Ukrainian Legion Postcard Gallery Ukrainian Sich Riflemen - Ukraiinshi Sichovi Striltsi First Ukrainian Military Formation In Modern Times 2,500 Men, 1914-1918, Vienna, Austria

Page 1 of 3  table of contents    next      Ukrainian Legion - Ukrainian Sich Riflemen       The Ukrainian in Austria reacted quickly to the outbreak of hostilities (World War I). On August 3, 1914, all their parties formed the General Ukrainian Council (Zahalna Ukraiinska Rada) in Lviv, headed by the respected parliamentarian Kost Levytsky, for the purpose of providing Ukrainians with a single, united representative body. Declaring that "the victory of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy will be our victory and the greater the defeat of Russia, the sooner will come the hour of Ukrainian liberation," the council called on Ukrainians to fight for constitutional Austria (their best friend) against autocratic Russia (their worst enemy). Shortly after its formation, the council issued a call for volunteers for an all-Ukrainian military unit. Over 28,000 nationally conscious young men responded, many of them members of the Sich, Sokil, and Plast organizations. Worried by the prospect of large Ukrainian Legion Commander Sotnyk Semen Horuk Ukrainian military units, influential Poles in Vienna saw to it that only 2,500 men were accepted for service in the Ukrainian Legion (later the name was changed to Ukrainian Sich Riflemen - Ukraiinki Sichovi Striltsi), as the new unit was called. This was the first Ukrainian military formation in modern times. The vast majority of other Ukrainians who served on the Habsburg side were inducted into regular Austrian units... But even before these organizations began to function, they were forced to flee to Vienna when the advancing Russian armies broke through Austrian defenses and occupied much of Eastern Galicia by early September. The Austrian setback had terrible repercussions for the Ukrainians of Galicia... Ukrainian Legion In The Carpathians. Making A Fire On The Mountain Tatariwka. February, 1915. Meanwhile on the Austrian side of the front, West Ukrainian politicians gathered in Vienna in May 1915 and reestablished their representative body, the General Ukrainian Council. As the war dragged on and Austria-Hungary weakened, the nationalities of the empire, Ukrainians included, grew bolder in their demands. Thus, the General Ukrainian Council announced that its goals were independence for Russian-ruled Ukraine, which it hoped would be conquered by the Austrians, and broad autonomy for Eastern Galicia and Bukovyna. However, the Ukrainians Parliamentary Club in the Vienna parliament, headed by Evhen Petrushevych, represented West Ukrainian interests... By 1917 almost all the combatants in the war (countries) were on the verge of exhaustion. "UKRAINE... A History" Part Five - Twentieth Century Ukraine Ukraine In The First World War Pages 340-342 By Orest Subtelny University of Toronto Press, In Association With The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1988          table of contents    next