The Second Era | The Tear Line special project by KP

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VIENNA AND BERLIN FUELED ANTI-RUSSIAN SENTIMENTS

During the First World War, Ukrainian nationalism began to flourish in the western regions of the Russian Empire. Subsequently, in the aftermath of the Civil War, this nationalism sought to disseminate, just like poison ivy, its influence across the newly established «independent» republic, which emerged following the turmoil of two Russian revolutions.

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Russian troops entered Galicia

As World War I erupted in the summer of 1914, moderates sought to showcase their patriotism to the authorities. They distanced themselves from the more radical Galician «Westerners». Even Simon Petliura, at that time, expressed the belief that Ukrainians would defend Russia and be willing to «shed blood for the unity of the state». However, supporters of Ukrainian nationalism strongly criticized the Russian administration's policies in Galicia and Bukovina. By September 1914, these regions were occupied by Russian troops. While the local population generally welcomed the tsar's army, there were also clandestine groups opposing the Russian rule. Federalists from organizations like the «Ukrainian Socialist Collective» and the «Ukrainian Youth Union», as well as the self — proclaimed «Initiative Committee of the Ukrainian Independent Union» advocated for the Ukrainianization of schools, churches, and administration. They boycotted the Russian language and culture, leading to the closure of such groups and the expulsion of their members to Russia.

Vienna creates tthe Ukrainian Secheviye Sagittarii

On 1 August 1914, the Main Ukrainian Rada emerges at the suggestion of Vienna and Berlin. They sought to separate Malorossia from Russia. Since 4 August, the Rada, supported by Vienna and Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, formed a legion of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen in the Austrian army. Ukrainian nationalists helped the Austrians strangle the Galician-Russian movement. People were killed, thrown into concentration camps on suspicion of sympathizing with Russia. Over 36,000 Galicians were killed in the wave of terror. In August 1914, Julian Melenevsky, Dmytro Dontsov, and Volodymyr Doroshenko established the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine. This organization was supported by the German-Austrian command until May 1918, with the primary objective to stoke separatism and spark revolution in Russia, aiming for the independence of Ukraine. Using tactics like ideological engineering and propaganda, Ukrainian nationalists targeted prisoners of war convincing them that they belonged to Ukraine rather than Russia. Within the Rashtadt camp, approximately 1,500 Malorossians were effectively propagandized, while 3,000 were identified as sympathetic to the cause and an additional 6,000 opposed Ukrainianism. In 1918, working from this foundation, the Germans and nationalists collaborated to establish two divisions of «Synezhupanniks» (Blue Overcoats) from the converted prisoners, subsequently bolstering Petlyura's forces.

«When we read the history of Europe, we read the history of its peoples. When we read the history of Russia, we see nothing but a dark mass…»

Dmitry Dontsov.

There was active anti-Russian propaganda in the Austrian camps.

By February 1917, many in Ukraine eagerly anticipated the downfall of the Russian Tsar.

Subsequently, in Austria, two divisions of «Blue Overcoatss» were organized from the ranks of captured Malorossians.

Rada after the Tsar

After the Tsar's abdication, the Central Rada was convened in Kiev in March 1917 with Grushevsky at its helm. In June, the General Secretariat was established It strongly focused on Ukrainianizing the army. Grushevsky wrote in his work entitled «Who are the Ukrainians and what do they want»: «We are a unique nation with our own distinct language, history, literature, and culture». Zero tolerance towards the «Moscals» was cultivated. Despite that, the Provisional Government acknowledged the General Secretariat as its local agency in the five provinces of Malorossia. However, on October 31, 1917, the Rada proclaimed itself the supreme power in Ukraine, and in November established the Ukrainian People's Republic (without Crimea, but with Donbass). In January 1918, the UPR declared itself the state of the Ukrainian people. And on January 27, a separate peace agreement was reached with Vienna and Berlin including a commitment to provide a million tons of grain in exchange for support against the Moskals-Bolsheviks was made. By May, the occupying forces crushed the Donetsk — Krivoi Rog and Odessa Soviet Republics. The German forces were followed by the Rada’s troops and agencies. However, it failed to maintain supplies and was replaced by the Ukrainian State under Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky. Burdensome levies on villagers ignited a peasant rebellion.

«The Galicians are more genteel, yet their culture diverges significantly from ours due to history. Among them, there exist numerous fanatics, particularly in terms of hatred towards Russia. These fervent Galicians were most effective as propagandists sent by the Austrians».

Pavel Skoropadsky.

Shortly after the Tsar's overthrow in Petrograd, the Central Rada was assembled in Kiev, under the leadership of Mykhailo Grushevsky.

Summer 1917: Residents of Petrograd gathered in support of a free Ukraine.

Mikhailo Grushevsky, who had assumed control of the Central Rada in March 1917, immediately initiated the dissemination of anti-Russian propaganda among the populace, particularly targeting the military.

Following the establishment of the Rada, the Russian State Duma was disbanded the next day; however, the authorities in Petrograd turned a blind eye to the Ukrainian self-declared independence for an extended period.

Notably, the nationalist Grushevsky received a warm reception from the Sechevsky Streltsy, with support also coming from the Germans who were aligned with both parties.

In 1918 Ukraine declared itself a state of the Ukrainian people and made a separate peace with the Germans.

The Germans felt at home in Kiev in 1918.

Petliura instead of Skoropadsky

Following their defeat in the war in November 1918, the Germans departed, and Skoropadsky fled alongside them. Subsequently, Kiev fell under the occupation of the Directory's troops, led by Petliura. Despite the successful removal of the hetman, landlords, and Germans by the peasants, they were reluctant to engage in further conflict for the Ukrainian People's Republic. Petliura, known for his confrontations with the Reds, Whites, Nestor Makhno, and the Poles, was a fervent nationalist and a staunch adversary of the Bolsheviks. On January 16, 1919, the Ukrainian People's Republic declared war on Soviet Russia, while in Galicia, the West Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed.
Ukrainian nationalists tactically leveraged the populace's animosity towards the Poles to boost Ukrainian identity in the region. In the winter of 1919, Petliura’s and the West Ukrainian republics formed a union. Still, the nationalists failed to come to a thorough understanding. Eleven months later, seeking military assistance from Poland to fight Moscow, Petliura acknowledged Warsaw's claims to Galicia. He even fought alongside the Poles against his fellow Galicians. It all came to an end on March 18, 1921, when Poland, the RSFSR, and the Ukrainian SSR signed a peace agreement. Petliura was stranded.

«They (the nationalists) posed as proponents of Ukrainian independence, yet, in truth, aligned themselves, alongside their hetman Skoropadsky, with Wilhelm of Germany and Karl of Austria-Hungary in their opposition to the revolutionary movements».

Nestor Makhno.

Ethnic violence and nationalists xenophobia

It was during the tumultuous period at the end of the World War I and the beginning of the Civil War that Ukrainianism resorted to armed conflict to advance its principles. The initial confrontation occurred when rebelled workers of Kiev Arsenal Factory were suppressed. In January 1918, these workers were in support of Soviet power, while Petlyura's haydamaks and the Sich Riflemen who opposed them championed the idea of a Free Ukraine without «Moskals, Jews, and Lyakhs». Tragically, the workers were slain by the future leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists* — Colonel Roman Sushko, Chorunzhiy Yevhen Konovalets, and centurion Andriy Melnik.

Then, the nationalists pressured miners of the Donetsk — Krivoi Rog Republic, who advocated for allegiance to Russia. Anti-Jew pogroms ravaged various regions. Still, the Ukrainian nationalism did not call to the majority of the populace. Urban residents, workers were against the very notion of self-declared independence. In rural areas, too, only a fraction of people supported the cause. Volodymyr Vynnychenko, one of the leaders of the UPR, noted that many farmers, when speaking of the Soviet triumph, thanked God for the dissolution of Ukraine.

«I left America for Transcarpathia to advocate for the complete independence of the state of Podkarpackie Rus, a cause which, I believe, holds great relevance in the present day».

Roman Sushko in February 1939.

Wherever Petliura's gangs marched, Jewish pogroms followed in their wake.

Evidence of the atrocities committed by the «troops of the Directory» in Zhitomir remains etched in history.

Recorded footage verifies that the pogroms were orchestrated by units of the Ukrainian Regular Army, specifically Petliura's soldiers.

In Kiev, supporters of the UNR left behind a brutal legacy of violence.

Volodymyr Vynnychenko, a prominent UNR leader, recounted the collapse of the «republic», noting that peasants welcomed the arrival of the Soviets as the end of Ukraine.

Petliura's gangs, among whom were future UNR leaders, subdued a workers' uprising at the Arsenal in Kiev.

Kherson partisans warned Russian villagers against Petliura's pogroms.

People tried to flee wherever they could, including to «big Russia», from the suppressive rule of Ukrainian nationalists.

PETLIURISTS» POGROMS IN 1918–1921

493

Number of anti-Jewish operations by the Petliurists

390

Number of settlements where pogroms took place

30 000

Killed and died of wounds

1560

Victims of the biggest pogrom in Proskurov (Khmelnitsky)

Establishment of the «Rebel Headquarters»

At the end of 1920, a «Rebel Headquarters» emerged in Lviv. It was connected with the Polish General Staff. It was created by the Galicians Konovalets and Sushko. The headquarters was headed by Yuriy Tyutyunnik, a former warrant officer of the Russian army. This Rebel Headquarters was replenished by Petliurists, the Whites, deserters, criminals. Tasks: Terrorist acts against the Soviets, sabotage on transport, disruption of sowing. The Poltava «Committee for the Recovery of Ukraine», established in May 1920, considered propaganda, infiltration into the authorities, unification of detachments and restoration of the UNR as its main task.
However, the resistance against the backdrop of the Bolsheviks' growing influence eventually deteriorated into political and later criminal activities. Moscow offered amnesties and instigated conflicts among various Ukrainian exile factions. The planned uprising never materialized. The primary factor was the intensified efforts of the Soviet secret services and military to suppress nationalist insurgents and criminal gangs. The unsuccessful Tyutyunnik campaign in the fall of 1921 marked the final nationalist attempt to forcibly overthrow Soviet authority. Subsequently, the Bolsheviks launched their own Ukrainianization effort.

«I did not and do not renounce my views of self-proclaimed independence. If Dontsov's positions have not changed, I treat them as before, that is, I shared and still do share them».

Yuriy Tyutyunnik, head of the «Rebel headquarters» in Lviv.