The Ukrainian Galician Army ( UGA; ), was the combined military of the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; West Ukrainian People's Republic#Name, see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolom ...

during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It was called the "Galician army" initially. Dissatisfied with the alliance of Ukraine and Poland it joined the army of

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

in November 1919, was renamed the "Ukrainian Galician Army" and later joined the Red Army as the "Red Ukrainian Galician Army" in 1920. Soviet authorities disbanded the army after part of it broke away to join the allied Ukrainian and Polish armies, followed by Ukrainian celebrations in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

. The Red Army shot many of its officers.

Military equipment

The Ukrainian Galician Army obtained its arms from Austrian depots and from the demobilized Austrian and German troops who streamed through Galicia by the hundreds of thousands following the collapse of the Central Powers at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However, the centers of Austria's military industry lay far from Galicia, and subsequent difficulty with resupply was a major factor in the Galicians losing their war against Poland.

Armed Forces

The government of the

was well organized and was able to mobilize over 100,000 people by spring 1919, 40,000 of whom were battle-ready. Due to the Ukrainians' generally poor socioeconomic status, the army had a disproportionately low ratio of officers to other ranks. In the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, ethnic Ukrainians accounted for only two out of 1,000 officers (in comparison, Poles had made up 27/1,000 officers in the Austrian military). As a result, although most of the junior rank officers were Galicians the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic relied largely on former high-ranking officers of the defunct Russian Army, such as General Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko, to take on the post of commander and general staff. It also staffed many positions with unemployed Austrian and German officers. For this reason, the German language was the easiest way for officers to communicate with each other and was the dominant language among the staff. Despite these measures, only approximately 2.4% of the army consisted of officers. The Ukrainian Galician Army reached its greatest strength in June 1919, when it had 70,000 to 75,000 men, including reserves. It had very limited cavalry but artillery, consisting of ex-Austrian pieces, was a strong point. The UHA had two or three armored cars and two armored trains. The UHA's air force, organized by Petro Franko (son of the poet Ivan Franko), fielded 40 airplanes, and until April 1919 enjoyed air superiority over the Polish forces.

Sich Riflemen

A former unit of the

, the 1st Brigade of Sich Riflemen (), became the elite force of the Ukrainian Galician Army during the war against Poland. It was formed in 1914 by former members of youth and paramilitary organizations and fought in Galicia and Ukraine against the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

throughout the First World War. At its peak this brigade had 8,600 men, not all of whom fought in Galicia.

Jewish Battalion

The Ukrainian Galician Army fielded a Jewish

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

() recruited from Jewish university and high school students in

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

and led by Lieutenant . Formed in June, 1919, it attained a strength of 1,200 men and participated in combat against Polish forces in July 1919 and subsequently against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. The battalion was decimated by a

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

epidemic in late 1919 and its surviving soldiers were subsequently reassigned to other units within the Ukrainian Galician Army.''Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2'' 1989
/ref>

Structure

The Army consisted of numerous military formations which later were organized into four Corps. The Corps were further divided into brigades composed of several regular military units. * I Corps UHA ** 5th Sokal Brigade ** 6th Rava Brigade ** 9th Uhniv-Belz Brigade ** 10th Yavoriv Brigade * II Corps UHA ** Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen ** 2nd Kolomyia Brigade ** 3rd Berezhany Brigade ** 4th Zolochiv Brigade * III Corps UHA ** 1st Mountainous Brigade ** 7th Stryi Brigade ** 8th Sambir Brigade ** Battle groups "Krukevychi" and "Hlyboka", reformed into 11th Stryi Brigade ** 14th Brigade (later) * IV Corps UHA ** 12th Brigade ** 21st Zbarazh Brigade Territorially the West Ukrainian People's Republic was divided into three Military Oblasts centered in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and Stanyslaviv, with four okruhas (districts) in each. Boberski Witowski Cehelski 1918

Members

* Archduke Wilhelm of Austria, Austrian Archduke * Petro Franko, son of Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko * Oleksander Hrekov, commander-in-chief, ethnic Russian former Tsarist general, architect of the Chortkiv offensive * Yevhen Konovalets, founder and first leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists * Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko, Supreme Commander, later defence minister of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

's government-in-exile * Hnat Stefaniv, commander of Ukrainian forces in Lviv and later commander of the Ukrainian army in exile * Myron Tarnavsky, supreme commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army during its successful anti-Bolshevik offensive on Kiev; court-martialed for signing an agreement with

* Dmytro Vitovsky, organizer of the Ukrainian uprising in Lviv and special operations formations. Later he was a member of Western Ukrainian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in May 1919 * Bogusław Shashkevych, who served as a major and commander of the 9th UHA Infantry Brigade, and later the 21st and 4th UHA Infantry Brigades * Solomon Leimberg, lieutenant of the Jewish battalion () since June 1919

References

*
A web site including information about the Ukrainian Galician army

Західно-Українська Народна Республіка 1918–1923. Енциклопедія. Т. 1
А–Ж. Івано-Франківськ : Манускрипт-Львів, 2018. 688 с. ISBN 978-966-2067-44-6 (Ukrainian)
Західно-Українська Народна Республіка 1918–1923. Енциклопедія. Т. 2
З–О. Івано-Франківськ : Манускрипт-Львів, 2019. 832 с. ISBN 978-966-2067-61-3 (Ukrainian)
Західно-Українська Народна Республіка 1918-1923. Енциклопедія. Т. 3
П - С. Івано-Франківськ: Манускрипт-Львів, 2020.576 с. ISBN 978-966-2067-65-1 (Ukrainian)
Західно-Українська Народна Республіка 1918-1923. Енциклопедія. Т. 4
Т - Я. Івано-Франківськ: Манускрипт-Львів, 2021.688 с. ISBN 978-966-2067-72-9 (Ukrainian) {{Authority control West Ukrainian People's Republic 1918 in Ukraine 1919 in Ukraine Aftermath of World War I in Ukraine Anti-communist organizations Military history of Ukraine Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1918 establishments in Ukraine 1919 disestablishments in Ukraine