The Raid on Lavochne and Tukhlia, or the (Non-)Boyko Soviet Republic

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the events of 21–25 August 1920, when an anti-Polish armed uprising broke out in Skole County (povit) under the leadership of Fedir Bекеsh. Soviet historiography coined the term “Boyko Soviet Republic” to describe these events, and the term remains in circulation today. The author analyzes the sources and circumstances that gave rise to this label, establishing that contemporary accounts of the anti-Polish uprising in Skole County (including early testimony by Fedir Bekesh himself) contain no mention of a “Boyko Soviet Republic”. The paper provides a detailed account of the historical background and preparation of the armed uprising, and discusses the broad composition of its participants, which included local residents, soldiers of the Galician Army previously interned in Czecho-Slovakia, and communist supporters. Drawing on new sources, the author reconsiders the biography of the uprising’s leader, Fedir Bekesh, and shows that he was simultaneously a committed socialist and an advocate of Ukrainian independence who actively collaborated with the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic. The paper offers a detailed account of the uprising itself, particularly the rebels’ railway raids in the area of the villages of Lavochne and Tukhlia, and of the conditions under which it was suppressed. It also critically examines the claim that the Skole County uprising was connected to the raid by V. Prymakov’s 8th Division of the Red Cossacks, during which the city of Stryi was captured on 20 August 1920. The author cites reports of the appearance of anti-Polish insurgents near the town of Dolyna simultaneously with the uprising in Skole County. It is argued that the term “Boyko Soviet Republic” was likely invented considerably later by Soviet historiography.