After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Bolshevik Russia lost the European lands the Russian Empire had annexed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

However, the German defeat on the Western Front and the internal dissolution of Austria-Hungary made the plans for the creation of Mitteleuropa obsolete.

The entire region abandoned by the German forces became a gigantic free-for-all theatre, where dozens of factions competed for power.

The 6th Red Division captured the railway junction of Tapa from the freshly formed 4th and 5th Regiments of the Estonian Land Forces on 24 December and advanced to 34 km (21 mi) from the capital Tallinn.

On 29 November in Narva, Estonian Bolsheviks led by Jaan Anvelt proclaimed a Soviet republic — "Commune of the Working People of Estonia".

In south Estonia, the Estonian commando-type Tartumaa Partisan Battalion drove the Red Latvian rifle regiments out of Valga on 31 January.

The Soviet forces, including units of so-called Estonian Red Riflemen, captured the areas of Setomaa, Vastseliina and Räpina by 15 March.

On 10 December 1918, the Red Army entered Minsk almost unopposed, putting an end to the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic.

The Polish-Soviet struggle over Vilna in the first week of 1919 was a sign of things to come, as the Polish militia was forced to withdraw after the first organised units of the Soviet Western Army entered the city.

[7] On that day Jukums Vācietis ordered the new Western Command to carry out a "reconnaissance in-depth" as far as Tilsit, Brest-Litovsk, Kowel and Rivne.

[8] It is speculated that among the aims of the Bolsheviks one goal was to drive through eastern and central Europe and support the Revolutions in Germany and Austria-Hungary.

The main goal of the operation was likely to see how much territory could be opportunistically grabbed in the chaotic governmental flux caused by the aftereffects of postwar Eastern Europe before any serious independent governing authorities arose.

Both the Soviet offensive and the Polish counterattack started at the same time, which resulted in an increasing number of troops being brought to the area.

[13] A comprehensive historical analysis of the campaign against Poland was performed by Norman Davies in his book White Eagle, Red Star (1972).

Norman Davies in his book claims that "Target Vistula" ("Цель – Висла" or similar) was the Soviet codename of the offensive.

In that association, one may notice the title "An Expedition beyond Vistula" (Pokhod za Vislu) of Tukhachevsky's memoirs about his Polish campaign.