"surrendered a large tract of territory whose population was in no way Polish"
I see Perfidious Albion (Encyclopedia Britannica edition) is at it again. The territory surrendered had been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth long before it has been Russian.
A footnote, if I may to the 1920 Battle of Warsaw - The 7th Polish Escadrille, the Kosciuzko Squadron (named for Tadeusz Kosciuszko of our Revolutionary War), was formed of American aviators, some of whom had served in WWI and at least one who had just missed that war but was determined to help Poland. That American sailed from the Midwest to Europe where he bought a used Sopwith Camel for use in defending Poland. The squadron participated in the battle in strafing attacks against the Bolshevik cavalry during the battle.
A recent photo of a Polish AF jet fighter shows the portrait of its second commander, Merian Cooper, who went on to escape from a Cossack unit after being shot down. Cooper also produced the movie "King Kong", BTW. The current PAF unit continues to use the squadron insignia designed in 1919.
Fullbore, indeed. My ancestry is solidly American for eight generations and then Irish-Scots-Welsh-Norwegian before that, but I have to admit that some days I feel a bit of Polish pride.
"surrendered a large tract of territory whose population was in no way Polish"
I see Perfidious Albion (Encyclopedia Britannica edition) is at it again. The territory surrendered had been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth long before it has been Russian.
A footnote, if I may to the 1920 Battle of Warsaw - The 7th Polish Escadrille, the Kosciuzko Squadron (named for Tadeusz Kosciuszko of our Revolutionary War), was formed of American aviators, some of whom had served in WWI and at least one who had just missed that war but was determined to help Poland. That American sailed from the Midwest to Europe where he bought a used Sopwith Camel for use in defending Poland. The squadron participated in the battle in strafing attacks against the Bolshevik cavalry during the battle.
A recent photo of a Polish AF jet fighter shows the portrait of its second commander, Merian Cooper, who went on to escape from a Cossack unit after being shot down. Cooper also produced the movie "King Kong", BTW. The current PAF unit continues to use the squadron insignia designed in 1919.
Fullbore, indeed. My ancestry is solidly American for eight generations and then Irish-Scots-Welsh-Norwegian before that, but I have to admit that some days I feel a bit of Polish pride.