The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)

With lack of military forces to defend itself, the Central Rada had only one option – foreign aid. At first it tried to get support from 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.

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

On 9 February 1918, representatives of the Central Rada signed a treaty with the Central Powers at a Belarusian town Brest-Litovsk. 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 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 mutual 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.¹⁰ Therefore, on 28 April, the Germans disbanded the Central Rada and brought to power a new regime, headed by General Pavlo Skoropadsky. 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 Skoropadsky 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 Skoropadsky closed oppositionist press, introduced censorship, forbade disobedient trade unions and limited political freedoms in general. Yet it was Germans, not the hetman, who had real control over Ukraine. In fact, Skoropadsky’s government was a puppet regime. The establishing of the Skoropadsky regime meant the return of Ukraine’s pre-revolutionary elites (bureaucrats, landowners, capitalists, and military officers) to power.

In contrast to the “young utopians” of the Central Rada, who dreamed about socialist experiments, Skoropadsky’s government was composed 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 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.

To create a stable cultural foundation for the new state Skoropadsky’s government paid much attention to education, culture, science, and religion. The hetman continued Ukrainization policy in education started by the Central Rada. Ukrainian was introduced into over 100 high schools as the language of instruction. Two new Ukrainian universities were created in Kyiv and Kamianets-Podilsky. In the old three universities, the hetman government opened departments of the Ukrainian language, literature, and history. Training courses in Ukrainian studies were organized for teachers. In August 1918 the hetman signed a law on compulsory study of the Ukrainian language, literature, history and geography in all secondary schools. 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. On 24 November 1918, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was created. Famous scientist V. Vernadsky was appointed its head after M. Hrushevsky refused the hetman’s proposal to occupy this position.

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 could enjoy all political rights and even be considered Ukrainian patriots if they respected Ukrainian culture and were loyal to the Ukrainian state.

The hetman also tried to build a strong army, but the Germans were preventing its building as they wanted to be the only serious military force in Ukraine.

Skoropadsky’s international activity was relatively successful. Ukraine got international recognition not only from the Central Powers, but also from Switzerland, Finland, Holland, Norway, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Russia and others, 12 in total.

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 Skoropadsky’s government belonged to the Cadets – a Russian nationalistic party which major slogan was “restoration of indivisible Russia.” They hoped to use Ukraine as a springboard for fighting the Bolsheviks and the restoration of capitalist Russia.

As to the peasants and workers they were not pleased with the hetman’s policy. The hetman forced the peasants to return lands and property conquered during the chaos 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.