The Russo-Polish War

In spite of Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations, the years between the two World Wars were anything but peaceful. By August, 1920, hostilities between Poland and Soviet Russia had been flaring up for a year and a half; Poland sought to annex Ukraine and establish mutual defense arrangements with the Baltic states against Russia and Germany, while the Soviets wanted to push their revolution through Poland ―На Запад!  ―into Central and Western Europe.

"Another Case of the Bald-Headed Barber" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, ca. August, 1920

Polish and Ukrainian nationalist forces occupied Kiev on May 7, but were beaten back by the Soviet army thereafter. The Soviets could almost taste victory, foreseeing an easy march "over the corpse of Poland" to Berlin, Paris and London.

Detail from "Cartoons of the Day" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, ca. Aug. 19, 1920

Once Russian armies pressed into Poland, the U.S., British and French governments threatened to come to Poland's defense if Russia didn't cease fire and come to the western powers' negotiating table. The western powers, however, had no domestic support whatsoever for another war, so Russia said thanks but no thanks. Confident of defeating the Poles, Russia would negotiate only with its sure-to-be-vanquished foe.

"Die Polenschlacht" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderatatsch, Berlin, August 15, 1920

Then, in August, the tide of battle turned again.

"They Met with the First Obstacle..." by Dorman Smith in Des Moines News, Aug., 1920

Polish military intelligence cracked the code the Soviet army was using, and were able to counter the Russians' planned attacks. The surprised Russians retreated in chaos. 

"Stung" by Sam Armstrong in Tacoma News-Tribune, August, 1920

As Polish advances continued into September (and into Belarus), Lenin sued for peace. 

"Maybe I Can Get Better Terms Now" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, August 21, 1920

Poland successfully defended its territory, but by the same token, the Soviets repulsed Polish advances into Russian territory. The Treaty of Riga awarded Poland territory in what is now Lithuania (including Vilnius), Belorus (within spitting distance of Minsk) and western Ukraine. In addition to souring relations with Lithuania, by reaching a separate treaty with Russia, Poland broke its military alliance with Ukraine. 

By thus alienating its neighbors, Poland in victory sowed the seeds of its own defeat at the outset of the next World War.

"The Inseparables" by David Low in The Sun, London, by August, 1920

I won't leap ahead to "Rendezvous," David Low's famous cartoon about the 1939 partition of Poland, but here's one from 1920. Low here has adopted the style for which he is best remembered.

And before I sign off for today, one note about Dorman H. Smith's cartoon. It appeared in Cartoons Magazine wrongly attributed to R. O. Evans of the Baltimore Sun. Biographical information about Smith states that he sold his first drawing at the age of 17 — that would have been in 1909 or 1910 — and that the Newspaper Enterprise Association started syndicating his cartoons in 1921. In the December, 1920 issue, the cut line under another Dorman Smith cartoon in an advertisement for the Landon Course of Cartooning (page 6) states that it appeared in the Des Moines News; The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons by Maurice Horn also states that Smith drew for the Des Moines News from 1919 to 1921.