The Riga Treaty of 1921 and the Long Archival Negotiation

Abstract

This article explores the negotiations for the restitution of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth archives to the Second Polish Republic by the Soviet Union as stipulated in the Riga Treaty of 1921. The Soviet authorities in the 1920s were in a weak position to negotiate advantageous conditions, and agreed to the restitution of all archives, libraries, and art collections looted after 1772, the year of the first partition of Poland. It was a huge number of archives to deliver. The Poles were effectively organized; they fought for every archival document, sending renowned experts and utilizing their networks in the Soviet Union. Less qualified and bound by the Riga Treaty, the Soviet authorities managed, nevertheless, to keep the most important archives, namely the Lithuanian and the Polish Crown Metrica, as well as the Kyiv Central Archives. Being financially ruined, the Soviet authorities proceeded to sort through the archives, removing all archival documents that could be used to further financial claims. The Poles, on the contrary, abandoned financial claims and proved to be skilful negotiators. These efforts demonstrated the importance of their looted archives and libraries as the heritage of the Polish nation at a time when the Polish state was being reconstituted.