Description
The Vilnius operation was planned and launched
by Józef Piłsudski in April 1919 contrary to
the opinion held by the Polish and French military
staff, who foretold its failure. The Commander-inChief hoped to forestall the expected offensive by
the Bolsheviks, who were concentrating their troops
beyond the Neman to hit the Polish state, which was
only just organising itself, and to transform it into
a soviet republic.
Part of the Polish forces attacked Navahrudak,
Baranavichy, and Lida, thus catching the attention
of the enemy. Under their cover, a group made up
of a cavalry brigade commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Władysław Belina-Prażmowski and several
infantry battalions led by General Edward RydzŚmigły advanced on Vilnius on 16 April. Belina’s
cavalry overtook the infantry and, moving through
the woods, caught the strong Bolshevik garrison in
Vilnius by surprise at dawn on 19 April. With
the support of the local people, part of the city was
seized. The enemy recovered from the surprise, and
heavy street fighting broke out. In the evening, when
the cavalry was running out of ammunition,
a battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Polish
Legions arrived in Vilnius on a captured train.
Victory was secured by the arrival of the main forces
of the Polish infantry on the night of 20 to 21 April.
By noon on 21 April, the entire city was captured.
For the Bolsheviks, losing Vilnius was a great
propagandistic and military failure. In Poland,
the news of the city’s liberation triggered an
explosion of joy. The success was seen as a promise
of a future victory in the war against Bolshevik
Russia. The foray of Belina’s cavalry to Vilnius was
considered one of the most beautiful actions of
the Polish cavalry in the wars of 1919−1920.
Prof. Janusz Odziemkowski
Obverse
The obverse carries an image of a military
commemorative badge awarded to the participants
of the Vilnius expedition in the interwar period.
Reverse
The reverse of the coin features an image of
Lieutenant Colonel Władysław Belina-Prażmowski,
dubbed the first uhlan of the Second Republic of
Poland, against the background of the cavalry
marching to Vilnius. He was a legionnaire and
the organiser and commander of the 1st Uhlan
Regiment of the Polish Legions he organised
the 1st Cavalry Brigade in independent Poland,
which he commanded in the years 1919−1920.
In the autumn of 1920, he left the army at his own
request. In the years 1931−1933, he was the Mayor
of Cracow, and then the Voivode of the Lvov
Province until 1938.
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