page_title: Polish–Ukrainian War
section_title: Ukrainian collapse
hierarchical_section_title: Polish–Ukrainian War / The war / Ukrainian collapse
caption_attribution_description: Українська: Зображення аероплану Української Галицької Армії Льотчик Сильвестр Соневицький за штурвалом літака «Ньюпор»-17, 1-а летунська сотня, м. Красне, початок 1919 р. Фото з часопису «Літопис Червоної Калини»
context_page_description: The Polish–Ukrainian War of November 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces. The conflict had its roots in ethnic, cultural and political differences between the Polish and Ukrainian populations living in the region. The war started in Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and spilled over into Chełm Land and Volhynia regions formerly belonging to the Russian Empire, which were both claimed by the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian People's Republic.
context_section_description: On May 14, 1919, a Polish general offensive began throughout Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. It was carried out by units of the Polish Army aided by the newly arrived Blue Army of General Józef Haller de Hallenburg. This army, composed of Polish forces which had fought for the Entente on the Western front, numbering 60,000 troops, was well equipped by the Western allies and partially staffed with experienced French officers specifically in order to fight the Bolsheviks and not the forces of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. Despite this, the Poles dispatched Haller's army against the Ukrainians in order to break the stalemate in eastern Galicia. The allies sent several telegrams ordering the Poles to halt their offensive as using of the French-equipped army against the Ukrainian specifically contradicted the conditions of the French help, but these were ignored, with the Polish side arguing that Ukrainians were Bolshevik sympathizers. At the same time, on May 23 Romania opened a second front against Ukrainian forces, demanding their withdrawal from the southern sections of eastern Galicia including from the temporary capital of Stanislaviv. This resulted in a loss of territory, ammunition and further isolation from the outside world.
  The Ukrainian lines were broken, mostly due to the withdrawal of the elite Sich Riflemen. On May 27 the Polish forces reached the Złota Lipa–Berezhany-Jezierna-Radziwiłłów line. The Polish advance was accompanied by a large wave of anti-Jewish violence and looting conducted not only by disorganized Polish mobs, as in Lviv in 1918, but by Polish military units operating against the orders of their officers, in particular, those of the Poznań regiments and Haller's army. Following the demands of the Entente, the Polish offensive was halted and the troops of General Haller adopted defensive positions.
caption: Nieuport 17 of the Ukrainian Galician Army
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACD Systems Digital Imaging", "Image DateTime": "2011:10:17 18:13:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "174", "EXIF SubSecTime": "671", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1206", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "725"}