Polish–Lithuanian Neutral Strip was a

demilitarised zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

between

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

Republic of Central Lithuania The Republic of Central Lithuania (, ), commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania (, , ), was an unrecognized short-lived puppet state of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after ...

, and later

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, that was established on 17 December 1920, following the

treaty of Kaunas A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

and disestablished on 22 May 1923. It was established by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, to stop countries from fighting, following the

Central Lithuanian Offensive on Kaunas The Central Lithuanian offensive of November 1920 was a military offensive of the Republic of Central Lithuania, led by General Lucjan Żeligowski, on the territories of Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940), Lithuania, that took place in November ...

. The zone was located on the borders of the separated countries between towns of

Pabradė Pabradė (; ; ''Podbrodz'') is a city in eastern Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on the Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys. Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius–Daugavpils railway is close to the city. ...

and

Valkininkai Valkininkai () is a historic town in (Valkininkai) Elderships of Lithuania, eldership, Varėna District Municipality, Alytus County, Lithuania, located about northeast from Varėna and about southwest from Vilnius. At the Lithuanian census of 2 ...

and was, on average, 6 km wide on each side of the border.''Demilitaryzacja i neutralizacja – formy i funkcje w prawie międzynarodowym'' in ''Międzynarodowe Prawo Humanitarne'', vol. 1. 2010. ISSN 2081-5182, p. 63–81.

History

It was a

, with the presence of the military forces and installations forbidden within its area. The entrance to the zone had only police forces, that however failed to keep the order within it. The zone was dominated by Polish-speaking population. In the area was organised the propaganda operation targeted to Polish-speakers, as the

were preparing the

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

that would determine whether the population of

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

wanted to live in Lithuania and Poland. The plebiscite however had never happened. In the zone operated various Lithuanian and Polish militias. Lithuanian militias organized attacks on Polish-speaking inhabitants, including attacks on 24 April 1922 and 5 January 23. Following the attacks, Poland demanded the abolition of the zone. On the southernmost Lithuanian part of the zone operated the self-proclaimed Warwiszki Government, a resistance movement operating in Varviškė and neighboring villages, formed on 20 February 1920 as self-defense forces of the local Polish-speaking inhabitants from attacks of Lithuanian militias. The body eventually started acting as a rebel state fighting against the Lithuanian rule of the region and aiming to the preservation of Polish governance in the region and possible reunification with Poland. During its existence, Lithuanian militias backed by the army and police attempted several times to dissolve the local government. The self-proclaimed state was eventually dissolved on 22 May 1923, after the Lithuanian army attacked and raided the villages of , and . The fights in the neutral zone had affected vies of the local population on their national identity. While before that, a huge portion of local Polish-speakers identified themselves as Lithuanians, in the meaning of inhabitants of

, after the events, the population had shifted to identify themselves as either

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

, as members of the

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s.''Litwomani i polonizatorzy'' by Krzysztof Buchowski. Białystok. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku. 2006. ISBN 978-83-7431-075-8, OCLC 830808275.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polish-Lithuanian Neutral Strip Border barriers Demilitarized zones Lithuania–Poland border 1920 establishments in Poland 1920 establishments in Lithuania 1923 disestablishments in Poland 1923 disestablishments in Lithuania Republic of Central Lithuania

History

See also

Notes

References