The 1920 Kiev Victory Parade was a joint Polish–Ukrainian

military parade A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as Drill team, drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the ...

on 9 May 1920 in the Ukrainian capital of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. It was held on

Khreshchatyk Khreshchatyk (, ) is the main street of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The street is long, and runs in a northeast-southwest direction from European Square (Kyiv), European Square through the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Maidan to Bessarabska Sq ...

Street, after the city was captured from the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

by the allied forces of Poland and the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

in the course of their Kiev offensive. It was the first formal military parade to be held under the auspices of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

The parade

On the morning of 9 May, to the accompaniment of cannon fire from the

Darnytskyi District Darnytskyi District is an Urban districts of Ukraine, urban district of the Ukraine, Ukrainian capital city, capital Kyiv. It is the southeastern district of Kyiv, located on the left bank of the Dnipro river. It borders the Holosiivskyi District ...

, which marked the beginning of the military procession. Although originally, the parade was to be presided by Polish Chief of State

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

and Supreme Commander of the

Ukrainian Army The Ukrainian Ground Forces (SVZSU, ), also referred to as the Ukrainian army, is a land force, and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It was formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Declaratio ...

Chief Otaman

Symon Petliura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...

, certain plans for the two forced this not to happen, with the parade being commanded by General

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...

(representing the Polish 3rd Cavalry Corps) and Colonel Marko Bezruchko (the commander of the 6th Ukrainian Infantry Division). Among other officials in attendance were representatives of the directorate of the chief of staff of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

as well as attaches from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The procession was as follows: * 1st Legions Infantry Division * 15th "Greater Poland" Infantry Division *Heavy artillery *6th Ukrainian Infantry Division *

Military Band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

The units marched from Prorizna Street to Duma Square (Independence Square nowadays), after which they began to march back to the starting point of the parade. Many Kievans greeted Polish liberators with flowers and loud shouts of ''Slava!'' (Glory). Following the ceremonial parade, all Polish forces in Kiev were withdrawn, to which control was given to the Ukrainian 6th division under the control of Petliura and the

Directorate of Ukraine The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on 13–14 November 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against th ...

Legacy

In the 21st century the parade was often overshadowed against the backdrop of the

Victory Day over Nazism in World War II Victory Day over Nazism in World War II () was a national holiday and a non-working day in Ukraine from 2015 to 2023. The holiday was first celebrated on 9 May 2015 and followed the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on 8 May (which paid ...

holiday and the

Victory Day Parades Victory Day (9 May), Victory Day parades () are common military parades that are held on 9 May in some Post-Soviet states, post-Soviet nations, primarily Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine. They are usually held to honor the traditional Vic ...

held on that day. On the 100th anniversary of the parade in 2020, Ukrainian and Polish journalists toured the parade route. Initially, before the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, it was planned that the capital would host large celebrations to mark the centenary. Polish President

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...

addressed the idea of commemorating the parade with President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

during the latter's visit to Auschwitz. Among others, there has also been petitions to replace the traditional 9 May holiday celebration with a commemoration of the parade, in an effort to break with the Russian holiday schedule and reduce the

Russification of Ukraine The Russification of Ukraine (; ) was a system of measures, actions and legislations undertaken by the Imperial Russian, later Soviet, and present-day authorities of the Russian Federation to strengthen Russian national, political and linguis ...

. Since 2024 Ukraine commemorates

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on May 8.
Ukraine celebrates Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation (Video)

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(8 May 2017)

Gallery

Polish Army in Kiev 1920 Khreshchatyk.jpg, Cavalry Wejście wojsk polskich do Kijowa.jpg, Polish infantry on Dumskaya ploshchad (currently

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

) Polish Army in Kiev 1920.jpg, Artillery

References

Works cited

* * {{Parades in Ukraine Military parades in Ukraine Kiev in the Russian Civil War Polish–Soviet War 1920s in Kyiv 1920 in Ukraine Victory parades

The parade

Legacy

Gallery

See also

References

Works cited