Ukrainian-Soviet War
Encyclopedia
The Ukrainian–Soviet War of 1917–21 was a military conflict between the Ukrainian People's Republic
and pro-Bolshevik
forces for the control of Ukraine after the dissolution of the Russian Empire
.
of 1917 caused the many ethnic groups in the Russian republic
to demand greater autonomy from Petrograd and various degrees of self-determination
. A month later the Ukrainian People's Republic
was declared in Kiev as an autonomous entity with close ties to the Russian Provisional Government
, governed by the Tsentralna Rada
. However, the October Revolution
caused the Russian Empire to disintegrate completely. In late December 1917, Bolsheviks set up a rival Ukrainian government in Kharkiv
, called the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and began hostilities against the government in Kiev. Following this, the Rada broke ties with Petrograd on January 22, 1918, and declared Ukrainian independence, thereby commencing the Ukrainian War of Independence
. It was around this point that Bolshevik troops began invading Ukraine from Russia. Russian military units from Kharkiv
, Moscow
, Minsk
and the Baltic Fleet
invaded Ukraine.
detachments composed of laborers from Kharkov gubernia and the Donbass, began by advancing from the northeast led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
and Mikhail Muravyov. The Ukrainian forces at the time of the invasion consisted of about 15,000 made up from volunteer detachments and several battalions of the Free Cossacks
and the Sich Riflemen
.
The invasion of pro-Soviet forces from Russia was accompanied by uprisings initiated in Ukraine by the local Bolshevik agitators in the developed cities throughout the territory of Left-bank Ukraine
as well as Right-bank Ukraine
. The Bolshevik
led by Yevgenia Bosch conducted a successful uprising in Vinnytsia
sometime in December 1917. They took charge of the 2nd Guard Corps and moved towards Kiev
to help the bolshevik agitators in the city. Pavlo Skoropadsky
with a regiment of the Free Cossacks
managed to stop them near Zhmerynka
, disarm them, and deport them to Russia. The other Bolshevik forces captured Kharkiv
(December 26), Yekaterinoslav
, (January 9), Aleksandrovsk
(January 15), and Poltava
(January 20) on their way to Kiev
. On January 27, the Bolshevik army groups converged in Bakhmach
and then set off under the command of Muravyov to take Kiev.
As the Bolsheviks marched towards Kiev, a small Ukrainian National Republic unit of less than 500 schoolboys (some sources give a figure of 300), commanded by Captain Ahapiy Honcharenko, was hastily organized and sent to the front on January 29, 1918 to take part in the Battle of Kruty
. The small unit consisted mainly of the Student Battalion (Kurin
) of Sich Riflemen
, a unit of the Khmelnytsky Cadet School, and a Haidamaka
detachment. About half of the 500 men were killed during the battle.
Also on January 29, 1918, the Kiev Arsenal January Uprising
, a Bolshevik organized armed revolt, began at the Kiev Arsenal factory
. On February 8 the Ukrainian government was forced to evacuate the city in order to save it from destruction. Soviet troops under Mikhail Muravyov's command entered Kiev on February 9 and then carried out brutal reprisals against the Ukrainian civilian population, killing as many as 4000 civilians.
Once the Bolsheviks took Kiev, they began an offensive in Right-Bank Ukraine
. However, on February 9 the UNR signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
and thus received aid from German and Austrian troops in late February, over 450,000 troops. In exchange for military aid, the Ukrainians were to deliver foodstuffs to the Central Powers
. Under the command of Symon Petlura
, the combined forces pushed the Bolsheviks out of Right Bank Ukraine and retook Kiev on March 1. Because of the socialist policies of the Rada, mainly the policy of land nationalization which affected food exports to the Central Powers, on April 28 the German forces disbanded the Tsentralna Rada and installed the Hetman government
in its place. Ukrainian, German, and Austrian armies continued making gains, taking back Left Bank Ukraine, Crimea and the Donets Basin. These setbacks forced the Bolsheviks to sign a peace treaty with the Ukrainian government on June 12.
During November 1918, troops from the Directorate of Ukraine
overthrew the Hetmanate with some help from the Bolshevik
s. German forces led by the Soldatenrat kept their neutrality during the two-week-long civil war as they were withdrawing from the country, due to the defeat of the German Empire
in the World War I
. The Direcotry reestablished the Ukrainian People's Republic
. On January 22, 1919 the neighboring Ukrainian Republics united under the Act Zluky
. During that time the Bolsheviks invaded Ukraine at full force with an army led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovsiyenko, Joseph Stalin
, and Volodymyr Zatonsky
. The Directory declared war once again against Russia on January 16 after several preliminary ultimatums to the Russian SFSR sovnarkom to withdraw their troops. The two main directions of the Bolshevik's forces were onto Kiev
and Kharkiv
. To stop the war the government of Chekhivsky sent a delegation to Moscow led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Semen Mazurenko. The delegation succeeded in signing the preliminary peaceful agreement yet it did not stop the aggression from the Russian side due to poor communication between the delegation in Moscow and the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic
. On December 28, 1918 the Central Committee of the Left UPSR
officially declared about the mobilization of force in the support of the Soviet government by an armed staging. From the beginning of January 1919 the Bolshevik bands consistently were crossing the eastern and north-eastern borders for purpose of raids.
The Central Military-Revolutionary Committee in Kursk
on October 22, 1918 issued the order to form two divisions under the Army Group the Ukrainian Front or the Group of the Kursk Direction. The group was assigned the Worker's Division of Moscow, the 9th Soviet Division, 2nd Orlov Brigade, and two armored trains. According to Antonov-Ovsiyenko the army was accounted for some 6,000 soldiers, 170 artillery guns, 427 machine guns, 15 military planes, and 6 armored trains. On December 15, 1918 the meeting of the Ukrainian chief of staff was called in Kiev headed by Otaman
Osetsky and including the Chief Otaman
Petliura, Colonel Bolbachan, Colonel Shapoval, Sotnik
Oskilko. They were discussing the border security and formed a plan in case of threat from all sides.
During that time the Soviet forces were advancing across the north-eastern Ukraine and occupied Rylsk
and Novhorod-Siversky. On December 21 the Ukrainian Front took the important strategic railroad connection in Kupyansk
. After that a full-scale advance started between Dnieper and Oskol River
s. On January 3, the Red Army took Kharkiv
, almost as by the same scenarios when Bolsheviks occupied Kiev in February 1918. The Ukrainian forces at that time consisted of two regular troop formations, the Zaporozhian Corps and the Sich Riflemen, as well as partisan
detachments. These partisans were led by unreliable ataman
s who occasionally sided with the Bolsheviks such as Zeleny, Anhel, and Hryhoryev
. The army which had over 100,000 fell to about 25,000 due to peasants leaving the army and desertions to the Bolsheviks. Bolbochan with the remnants of the Zaporizhian Corps retreated to Poltava
which was holding off for couple of more weeks. On January 6, 1919 the government of Pyatakov
officially declared the creation of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic
. Yet his government continued to stay in Kursk until January 24. On January 4 the Bolsheviks Army Group Ukrainian Fornt was reformed into the unified Ukrainian front under the command of Antonov-Ovsiyenko with his deputies Kotsiubynsky and Schadenko. On the several inquiries about the purpose of the Russian Army in Ukraine that Directory was sending to Moscow Chicherin
finally responded on January 6:
occupied Chernihiv
while other units under command of Pavlo Dybenko
took Lozova
, Pavlohrad
, Synelnykove
, and established the contact with Nestor Makhno
. After some long discussion between the members of the Directory and other state officials it was decided to declare a war against the Soviet Russia. The only person who was against it was the chairman of the Directory Volodymyr Vynnychenko
, while Shapoval, for example, for some reason was simply requesting the prompt creation of the Soviet government. Denikin later commented that the war declaration did not change absolutely anything on frontlines and only reflected the political crisis inside the Ukrainian government with the victory of the military party of Petliura-Konovalets
-Hrekov over Vynnychenko-Chekhivsky. On January 20 the Soviet Army took Poltava
while the Ukrainian troops retreated further to Kremenchuk
. On January 26 Dybenko took Katerynoslav
. The Soviets took Left-Bank Ukraine
, and then marched on to Kiev. On February 2 they forced the Directorate to move to Vinnytsia
while troops of Schors and Bozhenko occupied Kiev three days later.
Chekhivsky after resignation from the office right after Vynnychenko has created in Kamyanets-Podilsky the Committee for the salvation of Republic which was dissolved by Petliura on February 13. During that time the Soviet troops has acquired the rest of the Kiev Governorate
while the bands of Hryhoryev took Oleksandria and Yelyzavethrad
. By March 6 the Directory has relocated to Proskurov while yielding most of Polissya and Podillya to Bolshevik
s. Surprisingly by the end of March the Ukrainian armies successfully conducted series of military operations liberating Sarny
, Zhytomyr
, Korosten
, and threatening to take back Kiev
. On March 2 Otaman Hryhoryev occupied Kherson
and March 12 he was already in Mykolaiv
. By April 3 the Entente forces evacuated from Odessa
which Hryhoryev entered three days later.
under the command of Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko
carried out an underground operation known as the First Winter Campaign in the Kirovohrad
region against the Soviet 14th Army. Another significant development of this period was the signing of the Treaty of Warsaw
with Poland
on April 22, and then beginning of a joint offensive with Polish troops against the Bolsheviks. On May 7 a Ukrainian division under the command of Marko Bezruchko entered Kiev, but was quickly forced out by a Red Army counteroffensive led by Semyon Budyonny
. The Ukrainians and Poles were pushed back across the Zbruch River
and past Zamość
toward Warsaw
. The Poles signed a peace with the Soviets on October 18. By 1921, Polish author of the Polish-Ukrainian alliance, Józef Piłsudski, was no longer Polish head of state, and only participated as an observer during the Riga negotiations, which he called an act of cowardice. The Petliura's forces kept fighting. They lasted until October 21, when they were forced to cross the Zbuch River and enter Polish-controlled Galicia. There they were disarmed and placed in internment camps
.
This campaign was meant to incite a general uprising amongst the Ukrainian
peasant
s, who were already disgruntled with the Soviets, and to unify partisan forces against the Bolsheviks in Ukraine. The commander of the Ukrainian forces was Yurii Tiutiunnyk
.
Two expeditionary forces were established, one from Podolia
(400 men) and one from Volhynia
(800 men). The Podolia group only made it to the village of Vakhnivka, before returning to Polish territory through Volhynia on November 29. The Volhynia group started out on November 4, captured Korosten
on November 7 and made its way to the village of Leonivka. When they began to run low on supplies they decided to return. However, on its return west, it was intercepted by a Bolshevik
cavalry
force under the command of Grigore Kotovski
at Bazar
and routed in battle near Mali Mynky on November 17. 443 soldiers were captured by the Soviets during the battle. 359 were shot on November 23 near the town of Bazar
, and 84 were passed on to Soviet security forces.
This was the last operation of the UNR army
against the Soviets. The end of the Second Winter Campaign brought the Ukrainian-Soviet war to a definite end, however partisan fighting against the Bolsheviks continued until mid-1922 and in response the Red Army terrorized the countryside.
The end of the war saw the incorporation of most of the territories of Ukraine into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic which, on December 30, 1922, was one of the founding members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Parts of Western Ukraine
fell into under the control of the Second Polish Republic
, as laid out in the Peace of Riga
. The UNR government, led by Symon Petlura
, was forced into exile. For the next few years the Ukrainian nationalists would continue to try to wage a partisan guerrilla war on the Soviets. They were aided by Polish intelligence (see Prometheism
); however they were not successful. The last active Ukrainian movements would be mostly eradicated during the Holodomor
. Further, the relative lack of Polish support for the Ukrainian cause would cause a growing resentment on the part of the Ukrainian minority in Poland towards the Polish interwar state.
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
and pro-Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
forces for the control of Ukraine after the dissolution of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
Background
The February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917 caused the many ethnic groups in the Russian republic
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
to demand greater autonomy from Petrograd and various degrees of self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
. A month later the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
was declared in Kiev as an autonomous entity with close ties to the Russian Provisional Government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
, governed by the Tsentralna Rada
Tsentralna Rada
The Tsentralna Rada or Central Rada at first was the All-Ukrainian council that united political, public, cultural, professional organizations. Later after the All-Ukrainian National Congress that council became the revolutionary parliament of Ukraine...
. However, the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
caused the Russian Empire to disintegrate completely. In late December 1917, Bolsheviks set up a rival Ukrainian government in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, called the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and began hostilities against the government in Kiev. Following this, the Rada broke ties with Petrograd on January 22, 1918, and declared Ukrainian independence, thereby commencing the Ukrainian War of Independence
Ukrainian War of Independence
The Ukrainian War of Independence was a series of military conflicts between Ukrainian, Anarchist, Bolshevik, the Central Powers forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the White Russian Volunteer Army, and Second Polish Republic forces for control of the territory of modern Ukraine after the...
. It was around this point that Bolshevik troops began invading Ukraine from Russia. Russian military units from Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
and the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
invaded Ukraine.
December 1917 to April 1918
The Bolsheviks, numbering around 30,000 and composed of Russian army regulars stationed at the front, a number of garrisoned units, and Red GuardRed Guards (Russia)
In the context of the history of Russia and Soviet Union, Red Guards were paramilitary formations consisting of workers and partially of soldiers and sailors formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
detachments composed of laborers from Kharkov gubernia and the Donbass, began by advancing from the northeast led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseyenko , real surname Ovseyenko, party aliases the 'Bayonet' and 'Nikita' , a literary pseudonym A. Gal , was a prominent Soviet Bolshevik leader and diplomat. He was born in Chernigov into an officer's family.In 1903, Antonov-Ovseyenko joined the Menshevik party...
and Mikhail Muravyov. The Ukrainian forces at the time of the invasion consisted of about 15,000 made up from volunteer detachments and several battalions of the Free Cossacks
Free Cossacks
Free Cossacks was the Ukrainian association volunteer militia units that arose somewhat spontaneously during the decomposition of the Russian Imperial Army in spring of 1917....
and the Sich Riflemen
Sich Riflemen
The Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin were one of the first regular military units of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The unit operated from 1917 to 1919 and was formed from Ukrainian soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army, local population and former commanders of the Ukrainian Sich...
.
The invasion of pro-Soviet forces from Russia was accompanied by uprisings initiated in Ukraine by the local Bolshevik agitators in the developed cities throughout the territory of Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of the Kiev and Cherkasy....
as well as Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...
. The Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
led by Yevgenia Bosch conducted a successful uprising in Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
sometime in December 1917. They took charge of the 2nd Guard Corps and moved towards Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
to help the bolshevik agitators in the city. Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi 3 May 1873, Wiesbaden, Germany – 26 April 1945, Metten monastery clinic, Bavaria, Germany) was a Ukrainian politician, earlier an aristocrat and decorated Imperial Russian Army general...
with a regiment of the Free Cossacks
Free Cossacks
Free Cossacks was the Ukrainian association volunteer militia units that arose somewhat spontaneously during the decomposition of the Russian Imperial Army in spring of 1917....
managed to stop them near Zhmerynka
Zhmerynka
Zhmerynka [ʒ’mærınkɑ:] is a town in the Vinnytska Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Zhmerynsky Raion , the town itself is also designated as a separate community within the oblast, and is located at around .The current estimated population is around 37.000...
, disarm them, and deport them to Russia. The other Bolshevik forces captured Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
(December 26), Yekaterinoslav
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
, (January 9), Aleksandrovsk
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
(January 15), and Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
(January 20) on their way to Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. On January 27, the Bolshevik army groups converged in Bakhmach
Bakhmach
Bakhmach is a city located in the Chernihiv Oblast , in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Bakhmatsky Raion , and is located at around . As of January 1, 2005, the city's population is 20,300.-History:...
and then set off under the command of Muravyov to take Kiev.
Battle of Kruty
The Battle of Kruty was a battle which took place on January 29, 1918, near railway station "Kruty" about northeast of Kiev, Ukraine, which was at the time part of the Nizhyn Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate.-Order of battle:Ukrainian forces* Sich Riflemen auxiliary student battalion - Vasyl...
. The small unit consisted mainly of the Student Battalion (Kurin
Kurin
Kurin is a military term that was established by the cossacks.During the Second World War, the basic combat unit of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was a kurin...
) of Sich Riflemen
Sich Riflemen
The Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin were one of the first regular military units of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The unit operated from 1917 to 1919 and was formed from Ukrainian soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army, local population and former commanders of the Ukrainian Sich...
, a unit of the Khmelnytsky Cadet School, and a Haidamaka
Haidamaka
The haidamakas, also haidamaky or haidamaks , were paramilitary bands in 18th-century Ukraine. The haidamak movement was formed mostly of local Cossacks and peasantry , against the Polish nobility in right-bank Ukraine...
detachment. About half of the 500 men were killed during the battle.
Also on January 29, 1918, the Kiev Arsenal January Uprising
Kiev Arsenal January Uprising
Kiev Arsenal January Uprising, sometimes called simply the January Uprising or the January Rebellion , was the Bolshevik organized workers' armed revolt that started on January 29, 1918 at the Kiev Arsenal factory during the Ukrainian-Soviet War....
, a Bolshevik organized armed revolt, began at the Kiev Arsenal factory
Kiev Arsenal factory
State enterprise of a special instrumentation Arsenal , for brevity Arsenal Factory, is one of the oldest and most famous industrial factories of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.-Pre-1918:...
. On February 8 the Ukrainian government was forced to evacuate the city in order to save it from destruction. Soviet troops under Mikhail Muravyov's command entered Kiev on February 9 and then carried out brutal reprisals against the Ukrainian civilian population, killing as many as 4000 civilians.
Once the Bolsheviks took Kiev, they began an offensive in Right-Bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...
. However, on February 9 the UNR signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...
and thus received aid from German and Austrian troops in late February, over 450,000 troops. In exchange for military aid, the Ukrainians were to deliver foodstuffs to the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. Under the command of Symon Petlura
Symon Petlura
Symon Vasylyovych Petliura was a publicist, writer, journalist, Ukrainian politician, statesman, and national leader who led Ukraine's struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917....
, the combined forces pushed the Bolsheviks out of Right Bank Ukraine and retook Kiev on March 1. Because of the socialist policies of the Rada, mainly the policy of land nationalization which affected food exports to the Central Powers, on April 28 the German forces disbanded the Tsentralna Rada and installed the Hetman government
Hetmanate
The Ukrainian State or The Hetmanate was a short-lived polity in Ukraine, installed by Ukrainian Cossacks and military organizations under the support of the Central Powers, after disbanding the Central Rada of the Ukrainian National Republic on 28 April 1918.-History:On April 29, 1918 the head...
in its place. Ukrainian, German, and Austrian armies continued making gains, taking back Left Bank Ukraine, Crimea and the Donets Basin. These setbacks forced the Bolsheviks to sign a peace treaty with the Ukrainian government on June 12.
Post Hetmanate Intervention
Directorate of Ukraine
The Directorate, or Directory was a provisional revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian National Republic, formed in 1918 by the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Skoropadsky's regime....
overthrew the Hetmanate with some help from the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s. German forces led by the Soldatenrat kept their neutrality during the two-week-long civil war as they were withdrawing from the country, due to the defeat of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Direcotry reestablished the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
. On January 22, 1919 the neighboring Ukrainian Republics united under the Act Zluky
Act Zluky
The Unification Act was an agreement signed on January 22, 1919 by the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian People's Republic on the St. Sophia Square in Kiev...
. During that time the Bolsheviks invaded Ukraine at full force with an army led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovsiyenko, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, and Volodymyr Zatonsky
Volodymyr Zatonsky
Volodymyr Zatonsky was a Soviet politician, Communist Party activist, member of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences ....
. The Directory declared war once again against Russia on January 16 after several preliminary ultimatums to the Russian SFSR sovnarkom to withdraw their troops. The two main directions of the Bolshevik's forces were onto Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
. To stop the war the government of Chekhivsky sent a delegation to Moscow led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Semen Mazurenko. The delegation succeeded in signing the preliminary peaceful agreement yet it did not stop the aggression from the Russian side due to poor communication between the delegation in Moscow and the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
. On December 28, 1918 the Central Committee of the Left UPSR
Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party was a political party in the Russian Empire from 1907-1917. It was simply referred as Essery and was one of the most influential in Ukraine as it was representing the interest of the major social class - peasants...
officially declared about the mobilization of force in the support of the Soviet government by an armed staging. From the beginning of January 1919 the Bolshevik bands consistently were crossing the eastern and north-eastern borders for purpose of raids.
The Central Military-Revolutionary Committee in Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
on October 22, 1918 issued the order to form two divisions under the Army Group the Ukrainian Front or the Group of the Kursk Direction. The group was assigned the Worker's Division of Moscow, the 9th Soviet Division, 2nd Orlov Brigade, and two armored trains. According to Antonov-Ovsiyenko the army was accounted for some 6,000 soldiers, 170 artillery guns, 427 machine guns, 15 military planes, and 6 armored trains. On December 15, 1918 the meeting of the Ukrainian chief of staff was called in Kiev headed by Otaman
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Osetsky and including the Chief Otaman
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Petliura, Colonel Bolbachan, Colonel Shapoval, Sotnik
Sotnik
Sotnik or Sotnyk was a military rank among the Cossack starshyna , Strelets Troops in Muscovy and Imperial Cossack cavalry , the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Ukrainian People's Army.-Military rank:Literally it means commander of hundred men in most Slavonic...
Oskilko. They were discussing the border security and formed a plan in case of threat from all sides.
During that time the Soviet forces were advancing across the north-eastern Ukraine and occupied Rylsk
Rylsk
Rylsk is a town and the administrative center of Rylsky District of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Seym River southwest of Kursk. Population: 19,000 .-History:...
and Novhorod-Siversky. On December 21 the Ukrainian Front took the important strategic railroad connection in Kupyansk
Kupyansk
Kupyansk , is a city in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kupianskyi Raion , the city itself is directly subordinated to the oblast, and is an important railroad junction in the oblast....
. After that a full-scale advance started between Dnieper and Oskol River
Oskol River
Oskol is a river in Russia and Ukraine. It is a left tributary of the Seversky Donets. It is 436 km long, with a drainage basin of 14,680 km²....
s. On January 3, the Red Army took Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, almost as by the same scenarios when Bolsheviks occupied Kiev in February 1918. The Ukrainian forces at that time consisted of two regular troop formations, the Zaporozhian Corps and the Sich Riflemen, as well as partisan
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
detachments. These partisans were led by unreliable ataman
Ataman
Ataman was a commander title of the Ukrainian People's Army, Cossack, and haidamak leaders, who were in essence the Cossacks...
s who occasionally sided with the Bolsheviks such as Zeleny, Anhel, and Hryhoryev
Nikifor Grigoriev
Nikifor Grigoriev was born Nychypir Servetnyk in a small village of Zastavlia was a paramilitary leader noted for numerous switching of sides and anti-Semitism...
. The army which had over 100,000 fell to about 25,000 due to peasants leaving the army and desertions to the Bolsheviks. Bolbochan with the remnants of the Zaporizhian Corps retreated to Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
which was holding off for couple of more weeks. On January 6, 1919 the government of Pyatakov
Georgy Pyatakov
Georgy Leonidovich Pyatakov was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader during the Russian Revolution, and member of the Left Opposition.Pyatakov was born August 6, 1890 in the settlement of the Mariinsky sugar factory which was owned by his father, an ethnic Russian, Leonid Timofeyevich Pyatakov.He...
officially declared the creation of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
. Yet his government continued to stay in Kursk until January 24. On January 4 the Bolsheviks Army Group Ukrainian Fornt was reformed into the unified Ukrainian front under the command of Antonov-Ovsiyenko with his deputies Kotsiubynsky and Schadenko. On the several inquiries about the purpose of the Russian Army in Ukraine that Directory was sending to Moscow Chicherin
Georgy Chicherin
Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin was a Marxist revolutionary and a Soviet politician. He served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the Soviet government from March 1918 to 1930.-Childhood and early career:...
finally responded on January 6:
...there is no army of the Russian Socialist Soviet Republic in Ukraine. At this time the military action that takes place on the territory of Ukraine is between the armies of Directory and the Ukrainian Soviet Government which is completely independent.On January 12, the troops under the command of Mykola Schors
Nikolay Shchors
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Shchors was a Red Army commander, member of the Russian Communist Party, renowned for his personal courage during the Russian Civil War and sometimes being called the Ukrainian Chapayev. In 1918-1919 he fought against the new established Ukrainian government in Kyiv...
occupied Chernihiv
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
while other units under command of Pavlo Dybenko
Pavel Dybenko
Pavel Efimovich Dybenko was a Russian revolutionary and a leading Soviet officer.- Until the military service :...
took Lozova
Lozova
Lozova or Lozovaya is a city in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Lozivsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is an important railroad junction in the oblast.The current estimated population is...
, Pavlohrad
Pavlohrad
Pavlohrad or Pavlograd is an indistrial city in eastern Ukraine, located within the Dnipropetrovs'ka oblast, and had a population of 118,800 in 2001. The rivers of Vovcha , Hnizdka , Kocherha flow through Pavlohrad. The area of the city is . There are 20 schools and 1 lyceum in the city.In 1930...
, Synelnykove
Synelnykove
Synelnykove is a city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine. It has a population of 32,302 ....
, and established the contact with Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
. After some long discussion between the members of the Directory and other state officials it was decided to declare a war against the Soviet Russia. The only person who was against it was the chairman of the Directory Volodymyr Vynnychenko
Volodymyr Vynnychenko
Volodymyr Kyrylovych Vynnychenko - Biography :Vynnychenko was born in Yelisavetgrad , the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire in a family of peasants. His father Kyrylo Vasyliovych Vynnychenko earlier in his life was a peasant-serf has moved from a village to the city of Yelisavetgrad where...
, while Shapoval, for example, for some reason was simply requesting the prompt creation of the Soviet government. Denikin later commented that the war declaration did not change absolutely anything on frontlines and only reflected the political crisis inside the Ukrainian government with the victory of the military party of Petliura-Konovalets
Yevhen Konovalets
Yevhen Konovalets was a military commander of the UNR army and political leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement...
-Hrekov over Vynnychenko-Chekhivsky. On January 20 the Soviet Army took Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
while the Ukrainian troops retreated further to Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk is an important industrial city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kremenchutskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the banks of Dnieper River.-History:Kremenchuk was...
. On January 26 Dybenko took Katerynoslav
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
. The Soviets took Left-Bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of the Kiev and Cherkasy....
, and then marched on to Kiev. On February 2 they forced the Directorate to move to Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
while troops of Schors and Bozhenko occupied Kiev three days later.
Chekhivsky after resignation from the office right after Vynnychenko has created in Kamyanets-Podilsky the Committee for the salvation of Republic which was dissolved by Petliura on February 13. During that time the Soviet troops has acquired the rest of the Kiev Governorate
Kiev Governorate
Kiev Governorate , or Government of Kiev, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire.The governorate was established in 1708 along with seven other governorates and was transformed into a viceroyalty in 1781...
while the bands of Hryhoryev took Oleksandria and Yelyzavethrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
. By March 6 the Directory has relocated to Proskurov while yielding most of Polissya and Podillya to Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s. Surprisingly by the end of March the Ukrainian armies successfully conducted series of military operations liberating Sarny
Sarny
Sarny translated as Deer, is a small city in the Rivne Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Sarny Raion , and is a major railway node on the Sluch River.The current estimated population is 27,700....
, Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
, Korosten
Korosten
Korosten is a historic city and a large railway node in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Korosten Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the Uzh River.The city was founded over a...
, and threatening to take back Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. On March 2 Otaman Hryhoryev occupied Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
and March 12 he was already in Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
. By April 3 the Entente forces evacuated from Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
which Hryhoryev entered three days later.
December 1919 to November 1920
From December 6, 1919 to May 6, 1920, the UNR ArmyUkrainian People's Army
The Ukrainian People's Army , also known as the Ukrainian National Army were often quickly reorganized units of the former Russian Imperial Army or newly formed volunteer detachments that later joined the national armed forces. The army for a long period lacked a certain degree of uniformity,...
under the command of Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko
Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko
Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko , December 8, 1878 - May 29, 1952, was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army and of the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic...
carried out an underground operation known as the First Winter Campaign in the Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
region against the Soviet 14th Army. Another significant development of this period was the signing of the Treaty of Warsaw
Treaty of Warsaw
Treaty of Warsaw may refer to* Treaty of Warsaw , a Polono-Lithuanian-Swedish alliance during the Great Northern War* Treaty of Warsaw , an alliance between Britain, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Poland-Saxony agreeing to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction* Treaty of Warsaw , granting rights to...
with Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
on April 22, and then beginning of a joint offensive with Polish troops against the Bolsheviks. On May 7 a Ukrainian division under the command of Marko Bezruchko entered Kiev, but was quickly forced out by a Red Army counteroffensive led by Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny , sometimes transliterated as Budennyj, Budyonnyy, Budennii, Budenny, Budyoni, Budyenny, or Budenny, was a Soviet cavalryman, military commander, politician and a close ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.-Early life:...
. The Ukrainians and Poles were pushed back across the Zbruch River
Zbruch River
Zbruch River is a river in Western Ukraine, a left tributary of the Dniester.It flows within the Podolia Upland starting from the Avratinian Upland. Zbruch is the namesake of the Zbruch idol, a sculpture of a Slavic deity in the form of a column with a head with four faces, discovered in 1848 by...
and past Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
toward Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The Poles signed a peace with the Soviets on October 18. By 1921, Polish author of the Polish-Ukrainian alliance, Józef Piłsudski, was no longer Polish head of state, and only participated as an observer during the Riga negotiations, which he called an act of cowardice. The Petliura's forces kept fighting. They lasted until October 21, when they were forced to cross the Zbuch River and enter Polish-controlled Galicia. There they were disarmed and placed in internment camps
Camps for soldiers of the UNR Army interned in Poland (1919-1924)
Camps for soldiers of the UNR Army interned in Poland.Combatants of the UNR Army were interned in Poland initially at the end of 1919 in Łańcut immediately after they organized 6 Rifle divisions...
.
November 1921
The last action of the UNR against the Soviets was a raid behind the Red Army lines in November 1921 known as the Second Winter Campaign.This campaign was meant to incite a general uprising amongst the Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s, who were already disgruntled with the Soviets, and to unify partisan forces against the Bolsheviks in Ukraine. The commander of the Ukrainian forces was Yurii Tiutiunnyk
Yurii Tiutiunnyk
Yuri Yosypovych Tiutiunnyk was a Ukrainian military commander of the Ukrainian People's Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian-Soviet War.-Early...
.
Two expeditionary forces were established, one from Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
(400 men) and one from Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
(800 men). The Podolia group only made it to the village of Vakhnivka, before returning to Polish territory through Volhynia on November 29. The Volhynia group started out on November 4, captured Korosten
Korosten
Korosten is a historic city and a large railway node in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Korosten Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the Uzh River.The city was founded over a...
on November 7 and made its way to the village of Leonivka. When they began to run low on supplies they decided to return. However, on its return west, it was intercepted by a Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
force under the command of Grigore Kotovski
Grigore Kotovski
Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky was a Soviet military leader and Communist activist.Kotovsky was born in Bessarabia, the son of a mechanical engineer. His father was of Polish ethnicity and his mother was an ethnic Russian. Kotovskt attended agricultural college and worked as an estate manager....
at Bazar
Bazar
Bazar may refer to:* Bazar, Afghanistan* Bazar, Azerbaijan* Bazar, Łódź Voivodeship * Bazar, Lublin Voivodeship * Bazar, Masovian Voivodeship * Bazar, Ukraine...
and routed in battle near Mali Mynky on November 17. 443 soldiers were captured by the Soviets during the battle. 359 were shot on November 23 near the town of Bazar
Bazar
Bazar may refer to:* Bazar, Afghanistan* Bazar, Azerbaijan* Bazar, Łódź Voivodeship * Bazar, Lublin Voivodeship * Bazar, Masovian Voivodeship * Bazar, Ukraine...
, and 84 were passed on to Soviet security forces.
This was the last operation of the UNR army
Ukrainian People's Army
The Ukrainian People's Army , also known as the Ukrainian National Army were often quickly reorganized units of the former Russian Imperial Army or newly formed volunteer detachments that later joined the national armed forces. The army for a long period lacked a certain degree of uniformity,...
against the Soviets. The end of the Second Winter Campaign brought the Ukrainian-Soviet war to a definite end, however partisan fighting against the Bolsheviks continued until mid-1922 and in response the Red Army terrorized the countryside.
Aftermath
The end of the war saw the incorporation of most of the territories of Ukraine into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic which, on December 30, 1922, was one of the founding members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Parts of Western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
fell into under the control of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, as laid out in the Peace of Riga
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
. The UNR government, led by Symon Petlura
Symon Petlura
Symon Vasylyovych Petliura was a publicist, writer, journalist, Ukrainian politician, statesman, and national leader who led Ukraine's struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917....
, was forced into exile. For the next few years the Ukrainian nationalists would continue to try to wage a partisan guerrilla war on the Soviets. They were aided by Polish intelligence (see Prometheism
Prometheism
Prometheism or Prometheanism was a political project initiated by Poland's Józef Piłsudski. Its aim was to weaken the Russian Empire and its successor states, including the Soviet Union, by supporting nationalist independence movements among the major non-Russian peoples that lived within the...
); however they were not successful. The last active Ukrainian movements would be mostly eradicated during the Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
. Further, the relative lack of Polish support for the Ukrainian cause would cause a growing resentment on the part of the Ukrainian minority in Poland towards the Polish interwar state.
See also
- Ukraine after the Russian RevolutionUkraine after the Russian RevolutionUkrainian territory was fought over by various factions after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the First World War, which added the collapse of Austria-Hungary to that of the Imperial Russia. The crumbling of the empires had a great effect on the Ukrainian nationalist movement and in the short...
- Polish–Soviet War
- Polish–Ukrainian War
- Pogroms in UkrainePogroms in UkraineIt is estimated that one third of Europe's Jews lived in Ukraine, which from 1791 to 1917 partly belonged to the Pale of Settlement. The concentration of Jews in this region made them an easy target for pogroms and massive, anti-Jewish riots.-During Czarist Russia:...