The Vilna offensive was a campaign of the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. The Polish army launched an offensive on April 16, 1919, to take Vilnius from the Red Army. After three days of street fighting from April 19–21, the city was captured by Polish forces, causing the Red Army to retreat. During the offensive, the Poles also succeeded in securing the nearby cities of Lida, Pinsk, Navahrudak, and Baranovichi.
Polish Army enters Vilnius (Wilno), 1919.
Battle of Vilnius and related operations.
Polish Army badge commemorating the fighting over Wilno in the spring of 1919
Victory parade of Polish Army in Wilno (Vilnius) Cathedral Square, in April 1919
The Polish–Soviet War was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic before it became a union republic in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, on territories which were previously held by the Russian Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy following the Partitions of Poland.
Top left: Polish FT-17 tanks of the 1st Tank Regiment during the Battle of Dyneburg, January 1920 Below left: Polish troops enter Kiev, May 1920 Top right: Polish Schwarzlose M.07/12 machine gun nest during the Battle of Radzymin, August 1920 Middle: Polish defences with a M1895/14 machine gun position near Miłosna, during the Battle of Warsaw, August 1920 Bottom left: Russian prisoners following the Battle of Warsaw Bottom right: Polish defences in Belarus during the
Vladimir Lenin in 1919
Józef Piłsudski in 1919
General Józef Haller swearing for the Polish flag when he was nominated to command the Blue Army