This book by Jochen Böhler, a senior research fellow with the Imre Kertész Kolleg in Jena and esteemed specialist in WWII history, comes at the right time, to say the least. The WWI centenary increased interest in a topic in a region that seemingly had forgotten that there had been history there prior to 1939. In 2018, another centenary united east central Europe's nations in celebrating their independence or “unification.” A “round” anniversary of the 1919 Peace Treaty is just past us, and 2020 will inevitably refresh the Trianon trauma in Hungary. All these historical phenomena were accompanied by bloodshed and violence, which is the prime topic of Böhler's book.

Written with flair, using at times an overly journalistic language, it is composed of only four chapters, an introduction, briefly presented conclusions, and an epilogue. The first two chapters are introductory, providing basic information on the history of post-war conflicts in the entirety of east central Europe and the history of post-partition Poland. Chapter 3, the longest (subdivided into three sections), describes the major warfronts: in the west, in the east, and in the center of the country. Chapter 4, the most poignant part of the book, deals with acts of violence against civilians. An extensive bibliography of Polish and non-Polish historiography complements the main text. It seems that Böhler has not neglected any of the relevant archival collections within Poland, Lithuania, the USA, UK, or France. Also his mastery of newer international scientific literature is noteworthy.

In an attempt to justify the term “civil war,” Böhler clearly differentiates between the conflicts after 1918 and the regular warfare that occurred earlier on the same territory, involving imperial armies. He points to the fact that a definite majority of such wars was unconventional, with all the burdensome effects of such soldiering for civilians. Moreover, this unconventional fighting was pursued by extremely unprofessional soldiers. The High Command and all the other levels of command did exist, but their control over their troops was thoroughly illusory. While all these logical arguments are convincing, I am inclined to approach the title metaphor of “civil war” with certain reserve. As it seems to me, it only refers to some of the conflicts covered in the book, and in limited timeframes. The belligerents normally strove to keep their armies disciplined and render the method of fighting “civilized,” which was sometimes successful, indeed. The Polish-Ukrainian war, which in Böhler's concept was a typical civil war, went through phases of quite regular combat, with a clearly marked front line, the artillery preceding the attacks of the infantry, and other elements of the craft which Polish and Ukrainian soldiers had been mastering for years, wearing Austro-Hungarian army uniforms. In turn, the Polish-Bolshevik war—the only war denied the description “civil” by Böhler—turned into a multilateral conflict in which, apart from the Poles and the Bolsheviks, armed peasants got involved (among others), whose attitude was equally hostile to both parties. If the consistently applied description in question is not fully adequate, maybe it is not necessary at all.

If almost all the wars waged after 1918 on the borders of the Polish Republic were irregular and their protagonists had a permanent problem with subordinating themselves to military discipline, then this entire process should, in Böhler's opinion, be treated in terms of a “dirty war.” In other words, the chaos and violence that accompanied the struggle for the frontiers were not an “accident at work” but rather a necessary and inherent feature of such a method of fighting, this otherwise was the only method the yet-unsettled east central European countries could then afford.

The armed spin-off groups (as Böhler names them) were used by all the parties to the multipartite conflicts in this region of Europe. None of the states could possibly do without them; none was powerful enough to extend effective control over these groups in the initial years of its existence. The soldiers fighting for independence and extended frontiers posed a threat not only to the enemy but also to their own country. What is more, crimes against the civilians—the victims in this part of the world were mostly Jewish—were mostly never punished. Thanks to Böhler's book (which has been already published in Poland) this facet of the independence wars may finally find place in collective memory.