Bermontians were Russian troops who were at first taken as POWs by Germany in World War I and then released on the promise that they would help fighting against the communists in the Russian civil war. Instead, led by Pavel Bermont-Avalov, they decided to attack the newly-independent states of Lithuania and Latvia, to which Germany had granted independence. The term Russian can refer to: The Russian language Someone from Russia or with a Russian ethnic identity, see Russians Something of or pertaining to Russia Wiktionary information For more information: Russian This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... The Russian Civil War was fought between 1918 and 1920. ... The Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian, Lietuva) is a republic in Northeastern Europe. ... The Republic of Latvia ( Latvian: Latvijas Republika), or Latvia ( Latvian: Latvija), is a country in Northern Europe. ...

Bermont thought that in the Russian civil war the communists would be crushed anyway, so there was no need to help fighting against them; instead he thought he could annex the Baltic states, and, once the communists were destroyed, join them to Russia, getting some high position or local ruler's title in exchange. Bermontians managed to take considerable territories in western Lithuania. Baltic states and the Baltic Sea The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a term which nowadays refers to three countries in Northern Europe: Estonia Latvia Lithuania Prior to World War II, Finland was sometimes considered, particularly by the Soviet Union, a fourth Baltic state. ...

Bermontians, once they would annex a town, would ban the local languages there and enforce the Russian language; this and other reasons made them very unpopular with the local population. In Latvia, they managed to take the capital Riga; however the temporary capital of Lithuania, Kaunas, was farther away. Despite having to fight the communists at the same time in the east, Lithuania collected enough forces and started to win territories back from the Bermontians. The Bermontians were finally crushed near Radviliškis, a major railway centre, where they were put into trains and sent to Russia. As for Latvia, Estonia helped it to reconquer lost territories, according to some explanations, in exchange for Latvia ceding the island of Ruhnu and its territorial waters to Estonia. The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian, Lietuva) is a republic in Northeastern Europe. ... City Flag Kaunas (Polish: Kowno, often anglicized as Kovno; Russian Каунас, formerly Ковно), is the second largest city in Lithuania with 400,000 inhabitants. ... Estonia (disambiguation). ... An island in Baltic sea, controlled by Estonia. ...