"His victory would lead to a break with Russia": how failed the political project of Simon Petlyura

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the absolute majority of the population of the southwestern provinces, which later became part of Ukraine, considered themselves Russians (Rusyns). Only a narrow stratum of the intelligentsia leading the bohemian way of life, including the descendants of immigrants from abroad, ranked themselves among the Ukrainians.

At the same time, on the territory of Galicia, which was part of Austria-Hungary, to local Slavs who considered themselves Russians, the Austrian administration imposed Ukrainian identification. This part of the population was subjected to political and legal persecution, and Ukrainian sports and cultural activities enjoyed the organizational and financial support of official Vienna.

For the development of the “history of Ukraine” from Kiev to Lviv, Professor Mikhail Grushevsky was discharged and received generous funding. In Vienna, they hoped that these measures would turn the Rusyns into collaborationists who were ready to oppose their East Slavic counterparts on the fronts of the coming war. And such plans were partially justified.

Although the legion of the Sich Riflemen formed during the First World War, formed from the “Ukrainianized” Rusyns, was rather quickly defeated by the Russian troops, the “Sich” who were captured after the February Revolution took an active part in the creation of Ukraine with its center in Kiev.

UNR and the Ukrainian state of Skoropadsky

After the Petrograd revolutionary events in Kiev in March 1917, the Central Rada arose. This body actually did not represent anyone and was, in fact, a public organization uniting local politicians of the national-romantic and socialist kind. However, the Rada, which was headed by the same Grushevsky, declared that it allegedly spoke on behalf of the population of the southwestern provinces and is going to create on their territory Ukrainian territorial and administrative autonomy within the framework of federal Russia.

Vladimir Vinnichenko, a journalist and social democrat, was appointed prime minister of the self-proclaimed autonomy in June 1917. At negotiations with Petrograd, agreements were reached that the General Secretariat (Government) of Ukraine became the official body of the Provisional Government operating in the territory of the Kiev, Volyn, Podolsk, Poltava and Chernihiv provinces.

Shortly after the October Revolution, the Central Rada proclaimed the Ukrainian People’s Republic within the framework of federal Russia. In its composition it was planned to include Novorossia and Russian provinces in the central part of the country. The “hawkish” position in relation to the Bolsheviks was taken by the secretary general for military affairs of the UPR, a former accountant and quartermaster Simon Petlyura. He tried to create a separate "Ukrainian front" of the Russian troops who fought with the Germans, conducted the "Ukrainization" of military units and actively used units formed from captured "Sich Riflemen".

• Sich Riflemen
• RIA News
• © T. Moiseovych / Wikimedia Commons

Any aspirations to establish a dialogue with the Bolsheviks, he sabotaged and cruelly suppressed in the fall the Kievans' attempts to support the Soviets. As a result of these actions, the Bolsheviks left Kiev, broke off relations with the Rada and declared the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets in Kharkov in December 1917.

Meanwhile, the Germans saw in the Kiev Central Rada a chance to bargain for more favorable conditions at the peace talks with Soviet Russia. The German command inclined the leadership of the UNR to proclaim independence, and then introduced it as a third party to negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. As a result of these intrigues, the bloodless Bolsheviks were forced to agree to the German occupation of Ukraine and parts of Belarus.

After Petlyura suppressed the pro-Soviet January Kiev uprising with huge sacrifices, Bolshevik units entered the city. The Central Rada from Kiev fled, but soon returned - along with German troops. At the same time, the Germans and Austrians were irritated by the glaring incompetence of the leaders of the Rada in managerial matters, as well as their corruption. Therefore, they supported the “coup”, as a result of which the UPR fell, and in its place was organized the “Ukrainian Power” headed by the former Tsarist General Pavel Skoropadsky.

Berlin and Vienna carried out force requisitions of agricultural products in Ukraine, but at the same time tried to maintain order in the cities. As a result, they won loyalty from the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie, but they provoked a sharp hatred for themselves and for Skoropadsky among the majority of the peasants and representatives of the local proletariat.

Petliurov coup

Nominally, the territory of the Ukrainian state stretched from Kholmshchyna to Donbass and from Novorossia to southern Belarus. However, neither the Germans nor the hetman guards could establish effective control over these lands. Already in May, a significant part of Ukraine was embraced by a peasant uprising, in which both pro-Soviet partisan detachments and ataman groups of various kinds took part.

Large-scale repression against supporters of the UNR Skoropadsky did not hold. Some of them voluntarily went to his service, the rest retired or occupied minor administrative positions.

• Getman Pavel Skoropadsky with his loyal military
• © Wikimedia Commons

As the rebel movement grew, Skoropadsky attempted to “recoup” on the top leadership of the UNR — in particular, Vinnichenko and Petliura, but the Germans did not give him, who saw in the former functionaries of the Central Council a spare team for the colonial administration of Ukraine. So, Petlyura, who was taken into custody in Kiev, was released at the request of the German command and held a meeting with Skoropadsky. In his memoirs, the hetman emphasized that in response to his arguments about Petlura’s disrespect, the Germans themselves promised to crush the prison if it was not released immediately.

However, the liberation of Petliura took place against the background of the Compiegne truce, which canceled the results of the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk. German troops in Ukraine were in fact a formidable force, but officially they were preparing for the transfer of affairs to the Entente. Skoropadsky tossed from one group of influence to another, shuffling shots and more and more dependent on former royal officers who supported the White movement. On November 14, 1918, he signed a manifesto in support of the unity of the All-Russian Power, including Ukraine.

At this time, Petlyura, Vinnichenko, and other leaders of the former UNR, with the tacit consent of the Germans, were preparing an antigetmanian uprising. Commanders who had betrayed them after the coup of Skoropadsky began to return to them. In addition, they enlisted the support of part of atamans - including Grigoriev, an influential one in the south. On the evening of November 14, the former leaders of the UPR proclaimed a new regime - the Directory. Formally, it was headed by Vladimir Vinnichenko. However, in fact, the most influential member was the "commander of the revolutionary forces," Simon Petlura.

On November 16, the Petliurists captured the city of Belaya Tserkov and advanced towards Kiev, but were stopped by guards consisting of royal officers. However, fearing the discontent of the “Ukrainianized” units, Skoropadsky soon dismissed General Fyodor Keller from command of the troops, which is why the officers who sympathize with the White movement began to leave Kiev en masse and go to Anton Denikin. Although the remnants of the officer militia tried to restrain Petlyura, it was clear that they would not last long. With the consent of the Germans, hetman units from Western Ukraine to Kharkov passed over to the Directorate.

On November 27—30, the Petliurists launched a new offensive and were able to block Kiev. These events were then described in the works of Konstantin Paustovsky and Mikhail Bulgakov. At the same time, Petlyura began to lose the disposition of the German command. The Germans demanded to stop the attack on Kiev and promised to use force if the actions of the nationalists become uncontrollable. First, Petliura complied, but after a week he realized that the Germans would still have to leave, and began to dictate their terms to them. As a result, the Germans avoided the proceedings between the Directory and Skoropadsky.

On December 13, about 30 thousand Petliurists launched an assault on Kiev. They were opposed by only about 3 thousand soldiers, who remained loyal to Skoropadsky. The hetman units stationed in the capital began to cross over to the Directory. Realizing the hopelessness of his position, the hetman on December 14 officially renounced power and fled. According to one version, the Germans secretly removed him under the guise of a wounded German officer, while on the other, the Turkish envoy organized his flight. Skoropadsky moved to Germany and never returned to Ukraine. Petliurians, who entered Kiev, staged a massacre in the city of the hetman units and officers' troops who remained loyal to Skoropadsky.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Petlyura drove to Kiev on horseback, in a specially-embroidered national costume of protective color and with a saber stolen from the museum. “Cossack” hats for Petliura commanders were sewn, stripping the fabric from the train carriage. The fighters of the "Ukrainian" units entering Kiev spoke in Russian, which reassured the Russian-speaking residents of the city a bit.

Rise and Fall of the Directory

The troops of the Directory attempted to take control of the territory of New Russia, but were stopped by the forces of the Entente and the White movement. The French command, with whom Petliura did not want to quarrel, threatened the Petliurists with the threat of moving away from Odessa and Nikolayev. This caused disappointment with one of the most influential chieftains, Grigoriev. Petliura "gave" the Greeks and the French areas that served as the main pillar of his troops. Therefore, soon Grigoriev declared the Directory of the war and went over to the side of the Soviets.

In spite of the fact that the leadership of the Directorate was on the side of socialist positions, Petliura independently began the implementation of a populist ultranationalist program. He began to demand the expulsion of dissidents from the territory of Ukraine, the arrest of officers who wore royal shoulder straps and awards, and the dismissal of all hetman employees. Leaders of the Directory regularly had differences on ideological grounds, which prevented them from engaging in management issues. Servicemen peasant directors began to go home.

• Residents of the city of Uman, plunging their belongings into carts, run away from Petliurists
• RIA News

In late November, the Bolsheviks formed two Ukrainian insurgent divisions, which immediately launched an offensive on the territory, formally controlled by the Directory. On January 1, residents of Kharkov revolted against the Petliurists, and on the 3rd, Soviet power was established in the city. In early February, the Bolsheviks came to Kiev.

“It would be fundamentally wrong to assume that“ alien ”Bolsheviks established the Soviet power in Ukraine. This is stated today in Kiev, but such statements are completely ridiculous. First, the rebel divisions were formed largely from the inhabitants of Ukraine - this can be seen even by the names of the commanders.

Secondly, the two divisions themselves would have decided nothing. In support of the Bolsheviks, Ukrainians rose en masse, ”said historian and writer Alexander Kolpakidi in an interview with RT.

February 5, 1919 the Bolshevik troops entered Kiev. In the spring, in most of the territory of Ukraine, Soviet power was established. March 8—10 at the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets officially proclaimed the Ukrainian SSR. At the same time, part of the peasant atamans came out against the Bolsheviks. The fact that the Reds fought the war on several fronts at once allowed the supporters of the White movement in the summer of 1919 to temporarily seize most of Ukraine. But in the fall, the Red Army launched a swift counteroffensive.

In 1920, the Bolsheviks finally defeated the whites in Ukraine and in the Crimea, and also stopped the Polish offensive. Petlura, who had lost the real power for some time, fought on the side of Warsaw and, after the end of hostilities, fled to Poland. He lived in Europe, and was killed in 1926 by a native of Ishmael, Samuel Schwarzbard, who had avenged the nationalist for organizing the Directory of bloody Jewish pogroms by the troops.

“Several factors led to the failure of the Petliura project. This is the exorbitant ambitions of Petlura himself, and the resentment against him by the allies, whom he constantly deceived, and, in the end, his lack of popularity.

After all, in fact, the people in Ukraine supported the red, white and peasant atamans, but not the Directory in any way, ”the deputy director of the Center for Ukrainian Studies and Belarussian Studies at Moscow State University told RT. Mv Lomonosov Bogdan Bezpalko.

• Red Army in Kiev, 1920
• © Wikimedia Commons

According to Alexander Kolpakidi, the leaders of the Directory, including Petliura, were not believed in Ukraine.

“He promised too much and didn’t do anything. But the Bolsheviks, on the contrary, spoke less and more took concrete measures. In addition, the people understood that the victory of the Petliurists would lead to a break with Russia, and no one wanted this. There were very few people who considered themselves ethnic Ukrainians in Ukraine at that time. And on the side of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War fought about ten times more residents of Ukraine than on the side of Petliura. Who would not say anything today, but Ukraine itself supported the Bolsheviks, ”concluded the expert.