to 1922, and then as Prime Minister from 1926 to 1928. But his effect on the nation's elected leaders meant that he was, if not written into the law as such, then in practice, the nation's dictator from 1918 until his death in 1935.

Apparently, all dictators, even the enlightened ones,

feel the need to wear an epic mustache.

Tukhachevsky recovered, and became Chief of Staff of the Red Army, and by 1935 was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. But dictator Joseph Stalin found out that Tukhachevsky had blamed him for the loss of the Battle of Warsaw, and made him part of his military purge, executing him on June 12, 1937.

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August 16, 1920 was a Monday. Writer Charles Bukowski was born.

It was the off-season for the NHL. The NFL was one month away from being founded. The NBA was 26 years away.

There were only 4 games played in what would eventually be called Major League Baseball:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees, 4-3 at the Polo Grounds. This was the game in which Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch, leading to his death the next day, baseball's only on-field fatality. I have a separate entry for that event.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-1 at Cubs Park in Chicago. It was renamed Wrigley Field in 1926.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.