Lietuvos kariuomenės gudų kariniai daliniai 1918-1923 m.

LTMonografijos autoriaus tikslas - naudojantis visais prieinamais šaltiniais, tiek spausdintais, tiek archyviniais, pasitelkus jų bibliografijos analizės, aprašomąjį ir sintezės metodus, pateikti skaitytojui kuo išsamesnę Lietuvos kariuomenės gudų karinių dalinių istoriją, parodyti, kokiomis sudėtingomis sąlygomis jie buvo organizuojami ir veikė, jų indėlį į kovą dėl Lietuvos laisvės ir nepriklausomybės. [Iš Įvado]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Kariniai daliniai; Gudai; Lietuvos kariuomenė; Nepriklausomybės karai; Military units; Belarusians; Lithuanian army; Wars of Independence.

ENWhen at the beginning of 1918 the conditions became favourable, Lithuanians and Belarusians started establishing their states. Unfortunately, the Belarusian People's Republic was quickly eliminated by the Bolsheviks, thus prompting Lithuanians to create their state including the Belarusian-populated territories. As the Belarusian political leaders no longer saw a chance to have an independent state, they volunteered to establish a united state with Lithuania. The proposal was positively accepted and the allies started forming their armed forces, i.e. one of the key state attributes, following the principle of parity. The Lithuanian and Belarusian military units were formed under the command of the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania. In the period from 1918 to the middle of 1923, the Belarusian military units, the formation of which started with the First Baltgudžiai Infantry Regiment, underwent different transformations. Depending on the military and political circumstances of that time, some Belarusian units were replaced by others, changed their names and sizes; nevertheless, their history was consistent from the very establishment in Vilnius to the middle of 1923 when it was decided to withdraw the Belarusian national units from the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The formation of the First Baltgudžiai Infantry Regiment started on 1 December 1918 in Vilnius and later in Grodno. It required much effort and sacrifice as the circumstances were very difficult due to German and later Polish occupations. The regiment quickly grew and developed; however, its formation was interrupted in April 1919 when Grodno was occupied by the Poles and at the beginning of June the regiment was disbanded. The reason why it did not accomplish its mission and was not used in the fights for freedom and independence of Lithuania was not only the circumstances forcing the regiment to be left in the Polish-occupied territory.It was largely the fault of the authorities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the regiment. One of the biggest mistakes made by the then Minister of National Defence Officer Antanas Merkys and military authorities was to leave the regiment in Grodno although it was obvious that the Poles would invade the town. And even when they did and the commandant of Grodno Fortress ordered the regiment to retreat, the order was disobeyed and the regiment remained in Grodno consequently leading to its final abolition. The Polish military authorities also made some mistakes when reforming the First Baltgudžiai Infantry Regiment. Their hostile actions against the Belarusian servicemen and attempts to affiliate them to the Polish units resulted in a failure and the relationship between the Poles and Belarussians were ruined for a long time. At the very beginning of 1919, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania was transferred from Vilnius to Kaunas and the Minister of Belarusian Affairs Juzefas Varonkas was moved to Grodno. As the regiment was directly subordinate to the minister, he attempted to take over its leadership by establishing the Military Office. Although the step was rational, the lack of financial support and appropriate personnel prevented the office from actual functioning and when Antanas Merkys was appointed the Minister of National Defence, his impact on the Belarusian units was limited to a minimum. To control the situation in Grodno and the surrounding areas and recruit volunteers to the regiment, the Military Commandant’s Office was established in Grodno on 1 February 1919. The office was led by officer Nikolai Demidov. The officers at the Military Commandant's Office were very active and professional from the very beginning and thus soon became a driving force in Grodno. With a full battalion, hussar squadron and teams of grenadiers and machine-gunners, the office became a well-trained and armed unit.No surprise that when the Poles occupied Grodno, their first demand was to shut down the office. Having lost Grodno, the Belarussian military unit formation center was moved to the Belarusian Military Office in Kaunas. The office was led by a vigorous officer Vitalij Kozlov, who succeeded in task performance and throughout his leadership period more than thousand volunteers and mobilized soldiers joined the Belarusian units. He formed two separate companies that in November 1919 were combined into a battalion known for fierce fights with the Soviet Army in the northeastern parts of Lithuania and Daugavpils Front in Latvia. However, the battalion existed only till the end of March 1920. The elimination of Baltgudžiai Battalion was determined by its inaccurate formation, poor discipline, damages to the residents made by soldiers, encounters with the Soviet Army, etc. Nevertheless, the decision was mainly shaped by political circumstances. Due to the deteriorated relations between Lithuanians and Belarusians in February 1920 along with other reasons, the Lithuanian military authorities decided to reduce the number of the Belarusian soldiers. Some of them were demobilized, while others formed a separate Baltgudžiai Company on 1 April 1920. In the summer of 1920, the political situation changed and Lithuania regained Vilnius and some eastern territories. Also, it was decided to increase the number of Belarusian soldiers and form a separate Baltgudžiai Infantry Battalion. Its formation began on 27 September 1920 in Vilnius and continued in Kaunas on 8 October 1920. Since March 1921, the battalion guarded the demarcation line with Poland. The unit did not differ from the rest Lithuanian military units celebrating its achievements and dealing with problems. In March 1923, the battalion was reformed to a separate Baltgudžiai Company again. [Extract, p. 281-283]