Shortly before the Battle of Warsaw on August 7, 1920, Polish Prime Minister Wincenty Witos announced that after the war, volunteers and soldiers who served on the front would have priority in purchase of state-owned land, while the soldiers to receive medals for bravery would receive land free of charge. The announcement was partly to repair the Polish morale, shaken after the retreat from the east. On December 17 the Sejm (Polish parliament) passed the "Act on Nationalization of North-Eastern Powiats of the Republic" and "Act on Granting the Soldiers of the Polish Army with Land". Both acts allowed the demobilised soldiers to apply for land parcels. The acts of parliament applied for powiats of Grodno and Wołożyn of Białystok Voivodeship, as well as 20 other powiats in the eastern voivodeships of Poland.