living within contiguous Ukrainian ethnographic territory had increased by about 300,000. Lithuanians During the interwar period of the 20th century (1920–1939), Lithuanian–Polish relations were characterized by mutual enmity. As a consequence of the conflict over the city of Vilnius, and the Polish–Lithuanian War, both governments – in the era of nationalism which was sweeping through Europe – treated their respective minorities harshly. In 1920, after the staged mutiny of Lucjan Żeligowski, Lithuanian cultural activities in Polish controlled territories were limited and the closure of Lithuanian newspapers and the arrest of their editors occurred. 33 Lithuanian and Belarusian cultural activists were formally expelled from Vilnius on 23 January 1922 and deported to Lithuania. In 1927, as tensions between Lithuania and Poland increased, 48 additional Lithuanian schools were closed and another 11 Lithuanian activists were deported. Following Piłsudski's death in 1935, the Lithuanian minority in Poland again became an object of Polonization policies with greater intensity. 266 Lithuanian schools were closed after 1936 and almost all Lithuanian organizations were banned. Further Polonization ensued as the government encouraged settlement of Polish army veterans in the disputed regions. About 400 Lithuanian reading rooms and libraries were closed in Poland between 1936 and 1938. Following the 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania, Lithuania re-established diplomatic relations with Poland and efforts to Polonize Lithuanians living in Poland decreased somewhat. Post–World War II During Operation Vistula of 1947, the Soviet-controlled Polish communist authorities removed the support base for the still active in that area Ukrainian Insurgent Army by forcibly resettling about 141,000 civilians residing around Bieszczady and Low Beskids to northern areas of the so-called Recovered Territories awarded by the Allies to Poland in the post-war settlement. The farmers received financial help from the Polish government and took over homes and farms left behind by the displaced Germans, in most cases improving their living conditions due to the increased size of the newly reassigned properties, brick buildings, and running water. Dr Zbigniew Palski from IPN explains that identical operation was performed in Ukraine by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic at exactly the same time. It was dubbed Operation West. Both operations were coordinated from Moscow; however, there was a shocking difference between their outcomes. References Bibliography Tomasz Kamusella. 2013. Germanization, Polonization, and Russification in the Partitioned Lands of Poland–Lithuania (pp 815–838). Nationalities Papers. Vol 41, No 5. Litwin Henryk, Central European Superpower, BUM Magazine, 2016. External links Commonwealth