Ukrainian-Soviet War

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Ukrainian-Soviet War
partof=Ukrainian War of Independence and the Russian Civil War


caption=
date=1917-1921
place=Ukraine
territory= Incorporation of most of Ukraine into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
result=Bolshevik victory
status=
combatant1=
combatant2=flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918 Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
flagicon|Ukrainian SSR|1927 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
commander1=Symon Petliura
Pavlo Skoropadsky
Mykhailo Pavlenko
commander2=Leon Trotsky
Joseph Stalin
Alexander Yegorov
Mikhail Muraviev
strength1= 300,000 at their peak [cite web |url=http://www.vesna.org.ua/txt/dov/istukr/Ia.html |title= Довідники/Довідник з історії України |accessdate=2008-01-30 |work=Вiртуальна Русь ]
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=
notes=

The Ukrainian-Soviet War of 1917–21 ( _uk. Українсько-радянська війна) 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.

Background

The February Revolution of 1917 caused the many ethnic groups in the Russian Empire to demand greater autonomy from Moscow 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 Moscow on January 22 1918, and declared Ukrainian independence, thereby commencing the Ukrainian War of Independence.cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30076/Ukraine|title=Ukraine.|author=J. Kim Munholland|accessdate=2007-11-08|work=Encyclopædia Britannica] [cite book|last=Reid|first=Anna|title=Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine|year= |publisher=Westview Press|year=2000|isbn=0813337925|pages=p. 33] It was around this point that Bolshevik troops began invading Ukraine from Russia.Orest Subtelny. "Ukraine a History". University of Toronto Press, 1988.] Russian military units from Kharkov, Moscow, Minsk and the Baltic Fleet invaded Ukraine. [Robert Sullivant. "Soviet Politics and the Ukraine 1917-1957." New York: Columbia University Press, 1962.]

The war

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 Guard detachments composed of laborers from Kharkov gubernia and the Donbass, began by advancing from the northeast led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko and Mikhail Muraviev.Nicholas Chirovsky. ’’An introduction to Ukrainian History Volume III 19th and 20th Century Ukraine.’’ New York, Philosophical Library, 1986] 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. The 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 Muraviev to take Kiev. [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pagesUKUkrainian6SovietWar1917hD721.htm Ukrainian-Soviet War, 1917–21] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine] As the Bolsheviks marched towards Kiev, a small Ukrainian National Republic unit of 500 schoolboys (some sources give a figure of 300 [cite web|url=http://historyua.narod.ru/ |title=History of Ukraine |accessdate= |accessmonthday=September 12 |accessyear=2006 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work=History of Ukraine |publisher= |pages= |language=Ukrainian |archiveurl= |archivedate=] ), 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 Muravev'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.

December 1918 to December 1919

In December 1918, troops from the Directorate of Ukraine overthrew the Hetmanate, and forced the Germans out of Kiev. They reestablished the UNR. It was at this time that the Bolsheviks once again invaded UkrainePaul Robert Magocsi"A History of Ukraine". Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0830-5] with an army led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovsiyenko, Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Zatonsky. The Directory declared war once again against Russia on January 16. 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 atamans who occasionally sided with the Bolsheviks. The army which had over 100,000 fell to about 25,000 due to peasants leaving the army and desertions to the Bolsheviks. The Soviets took Left-Bank Ukraine, and then marched on to Kiev, where on February 2 they forced the Directorate to move to Vinnytsia.

December 1919 to November 1920

From December 6 1919 to May 6 1920, the UNR Army 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".en icon cite book | author =Norman Davies| title =White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20 | year =2003 | editor = | pages =399 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Pimlico | location = | id =ISBN 0-7126-0694-7| url =http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0231053525&id=DMoPXktGwiUC&pg=PA399&lpg=PA399&dq=Riga+an+act+of+cowardice&sig=i3vknEXAKsMRzbdbyuxKdq9e1XE |format =|accessdate = (First edition: New York, St. Martin's Press, inc., 1972.)] The Petliura's forces kept fighting. [Mykhailo Hrushevsky, edited by O. J. Frederiksen. "A History of Ukraine". New Haven: Yale University Press: 1941.] 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.

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 peasants, 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 Podilia 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. [ [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesWIWintercampaigns.htm Winter Campaigns] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine]

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 [ [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesPAPartisanmovementinUkraine1918hD722.htm Partisan movement in Ukraine, 1918–22] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine] and in response the Red Army terrorized the countryside. [WED Allen. "The Ukraine". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1941.]

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 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. [ [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesUKUkrainianNationalRepublic.htm Ukrainian National Republic] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine] 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. [Timothy Snyder, "Covert Polish Missions across the Soviet Ukrainian Border, 1928-1933", [http://books.google.com/books?id=TQR5YSY-b1QC&pg=PA71&vq=famine&source=gbs_search_s&sig=wXNFbI5ZHBiRe6S50Iey1HJT0SM p. 71-78] , in "Cofini", Silvia Salvatici (a cura di), Rubbettino, 2005). [http://www.sissco.it/fileadmin/user_upload/Pubblicazioni/collanasissco/confini/confini_snyder.pdf Full text in PDF] ] Further, the relative lack of Polish support for the Ukrainian cause would cause a growing resentment on the part of Ukrainian minority in Poland towards the Polish interwar state.

ee also

*Ukraine after the Russian Revolution
*Polish-Soviet War
*Polish-Ukrainian War
*Pogroms in Ukraine

References