Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919

The newly-formed Red Army was growing in personnel, and Vladimir Lenin could gather enough strength to replace withdrawing Western curtain forces ("Западная завеса") by solid military and re-take the lands lost by Russia in 1917 by simply following the withdrawing German army. Upon receiving the news about the German Revolution, on November 13, 1918, the Soviet government annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and issued orders to the Red Army to move in the direction of Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic States in order to establish Soviet governments there. The newly-formed (on November 16) Western Army moved at night of November 17, 1918, into the operational vacuum created by the withdrawing Imperial German Army. This move, in the general direction of Belarus, Ukraine and Poland (parts of the latter within Imperial Russia were referred to as "Privislinsky Krai" ), according to N. Davies, was code-named "Target-Vistula".

The offensive in the Vistula River direction by the newly-formed Western Army had the aim of establishing similar Soviet governments in Belarus, Ukraine and Poland and to drive as far west as possible in order to join up with the German Revolution and to ignite the world revolution.

After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Bolshevik Russia lost the European lands it annexed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of today's Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic states were granted to the government of Germany, which in turn decided to grant these states limited independence as buffer states. However, the German defeat on the Western Front and the internal dissolution of Austria-Hungary made the plans for the creation of Mitteleuropa obsolete.

In November and December, the German army started a retreat westwards. Demoralised officers and mutinous soldiers abandoned their garrisons en masse and returned home. The areas abandoned by the Central Powers became a field of conflict between local puppet governments created by Germany as part of its plans, local nationalist governments that sprung up after the withdrawal of the German forces, Poland, and the Bolsheviks wanting to incorporate these areas into Soviet Russia. Belarusian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and even Cossack national governments were formed. Internal power struggles prevented any of the governments in Belarus from gaining lasting power. In Ukraine the situation was even more complex, with an ongoing conflict between Nestor Makhno's anarchists, communists, the White Movement, various governments of Ukraine and the reborn Polish Army. The entire region abandoned by the German forces became a gigantic free-for-all theatre, where dozens of factions competed for power.

The Bolsheviks were also implementing a new strategy, "Revolution from abroad" (Revolutsiya izvne—literally, "revolution from the outside"), based on an assumption that revolutionary masses desire revolution but are unable to carry it out without help from more organized and advanced Bolsheviks. Hence, as Leon Trotsky remarked, the revolution should be "brought on the bayonets" (of the Red Army), as "through Kiev leads the straight route for uniting with the Austro-Hungarian revolution, just as through Pskov and Vilnius goes the way for uniting with the German revolution. Offensive on all fronts! Offensive on the west front, offensive on the south front, offensive on the all revolutionary fronts!". The concept was developed in 1918 but officially published under that name first in 1920 (Wojennaja Mysl i Riewolucija, 3/1920, Mikhail Tukhachevsky.[4]

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  Territories occupied by Germany during 1918
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  Estonian and Soviet operations in Estonia and Latvia, 1918–19
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  Soviet operations in Southeast Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belorussia in 1918–19
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  Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish counterattacks
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  Polish-Ukrainian front and Polish-Soviet front as forming in February 1919

The Estonian and the Polish Armies proved to be far more capable opponents than the Red Army had assumed. The Pskov Offensive of the Estonian Army's Petseri Battle Group captured Pskov on 25 May 1919, destroyed the Estonian Red Riflemen units in the process, and expelled all other Soviet forces from the territory between Estonia and the Velikaya River. The 7th and 15th Red Armies began a counteroffensive in Ingria and in the north of Pskov in July 1919, which regained most of the lost territories of Petrograd and Pskov regions. With weapons provided by Britain and France and operational support by the Estonian Army and the Royal Navy, the White Russian Northwestern Army began Offensive White Sword on 28 September 1919 with the aim of capturing Petrograd. The Northwestern Army approached to within 16 kilometres (10 mi) of the city, but the 7th Red Army repulsed the White Russian troops, driving them back into Estonia.[6]

Although the orders for the "Target Vistula" operation were never withdrawn, the Soviet plans were soon made obsolete by growing Polish resistance and eventually by the Polish counter-offensive in April. Unable to accomplish their objectives, the Red Army withdrew from their positions and started a reorganisation. The Polish-Soviet War had begun.

A comprehensive historical analysis of the campaign against Poland was performed by Norman Davies in his book White Eagle, Red Star (1972). Davies mentioned the codename for this offensive: "Target Vistula"; however, it is not commonly used in historiography.

Norman Davies in his book claims that "Target Vistula" ("Цель – Висла" or similar) was the Soviet codename of the offensive. This term, however, is mostly absent in Polish and Soviet historiography of the period. In that association, one may notice the title "An Expedition beyond Vistula" (Pokhod za Vislu) of Tukhachevsky's memoirs about his Polish campaign. Other translations of the offensive include Operation Vistula (from Polish Operacja Wisła).[13] Please notice that the term "Operation Vistula" commonly refers to a totally different event.

• Davies, Norman (2003) [1972]. White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20 (First ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc. ISBN 0-7126-0694-7.
• Pilsudski, Jozef (1972). Year 1920 and its climax Battle of Warsaw during the Polish Soviet war 1919-1920.
• Neiberg, M.S.; Jordan, D. (2008). The Eastern Front 1914-1920. ISBN 978-1-906626-00-6.
• Thomas, Nigel; Boltowsky, Toomas (2019). Armies of the Baltic Independence Wars 1918–20. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472830791.