Na krawędzi konfliktu zbrojnego. Incydent raciborski z czerwca 1945 r. i jego bezpośrednie reperkusje

Abstract

On the Edge of an Armed Conflict – the Raciborz Incident of June 1945 and Its Direct RepercussionsDespite the fact that already in the middle of April 1945 the Military Council of the 1st Ukrainian Front formally consented to handing over to the Polish side the administration of Lower Silesia and the left–bank part of the Opole region, the Poles did not assume authority in the town of Raciborz and the right–bank part of the country until 12 May. The part of the county adjoining Czechoslovakia was still governed by the Russians, who did not counter the penetration of those terrains by the Czechs. The Poles too did not treat the border with particular reverence. On the morning of 8 June, a Polish military detachment entered the locality of Hat’ and temporarily detained seven Czechoslovakian functionaries. Two days later, the Czechoslovak army crossed the frontier and seized nine localities. Financni straž also appeared in the occupied terrain. The Czechoslovak campaign produced decisive counteraction. On 13 June the Polish government demanded from Prague immediate withdrawal under the threat of far–reaching consequences. At the same time, it dispatched the 1st Armoured Corps towards the border. Despite the fact that on the morning of 15 June the Czechs retreated as a result of trilateral talks, Polish detachments continued to concentrate and were entrusted with the task of seizing the Zaolzie region. Ultimately, the Russians put an end to this operation.