Przygotowania armii duńskiej do udziału w plebiscycie na terenie Wileńszczyzny w 1920 r.

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Danija (Denmark); Demarkacijos linija; Lenkija (Lenkijos karalystė. Kingdom of Poland. Poland); Lenkų-lietuvių santykiai; Plebiscitas; Politinė istorija; Vilnius; Danish Army; Demarcation Line; Plebiscite; Polish-Lithuanian Conflict; Political history; Vilnius in 1920: Lithuania.

ENPoland and Lithuania, renascent in 1918, faced the problem of regulating mutual relations. Talks initiated in 1918 ended in a fiasco. The obstacles included the demarcation of a frontier between the two states and bilateral relations. In April 1919 the absence of an agreement led to the occupation of Wilno by the Polish Army, a move opposed by the Lithuanians who embarked upon an attempt at resolving the controversy with the assistance of the Paris Peace Conference. Polish defeats at the time of Polish–Bolshevik war resulted in the Lithuanian forces occupying large territories. This, in turn, inclined the Polish government to complain to the League of Nations. Seeking a solution, on 28 October 1920 the Council of the League of Nations decided to hold a plebiscite. In order to guarantee a proper course of the plebiscite, the controversial territory was to welcome international truce forces, a total of about 1500 men: contingents from the UK, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The decision concerning the Danish detachment was made on 4 December 1920. The commander of the hundred soldiers was Captain C. H. Jørgensen. At the beginning of December 1920 work was initiated on outfitting the detachment. Despite the absence of a clear–cut situation concerning the term of the plebiscite, the detachment was created and at the beginning of May 1921 the company started training. The lack of interest in the plebiscite on the Polish and Lithuanian side resulted in the League of Nations resigning from this particular form of settlement of the dispute in favour of direct negotiations. The Danish company was dissolved. The affiliation of the region of Wilno to Poland was ultimately resolved by a “mutiny” of detachments under General L. Żeligowski, the creation of so-called Central Lithuania, and a decision passed by the Wilno Sejm to incorporate the region into the Republic of Poland. [From the publication]