Chortkiv offensive
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| Chortkiv offensive | |||||||
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| Part of Polish-Ukrainian War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 West Ukrainian National Republic |
 Second Polish Republic |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 19,000 | 20,000+ | ||||||
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The Chortkiv offensive (Ukrainian: Чортківський наступ) (7-28 June 1919), sometimes also referred to as the June Offensive, was a surprise military operation by the Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA) in the Polish-Ukrainian War for Eastern Galicia.
The disputed territory was claimed by the nascent Ukrainian state, the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, and the recently re-established Poland that laid claim on entire Galicia, including its largely Ukrainian populated eastern part.
While the initial success of this desperate attack of the underarmed Ukrainian force was its finest hour in the war,[1] in the end the offensive was successfully repelled by the numerically superior Allied-equipped Polish force that pushed the Ukrainians back. Eventually, the interwar future of entire Galicia was decided at the Allied Council of Foreign Ministers that on 18 June 1919 gave Poland a carte blanche to conduct the operations all the way to the Zbruch River.[2][3]
Contents |
[edit] The goals
The goal of the Chortkiv offensive was to push the Polish army back to the Zolota Lypa River in order to give the Ukrainian forces more space for maneuver in the war for the disputed territory.[2]
[edit] The offensive
On 8 June the 19,000 strong UHA took the city of Chortkiv, forcing the Poles to retreat to the Holohory–Peremyshliany–Bukachivtsi line. Under the command of Oleksander Hrekov, the Ukrainians came close to Lviv, the main city of the province, which was their greatest success.[2]
The Ukrainian forces also gained victories at Yazlovets (10 June), Buchach (11 June), Pidhaitsi, Nyzhniv and Ternopil (14 June) and Berezhany (21 June).[2][4]
[edit] Polish counterattack
As the UHA suffered from a lack of ammunition, on 28 June a larger Allied-equipped Polish force broke through the Ukrainian lines at Yanchyn and forced the UHA to retreat to the Zbruch River.[2][4] Eventually the Ukrainians were forced back toward the Dnieper Ukraine then controlled by the Ukrainian People's Republic, another nascent Ukrainian state that was fighting for its survival.[4]
[edit] Aftermath
Though the UHA initially scored several impressive victories, the Chortkiv offensive could not be a success for the Ukrainian forces that lacked both men, ammunition and external support compared to the Polish army.[2] However, the offensive did manage to halt the Polish operations and it showed the value of the UHA as a military force.[3] The UHA itself was largely preserved and later allied with other forces in the hostilities that lasted in Ukraine for another year.[4]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Chortkiv offensive at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
- Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: A History. University of Toronto Press, 370. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
- Kubiyovych, Volodymyr, Kuzelia, Zenon. Entsyklopediya Ukrainoznavstva (Encyclopedia of Ukrainian studies), 3 volumes (1994). Kiev. ISBN 5-7702-0554-7 (Ukrainian)
- Ihor Pidkova (editor), Roman Shust (editor), "Dovidnyk z istorii Ukrainy", 3 Volumes, "(t. 3), Kiev, 1993-1999, ISBN 5-7707-5190-8 (t. 1), ISBN 5-7707-8552-7 (t. 2), ISBN 966-504-237-8 (t. 3). Article: Чортківський наступ 1919 (Ukrainian)
