Stanislaw Bulak-Balachowicz
Encyclopedia
Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz was a Belarus
ian-Polish
general, veteran of World War I, Russian Civil War
, Estonian War of Independence, Polish-Bolshevik War and the Invasion of Poland
at the start of World War II.
, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire
. Stanisław had two brothers and six sisters. His parents were servants to a local landlord.
Following Stanisław' birth, his father left the landlord's service and acquired a small estate in Stakavievo near Vilnius.
After attending an agricultural school for four years in Belmonty, Bułak-Bałachowicz worked as an accountant, and in 1904 became a manager at the Duke Plater farms in Horodziec and Łużki.
At the time, he had a reputation as a defender of the less fortunate and was often an arbitrator in disputes between the farmers and their landlord. As a result of these activities he acquired the nickname "Daddy" (Bat'ka). His other nickname—"Bulak"— became part of his surname. It means a man who is driven by the wind in the Belarusian language.
to the 2nd Leyb-Courland Infantry Regiment. However, unlike many of his colleagues who were awarded the basic NCO grades for their noble ancestry only, Bułak-Bałachowicz proved himself as a skilled field commander and was quickly promoted. By December 1914, only four months after he entered the army, he was given command over a group of Cossack
volunteers, of whom he formed a cavalry squadron. Together with the 2nd Cavalry Division he fought on the western front, most notably in the area of Sochaczew
near Warsaw
.
During the German summer offensive of 1915 Warsaw was taken by the Central Powers
and Bułak-Bałachowicz's unit was forced to retreat towards Latvia
.
On November 1915, Bułak-Bałachowicz was assigned to the special partisan regiment in Northern front headquarters as a squadron commander. His regiment under the command of colonel Punin L. was acting in the Riga
area. For their audacious actions partisans were nicknamed "deathknights".
His unit was formed of four cavalry platoons: one of Cossack light cavalry, one of hussars, one of uhlans and one of dragoons. Thanks to the versatile and flexible structure of his unit, Bułak-Bałachowicz managed to continue the fight behind the enemy lines until 1918.
For the German campaign Bułak-Bałachowicz was decorated with six orders and three soldier's Georgiev medals (2nd. 3rd, and 4th degree).
signed only two days before, the unit commanded by Bułak-Bałachowicz got engaged in a skirmish against a German unit near the village of Smolova. Although the enemy unit was severely defeated, forced to retreat and abandon its staff behind, Bułak-Bałachowicz was seriously wounded after being shot in the left lung. Transported to Saint Petersburg
, Bułak-Bałachowicz quickly recovered and rejoined with his brother, Józef Bułak-Bałachowicz. The latter got involved in the creation of a Polish cavalry detachment commanded by ensign Przysiecki. The Bolsheviks disbanded the unit soon after its formation, executed its commander and started to persecute its members. However, with a help of French military mission a Polish cavalry detachment was finally created and Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz became its commander. The new unit received Leon Trotsky
's recognition and was soon reinforced with non-Polish volunteers from all over Russia and was planned as a cavalry division of the Red Army
.
Soon after its creation, Bułak-Bałachowicz was ordered to quell the so-called Baron Korff Revolt in the area of the city of Luga. With his regiment (the unit was still not completely formed) he reached the area and pacified the peasant unrest without the use of force. He was immediately called in to Saint Petersburg by his superiors, but was afraid of being arrested. Because of that, Bułak-Bałachowicz with his cavalry regiment deserted and moved across the Bolshevik lines to the area of Pskov
, held by the joint forces of White Russian
Northern Army and various German anti-Bolshevik
units. Initially the unit fought against the Reds on the White side, but soon conflicts with the German officials arose and Bułak-Bałachowicz had to switch sides yet again. Together with his battle-hardened unit he disarmed the German units surrounding him and broke to the rear of the Red-held territory. From there he fought his way across the fronts to Estonia
, where he finally joined the forces of General Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich
's North-Western Army. A skilled commander, Bułak-Bałachowicz added greatly to the Estonian victories in the battles of Tartu
, Võru
, and Vastseliina
, and was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel.
On May 10, 1919, Bałachowicz was given the command over an assault group and was ordered to drive it to the rear of the Bolshevik lines. Three days later his forces took the town of Gdov
by surprise and on May 29 Bałachowicz entered Pskov
. For this action he was promoted to colonel by General Yudenich himself. Because of his victories, his subordinates (mostly Belarusian, Cossack, and Polish volunteers) nicknamed him ataman
, though some preferred to use the term Bat'ko - father.
Bułak-Bałachowicz became the military administrator of Pskov. He personally ceded most of his responsibilities to a democratically elected municipal duma
and focused on both cultural and economical recovery of the war-impoverished city. He also put an end to censorship of press and allowed for creation of several socialist
associations and newspapers, which enraged White generals towards him. Finally, Bułak-Bałachowicz entered in contact with Estonian officers and Poles who were trying to reach the renascent Polish Army, which was seen by Bałachowicz's superiors as a sign of lack of loyalty. After Pskov was yet again lost to the Bolsheviks in mid-July, general Yudenich ordered Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz to be arrested even though only a few days earlier he promoted him to major general (a move Yudenich undertook with hopes of appeasing Bułak-Bałachowicz and encouraging greater subordinance).
However, once again Bułak-Bałachowicz evaded being captured. He handed over his division to his brother Józef and, together with 20 of his friends, left for Estonian-controlled Ostrov. There he once again created a partisan unit. With 600 men he broke through the Red Army front and started to disrupt its supply lines. Despite Yudenich's hostility towards Bułak-Bałachowicz, the latter cooperated with White Russian units during their counter-offensive in the autumn of 1919. His unit captured the railway node in Porkhov
and broke the Pskov-Polotsk rail road, which added greatly to the White Russian's initial success. On November 5, 1919 his unit yet again entered the area between Pskov
and Ostrov and destroyed the three remaining railway lines linking Pskov with the rest of Russia. However, Yudenich's army could not link up with the areas controlled by Bułak-Bałachowicz and their assault was finally broken.
On January 22, 1920, general Yudenich signed an order of dissolution of his badly-beaten army. On January 28 general Bułak-Bałachowicz, together with several Russian officers and the Estonian police arrested him. A large amount of money was found with him (roughly 227.000 pounds
, 250.000 Estonian marks and 110.000.000 Finnish marks) was given to the soldiers of the disbanded army as a last salary, which greatly added to Bałachowicz's popularity amongst them.
and proposed to ally his unit with the Polish Army against the Bolshevist Russia. As the fame of the general preceded him, Piłsudski agreed and soon afterwards Bułak-Bałachowicz with some 800 cavalrymen set off for yet another of his great odysseys. After leaving Estonia, they outflanked the Red Russian lines and rode several hundred kilometres behind the enemy lines to Latvia, where they were allowed to pass through Latvian territory. Finally by mid-March they reached Dyneburg (now Daugavpils
, then under Polish military administration), where they were greeted as heroes by Józef Piłsudski himself.
Transferred to Brześć Litewski, the Bułak-Bałachowicz's unit was reformed into a Bułak-Bałachowicz Operational Group
, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Belarusian-Lithuanian Division. It was composed mostly of Belarusian volunteers, as well as veterans of the Green Army and former Red Army soldiers, and received the status of an allied army. Because of the composition of his troops, Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz is sometimes referred to as a Belarusian.
Formally independent, the division was one of the most successful units fighting in the ranks of the Polish Army during the Polish-Bolshevik War. The unit entered combat in late June 1920 in the area of Polesie Marshes. On June 30 Bułak-Bałachowicz once again broke through the enemy lines and captured the village of Sławeczno in today's Belarus, where the tabors of the Soviet 2nd Rifle Brigade were stationed. The enemy unit was caught by surprise and suffered heavy losses. On July 3 the enemy unit was completely surrounded in the village of Wieledniki and was annihilated. After that action, the Operational Group was withdrawn to the main lines of the Polish 3rd Army and after July 10 it defended the line of the Styr river against Red Army actions.
On July 23, during the Bolshevik offensive towards central Poland, general Bałachowicz's group started an organised retreat as a rear guard of the Polish 3rd Army. During that operation, Bułak-Bałachowicz abandoned the withdrawing Polish troops and stayed with his forces for several days behind the enemy lines only to break through to the Polish forces shortly afterwards. During the Battle of Warsaw
overnight of August 14 Bałachowicz's forces were ordered to start a counter-attack towards the town of Włodawa, one of the centres of concentration of the advancing Russian forces. On September 17 the area was secured and the Bułak-Bałachowicz's forces defended it successfully until September 7 against numerically superior enemy forces. Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz organised an active defence and managed to disrupt the concentration of all enemy attacks before they could be started. For instance on August 30 and September 2 his forces, supported by the Polish 7th Infantry Division
, managed to attack the Soviet 58th Rifle Division from the rear, before it could attack the town of Włodawa.
On September 15 the unit was yet again advancing in pursuit of the withdrawing Red Army. That day the unit captured Kamień Koszyrski, where it took more than 1000 prisoners of war and the matériel
depot of an entire division. During the Battle of the Niemen River
Bałachowicz's unit prevented the enemy from forming a defensive line in Polesie. Overnight of September 21 his unit outflanked and then destroyed completely the Bolshevist 88th Rifle Regiment near the town of Lubieszów. Perhaps the most notable victory of the Bułak-Bałachowicz's Group took place on September 26, when his forces took Pinsk
in the rear. The city was the most important rail road junction in the area and was planned as the last stand of the Bolshevik forces still fighting to the west of that city. According to a book published in 1943, after Bułak-Bałachowicz's troops entered Pinsk, they committed a series of pogroms on the Jewish population. There were hundreds of victims of rape and murder in Pinsk and in the vicinity.
after the Battle of Warsaw and volunteered for the service in anti-Bolshevik units. The unit was to re-enter combat in November, but on October 12 a cease fire was signed. On the insistence of both the Entente
and Bolshevik Russia, the allied units were to leave Poland before November 2. General Bułak-Bałachowicz was given the choice of either being interned in Poland with his units and then sent home or to continue the fight against the Reds on his own. He chose the latter option, just like most other White Russian and Ukrainian units fighting on the Polish side in the Polish-Bolshevik War.
On November 2, 1920, his units were renamed the Russian People's Volunteer Army and transferred to the areas that were to be abandoned by the Polish Army and become a no-man's-land until the final Russo-Polish peace treaty was signed. Three days later his forces crossed into Russian-held Belarus and started an offensive towards Homel. General Bułak-Bałachowicz was hoping for a Belarusian all-national uprising against Bolshevik Russia. His forces initially achieved a limited success and captured Homel and Rechytsa
. On November 10, 1920 Bułak-Bałachowicz entered Mozyr. There, two days later, he proclaimed the independence of Belarus and started forming a new Belarusian National Army. On November 16, 1920 he also created the Belarusian provisional government. However, the planned uprising gained little support in the Belarusian nation tired by six years of constant war and the Red Army finally gained an upper hand. On November 18, 1920 Bałachowicz abandoned Mozyr and started a withdrawal towards the Polish frontier. The Belarusian troops, hardened by the years spent behind the enemy lines, fought their way to Poland and managed to inflict heavy casualties on the advancing Russians while suffering negligible losses, but were too weak to turn the tide of war.
On November 28 the last organised unit under his command crossed the Polish border and was subsequently interned. The Russian government demanded that General Bułak-Bałachowicz be handed over to them and tried for high treason. The Riga Peace Conference
was even halted by these demands for several days, but eventually these claims were refuted by the Polish government which argued that Bułak-Bałachowicz was a Polish citizen since 1918.
had been signed, Bułak-Bałachowicz and his men were set free from the internment camps. The general retired from the army and settled in Warsaw. There he became an active member of various veteran societies. Among other functions, he held the post of the head of Society of Former Fighters of the National Uprisings. He was also a political essayist and writer of two books on the possibilities of a future war with Germany: "Wojna będzie czy nie będzie" (Will there be war or will there be not; 1931) and "Precz z Hitlerem czy niech żyje Hitler" (Down with Hitler
or long live Hitler?, 1933). Between 1936 and 1939 he served as an advisor to Franco
's nationalists in the Spanish Civil War
.
of 1939, Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz volunteered for the Polish army. He created a Volunteer Group that fought in the defence of Warsaw
. The unit consisted of approximately 1750 ill-equipped infantrymen and 250 cavalrymen. It was used on the southern flank of the Polish forces defending the Polish capital and adopted the tactics its commander knew perfectly well: fast attacks on the rear of the enemy forces. On September 12, 1939, the unit entered combat for the first time. It took the German defenders by surprise and retook the southernmost borough of Służew
and the Służewiec
horse track. Soon afterwards the cavalry organised a disrupting attack on the German infantry stationed in Natolin
. On September 23 the unit was transferred to northern Warsaw, where it was to organise an assault on the German positions in the Bielany
forest. The assault had been prepared, but was thwarted by the cease-fire signed on September 27.
After the capitulation of Warsaw, general Bułak-Bałachowicz (formally retired) evaded being captured by the Germans and returned to civilian life. At the same time he was the main organiser of Konfedracja Wojskowa (Military Confederation), one of the first underground resistance groups in German and Soviet-occupied Poland. In early 1940 the Gestapo
found out his whereabouts. He was surrounded with a group of young conspirators in a house in Warsaw's borough of Saska Kępa
and arrested by the Germans. According to the most common version, Bułak-Bałachowicz, was shot by Gestapo
agents on May 10, 1940, in the Warsaw centre, on the intersection between Francuska and Trzeciego Maja streets.
For his resistance against Bolshevik forces that killed local Belarusian peasantry, members of Belarusian minority in Poland regard him as their national hero
. Historians have often seen him to be an adventurer. His name is also associated with Jewish pogrom
s, which were routinely committed by his troops.
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
ian-Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
general, veteran of World War I, Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, Estonian War of Independence, Polish-Bolshevik War and the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
at the start of World War II.
Early life
Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz was born February 10, 1883 in Meyszty, a small village near VilniusVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Stanisław had two brothers and six sisters. His parents were servants to a local landlord.
Following Stanisław' birth, his father left the landlord's service and acquired a small estate in Stakavievo near Vilnius.
After attending an agricultural school for four years in Belmonty, Bułak-Bałachowicz worked as an accountant, and in 1904 became a manager at the Duke Plater farms in Horodziec and Łużki.
At the time, he had a reputation as a defender of the less fortunate and was often an arbitrator in disputes between the farmers and their landlord. As a result of these activities he acquired the nickname "Daddy" (Bat'ka). His other nickname—"Bulak"— became part of his surname. It means a man who is driven by the wind in the Belarusian language.
World War I
After the outbreak of the Great War and Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich Romanov's address to the Polish people, Bułak-Bałachowicz joined the Russian Imperial army. As a person of noble roots, he was drafted as an ensignEnsign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
to the 2nd Leyb-Courland Infantry Regiment. However, unlike many of his colleagues who were awarded the basic NCO grades for their noble ancestry only, Bułak-Bałachowicz proved himself as a skilled field commander and was quickly promoted. By December 1914, only four months after he entered the army, he was given command over a group of Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
volunteers, of whom he formed a cavalry squadron. Together with the 2nd Cavalry Division he fought on the western front, most notably in the area of Sochaczew
Sochaczew
Sochaczew is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Skierniewice Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sochaczew County....
near Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
During the German summer offensive of 1915 Warsaw was taken by the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
and Bułak-Bałachowicz's unit was forced to retreat towards Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
.
On November 1915, Bułak-Bałachowicz was assigned to the special partisan regiment in Northern front headquarters as a squadron commander. His regiment under the command of colonel Punin L. was acting in the Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
area. For their audacious actions partisans were nicknamed "deathknights".
His unit was formed of four cavalry platoons: one of Cossack light cavalry, one of hussars, one of uhlans and one of dragoons. Thanks to the versatile and flexible structure of his unit, Bułak-Bałachowicz managed to continue the fight behind the enemy lines until 1918.
For the German campaign Bułak-Bałachowicz was decorated with six orders and three soldier's Georgiev medals (2nd. 3rd, and 4th degree).
Russian Civil War
On March 5, 1918, unaware of the Treaty of Brest-LitovskTreaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...
signed only two days before, the unit commanded by Bułak-Bałachowicz got engaged in a skirmish against a German unit near the village of Smolova. Although the enemy unit was severely defeated, forced to retreat and abandon its staff behind, Bułak-Bałachowicz was seriously wounded after being shot in the left lung. Transported to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Bułak-Bałachowicz quickly recovered and rejoined with his brother, Józef Bułak-Bałachowicz. The latter got involved in the creation of a Polish cavalry detachment commanded by ensign Przysiecki. The Bolsheviks disbanded the unit soon after its formation, executed its commander and started to persecute its members. However, with a help of French military mission a Polish cavalry detachment was finally created and Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz became its commander. The new unit received Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
's recognition and was soon reinforced with non-Polish volunteers from all over Russia and was planned as a cavalry division of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
Soon after its creation, Bułak-Bałachowicz was ordered to quell the so-called Baron Korff Revolt in the area of the city of Luga. With his regiment (the unit was still not completely formed) he reached the area and pacified the peasant unrest without the use of force. He was immediately called in to Saint Petersburg by his superiors, but was afraid of being arrested. Because of that, Bułak-Bałachowicz with his cavalry regiment deserted and moved across the Bolshevik lines to the area of Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
, held by the joint forces of White Russian
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
Northern Army and various German anti-Bolshevik
Anti-bolshevism
Anti-bolshevism has two principal forms:* Anti-bolshevik Anti-communism* Anti-Bolshevik Communism...
units. Initially the unit fought against the Reds on the White side, but soon conflicts with the German officials arose and Bułak-Bałachowicz had to switch sides yet again. Together with his battle-hardened unit he disarmed the German units surrounding him and broke to the rear of the Red-held territory. From there he fought his way across the fronts to Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, where he finally joined the forces of General Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich
Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich
Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich , was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War.-Early life:...
's North-Western Army. A skilled commander, Bułak-Bałachowicz added greatly to the Estonian victories in the battles of Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
, Võru
Võru
Võru is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish.-History:Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the order of Riga Governor general count George Browne, on the...
, and Vastseliina
Vastseliina
Vastseliina is a small borough in Vastseliina Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia.Vastseliina is the birthplace of wrestler and 1924 Olympic Gold Medalist Eduard Pütsep....
, and was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel.
On May 10, 1919, Bałachowicz was given the command over an assault group and was ordered to drive it to the rear of the Bolshevik lines. Three days later his forces took the town of Gdov
Gdov
Gdov is a town and the administrative center of Gdovsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Gdovka River, just from its outflow into Lake Peipus. Population:...
by surprise and on May 29 Bałachowicz entered Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
. For this action he was promoted to colonel by General Yudenich himself. Because of his victories, his subordinates (mostly Belarusian, Cossack, and Polish volunteers) nicknamed him ataman
Ataman
Ataman was a commander title of the Ukrainian People's Army, Cossack, and haidamak leaders, who were in essence the Cossacks...
, though some preferred to use the term Bat'ko - father.
Bułak-Bałachowicz became the military administrator of Pskov. He personally ceded most of his responsibilities to a democratically elected municipal duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
and focused on both cultural and economical recovery of the war-impoverished city. He also put an end to censorship of press and allowed for creation of several socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
associations and newspapers, which enraged White generals towards him. Finally, Bułak-Bałachowicz entered in contact with Estonian officers and Poles who were trying to reach the renascent Polish Army, which was seen by Bałachowicz's superiors as a sign of lack of loyalty. After Pskov was yet again lost to the Bolsheviks in mid-July, general Yudenich ordered Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz to be arrested even though only a few days earlier he promoted him to major general (a move Yudenich undertook with hopes of appeasing Bułak-Bałachowicz and encouraging greater subordinance).
However, once again Bułak-Bałachowicz evaded being captured. He handed over his division to his brother Józef and, together with 20 of his friends, left for Estonian-controlled Ostrov. There he once again created a partisan unit. With 600 men he broke through the Red Army front and started to disrupt its supply lines. Despite Yudenich's hostility towards Bułak-Bałachowicz, the latter cooperated with White Russian units during their counter-offensive in the autumn of 1919. His unit captured the railway node in Porkhov
Porkhov
Porkhov is a town and the administrative center of Porkhovsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Shelon River, east of Pskov. Population:...
and broke the Pskov-Polotsk rail road, which added greatly to the White Russian's initial success. On November 5, 1919 his unit yet again entered the area between Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
and Ostrov and destroyed the three remaining railway lines linking Pskov with the rest of Russia. However, Yudenich's army could not link up with the areas controlled by Bułak-Bałachowicz and their assault was finally broken.
On January 22, 1920, general Yudenich signed an order of dissolution of his badly-beaten army. On January 28 general Bułak-Bałachowicz, together with several Russian officers and the Estonian police arrested him. A large amount of money was found with him (roughly 227.000 pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
, 250.000 Estonian marks and 110.000.000 Finnish marks) was given to the soldiers of the disbanded army as a last salary, which greatly added to Bałachowicz's popularity amongst them.
Polish-Bolshevik War
In February 1920 Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz contacted Józef Piłsudski through the Polish envoy to RigaRiga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
and proposed to ally his unit with the Polish Army against the Bolshevist Russia. As the fame of the general preceded him, Piłsudski agreed and soon afterwards Bułak-Bałachowicz with some 800 cavalrymen set off for yet another of his great odysseys. After leaving Estonia, they outflanked the Red Russian lines and rode several hundred kilometres behind the enemy lines to Latvia, where they were allowed to pass through Latvian territory. Finally by mid-March they reached Dyneburg (now Daugavpils
Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
, then under Polish military administration), where they were greeted as heroes by Józef Piłsudski himself.
Operational Group
Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size....
, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Belarusian-Lithuanian Division. It was composed mostly of Belarusian volunteers, as well as veterans of the Green Army and former Red Army soldiers, and received the status of an allied army. Because of the composition of his troops, Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz is sometimes referred to as a Belarusian.
Formally independent, the division was one of the most successful units fighting in the ranks of the Polish Army during the Polish-Bolshevik War. The unit entered combat in late June 1920 in the area of Polesie Marshes. On June 30 Bułak-Bałachowicz once again broke through the enemy lines and captured the village of Sławeczno in today's Belarus, where the tabors of the Soviet 2nd Rifle Brigade were stationed. The enemy unit was caught by surprise and suffered heavy losses. On July 3 the enemy unit was completely surrounded in the village of Wieledniki and was annihilated. After that action, the Operational Group was withdrawn to the main lines of the Polish 3rd Army and after July 10 it defended the line of the Styr river against Red Army actions.
On July 23, during the Bolshevik offensive towards central Poland, general Bałachowicz's group started an organised retreat as a rear guard of the Polish 3rd Army. During that operation, Bułak-Bałachowicz abandoned the withdrawing Polish troops and stayed with his forces for several days behind the enemy lines only to break through to the Polish forces shortly afterwards. During the Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
overnight of August 14 Bałachowicz's forces were ordered to start a counter-attack towards the town of Włodawa, one of the centres of concentration of the advancing Russian forces. On September 17 the area was secured and the Bułak-Bałachowicz's forces defended it successfully until September 7 against numerically superior enemy forces. Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz organised an active defence and managed to disrupt the concentration of all enemy attacks before they could be started. For instance on August 30 and September 2 his forces, supported by the Polish 7th Infantry Division
Polish 7th Infantry Division
The 7th Infantry Division was the name of several units of the Polish Army.The original division was formed in 1918 and took part in shielding the Polish borders during the Polish-Ukrainian War. During the Polish-Bolshevik War it was commanded by Col. Szubert and reinforced to three brigades...
, managed to attack the Soviet 58th Rifle Division from the rear, before it could attack the town of Włodawa.
On September 15 the unit was yet again advancing in pursuit of the withdrawing Red Army. That day the unit captured Kamień Koszyrski, where it took more than 1000 prisoners of war and the matériel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
depot of an entire division. During the Battle of the Niemen River
Battle of the Niemen River
The Battle of the Niemen River was the second-greatest battle of the Polish-Soviet War. It took place near the middle Neman River between the cities of Suwałki, Grodno and Białystok...
Bałachowicz's unit prevented the enemy from forming a defensive line in Polesie. Overnight of September 21 his unit outflanked and then destroyed completely the Bolshevist 88th Rifle Regiment near the town of Lubieszów. Perhaps the most notable victory of the Bułak-Bałachowicz's Group took place on September 26, when his forces took Pinsk
Pinsk
Pinsk , a town in Belarus, in the Polesia region, traversed by the river Pripyat, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk. It is a fertile agricultural center. It lies south-west of Minsk. The population is about 130,000...
in the rear. The city was the most important rail road junction in the area and was planned as the last stand of the Bolshevik forces still fighting to the west of that city. According to a book published in 1943, after Bułak-Bałachowicz's troops entered Pinsk, they committed a series of pogroms on the Jewish population. There were hundreds of victims of rape and murder in Pinsk and in the vicinity.
Failed uprising in Belarus
In October Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz was stationed with his forces in Pinsk, where they received supplies and a large amount of former Red Army soldiers who were taken prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
after the Battle of Warsaw and volunteered for the service in anti-Bolshevik units. The unit was to re-enter combat in November, but on October 12 a cease fire was signed. On the insistence of both the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
and Bolshevik Russia, the allied units were to leave Poland before November 2. General Bułak-Bałachowicz was given the choice of either being interned in Poland with his units and then sent home or to continue the fight against the Reds on his own. He chose the latter option, just like most other White Russian and Ukrainian units fighting on the Polish side in the Polish-Bolshevik War.
Rechytsa
Rechytsa is a town in the Homiel Province of Belarus. It is center of Rechytsa Raion. The city is situated at the mouth of Rechitsa river, flowing into Dnieper. The population is 65,532 as of 2005.-History:...
. On November 10, 1920 Bułak-Bałachowicz entered Mozyr. There, two days later, he proclaimed the independence of Belarus and started forming a new Belarusian National Army. On November 16, 1920 he also created the Belarusian provisional government. However, the planned uprising gained little support in the Belarusian nation tired by six years of constant war and the Red Army finally gained an upper hand. On November 18, 1920 Bałachowicz abandoned Mozyr and started a withdrawal towards the Polish frontier. The Belarusian troops, hardened by the years spent behind the enemy lines, fought their way to Poland and managed to inflict heavy casualties on the advancing Russians while suffering negligible losses, but were too weak to turn the tide of war.
On November 28 the last organised unit under his command crossed the Polish border and was subsequently interned. The Russian government demanded that General Bułak-Bałachowicz be handed over to them and tried for high treason. The Riga Peace Conference
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
was even halted by these demands for several days, but eventually these claims were refuted by the Polish government which argued that Bułak-Bałachowicz was a Polish citizen since 1918.
Interbellum
Shortly after the Riga Peace TreatyPeace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
had been signed, Bułak-Bałachowicz and his men were set free from the internment camps. The general retired from the army and settled in Warsaw. There he became an active member of various veteran societies. Among other functions, he held the post of the head of Society of Former Fighters of the National Uprisings. He was also a political essayist and writer of two books on the possibilities of a future war with Germany: "Wojna będzie czy nie będzie" (Will there be war or will there be not; 1931) and "Precz z Hitlerem czy niech żyje Hitler" (Down with Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
or long live Hitler?, 1933). Between 1936 and 1939 he served as an advisor to Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's nationalists in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
World War II
During the Polish Defensive WarInvasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
of 1939, Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz volunteered for the Polish army. He created a Volunteer Group that fought in the defence of Warsaw
Siege of Warsaw (1939)
The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the German Army...
. The unit consisted of approximately 1750 ill-equipped infantrymen and 250 cavalrymen. It was used on the southern flank of the Polish forces defending the Polish capital and adopted the tactics its commander knew perfectly well: fast attacks on the rear of the enemy forces. On September 12, 1939, the unit entered combat for the first time. It took the German defenders by surprise and retook the southernmost borough of Służew
Sluzew
Służew is a neighborhood in Mokotów district of Warsaw, Poland....
and the Służewiec
Sluzewiec
Służewiec is a neighborhood in Mokotów district of Warsaw, Poland....
horse track. Soon afterwards the cavalry organised a disrupting attack on the German infantry stationed in Natolin
Natolin
Natolin is a historic park and nature reserve on the southern edge of Warsaw, Poland. "Natolin" is also the name of a neighborhood located to the west of the park — a part of Warsaw's southernmost Ursynów district....
. On September 23 the unit was transferred to northern Warsaw, where it was to organise an assault on the German positions in the Bielany
Bielany
Bielany is a district in Warsaw located in the north-western part of the city.Initially a part of Żoliborz, Bielany has been an independent district since 1994. Bielany borders Żoliborz to the south-east, and Bemowo to the south-west...
forest. The assault had been prepared, but was thwarted by the cease-fire signed on September 27.
After the capitulation of Warsaw, general Bułak-Bałachowicz (formally retired) evaded being captured by the Germans and returned to civilian life. At the same time he was the main organiser of Konfedracja Wojskowa (Military Confederation), one of the first underground resistance groups in German and Soviet-occupied Poland. In early 1940 the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
found out his whereabouts. He was surrounded with a group of young conspirators in a house in Warsaw's borough of Saska Kępa
Saska Kepa
Saska Kępa is a neighbourhood in Warsaw, Poland, currently part of Praga Południe district. It is a seat of Park Skaryszewski-History:In the 17th century one of areas of present Praga Południe was turned into a military camp...
and arrested by the Germans. According to the most common version, Bułak-Bałachowicz, was shot by Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
agents on May 10, 1940, in the Warsaw centre, on the intersection between Francuska and Trzeciego Maja streets.
For his resistance against Bolshevik forces that killed local Belarusian peasantry, members of Belarusian minority in Poland regard him as their national hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
. Historians have often seen him to be an adventurer. His name is also associated with Jewish pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s, which were routinely committed by his troops.
Honours and awards
- Cross of St. GeorgeCross of St. Georgethumb|Original Cross of St. George.Ist and 2nd class were in gold.The Cross of St. George ', or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St. George....
, 4th class - Medal of St. George, 4th class
- Cross of Valour (Poland)
- Cross of Valour of the Bułak-Bałachowicza Army