Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, interwar and Second World War

Battle of Warsaw

Battle of Warsaw was a battle fought in 1920 at Warsaw, in what is now Poland. It was part of the Polish–Soviet War, which ran from 1919 to 1921. The recorded result: Polish victory. Recorded strength: 113,000–135,000 against Russian SFSR 104,000–140,000.

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Polish-Soviet War. 1920 Aftermath of Battle of Warsaw. Polish soldiers displaying captured Soviet battle flags after the Battle of Warsaw.
Polish-Soviet War. 1920 Aftermath of Battle of Warsaw. Polish soldiers displaying captured Soviet battle flags after the Battle of Warsaw.. Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought1920
WhereWarsaw, Poland52.300N, 20.817E
OutcomePolish victory
BelligerentsSecond Polish RepublicagainstSoviet Russia
Part ofPolish–Soviet War1919 to 1921

Where it sits in the Polish–Soviet War

Battles for Vilnius, 1918Battle of Bereza Kartuska, 1919Battle of Lida, 1919Battle of Warsaw, 1920Kyiv offensive, 1920Battle of Radzymin, 1920Battle of Wołodarka, 1920Battle of Lwów, 1920Battle of Dęblin and Mińsk Mazowiecki, 1920Lipno Operation, 1920Battle of Kock, 1920Battle of Daugavpils, 1920Battle of Letychiv, 1920Battle of Koziatyn, 1920Battle of Czarnobyl, 1920Battle of Berezina, 1920Battle of Głębokie, 1920Battle of Ladami, 1920Battle of Gieranony, 1920First Battle of Grodno, 1920Battle of Czortkowem, 1920Battle of Ostrołęka, 1920Battle of Zarębami Kościelnymi, 1920Battle of Łysowem, 1920Battle of Dorohuskiem, 1920Battle of Kaczkowem, 1920Battle of Mława, 1920Battle of Długosiodłem, 1920Battle of Makowem, 1920Battle of Przewodowem, 1920Battle of Ossów, 1920Battle of the Wkra, 1920Battle of Nasielsk, 1920Battle of Cyców, 1920Battle of Zadwórze, 1920Battle of Wyszków, 1920Battle of Mława (1920), 1920Battle of Białystok, 1920Battle of Komarów, 1920Battle of Sejny, 1920Battle of Dytiatyn, 1920Battle of Prużany, 1920Battle of the Niemen River, 1920Battle of Kojdanowem, 192019181920Battle of Warsaw, 1920
47 placed engagements of the Polish–Soviet War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1920 (year precision)
to 25 August 1920
PlaceWarsaw, Poland
52.300N, 20.817E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Strength113,000–135,000Russian SFSR 104,000–140,000
Casualties and losses4,500 dead; 26,000 wounded; 10,000 missing; Total: 40,50010,000–25,000 dead; 30,000 wounded; 65,000–85,000 captured; 30,000–35,000 interned in East Prussia; Total: 110,000–126,000
Commanders
Battle of WarsawBattle of WarsawBattle of Wólka WęglowaBattle of Buda ZaborowskaBattle of ŁomiankiTrip to WawrzyszewBattle of WarsawBattle of Buda ZaborowskaBattle of ŁomiankiBattle of WarsawŁódźLublinBiałystokGrudziądzInowrocław100 km52.300N, 20.817E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Warsaw
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Warsaw today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-09-16. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 87 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 77 to 153 m, 76 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 88% tree cover, 7% grassland, 5% built-up.

tree cover: 88%grassland: 7%built-up: 5%tree cover 88%grassland 7%built-up 5%
west to east, 10.0 km79 to 113 mnorth to south, 10.0 km78 to 116 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 17 times between 1656 and 1944.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1920

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: POL ARMY GROUPDefender: SOV ARMY GROUP
Strength160,000200,000
Casualties50,000 (31.2%)150,000 (75.0%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1083
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2 days
Front width335 km335 km
Attacker advanced360 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 253), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Warsaw is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 469 in present-day Poland.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q821283, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Warsaw (1920), revision 1382287146, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.