The Capture of the Crimea

During the Polish-Soviet war, the White Army in the Crimea was reorganized. A talented general, Baron Piotr Vrangel replaced Anton Denikin as commander-in-chief. On June, 6, taking advantage of the war between Poland and Bolsheviks, the White Army left the Crimea and till the end of September occupied Southern Ukraine. When the Bolsheviks stopped the war with the Poles in October, they were able to concentrate their major forces against the Whites. Unfortunately for Vrangel, the Bolsheviks persuaded otaman Makhno with his large peasant army to join the Reds in their attack on the Whites. By November the Whites had been pushed out from Southern Ukraine. In November the Reds stormed the so-called Turkish Rampart, designed by French and British military engineers and considered impregnable. The rampart was located on the narrow Perekop isthmus (about 8 km in width) and blocked the entrance to the Crimea. Having suffered extremely heavy losses the Reds broke through these fortifications on November 11, after five days of storm. At the same time other parts of the Red and Makhno’s armies crossed the Sivash Sea and entered the peninsula. The defense of Crimea lost its meaning. The Whites were hurriedly boarding ships in Sevastopol and other ports of the peninsula.

    In the Crimea the Bolsheviks ordered that all former officers and soldiers of the White army came to special places for registration. They were promised forgiveness. But that was a trick. Tens of thousands of the former Whites were brutally killed. Then came Makhno’s turn. The Bolsheviks secretly planned to encircle Makhno’s forces and destroy them. But that turn out to be an uneasy task. Makhno was very popular with the peasants and had their support. Only by September of 1921 the Bolsheviks had completely suppressed the Makhno movement. As to the otaman, he managed to escape to Romania.

 

CONCLUSIONS     

The Ukrainian Revolution was possible, first of all, because of external factors (the collapse of the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian empires, which left a power vacuum for new political forces to fill).

    Why did Ukrainians fail to achieve independence? There are several reasons:

1. Disunity. Ukrainian leaders paid more attention to the struggle for power than to fighting against Ukraine’s enemies.

2. Lack of cooperation and understanding between West and East Ukrainians. That brought them into the camps of their enemies. The Galician Army was an ally of the Whites and the Reds, who were the major enemies of Petliura. Petliura, in his turn, became an ally of Poland, the major enemy of West Ukrainians.

3. Most Ukrainians were indifferent to the idea of Ukrainian statehood. Their national consciousness was not sufficiently developed at that time to urge them to risk their lives for Ukrainian statehood. They were more interested in enriching themselves than in achieving independence. That fact explains why anarchy dominated the countryside. Many historians note that in contrast to Russians our people do not want to be submitted to a single leader, they do not like tyranny but at the same time it is very difficult for them to be united around some leader for achieving a common goal.

4. Lack of political experience and sincere belief in utopian socialist ideals (naïve romanticism).

5. Unfavorable external circumstances. Poles, Russians (the Whites and the Reds), and the victorious Entente were against Ukraine’s independence.

6. Inability to solve the land problem. The Ukrainian leaders in contrast to the Bolsheviks failed to provide the peasantry with land. That was the decisive factor explaining the failure of Ukrainian politicians to create an independent Ukraine.

 

It should be noted that in contrast to East Ukrainians the unfavorable external circumstances (Poland and the Entente) played the first role in West Ukrainians’ failure to get independence. The Galician army was well-disciplined and strong. The population was nationally conscious and ready to sacrifice much for obtaining statehood. The bureaucratic apparatus worked efficiently. West Ukrainian leaders showed much more unity than their eastern counterparts in solving important problems. The major problem was the relatively small number of West Ukrainians (3,5 mln.) compared with that of the Poles (18 mln.) who had considerable financial and military support from the Entente.

    Despite numerous mistakes and its eventual fall, the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-20 played a great role in Ukrainian history. Thanks to it the Bolshevik Moscow could not ignore the Ukrainian question. It allowed Ukrainians to have statehood (the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic), though limited and formal. That formal statehood, however, provided Ukrainians with judicial basis for getting independence in 1991.

    One of the most important results of the Revolution and the Civil War in Ukraine was the growth of national consciousness among all groups of the society. Before these turbulent events it was limited to a part of the intelligentsia.

 

Questions

1. Analyze Russian policy in Galicia in 1914. What did the Russian government try to achieve?

2. What serious mistakes did the Provisional Government make that eventually brought it to collapse?

3. Explain the growth of popularity of the Bolshevik party in 1917-1918. What did they create in Kharkiv to justify the invasion of Ukraine by the Red Army?

4.  Why did the Central Powers decide to support Ukraine’s independence?

5. Why did the Germans replace the Central Rada with the Skoropadskyi regime?

6. Give evaluation to Skoropadskyi’s government. What were positive and negative aspects of Skoropadskyi’s policy?

7. Why did Skoropadskyi proclaim federation with non-Bolshevik Russia in the fall of 1918?

8. Describe the political situation in Ukraine under the Directory.

9. Tell about the policy of war communism and red terror.

10. Characterize the policy of Anton Denikin.

11. What was the decisive step in securing the Bolshevik position in Ukraine?

12. Why did West Ukrainians fail to defend their independence? Who and why provided the Poles with substantial military and diplomatic assistance?

13. Explain the reasons for the alliance between Petliura and the Poles. What was the attitude of West Ukrainians to this alliance?

 

 

WORDS AND WORD COMBINANTIONS

 

Involve – втягати, вплутувати

Redraw – переробляти (мапу)

Eradicate - знищити

National movement – національний рух

Hallmark – проба, ознака, критерій

Uniqueness - унікальність

Persecute - переслідувати

Priest - священик

Exile – висилати (на заслання)

Convert into (religion) – навернути у віру

Combatant side – воююча сторона

Depose a ruler – скинути правителя

Assume power – взяти владу

Censorship - цензура

Abolish - скасувати

Release from prison – звільнити з тюрми

Forbid - забороняти

Integrity - цілісність

Emerge - виникати

Demand - вимагати

Accuse smb of smth – звинувачувати когось в чомусь

Possess - володіти

Slogan - гасло

Undermine – підривати (вплив)

Stage a coup – влаштувати державний переворот (путч)

Seize power – захопити владу

Puppet government – маріонетковий уряд

Justify - виправдовувати

Invasion - вторгнення

Neutral - нейтральний

Reign of terror – правління терору

Conclude a treaty – заключити договір

Issue - видавати (наказ)

Representative - представник

Grant autonomy – надавати автономію

Recognize – визнавати (державу)

Reciprocal accusations – взаємні звинувачення

Utopians - утопісти

Disband a government, army, etc – розпустити уряд, армію тощо

Announce - об’явити

Legislative, executive, and judicial – законодавча, виконавча, судова

Ultimate power – головна влада

Expose himself to accusations – наражатись на звинувачення

Currency reform – грошова реформа

Revive - відроджувати

Nobles - дворяни

Scholars – вчені-гуманітарії

Brothel – будинок розпусти

Department – відділ, кафедра

Occupy a position – зайняти посаду

Prevent - перешкоджати

Pillars - стовпи

Springboard – трамплін, плацдарм

Conquer - завойовувати

Go on strike - страйкувати

Apparent - очевидний

Appoint – призначати (на посаду)

Allies - союзники

Insurrectionary government – повстанський уряд

Rivals – суперники, конкуренти

Rebellion - повстання

Insurrection - повстання

Troops - війська

Defeat – наносити поразку

Resign a post – піти з посади

Devoid of election rights – позбавлені виборчих прав

Dictatorship - диктатура

Declare a treaty invalid – проголосити договір недійсним

Invade - вторгнутися

Postpone - призупинити

Implementation of law – впровадження закону

Plunder - грабувати

Resistance - спротив

Prohibition - заборона

Hostages - заручники

Conduct a policy, reform – проводити політику, реформи

Uprising - повстання

Turmoil - безладдя

Suffer - страждати

Estimate – приблизно підраховувати, оцінювати

Warring sides – воюючі сторони

Occur - траплятися

Commit a pogrom – вчинити погром

Claim – претендувати (на територію)  

Reemergence – відновлення

At the expense of somebody – за рахунок когось

Encirclement – оточення

Disagreement – незгода, розбрат

Alliance - союз

Enrage – розлютовувати, дратувати

Treason - зрада

A buffer state – буферна держава

Offensive - наступ

Rebel against smb – повстати проти когось

Launch an attack – почати атаку

Renounce - відмовлятись

Inflame – запалювати, збуджувати

Retreat - відступити

Exhausted - виснажений

To be interned – бути інтернованим

Take advantage of smth – скористатись чимось

Turkish Rampart – Турецький вал

Impregnable - неприступний

Isthmus - перешийок

Losses - втрати

External factors – зовнішні фактори

Statehood - державність

Consciousness - свідомість

Urge - спонукати

Submit - підкоряти

Circumstances - обставини

Sacrifice - пожертвувати

Obtain - отримати

Counterparts - співвітчизники

Turbulent events – бурхливі події

 

[1] The Orthodox Church was widely used as means of Russification and assimilation by the Russian government throughout centuries.

[2] Parish is an area that has its own church and priest.

[3] During WWI the German-sounding St. Petersburg was renamed in the Russian-sounding Petrograd. 

[4] This event came down into history as the February Revolution, since it occurred in February according to the official in tsarist Russia Julian calendar, which was two weeks behind the Gregorian calendar.

[5] ‘Universal’ is the historic name used by the Cossack hetmans for their decrees.

[6] Jews were heavily over-represented in the Bolshevik party in relation to their numbers.

[7] This event came down into history as the ‘October Revolution,’ since it happened in October according to the Julian calendar, which was official in Russia at the time (until 1918).

[8] The German head of staff General V. Grener said, “The Central Rada is not a government, but rather a mixture of dreamers and idealists-socialists, who possess neither respect nor power in Ukraine.”

[9] It was named after the French revolutionary government (1795-1799).

[10] He was disguised as a wounded German officer.

[11] That is why many people in the West considered Petliura to be a violent anti-Semite. Petliura was killed in emigration by a Jew as punishment for pogroms in Ukraine.

[12] Most of these lands were not under control of the ZOUNR. Only part of Eastern Galicia was under the control of the ZOUNR at the time.

[13] The Allies (Entente) allowed Polish troops to occupy Ukrainian territories only till the Zbruch River, which served as a border between the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires.