Розділ 4. КОРПУС ОХОРОНИ ПРИКОРДОННЯ В ОБОРОНІ ДЕРЖАВНОГО КОРДОНУ ДРУГОЇ РЕЧІ ПОСПОЛИТОЇ У ВОЛИНСЬКОМУ ВОЄВОДСТВІ

After signing the Riga Peace Treaty in March 1921, the Second Polish Republic seemed to have gained guarantees of security for its own statehood on the eastern border. However, these hopes proved deceptive. Soon, such neighboring relations became toxic for the Polish state. Once again, the phrase of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was confirmed: «Agreements with Russia are not worth the paper they are written on.» In the early 1920s, espionage in favor of Soviet Russia, Bolshevik agitation in border counties, illegal migration across the eastern border, armed provo­cations on the Polish side of the border, bribery of local and state officials, etc. spread along the border strip. Later, Soviet sabotage groups began to act more actively.

Poland was forced to experiment with border security - customs battalions (1921-1922), border guards (1922-1923), and state police (1923-1924). Finally, the Border Protection Corps (BPC) came into play, whose units were located in the Volyn region (voivodeship) from 1924 to 1939: 1st BPC Brigade, 1st BPC Brigade «Volyn», Brigade «Volyn», BPC Regiments «Sarny» and «Rivne». During this period, the structure of the BPC changed repeatedly, new tasks for border protection, reconnaissance, and defensive actions were added. The backbone of the BPC military formations consisted of infantry and cavalry units stationed in Volyn settlements, primarily in Rivne, Hoshcha, Ostroh, Dederkaly, Zdolbuniv, Nevirkiv, Mizoch, Sarny, Rokytne, Berezne, and others.