Galician Soviet Socialist Republic

The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic (Galician SSR) existed from July 8, 1920 to September 21, 1920 during the Polish-Soviet War within the area of the South-Western front of the Red Army. The entity existed for a couple of months and was never truly established nor recognized by anybody beside Soviet Russia which was also not recognized.

With the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War I in November 1918, western Podolia was included in the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, but came under Polish control in 1919 which was confirmed in the Poland–Ukrainian People's Republic agreement in April 1920. Podolia was briefly occupied in 1920 by Soviets (the Galician SSR) during the course of the Polish-Soviet War.

The Galician SSR was established and managed by the Galician Revolutionary Committee (Halrevkom), a provisional government created under the patronage of Soviet Russia. The government was seated in Ternopil in East Galicia with Volodymyr Zatonsky (Vladimir Zatonsky) as its president. The Halrevkom established an administrative structure, a Galician Red Army, a currency, and an education system. The national languages (of equal status) were declared to be Polish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish.

Halrevkom did not control the important area of East Galicia: Lviv area with its oilfields of Boryslav and Drohobych.

The Galician SSR quickly disappeared. The Peace of Riga of 1921 confirmed inclusion of the whole of Galicia into Poland.

A similar, but less elaborate activity, of communist Polrevkom, was related to the North-Western front of the Red Army (the "government" was seated in Bialystok).

See also

• West Ukrainian People's Republic, short-lived state in 1918–19

References

• Davies, Norman, White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20, Pimlico, 2003, ISBN 0-7126-0694-7. (First edition: St. Martin's Press, inc., New York, 1972)