Lenin's Revolution by David R. Marples

Author:David R. Marples [Marples, David R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Modern, 20th Century, Europe, General
ISBN: 9781317882589
Google: Xc8FBAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-06-06T16:04:15+00:00

UKRAINE AND OTHER NON-RUSSIAN TERRITORIES

On 9 February 1918 the German High Command and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had signed a separate treaty with the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which recognized Ukraine as an independent republic. The disputed Kholm territory, which was claimed by Poland, was given to the new Ukrainian state, while the western regions of Galicia (Halychyna) and Bukovyna were to be given special language privileges within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ukraine, in return, was to serve as the granary of the German army, and was ordered to place all surplus food supplies at the disposal of the armies of the Central Powers. In reality, the supplies demanded cut into the subsistence needs of many farmers, and the decision-making authority for the amount of food allotted to the armies lay with the German High Command. It was promptly set at no less than one million tons.

Because they had achieved such a strong position in the east, and particularly in grain-rich Ukraine, the German High Command was not willing to take a neutral role in the political events of the time. In particular, the Germans were opposed to a Bolshevik takeover of Ukraine. After the signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty on 2 March, the ‘Soviet Ukrainian’ government at Kharkiv was forced to dissolve itself on 14 April 1918. The Central Rada took advantage of the situation to return to Kyiv accompanied by a Sich Sharpshooters military group that had been organized by Evhen Kono-valets and Andriy Melnyk. The German leadership, however, had become opposed also to the Rada, which it did not consider strong enough to guarantee continued grain supplies to the German army, and which was opposed by many sectors of the rural community.

On 28 April, therefore, on the orders of the German omnipotentiary in Ukraine, General Wilhelm Groener, the Central Rada was abolished. The Sharpshooters offered some token resistance, but generally the order was effectively carried out. The Germans already had a replacement regime in mind. Four days previously, Groener had met with Lieutenant-General Pavlo Skoropadsky, a prominent landowner, and the two had made plans to establish a new Ukrainian government. The general would be backed by the conservative group, the League of Landowners, a mainly Russophile group opposed to any manifestations of Ukrainian nationalism, and his government had the guarantee of the occupying military force, the German army. On this same day, Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky was proclaimed the head of state.

The new regime had little real authority. The Ukrainian army was to be strictly limited in size. Any acts committed against German or Austrian soldiers were to be investigated in military courts. The Germans also had considerable influence over official appointments in the civil service, land commissions and other institutions. All Cabinet positions had first to be approved by the occupiers, who also performed jointly the function of border control of the new state. Ukraine was allowed to export grain or other raw materials but once again the needs of the German High Command took priority. Private landholding was decreed

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