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(More customer reviews)This much goes beyond any doubt in my mind: the history of the Twentieth Century in Europe could have taken on an entirely different path should Poles fail to beat the Bolsheviks at the gates of Warsaw in 1920.
Lenin, following doctrine of Karl Marx, believed that the communist revolution, initiated in Russia, should be taken abroad to the rest of Europe and beyond. He wanted to go global. Time of the capitalistic society was nearing its end, he thought; social conflicts came to their extreme during World War I, hence - it was time to abolish old system and replace it with Socialism, Communism and the so called 'classless society' of eternal justice.
Feeling already victorious in his 'domestic' dispute over who were to rule Russia, Lenin believed time was ripe for other countries.
And let's not forget that the Communist movements elsewhere in Europe following the end of the Great War were strong and lively, especially in Germany. Lenin believed that if Bolsheviks could beat Poland the gates of Berlin would stand wide open to Communist takeover enthusiastically supported by German workers. And then the rest of Europe would fall into their hands.
It did not happen that way, Russians were beaten at the gates of Warsaw, Communist Revolution in Germany run out of steam, Social Democrats and supporters of democracy in general prevailed, Europe was spared horrors of the Gulag System created soon after in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin.
Norman Davies in his book attempted to explain in detail what exactly had happened and how did it happen. As far as I can tell this book, originally written, I believe, close to thirty years ago (was it not his doctoral dissertation?), still remains the most comprehensive, complete study of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920. I tend to agree with some of the reviewers that this book may be somewhat outdated, may be lacking in some illustrative materials such as graphics, maps and so on... bear in mind, thought, this was written when the Iron Curtain was still dividing East from West, archives in Poland and the Soviet Union were not widely opened (if at all) leaving the author certainly to desire much more. Nevertheless, Norman Davies prevailed in writing an (almost) complete story of the war that saved Europe from Communist takeover.
Click Here to see more reviews about: White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War 1919-1920 and The Miracle on the Vistula
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