https://doi.org/10.31648/ep.9302
The article focuses on the participation of Ukrainians from the territories of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the first war for Ukrainian independence against the army of Bolshevik Russia in the 20th century. The war lasted from December 1917 to June 1918. The Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR) won this war mainly due to the fact that Austria-Hungary and Germany became allies of the UPR in the second half of February 1918. The few combat units of the UPR army were not able to oppose the superior forces of Bolshevik Russia. The Ukrainians who came from Galicia were characterized by high levels of political awareness and identity, and outstanding fighting skills. On the eve of the First Ukrainian-Soviet War, the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev allowed them, as prisoners of war held captive by Russia during World War I, to form a military unit within the UPR army, known as the Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin. At the beginning of the Ukrainian-Soviet War, the unit was renamed the First Sich Riflemen Kurin. It played an important role in stopping the Bolshevik offensive operation against Kiev, suppressing the Bolshevik uprising in Kiev, and defending the central government until the treaties with the future allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, were signed in Brest.
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