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Ukrainian People's Republic ([Українська Народна Республіка, Ukrayins'ka Narodna Respublika] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)), also sometimes translated as Ukrainian National Republic, abbreviated UNR (УНР), was a republic in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.
The socialist Central Rada was established on March 17, 1917, shortly after the start of the February Revolution (rada meaning council, the equivalent of Russian soviet). During fighting in Kyiv between supporters of the Russian Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks, the Central Rada threw in support for the Bolsheviks. After expelling the government forces, the Rada announced an autonomous Ukrainian Republic, still maintaining ties to Russia, on November 22, 1917. After a brief truce, the small Bolshevik faction moved to Kharkiv and proclaimed a Soviet Ukrainian Republic, conducted a successful campaign of agitation in Ukraine, and the Russian Bolshevik Red Army entered Ukraine.
On January 25, 1918 the Central Rada issued its Fourth Universal (dated January 22, 1918), breaking ties with Bolshevik Russia and proclaiming a sovereign Ukrainian state.
Besieged by the Bolsheviks and having lost much territory, the Rada was forced to seek foreign aid, and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as an ally of Imperial Germany, on February 9, 1918. Germany forced the Bolsheviks out of Ukraine, but by this time much of the Ukrainian population was disenchanted with the once-popular Rada. In the wake of internal squabbles and ineffective control of the countryside, the Germans disbanded the Central Rada on April 29, 1918.
In the coup, the Rada was replaced by a conservative government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, the Hetmanate, and the Ukrainian People's Republic by a "Ukrainian State" (Ukrayins’ka derzhava). Skoropadsky, a former officer of the Russian Empire, established a regime favoring large landowners and concentrating power at the top, although it was merely a puppet of Germany. The government had little support from Ukrainian activists, but unlike the socialist Rada, it was able to establish an effective administrative organization, established diplomatic ties with many countries, and concluded a peace treaty with Soviet Russia. In a few months, the Hetmanate also printed millions of Ukrainian-language textbooks, established many Ukrainian schools, two universities, and a Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
The Hetmanate government also supported the confiscation of previously-nationalized peasant lands by wealthy estate owners, often with the help of German troops. This led to unrest, the rise of a peasant partisan (guerrilla) movement, and a series of large-scale popular armed revolts. Negotiations were held to garner support from previous Rada members Petliura and Vynnychenko, but these activists worked to overthrow Skoropadsky.
Desperate during the impending loss of World War I by Germany and Austria-Hungary, Skoropadsky formed a new cabinet of Russian Monarchists and committed to federation with a possible future non-Bolshevik Russia. In response, the Ukrainian socialists announced a new revolutionary government, the Directorate, on November 14, 1918.
The Directorate gained massive popularity, and the support of some of Skoropadsky's military units including the Sich Rifles. Their insurgent army encircled Kiev, and the Germans evacuated, along with Skoropadsky.
Throughout 1919, Ukraine experienced chaos as the armies of the Ukrainian Republic, the Bolsheviks, the Whites, the Entente, and Poland, as well as anarchist bands such as that of Nestor Makhno vied for power.
As a result of the Polish-Soviet War, after the Peace of Riga in March 1921, Galicia (Halychyna), the western part of the traditional territory of Ukraine, as well as a large part of the Volyn territory had been incorporated into Poland, and the larger central parts of traditional Ukrainian territory, as well as predominantly Russian eastern and southern areas became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian SSR.
Ukrainian governments of 1917–1920
- Central Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic: March 17, 1917–April 19, 1918.
- First Ukrainian Soviet government: December 25, 1917–March 1918.
- Hetmanate of the Ukrainian State: April 19, 1918–December 14, 1918.
- Ukrainian National Council of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic: October 18, 1918–January 22, 1919.
- Second Ukrainian Soviet government: November 20, 1918–August 1919.
- Directorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic: November 14, 1918–1920.
- Third Ukrainian Soviet government: December 21, 1919–1991.
References
- Orest Subtelny. Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988. ISBN 0-8020-5809-6.