Content area
Full Text
The town of Korosten is located seventy-five kilometres north of the city of Zhytomyr in the Volhynia region of Ukraine. An important railway hub, it was especially valuable during the military struggle from 1917 to 1921: the side controlling it had a significant advantage in transporting men and equipment. Not surprisingly, many major and minor engagements were fought for Korosten.1
One of the larger contests for control of Korosten occurred from 30 August to 3 September 1919 between the Forty-fourth Soviet Division, commanded by Mykola Shchors, and the second Corps of the Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Bizanz. The second Corps and levhen Konovalets's Sich Riflemen served to screen the left flank of the Kyiv offensive by the two Ukrainian national armies in the summer of 1919. A part of Bizanz's task was to capture Korosten to protect the national forces from Bolshevik attack from the north.2 On the other side, Shchors's division was ordered to hold the town at all costs, since Korosten kept open the last railroad link between Right-Bank Ukraine and the Bolshevik base in Russia. Control of the town was crucial to the survival of three encircled Soviet divisions fighting their way north from the vicinity of Odesa to link up with the main body of Soviet forces in the vicinity of Korosten.3 Shchors was killed on 30 August, the first day of battle, but his division managed to hold Korosten.
Besides the leading figures at Korosten, such as Bizanz and Shchors, the battle deserves the attention of historians in its own right. It had a major impact not only on the outcome of the Ukrainian offensive on Kyiv but also on Ukrainian military prospects in general. Moreover, Korosten was one of the few set-piece battles in 1919 involving large brigade-sized units: typical of the time in Ukraine were smaller engagements. Hence, it offers the historian an opportunity to examine the tactical performance of both sides in large-scale operations. The fact that the opposing forces were battle-tested and led by experienced commanders makes the case all the more interesting.
The second Corps was not the only force in the battle that consisted of Ukrainians. Much of the Forty-fourth Soviet Division was Ukrainian as well. Many of...