Southern Russia intervention

The Southern Russia intervention was an Allied military intervention in Ukraine between December 1918 and April 1919 on the Black Sea shores of the former Russian Empire, as part of the Allied intervention in Russia after the October Revolution. The intervention was an involvement in the Russian Civil War on the side of the White movement, but lacking in forces and sympathy among the local population, it was a failure that ended with the evacuation of the territory.

French-led forces landed in Ukraine in December 1917. Short on personnel, officers and supplies, demoralized and receptive to Soviet propaganda, they soon had to leave the initial offensive plan and adopt a defensive strategy against the Bolshevik forces. Thanks to the arrival of reinforcements throughout December 1918 and January 1919, the Allies managed to take control of various cities in Ukraine and Crimea: Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol and Tiraspol, some ceded by agreement by the Central Council of Ukraine.

With troops short and demoralized, unwilling to risk their lives in Russia for a cause they did not understand, the French commanders saw little future for the campaign. Bolshevik forces seemed numerous, well commanded and supported by the population that had received those of the Entente with hostility. The anti-Bolsheviks, for their own part, were unable to forge an alliance, separated by deep differences that caused the French frustration. The defeats at Kherson and Mykolaiv in March convinced the French commanders of desirability of reaching an agreement with the Bolshevik authorities and ending the expedition. This was approved at the end of March and carried out at the beginning of the following month. The Otaman Nykyfor Hryhoriv, formally submitted to the Bolshevik command of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, had succeeded in expelling the Allied forces from the occupied coastal cities in late 1918 and early 1919.