The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)

With lack of military forces to defend itself, the Central Rada had only one option – foreign aid. In general, its sympathies lay with the Entente. But the Entente powers were loyal to their Russian allies (the Whites) and promised them to restore an “indivisible Russia”. So the only hope for the Central Rada was the Central Powers. The Central Powers were deeply interested in Ukraine as a good source of food and raw materials. Their population actually starved in 1918 as a result of the British blockade.

    As only a fully independent state could conclude an international treaty, on January 25, 1918, the central Rada issued its Fourth Universal, proclaiming the independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

    On 9 February 1918, the representatives of the Central Rada at a Belarusian town Brest-Litovsk signed a treaty with the Central Powers. According to the treaty the Germans and Austrians were to provide military aid to the Central Rada in return for foodstuffs and raw materials. Austrians also promised to grant autonomy to Eastern Galicia and Bukovyna. Soviet Russia, which also signed the treaty, was forced to recognize the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Soon after the treaty was signed Ukraine was cleansed of the Bolsheviks and occupied by German and Austrian armies.

    The Central Rada returned to Kyiv in early March of 1918 but its activity again consisted mostly of ideological discussions and reciprocal accusations. The majority of its members were young and inexperienced socialists who were engaged in hotly debates with each other day after day. The endless debates and quarrels among the socialist parties in the Central Rada convinced the Germans that the “young Ukrainian utopians” were incapable of governing and thus unable of organizing the food supplies that the hungry German and Austrian cities so desperately needed.[8] Therefore, on 28 April, the Germans disbanded the Central Rada and brought to power a new regime, headed by General Pavlo Skoropadskyi. The Germans hoped that a military man would be more efficient in establishing law and order in Ukraine and thus be able to organize the export of foodstuffs to the Central Powers.

    Many people in Ukraine, especially middle and upper classes, welcomed the new regime as they got tired of instability. The Ukrainian conservatives as well as the Germans understood that a parliamentary democracy at a time of chaos and disorder would lead Ukraine only to collapse.

The Ukrainian State

On 29 April, the establishment of the “Ukrainian state” (as opposed to the Central Rada’s “Ukrainian People’s Republic”) under the leadership of hetman Skoropadskyi was announced.

    The hetman placed under his control legislative, executive, and judicial powers and in fact became a dictator. Thus an authoritarian regime replaced a parliamentarian democracy, which was ineffective during instability. To stabilize the political situation Skoropadskyi closed oppositionist press, introduced censorship, forbade disobedient trade unions and limited political freedoms in general. Yet the hetman’s seemingly unlimited authority did not hide the fact that it was the Germans who had ultimate power in Ukraine. In fact, Skoropadskyi’s government was a puppet regime. The establishing of the Skoropadskyi regime meant the return to power of Ukraine’s pre-revolutionary elites: bureaucrats, landowners, capitalists, and military officers.

    As might be expected, the reaction of Ukrainian activists (most of whom were socialists and had belonged to the Central Rada) to the new regime was sharply negative. Therefore, when some well-known Ukrainians were invited to join the Hetman government, almost all of them refused. This left the hetman with no choice but to turn to individuals not associated with the Ukrainian movement to form his cabinet, thereby exposing himself to accusations that his government included no “real” Ukrainians. In fact 12 of 16 ministers were ethnic Ukrainians but they were Russified and the idea of Ukrainian independence was foreign to them except for a few. The foreign minister D. Doroshenko characterized the members of cabinet as ‘Ukrainian by blood but Muscovite in spirit.’ It does not mean, however, that they were vassals who tried to please Russia by any means. They sincerely believed that Ukrainians and Russians were two branches of the same nation. However, despite its lack of Ukrainian patriots, the new government led by a wealthy landowner Fedir Lyzohub had a number of very skilled administrators. In contrast to the “young utopians” of the Central Rada, who dreamed about socialist experiments, Lyzohub’s cabinet was made of experienced middle-aged and older professionals. The major criterion for forming the cabinet was not political views of its members but their professionalism. The cabinet’s activity brought about positive results. An effective bureaucratic apparatus was reestablished in Ukraine. An efficient currency reform was carried out. Factories and plants were revived. The railway system was operating normally after a long break. Trade with Germany and Austria-Hungary also contributed to the economic growth in Ukraine. Many Russian nobles, businessmen, politicians, military officers, scholars, scientists, and state officials who fled Petrograd and Moscow found their refuge in Kyiv which was booming with economic activity. The capital was in electric light all night. Its cafes, restaurants, casinos, and brothels attracted numerous visitors.     

    The government’s achievements in the fields of education and culture were especially impressive. Several million Ukrainian-language textbooks were prepared and Ukrainian was introduced into most of the schools. Over 100 new Ukrainian-language gimnazia (high schools), many located in rural areas, were founded. Two new Ukrainian universities were created in Kyiv and Kamianets-Podilsky. In the old three universities, the hetman government opened departments of Ukrainian language, literature, and history. The State Archive, the Museum of Ukrainian History, the National Library, the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts, and a number of other cultural institutions were also founded. The high point of this activity was the establishment of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences on 24 November 1918. The famous scientist V. Vernadskyi was appointed its head after M. Hrushevskyi refused the hetman’s proposal to occupy this position. In summer of 1918, a Ukrainian Autocephalous (Independent) Orthodox Church was created with metropolitan V. Lypkivskyi at its head.

    In his nationality policy the hetman tried to unite Russians, Ukrainians and other peoples living in Ukraine under the concept of political nation in contrast to the nationalist concept of ethnic nation. According to the concept of political nation (which is the norm in contemporary European Union) all nationalities living in Ukraine can be considered Ukrainian patriots if they are loyal citizens. The hetman also tried to build a strong army but unfortunately for him the Germans were preventing its building as they wanted to be the only serious military force in Ukraine.

    The major pillars of the hetman regime were landowners, businessmen, and bureaucracy, who were primarily interested in stability. In general they were Russified and indifferent to the Ukrainian movement. Many of them liked the idea of a “unified and indivisible Russia.” Seventy percent of Lyzohub’s government belonged to the Cadets - a Russian nationalistic party which major slogan was “restoration of an indivisible Russia.” They hoped to use Ukraine as a springboard for fighting the Bolsheviks and the restoration of Russia.

    The peasantry and workers were not pleased with the hetman’s policy. The hetman forced the peasants to return conquered during the chaos lands and property to their former owners and pay compensations. In factories an 8-hour working day was canceled. Workers had to work now 12 hours a day without any rights to go on strike or form trade unions for protection of their interests.

The Directory

By early fall, it was apparent that the Central Powers were about to loose the war. On 11 November Germany and Austria capitulated. On 14 November 1918 the hetman appointed a new cabinet consisting almost entirely of Russian nationalists and issued a manifesto proclaiming Ukraine’s federation with a “future non-Bolshevik Russia.” The purpose of this act was to gain the support of anti-Bolshevik Russians (the Whites) and their victorious allies – the Entente. That same day, the Ukrainian opposition formed an insurrectionary government, the Directory,[9] led by the two old rivals Vynnychenko and Petliura, and openly declared a rebellion against the hetman.

    The Directory’s insurrection grew rapidly. About 100,000 peasants took part in the revolt. The German troops declared neutrality (with the war over they planned to go home soon and did not want to fight). Within a month the hetman’s troops were defeated (some of the hetman’s most efficient units – Sichovi Striltsi and Sirozhupanna Dyvizia went over to the rebels). On 14 December the hetman resigned his post and fled to Berlin.[10] The same day the Directory’s forces triumphantly entered Kyiv and announced the reestablishment of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (УНР).

    In contrast to a moderately conservative hetman regime, the Directory was a radical regime of socialist direction. The Directory renewed the УНР law of the Eight Hour Work Day and the Right for Strikes. Ukrainian was established as the republic’s official language. The intelligentsia (secondary school teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc) was proclaimed a “reactionary force”, devoid of election rights and thus excluded from cooperation. The administrative apparatus of the hetman regime was destroyed but a new apparatus was not created. Factual power in regions was in the hands of local otamans (chieftains) many of whom were impossible to control. In fact, the army of the Directory turned into almost independent and undisciplined bands. There was no consensus between Directory leaders on many issues. Some wanted to see Ukraine as a parliamentary democratic republic, others – a Soviet republic resembling that of the Bolshevik Russia but independent from Moscow and more democratic (without a single-party dictatorship). Two key leaders of the Directory V. Vynnychenko and S. Petliura were constantly struggling for power (until February 19, 1919, when Vynnychenko resigned). The Directory failed to establish order. Anarchy returned to Ukraine.