Poles from Greater Poland and Congress Poland in the defense of Lviv
in 1918 and 1919. Examples of solidarity of inhabitants from different
partitions in the struggle for independence
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Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Online publication date: 2021-06-16
Publication date: 2021-06-16
KMW 2021;311(1):52–69
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ABSTRACT
In the night, between 31 October and 1 November 1918, Ukrainian troops occupied almost the
entire East Galicia and a larger part of Lviv. The fighting between Polish and Ukrainian forces
led to the conquest of the city on 22 November. However, Lviv was still surrounded by the enemy. Former Russian and German partitions organised assistance for the compatriots struggling
in Galicia. In November 1918, the Warsaw Committee of the Defense of Lviv was created in
Warsaw. On the initiative of the Committee and on Józefa Piłsudski’s permission, three units
were formed, which on 12 April were combined into the 19th Infantry Regiment of “Lviv Counter-offensive”. It played an important role in the liberation of eastern Galicia in the spring of
1919. The inhabitants of Greater Poland also strongly sympathised with the battle fought by
Poles in eastern Galicia. In February 1919, the commander of the Greater Poland Army, Gen.
Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki announced a voluntary enrollment to the unit that was setting out for
Lviv. 204 soldiers enrolled in the unit that was commanded by Second Lieutenant Jan Ciaciuch
and Second Lieutenant Maksymilian Soldenhoff. The company was well armed, and was later
strengthened by additional 79 soldiers. Sometime later, the so-called Greater Poland Group
commanded by Col. Daniel Konarzewski arrived in Lviv in the force of 4 thousand soldiers,
armed with heavy artillery and supported by air force. Both units were combative and efficient.
Women also participated in the battle of Lviv as part of the Voluntary Women’s League. According to multiple sources, approximately 400 women took part in the battle of Lviv, many of
whom came from the area of the Russian partition