"ZELIGOWSKI'S MUTINY" AS A POLISH WAY TO SOLVE THE "VILNIUS PROBLEM"

The article describes the facts and examines the Polish-Lithuanian territorial dispute of 1919-1920, which occurred during the time of the formation of independent states in Central and Eastern Europe following World War I. The parade of the newly proclaimed states of the Czechoslovak Republic, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, each of which had territorial claims against its neighbours, created a precedent for a series of frontier military actions. Hungarian-Czechoslovak, Polish-German, Polish-Czechoslovak Polish-Lithuanian, and Polish-Ukrainian territorial conflicts persisted until 1923, following the signing of the Armistice in 1918. The issue of a territorial dispute between the Second Polish Republic and the Republic of Lithuania over the city of Wilno (Vilnius) and the Vilnius area is explored through the perspective of those historical events. Military actions, including a Polish-inspired "insurrection," continued as a result of a reluctance to follow political agreements and ignore demarcation lines. The goal was to construct a federal state that would act as a deterrent to Russian imperial ambitions in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. Lithuania, on the other hand, was rather cautious of the idea of forming a state made up of the lands of "Poland-Lithuania-Belarus-Ukraine," even if the borders favoured the Second Polish Republic. Anticipating the dangers of assimilation and the refusal to accept Lithuania without Vilnius, the Lithuanian government seemed uncompromising in its dealings with Poles yet cordial with Russians. As a result, the Polish federalist project failed.