Battle for the Donbass (1919)
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The Battle for Donbas was a
military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
of the Russian Civil War that lasted from January to May 1919, in which White forces repulsed attacks of the Red Army on the Don Host Oblast and occupied the
Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
region after heavy fighting. After the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic was pushed out of Kharkiv and Kyiv and the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic was established, in March 1919 the Red Army attacked the central part of Donbas, which had been abandoned by the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
in November 1918 and subsequently occupied by the White Volunteer Army. Its aim was to control strategically located and economically important territories, which would enable a further advance towards Crimea, the
Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
and the Black Sea. After heavy fights, fought with variable luck, it took over key centers in this area ( Yuzivka, Luhansk, Debaltseve, Mariupol) until the end of March, when it lost them to the Whites led by Vladimir May-Mayevsky. On April 20, the front stretched along the
Dmitrovsk Dmitrovsk (russian: Дмитро́вск) is a town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Obshcheritsa River near its confluence with the Nerussa, southwest of Oryol, the administrative cent ...
-
Horlivka Horlivka ( , ; uk, Го́рлівка ), or Gorlovka (russian: link=no, Горловка ), is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activit ...
line, and the Whites actually had an open road towards Kharkiv, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. Until 4 May, their attacks were resisted by Luhansk. Further successes of the
Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
in May 1919 were favored by the conflict of the Reds with the anarchists of Nestor Makhno (who were still their allies in March) and the rebellion of the Bolshevik ally, Otaman
Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...
. The Battle for Donbas ended at the beginning of June 1919 with a complete victory for the Whites, who continued their offensive towards Kharkiv,
Katerynoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
, and then Crimea, Mykolaiv and Odesa.


Background

In November and December 1918, part of
Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
was seized by
Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...
under the command of Pyotr Krasnov, after the withdrawal of the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
and with the consent of the Ukrainian hetman
Pavlo Skoropadskyi Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...
. On 19 November 1918, Krasnov entered Luhansk, and at the beginning of December his troops took Mariupol, Yuzivka and Debaltseve. He also organized the administration of the Don Republic in Luhansk and Slavo-Serbia. At this time, the Red Army prepared their own offensive into Ukraine, which began in the first days of January 1919 with the capture of Kharkiv. By the end of the month, Soviet troops, joined by local partisan units that had previously participated in the uprising against the Hetmanate, and armed workers' detachments from the cities, took over
Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
and
Katerynoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
. It became clear to the command of the Volunteer Army that Krasnov's Cossacks would not be able to stay in Donbas or stop the Red march southwards towards the Black Sea, especially after Krasnov had once again concentrated most of his forces around Tsaritsyn and made a third unsuccessful attempt to capture the city. This posed a threat to the White-controlled Taganrog and
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
For the White movement, the loss of Donbas would also mean the loss of highly industrialized areas of great economic importance. Therefore, in December 1918, Anton Denikin gave up his plans to join the siege of Tsaritsyn, to lead a further offensive up the Volga in order to cut off the reds from the Caspian Sea and taking Astrakhan from them, and consequently to join his own forces with those of
Alexander Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...
in the middle Volga. Instead, he started shifting forces to the defense of Donbas and Crimea. By the end of March, Denikin transferred 18,000 soldiers to the areas north and west of Rostov-on-Don. The defeats of the Don Cossacks forced them to submit to the command of the Volunteer Army. On 19 February 1919, Pyotr Krasnov handed his command over to Afrikan Bogaewsky and agreed that the Don Cossacks, together with the Volunteer Army, Terek Cossacks and Kuban Cossacks, were to be included in the
Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
.


Battle

The 8th Army (part of the Southern Front) and an independent group of troops under the command of
Innokentiy Kozhevnikov Innokentiy Serafimovich Kozhevnikov (russian: Инноке́нтий Серафи́мович Коже́вников; 13 November 1879– 15 April 1931) was an active participant in the Russian Civil War. A member of the Bolshevik Party since 191 ...
, later transformed into
13th Army Thirteenth Army or 13th Army may refer to: *Thirteenth Army (Japan) *Japanese Thirteenth Area Army *13th Army (Russian Empire), unit in World War I *13th Army (RSFSR), a unit in the Russian Civil War *13th Army (Soviet Union) *13th Air Army The 76 ...
(part of the Ukrainian Front), composed of the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian insurgent divisions, then reorganized as the 41st and 42nd Rifle Divisions. Kozhevnikov's forces were deployed along the -
Mityakinskaya Mitakinskaya is a  stanitsa in the Tarasovsky District of Rostov Oblast, Russia. Geography The stanitsa is located on the left bank of the Donets, bordered by Ukraine to the west. History Mitakinskaya was founded in 1549 by the Don Cossacks ...
- Luhansk line, further north of Debaltseve, south of
Bakhmut Bakhmut ( uk, Ба́хмут, ) is a city in the Donbas and the administrative centre of Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the Bakhmutka River, about 89 km north of Donetsk city, the administrative center of the o ...
and south towards the railway station
Volnovakha Volnovakha ( uk, Волнова́ха, ; russian: Волнова́ха) is a town in Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion, one of the 18 districts of the Donetsk Oblast. Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ...
. The section between Volnovakha and the quay of the
Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
was supported by anarchist units of Nestor Makhno, as the 3rd Brigade of the
1st Zadneprovsk Ukrainian Soviet Division The 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division was a military unit of the Ukrainian Soviet Army during the Russian Civil War. History Formation On January 26, 1919, a special detachment under the command of Pavel Dybenko, the commander of the ...
of the
2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army The 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which was formed on April 15, 1919, from the units of the ''Group of Forces of the Kharkov Direction''. It was first part of the Ukrainian Front and from ...
.


Red offensive (March-April)

In March, Kozhevnikov's group made the first attempt to oust the Whites from Donbas. The Red Army struck the central part of Donbas with , Yenakiieve, Yuzivka,
Bakhmut Bakhmut ( uk, Ба́хмут, ) is a city in the Donbas and the administrative centre of Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the Bakhmutka River, about 89 km north of Donetsk city, the administrative center of the o ...
and Luhansk. Particularly fierce fighting took place in the area of Debaltseve, a key railway junction that the Red Army took over on 16 March. Due to the lack of progress of Kozhevnikov's troops, the commander of the Southern Front
Vladimir Gittis Vladimir Mikhailovich Gittis (Russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Ги́ттис; 24 June 1881 – 22 August 1938) was a Soviet military commander and komkor. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going ov ...
shifted part of the 8th Army to the west as support, against the intentions of the commander-in-chief of the Red Army Jukums Vācietis. However, the transfer of troops was stopped in the last days of March due to spring thaws and damage to the railway network. On 28 March, troops of the 13th Army entered Yenakiieve, , Makiivka and
Horlivka Horlivka ( , ; uk, Го́рлівка ), or Gorlovka (russian: link=no, Горловка ), is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activit ...
, and on April 3 they seized Yuzivka, Yasynuvata and Starobesheve. On 1 April, the Dnieper Division under the command of Pavel Dybenko captured Mariupol and pushed as far as to be within of 30-40 km from Taganrog. However, on 6 and 7 April, White cavalry divisions under the command of Andrei Shkuro and Vladimir May-Mayevsky broke the defense of the Reds in the central part of Donbas and again took control of Yuzivka, Volnovakha, Mariupol, Makiivka, Yasynuvata, Yenakiieve and Horlivka. Volnovakha was recaptured by the Red Army after another bloody battle on 24 April, two days later the Reds again controlled Mariupol, and on 28 April, they also captured Yuzivka. In the cities occupied by the Bolsheviks,
councils A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
and executive committees were formed, and regional congresses of councils were held. As a result of the fighting, industrial plants and railway lines operating in Donbas were largely destroyed or stopped production. A significant part of the workers and their families left the region fleeing the hostilities. At the end of March, the Congress of Councils of the newly created
Donetsk Governorate Donets Governorate ( uk, Донецька губернія, translit=Donetska huberniia) was a governorate of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine) that existed between 1919 and 1925. History The governorate was originally created on 5 February 1919 on orde ...
chose an executive committee headed by
Fyodor Sergeyev Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev (, ; March 19, 1883 – July 24, 1921), better known as Comrade Artyom (), was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend of Sergei Kirov and Joseph Stali ...
and developed a plan for the reconstruction of industry in Donbas. In April 1919 the ''de facto'' capital of the province became Bakhmut, then, when it was decided to expand the province's borders, its authorities were moved to Luhansk.


White counteroffensive (April-June)

At the end of April 1919, the Whites began a counteroffensive, reinforced by the use of tanks. 60 of the tanks were provided by the Allies as part of the first batch of weapons, together with 200,000 firearms and 500 million pieces of ammunition, as well as 6,200 machine guns and 168 aircraft. In the first clashes in which it was used, the new weapons raised panic among the Reds. Tanks repeatedly approached the red positions without any problems, inflicting serious losses on them, with some Red troops running away at the mere sight of them. Thanks to the use of tanks, May-Mayevsky's troops again took control of Yuzivka, Yasynuvata, Krynychna and Debaltseve. May-Mayevsky successfully used the existing communication network in Donbas, especially the railway lines, to efficiently move between towns. At the head of the forces numbering from 3 to 6 thousand soldiers successfully repelled the attacks of Red Army groups that were over three times or even ten times stronger, in a series of spectacular victories over the red forces. Another factor that contributed to the success of the Whites was the conflict between the command of the Red Army and the Makhnovshchina, who formally submitted to the Soviet command, but did not wish to extend the Bolshevik power to the territory under their control. Nestor Makhno himself did not even maintain contact with the command of the Southern Front of the Red Army, with which he should theoretically had coordinated his actions due to his proximity, nor with the staff of the 13th Army. In May and June 1919, Andrei Shkuro's White troops broke through the Makhnovist defense lines without much difficulty. At that time, Leon Trotsky proclaimed Makhno an
outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
. In the rear of the main front of the fighting between the Red and Whites, clashes between the Bolshevik forces and the Makhnovists took place. In May 1919, the otaman
Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...
, allied with them so far, also
revolted In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
against the command of the Red Army and the Ukrainian Bolsheviks. His 20,000 troops occupied the much of the provinces of
Katerynoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
and
Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...
for three weeks, thus binding the considerable Red forces. Fighting with the Makhnovists and Hryhorivites exposed the right flank of the 13th Army, which had to withdraw after White tank attacks. On 20 April, the front stretched along the
Dmitrovsk Dmitrovsk (russian: Дмитро́вск) is a town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Obshcheritsa River near its confluence with the Nerussa, southwest of Oryol, the administrative cent ...
-
Horlivka Horlivka ( , ; uk, Го́рлівка ), or Gorlovka (russian: link=no, Горловка ), is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activit ...
line, and the Whites even had an open road towards the Ukrainian Soviet capital of Kharkiv. Then , Bakhmut and Sloviansk were seized. On 21 April, Andrei Shkuro's troops arrived at Luhansk, defended by units of the 8th Army, the 1st Moscow Workers' Division and
Jānis Lācis Jānis Lācis (russian: Ян Я́нович Ла́цис, ''Yan Yanovich Latsis''; February 20, 1897 – March 10, 1937) was a Latvian Riflemen, later Soviet division commander and Komkor (corps commander). Lacis fought in the 4th Vidzeme Latv ...
's 15th Rifle Division. The mobilization of workers was announced in the city, and a military-revolutionary committee headed by was formed. 9,000 volunteers, including workers from Luhansk and Alchevsk, as well as some peasants from nearby villages, joined the 15th Rifle Division. On 30 April, the city's defenders went on a counter-offensive in the area of and threw the attackers 30 km from the city, but on 4 May they failed to repel another attack and Luhansk was captured by the Whites. On 8 May, Vladimir Lenin called the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR for a special mobilization in defense of Donbas. He suggested transferring to this region some of the units that fought at the same time in western and
central Ukraine Central Ukraine ( uk, Центральна Україна, ''Tsentralna Ukraina'') consists of historical regions of left-bank Ukraine and right-bank Ukraine that reference to the Dnipro River. It is situated away from the Black Sea Littoral N ...
, but his orders were not implemented. In theory, at the end of April 1919, the Reds still outnumbered the Whites in Donbas, they also had more cannons and machine guns. At the same time, however, the Whites, unlike their opponents, were able to make excellent use of cavalry, and their commanders on the Southern Front significantly exceeded the skills of the red commanders. In particular, Innokentiy Kozhevnikov, (commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army between April and June 1919),
Tichon Hvesin Tichon Serafimovich Hvesin (September 21, 1894 – February 10, 1938) was a Soviet military and statesman, as well as chairman of the Saratov Regional Executive Committee (1935-1936). Biography Hvesin was born in a working-class family. In 1911 ...
(commander of the 8th Army from March 1919) and (commander of the 9th Army from November 1918 to June 1919) lacked commanding competences and experience. In addition, in mid-June 1919, the commander of the 9th Army, , defected to the side of the Whites. For the previous few months, while performing the duties of the chief of staff in the same operating union, he had been passing on information about the Red plans to their opponents. Relations between the Red commanders, including former officers or non-commissioned officers of the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, and the political commissars and soldiers remained difficult, causing problems with discipline to continue. The combat value of the Red units, which until then had only conducted partisan operations and only shortly before the march on Donbass were organized into the 13th Army, was much lower than the value of experienced units under the command of May-Mayevsky. In the opinion of , already in mid-April, the weakened 13th Army was not capable of offensive actions. Another factor that contributed to the success of the Whites in Donbas was the fact that the Reds fought on many fronts at the same time - against the interveners in the north, against the Baltic states, in Ukraine, and in March-April also against Alexander Kolchak's Spring offensive in Siberia. It was the latter direction that was considered to be the priority and it received most of the resources. At the beginning of June 1919, the Battle of Donbas ended with a complete victory for the Whites, who continued their offensive into the Left-Bank and Sloboda Ukraine. At the end of the month, the Volunteer Army smashed the Fortified Region, which was being hastily built by the Reds, and on 27 June they captured Kharkiv. After this defeat, Vacietis ordered the forces involved so far in the fighting on the left-bank to withdraw to a "safe zone", i.e. to those governorates in
European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...
where Bolshevik power was still secure. The Whites controlled Donbas until the end of 1919, when after the defeat of Denikin's advance on Moscow, the Red Army again captured this area in the course of Donbas operation.


Reference


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donbas Operation Battles of the Russian Civil War History of Donetsk Oblast Conflicts in 1919