Battle of Lemberg (1918): Difference between revisions

|combatant1={{flagicon|West Ukrainian People's Republic}} [[West Ukrainian People's Republic|West Ukraine]]

|combatant2={{flagicon|Second Polish Republic|1919}} [[Second Polish Republic|Republic of Poland]]

|commander1=[[Dmytro Vitovsky]], <br>[[Hnat Stefaniv]]

The '''Battle of Lemberg (Lviv, Lwów)''' (in Polish historiography called ''{{lang|pl|obrona Lwowa}}'', the '''Defense of Lwów'''<ref>[[Stanisław Nicieja]], Legenda Lwowskich Orląt, [w:] Lwów wśród nas. {{ISBN|83-60117-06-3}}</ref>) took place from November 1918 to May 1919 and was a six-month long conflict in whatthe is[[Galicia modern(Eastern Europe)|region of Galicia]] following the [[Dissolution of Austria-dayHungary|dissolution Ukraineof the Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. The battle was fought between attacking forces of the local [[West Ukrainian People's Republic]] and the localurban [[PolesPolish people|Polish]] civilian populationresistance, assisted later by regularthe invading [[Polish ArmyLand Forces|Polish military]] forces for the control over the city of [[Lviv]]. (Lwów,The Lemberg),battle insparked what was then eastern part ofthe [[GaliciaPolish-Ukrainian (Central Europe)|GaliciaWar]], andultimately nowwon is western part ofby [[UkraineSecond Polish Republic|Poland]]. Theas battleboth sparkednations fought the [[Polish-Ukrainian–Soviet War|Ukrainian-Soviet War]], ultimately won byand [[SecondPolish–Soviet War|Polish-Soviet Republic|PolandWars]] concurrently.

The modern city of [[Lviv]] was called ''Lviv'' by the Ukrainians, ''Lwów'' by the Poles, and ''Lemberg'' by the Austrians and is the largest city in the historical region of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|eastern Galicia]]. According to the Austrian census of 1910, which listed religion and language, 5152% of the city's population were [[Roman Catholics]], 2831% Jews, and 1915% belonged to thewere [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Greek Catholics]]. Linguistically, 86% of the city's population used the Polish language and 11% preferred the Ukrainian language, so most of the inhabitants of Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv) were Poles.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qxooAAAAYAAJ&dq=105%2C469+Roman+Catholics+population+1910&q=lemberg#v=snippet&q=lemberg&f=false New International Encyclopedia, Volume 13]. 1915. ''Lemberg'.'. pg. 760</ref> However, of the 44 administrative divisions of the eastern half of the Austrian province Galicia, Lviv was the only one in which Poles made up a majority of the population.<ref>Timothy Snyder. (2003). ''The Reconstruction of Nations.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. pg. 134</ref> In eastern Galicia, Ukrainians made up approximately 6558% of the population, while Poles made up 2230%, and Jews about 11% of the population<ref>Timothy Snyder. (2003). ''The Reconstruction of Nations.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. pg. 123</ref> and were numerically superior in the cities.<ref>Norman Davies, ''God's playground: a history of Poland in two volumes'', Oxford University Press, 2005, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Tbed6iMNLEC&pg=PA379&dq=cities+numerical+superiority+Poles&hlpg=pl&ei=h2oYTJ2ACdXI_gbFspCLDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=cities%20numerical%20superiority%20Poles&f=falsePA379 p. 379]</ref>

As a part of the Austrian partition of Poland,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466910/Partitions-of-Poland Encyclopædia Britannica, Partitions of Poland]</ref> Lemberg became center of Polish culture and scholarship,<ref>Paul R. Magocsi, ''Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples'', University of Toronto Press, 1999 [https://books.google.com/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA1057&dq=Lviv+center+of+Polish+culture+scholarship&hlpg=pl&ei=eB8aTJOqJ8GB_QbNk8SDCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAgPA1057 p. 1057],</ref> as well as Polish and Ukrainian political activity.

Between 3:30 and 4:00 A.M. on November 1, 1918 Ukrainian soldiers occupied Lviv's public utilities and military objectives, raised [[Ukrainian flag]]s throughout the city and proclaimed the birth of the new Ukrainian state. The Austrian governor was interned and handed over power to the vice-director of the governorship, Volodymyr Detsykevych, who in turn recognized the supreme authority of the Ukrainian National Rada. The Austrian military commander called on his subordinates to recognize the Rada as well. Colonel [[Dmytro Vitovsky]] became commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces in Lviv, which numbered 60 officers and 1,200 soldiers.<ref name="Chojnowski"/> Lviv was proclaimed the capital of the West Ukrainian People's Republic, which claimed sovereignty over Eastern Galicia, the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] up to the village of [[Komańcza]] in the west ([[Komancza Republic]]), [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] and northern Bukovina. However, a large part of the claimed territory, including the city of Lviv, was also considered Polish by many of the local residents. While the Ukrainian residents enthusiastically supported the proclamation and the city's significant Jewish minority remained mostly neutral towards the Ukrainian proclamation, the Polish residents, constituting the majority of Lviv's inhabitants, were shocked to find themselves in a proclaimed Ukrainian state.<ref name=Subtelny367>[[Orest Subtelny]], ''[https://booksarchive.google.comorg/books?vid=ISBN0802083900&id=HNIs9O3EmtQC&dqdetails/ukrainehistory00subt_0 <!-- quote=0802083900. --> Ukraine: a history]'', pp. 367-368, University of Toronto Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-8020-8390-0}}</ref>

{{mainMain|Lwów pogrom (1918)}}

Chaos during the Polish take-over of the city culminated in a two-day-long riot, in which mostly Polish criminals and soldiers started pillaging the city; over the course of the riots, approximately 340 civilians, 2/3 of them Ukrainians and the rest Jews, were murdered.<ref name="ND">Norman Davies. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SOFkWX8EC4cC&pg=PA1012&dq=lwow+pogrom+1918+killed++jews&eipg=30HASPveLIyYyATwlKiRDg&sig=ACfU3U30AZS2LbGlIGHT5aGD2ic7lFJ6eQPA1012 "Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth Century Poland."] In: Herbert Arthur Strauss. Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism, 1870-1933/39. Walter de Gruyter, 1993.</ref> The Jews were accused of cooperating with Ukrainians, and it was claimed that approximately 150 Jews were murdered and 500 Jewish shops and businesses were ransacked in reprisal,<ref>Hagen, [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0801489695&id=gXisr7fgDjwC&pg=RA1-PA9&lpg=RA1-PA9&ots=HPSNgrvsRx&dq=pogrom+Lwow+November+1918+150&sigpg=VRA1-JY9HReUnS7ga1y1yZ7meByLZgPA9 p.9]</ref> although the [[Morgenthau report|Morgenthau commission]] reported only 64 Jewish deaths.{{cncitation needed|date=December 2019}} Historian Andrzej Kapiszewski noted: "the anti-Semitism of the local populations led to many anti-Jewish outbreaks, especially in the Eastern territories, where the Jewish population was particularly large".<ref>[http://www.studiajudaica.pl/sj14kapi.pdf Andrzej Kapiszewski (2004). Controversial Reports on the situation of Jews in Poland in the aftermath of World War I, ''Studia Judaica'', pp.257-304] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006100322/http://www.studiajudaica.pl/sj14kapi.pdf |date=2007-10-06 }}</ref> After establishing order within the city, Polish authorities punished a number of people accused of participation in riots.

*[https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0801489695&id=gXisr7fgDjwC&pg=RA1-PA124&lpg=RA1-PA124&ots=HPSNgrvAPB&dq=Pogrom+Lwow&sigpg=SWR4TaY2H9bB2aSR5kstqFdCCW4RA1-PA124 ''William H. Hagen'' The Moral Economy of Popular Violence:The Pogrom in Lwow, November 1918] in Antisemitism And Its Opponents In Modern Poland (edited by Robert Blobaum) {{ISBN|0-8014-4347-4}}

[[Category:Battles involvingof Polandthe Polish–Ukrainian War|Lwow 1918]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 19181919|Lemberg]]

[[Category:HistoryLviv ofin Lvivthe Russian Civil War]]