The ‘stab in the back’ that wasn’t: Why Stalin sent the Red Army into Poland

As Germany destroyed Poland in 1939, the USSR faced a choice between intervention and allowing Hitler to move farther east On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops crossed into eastern Poland.

By that time, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was about to collapse under the assault of Nazi forces.

Soon, the Soviet military moved westward to meet the advancing Germans.

Moscow and Berlin established a demarcation line according to which the USSR acquired parts of eastern Poland.

Today, these territories belong to Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania.

This event still sparks debates both in Russia and Europe, and particularly in Poland.

In Ukraine and Lithuania, political discourse has taken a surprising turn, suggesting that while the USSR was the aggressor state that invaded Poland on September 17, neither Ukraine nor Lithuania will yield any territory that they gained as a result of this aggression.

For Lithuania, the situation is quite ironic, since it acquired its capital, Vilnius, precisely as a result of the Red Army’s Polish campaign.

Any commentary on this event provokes an intense and painful reaction from all sides that consider themselves victims of it.

Nevertheless, it is essential to examine the circumstances surrounding the Soviet army’s invasion of Poland.

For Russians, who lost countless lives during the Second World War, this topic is particularly sensitive; but the same holds true for Poles, who suffered comparable losses relative to their population size, and for Belarusians and Ukrainians, who found themselves in the middle of this significant territorial reallocation.

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From the late 1930s to the present day, interpretations of this event have evolved in various countries.

It would be best to take a measured approach to assess what really happened, recognizing that each country has its own perspective shaped by its unique experience.