Waterway shipping and transit in Soviet-Polish relations in 1924–1933

Abstract

This article examines the nuances of Soviet-Polish relations from 1921 to 1939, focusing on efforts to establish an effective transport and logistics model for border waterways. Although the Riga peace treaty of 18 March 1921, broadly addressed this issue, several political challenges needed to be overcome to fully resolve it, including devising suitable forms for transit trade operations, concluding a trade agreement, and finding a compromise in the Polish-Lithuanian conflict. Optimal export – import operations between the two parties hinged on their willingness to reach bilateral agreements and conventions. The study finds that using border rivers as secondary routes for transporting export goods from the BSSR to Poland and other Western markets was practical primarily for timber supplies. Wood rafting occurred along the rivers Viliya, Iliya, Dvinosa, Western Dvina, Sluch, Moroch, and Neman. Belarusian and allied timber processing organisations (such as “Zapadoles”, “Lesbel”, “Belsplavkontora”, and “Soyuzlesosplav”) sought to maximise the efficiency of these waterways due to their proximity to rich forests. The article highlights that following the Non-aggression treaty on 25 July 1932, and the subsequent warming of Soviet-Polish relations, the issue of water navigation and rafting was addressed by the Convention on the rafting of forest materials along border rivers of 9 June 1933. Before this convention, local agreements between border officials were used to manage the transportation of forest materials along these waterways. Despite the Königsberg convention of 1925 and the organisation of timber rafting to Memel via Latvia along the Western Dvina, the use of Polish commercial intermediaries (such as company “Dawa-Britopol”) did not resolve the issue of rafting wood along the river Neman in 1924–1925. By the early 1930s, as the Neman problem became less relevant due to logistical inefficiencies, Soviet authorities sought alternative routes via the rivers Sluch and Moroch. These routes also faced political obstacles, with the Polish side leveraging economic means to address political issues, including the illegal crossing of the Soviet-Polish border and the subsequent detention of individuals sympathetic to the Soviet regime and Communist party.