in the final days of the collapsing habsburg empire, on november 1, 1918, ukrainian soldiers from austrian army units occupied lemberg's public buildings and military depots, raised ukrainian flags throughout the city and proclaimed the birth of a new ukrainian state. while the ukrainian residents enthusiastically supported the proclamation, the city's significant jewish minority remained mostly neutral towards it and the polish residents, the majority of the city's inhabitants, were shocked to find themselves in a ukrainian state. reacting to this military revolution, poles rose up throughout the city. polish forces, initially numbering only about 200, organized a small pocket of resistance in a school at the western outskirts, where a group of veterans of the polish military organization put up a fight armed with 64 outdated rifles. after initial clashes, the defenders were joined by hundreds of volunteers, mostly boy scouts, students and youngsters. more than 1000 people joined the polish ranks in the first day of the fighting.