This article is about the client state that existed in 1918. For the Cossack State of the 17th–18th centuries, see Cossack Hetmanate. For the modern state, see Ukraine.
As a result of the Bolshevik aggression, the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic that initially pursued anti-military policy sought military support after the capital Kyiv was sacked on 9 February 1918, by Mikhail Muravyov. On 9 February, Ukraine signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the coalition of the Central Powers and by March all Bolshevik forces of the Russian SFSR were removed from the territory of Ukraine. The German Army Group Kyiv was created in order to protect Ukraine from further Bolshevik aggression and headed by the German field marshal Hermann von Eichhorn.[citation needed]
On 25 April, the administration of Army Group Kyiv suspected the government of Vsevolod Holubovych of kidnapping of Abram Dobry [uk], the chairman of the Foreign Trade Bank in Kyiv. Through that bank the German occupational forces were officially conducting all financial operations with the Reichsbank in Berlin. The next day, Eichhorn issued a decree according to which all criminal cases on the territory of Ukraine could selectively fall under the jurisdiction of the German field military court instead of the Ukrainian court system. At the next session of the Central Rada, Holubovych stated:[citation needed]
Who is this Mr Dobry? Is he a subject of the German State? No, he is not a far relative nor a godparent, he is a stranger. And just because that stranger who legally has no connections with Germany and gave no halters to issue a decree of such colossal weight was abducted, the decree was issued.
Manifesto to the All-Ukrainian Nation. Laws on the provisional state system of Ukraine.
On 29 April, a party congress of bread producers consisting of some 6,000 delegates from all eight governorates of Ukraine was taking place[6] in the building of the Kyiv Circus. After receiving information about the situation at the Congress from his couriers, Pavlo Skoropadskyi later arrived in his car to the event where he was elected the Hetman of Ukraine. After that all participants moved to St. Sophia's Square, where Skoropadskyi was blessed by Nykodym, the Vicar of Kyiv and Galicia (Metropolitan Vladimir was executed by Bolsheviks). That night the Hetman supporters took over government building of military and internal affairs as well as the State Bank. The following day, the elite and most loyal formation of the Central Council, the Sich Riflemen, was disarmed.[citation needed]
Skoropadskyi issued his manifesto (hramota) "To the All-Ukrainian Nation" and the Law of the Provisional State System.[9] Desiring stability, the Austro-Hungarian and German forces welcomed the coup; Skoropadskyi co-operated with them, making him unpopular among many Ukrainian peasants. The new state retained the tryzub (coat of arms) and the national flag but reversed the design to light blue over yellow. The Sich Riflemen opposed the coup and were disbanded along with the "Bluecoats", a Ukrainian division formed from POWs in Germany and Austria-Hungary named after their blue uniforms.[citation needed]
Internal opposition
Internal opposition was provoked by the requisitioning of food stocks and restoration of land to the wealthy landowners. Opponents of the Skoropadskyi regime committed acts of arson and sabotage and, in July 1918, assassinated Hermann von Eichhorn, the commander of German troops in Ukraine. In August 1918, the anti-Skoropadskyi coalition succeeded in forcing him to re-form the Sich Riflemen. By then it was becoming obvious that the Central Powers had lost the war and that Skoropadskyi could no longer rely on their support. He thus looked for support from conservative Russian elements in society and proposed joining a federation with Anton Denikin and the White movement. This further eroded his standing among Ukrainians.[citation needed]
In December 1918, Skoropadskyi was deposed and the Directorate was established as a form of the Ukrainian People's Republic.[7][8]
Geography
Administrative division of the Ukrainian State. The green line indicates the extent of the State's territorial claims.
The system of administrative division of Ukraine in 1918 was inherited from the Russian Empire, and was based on the governorate division (also called province or government; Ukrainian: губернія, romanized: huberniia) with the smaller subdivisions district (povit) and rural district (volost).[10] A new administrative reform was adopted by the Central Council of Ukraine on March 6, 1918 which saw restructuring the subdivision of Ukraine based on a new system of regions (zemlias) and abolishing the system of governorates and povits. The zemlias were divided into volosts, which were further divided into hromadas. Implementation of the new system was never fully realized and after the Skoropadsky's coup-d'état on April 29, 1918 was abandoned.
Dashed Negotiations with Crimea and Kuban for joining the Ukrainian State Dashed Neutral zone between Russia and Ukraine prescribed by the Treaty of Brest-LitovskSkoropadskyi inspecting troops from the "Greycoat" division
Almost the entire commanding staff of the Ukrainian State armed forces consisted of officers of the former Imperial Russian Army.[11] Most officers were not supportive of the Ukrainian cause and viewed it as a way to make it through tough times.[11] At the same time, wide masses of the population did not have a developed sense of nationalism and mainly chose to follow socialist and communist principles.[11]
Following the armistice ending World War I, Ukrainian socialists formed the Directorate of Ukraine (the "Directory"), whose forces were spearheaded by the Sich Riflemen and "Greycoats".[clarification needed] Although German and Austrian troops had not yet withdrawn from Ukraine, they had no further interest in fighting. Most of Skoropadskyi's own forces changed sides and joined the Directory.[11]
On 16 November 1918, starting in Bila Tserkva, fighting broke out in the Hetmanate. Skoropadskyi had to turn to the thousands of Russian White Guard officers who had escaped to Ukraine with the intention of joining Denikin's Volunteer Army in the region of the Don river further east. They[clarification needed] were assembled into a "Special Corps" but proved unable to resist the Directory's forces led by Symon Petliura. Skoropadskyi abdicated his position as Hetman on 14 December, as the Ukrainian People's Army took Kyiv. He was expelled and the Hetmanate was replaced by the provisional government of the Directorate.[citation needed]
Religion
Ukrainian Wikisource has original text related to this article:
According to the "Laws on the Provisional State System of Ukraine", the leading position of the country was occupied by the ChristianOrthodox faith.[12] At the same time, citizens of Ukraine who belonged to other denominations had the right to profess their religion and rites.[citation needed]
On 25 June, the government allocated 3 million rubles to help priests who moved to Volhynia, Kholmshchyna, Grodno, Podolia, and Polesia, which were annexed to the Ukrainian State. On 2 July, 120,000 roubles were allocated for the maintenance of the Orthodox clergy in the lands of Kholmshchyna, Podlachia and Polesia.[13]
^Kyrydon, A. M. (2013). Релігійно-церковне життя в період Гетьманату: проблемне поле взаємодії [Religious and church life in the period of Getmanat: the problem field of interaction] (PDF). Національна та історична пам'ять [National and Historical Memory] (in Ukrainian) (7): 252–259. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
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