When Greeks fought in the Ukraine

At the beginning of 1919, Eleftherios Venizelos , under French tutelage, sent thousands of Greek soldiers to the Ukraine to squelch the bolshevik revolution. The operation was a dismal failure, despite the military prowess of the Greek troops.

At the time the civil war raged in Russia, with the Bolsheviks maintaining control over large urban centers (Petersburg, Moscow,etc), but were meeting stiff resistance in the countryside from “white” counter-revolutionaries and expeditionary forces from the erstwhile Entente armies that had interceded on behalf of the Czarist status quo.

In the Ukraine things were even more complicated. Ukrainian nationalists, czarists, local warlords, generals, and princes with personal ambitions, armed bands, along with political and military forces allied to, or part of the Bolshevik revolutionary forces contributed to a chaotic and fluid situation, far from the trench warfare that had ensued for the preceding five years. There was no front as such, and commanders rarely knew the disposition of their enemies.

French forces had been in the area since early December 1918. French prime minister Clemencaeu requested of Eleftherios Venizelos the contribution of Greek forces in anti-bolshevik operations in return for a favorable French stance on Greek claims on Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor during the Paris peace talks. Venizelos weighing the situation and taking into account that large numbers of Greeks lived in the area that were under threat of bolshevik retribution, gave Clemencaeu a positive answer.

The mission was delegated to A Army Corps under major general Kostantinos Nider that had finished the restitution of Greek dominion over the parts of eastern Macedonia overrun by axis forces during WW I. Of the three divisions belonging to A Corps, the 2nd and 13th Divisions began shipping out on 2 January 1919, while 1st Division remained in Kavala awaiting orders.

The first Greek troops disembarked at Odessa, on 7 January and within a few days the Greek expeditionary forces numbered 23,551 men. Among the officers commanding the troops were famous military figures that had risen to prominence during the Balkan Wars and WWI, like colonel Alexandros Othonaios (CoS of A Corps), lieutenant colonel Georgios Kondylis (commander 3rd Inf. Regiment), and Nikolaos Plastiras (commander 5/42 Evzon Regiment).

The Greek forces were placed under the command of A' Allied Division Group, with a strength of 70,000 headed by French general d' Anselm. The Greek troops were the most combat worthy forces, as the French soldiers were wearied from four years at the trenches, while many held sympathy for the bolshevik cause, but were called upon to participate in a hastily organized war that was beyond their comprehension.

Facing the Allied combat group were three Soviet Armies with a total strength of 217,000 troops. These forces first crushed the Ukrainian autonomists, and by January 1919, were pivoting to face the Allies in Odessa and Crimea. Their overwhelming superiority in numbers forced the Allied units into a series of rearguard actions in which the Greeks excelled and became noted for their valor and discipline.

The Greek troops first went to battle on 25 February when the 1st Inf. Regiment under lieutenant colonel Nikolaos Rokas relieved the garrison of Kherson (the ancient Greek city of Chersonesus Taurica) that was being besieged by the Red Army. The Greek forces were used in numerous battles before being ordered to vacate Odessa on 25 February.

The Greeks withdrew in exemplary fashion, taking up positions on the western bank of the Dniester, defending Bessarabia (today Moldova) from attack by the Red Army. The 2nd Inf. Regiment remained in the Crimea until 14 April 1919, where it weathered successive attacks by the Red Army and put down a workers' rebellion in Sevastopol, in which mutinied French sailors had sided with the rebels. In June 1919, A Corps was ordered to Smyrna, Asia Minor, where the Greek Army was already conducting operations.

Greek casualties during operations in Ukraine came to 398 killed, and 657 wounded. The choice made by Venizelos to commit Greek troops proved to be erroneous. Greek claims to eastern Thrace and Asia Minor fell through, while Greek communities in Ukraine paid dearly for the Greek participation, being considered ideologically dubious by the victorious bolsheviks, forcing many to seek refuge on Greece.