I think that youre proceeding from the false assumption that Revolutionary Russia could take over western Europe, as well as that Revolutionary Russia wanted to take over western Europe. Further, the idea that the Battle of Warsaw was a major battle in a larger Russian offensive against the West ignores the historical legacy of Poland, Russia, and their relationship.

Poland, as we think of it today, is actually a very recent concept dating back to about 1945. Poland as a modern nation state is not much older, dating to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918, and Versallies 1919. Prior to that, Poland existed as in a Union with Lithuania. This Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth stretched from Prussia to Moldova and sat along the borders of three major empires, the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian. Because of this, the history of the Commonwealth is tragic. Best on all sides by conquering powers, the Poland-Lithuania fought for over 150 years (between the 1650s and 1800) against all three powers. And while it sometimes enjoyed success, Poland-Lithuania was slowly whittled down by the three powers. Between 1760 and 1800, P/L was partitioned no less than three times, its territory sliced off by the three powers. By the Napoleonic Wars, Russia had absorbed the last of Poland, officially separating the two countries and creating the "Congress Poland", or the Russian segment of Poland officially recognized in the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

Throughout the 19th century, Russia dominated Poland politically, and incorporated it into the larger Russian Empire. Polish rebellions were crushed, and Poland was subjugated to Russian rule. However, this all changed with World War One. First, by 1915 German troops had captured Warsaw and cleared Congress Poland of Russian troops. This was the so called ["Great Retreat"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Retreat_(Russian)), a loss Russia never recovered from. Next, in 1918 treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany separated a number of territories from Russia, including Ukraine and Poland. But, unlike Ukraine, which was granted independence, Poland was incorporated into Germany in the grant tradition of 18th century partitions. Now, the Bolsheviks, who had rose to power at about this time, didnt really care about Poland or the fringe territories of Russia. They were far more concerned with the White Army, who opposed the Russians in the developing Civil War and sought to kill the Bolsheviks! As for Poland, the Versailles treaty, signed in 1919, again separated Poland from Germany. It was granted many of the old Polish-Lithuanian territories, including Danzig, Warsaw, and Bohemia, many of which came from Austria and Prussian Germany. This is the Poland of World War Two, and the Poland youre asking about.

As for Russia, the Civil War was a hard fought affair. Peace was critical for Lenin and the Bolsheviks because the war with German diverted resources away from battling the Whites, and more importantly the people vehemently opposed the war. By signing a peace with Germany, no matter the cost, the Bolsheviks were able to garner some popular support over the Whites, who were identified with the failed policies of the Czar. However, in the larger sense both Poland had been a part of Russia for over 100 years. No matter what a treaty said (and mind you, a treaty signed by countries which had invaded Russia in 1918, and never signed by the Bolsheviks), many Russians believed Poland was Russian.

As the war with the Whites wound down, Russia increasingly saw Poland the Polish state as a rebellious province, rather than another nation state. This was supported by the chaos in which the German Army left Poland. The Germans had established their own national government following Warsaw's fall in 1918. Poland then proclaimed its independence in 1918, supported by the legitimacy of the ToV. Finally, the Soviets began to reassert the political control over Eastern Poland in 1919, backed up by Red Army soldiers. Further, German forces had never fully withdrawn from Poland, nor recognized the legitimacy of the Polish government. Freikorps, bands of demobilized but still armed German soldiers, waged incessant war with Poland in its western reaches.

Without getting into the blow-by-blow details of the Polish-Soviet War, the Russians initially held the initiative as the Red Army intervened in what appeared to be a Polish Civil War. By reasserting its control over Poland, Russia was rebuilding the empire it had previously had. A similar process happened in Ukraine, where the Russian backed Communists created a political establishment friendly towards the Russian Government, and which, by 1922, joined the new USSR. But Poland was spared such a fate, largely because the Polish Army was able to resist the worn out Red Army on the Vistula River.

Its interesting to think about what would have happened had Russia won the Battle of Warsaw and absorbed some or all of the territory of Poland. It would have placed Germany and Russia into direct contact, and given Russia unfettered access to central Europe. Some historians, including Richard Pipes, suggest that this would have been the prelude to a Russian invasion, stopped only by the Polish Army. They cite rumours of an impending German Communist Revolution as proof that the Soviets would have been in a great position to conquer central Europe.

However, I am skeptical of these claims. As I have argued above, Russians had long dominated Poland, the territory which formed the Polish Republic was land which had recently belonged to Russia. I would argue that Russia was naturally asserting its historic dominance over a country which it had historically subjegated. Further, I am skeptical that the Russians counted on a Communist takeover of Germany. A Revolution had happened between 1918 and 1919, but by the beginning of the Soviet-Polish War, the revolution had been mostly crushed. Further, the German Economic Blockade of Poland (1920) and the joint Weimar-Soviet Treaty of Rapallo (1922) suggests that both governments saw more value in working together than working apart. Both governments had been ostracized by the ToV, and were looking for ways to break out of their diplomatic isolation. Politics aside, Germany and Russia had a lot to work for, but both countries also had a lot to rebuild. Their flagging economies, the Russian's difficulties in Poland, and near constant warfare between Germany and Poland in the 20's all points to two nations which were in a bad way. Neither nation had the resources for another World War, regardless of their desire to start one.