The First Winter Campaign was a campaign between the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic

Ukrainian People's Republic

The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...

 (UNR) and bolshevik

Bolshevik

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....

 forces in Ukraine during the Ukrainian-Soviet War

Ukrainian-Soviet War

The Ukrainian–Soviet War of 1917–21 was a military conflict between the Ukrainian People's Republic and pro-Bolshevik forces for the control of Ukraine after the dissolution of the Russian Empire.-Background:...

. It began on December 6, 1919, and lasted until May 6, 1920.

The leader of the Ukrainian forces was General Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko

Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko

Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko , December 8, 1878 - May 29, 1952, was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army and of the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic...

.

Background

The First World War saw tremendous upheaval in Ukraine, and in the short period between the spring of 1917 and late 1919, three governments had taken shape in the capital, Kiev. However, the political situation was difficult because of the international pressure from Poland, and especially the Bolsheviks.

By late 1919, it became clear that conventional warfare against bolshevik forces in Ukraine had become impossible, so the Ukrainian People's Republic had decided to demobilize its military and conduct partisan warfare behind Bolshevik lines .

Participating Units

There were three main Ukrainian units - they were re-named divisions in February 1920.
"Zaporizhia", commanded by General Andrii Huly-Hulenko;
"Kiev", commanded by General Yurii Tiutiunnyk

Yurii Tiutiunnyk

Yuri Yosypovych Tiutiunnyk was a Ukrainian military commander of the Ukrainian People's Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian-Soviet War.-Early...

;
and "Volhynia", commanded by Gen Oleksander Zahrodsky .

Main Battles

Because of the nature of the campaign, the armies covered very much territory. Originally the main theater of war was the Yelizavetgrad region, but as the bolshevik-Denikin front moved south, so did the campaign.

The main battles of the First Winter Campaign took place at Lypovets, Zhashkiv, Uman, Kaniv, Cherkasy, Smila, Zolotonosha, Olviopol, Holovanivsk, Haisyn, Voznesensk, Ananiv, and Balta .