The Capture of the Crimea
During the Polish-Soviet war, the White Army in the Crimea was reorganized. A talented general, Baron Petr Vrangel replaced Anton Denikin as commander-in-chief. On June, 6, taking advantage of the war between Poland and Bolsheviks, the White Army left the Crimea and till the end of September occupied Southern Ukraine. When the Bolsheviks concluded an armistice with the Poles in October, they were able to concentrate their major forces against the Whites. Unfortunately for Vrangel, the Bolsheviks persuaded otaman Makhno with his large unofficial peasant army to join the Reds in their attack on the Whites. Makhno played a considerable role in defeating the Whites. His army stormed the so-called Turkish Rampart, designed by French and British military engineers and considered impregnable. The rampart was located on the narrow Perekop isthmus (about 8 km in width) and blocked the entrance to the Crimea. Having suffered extremely heavy losses Makhno broke through these fortifications on November 11, after five days of storm. In fact the entire isthmus was covered with “Ukrainian peasants’ bones.”
In the Crimea the Bolsheviks ordered that all former officers and soldiers of the White army came to special places for registration. They were promised forgiveness. But that was a trick. Tens of thousands of the former Whites were brutally killed. Then came Makhno’s turn. The Bolsheviks secretly planned to encircle Makhno’s forces and destroy them. But that turn out to by an uneasy task. Makhno was very popular with the peasants and had their support. Only by September of 1921 the Bolsheviks had completely suppressed the Makhno movement. As to the otaman, he managed to escape to Romania.
CONCLUSIONS
The Ukrainian Revolution was possible, first of all, because of external factors (the collapse of the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian empires, which left a power vacuum for new political forces to fill).
Why did Ukrainians fail to achieve independence? There are several reasons:
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Disunity. Ukrainian leaders paid more attention to the struggle for power than to fighting against Ukraine’s enemies.
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Lack of cooperation and understanding between West and East Ukrainians. That brought them into the camps of their enemies. The Galician Army was an ally of the Whites and the Reds, who were the major enemies of Petliura. Petliura, in his turn, became an ally of Poland, the major enemy of West Ukrainians.
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Most Ukrainians were indifferent to the idea of Ukrainian statehood. Their national consciousness was not sufficiently developed at that time to urge them to risk their lives for Ukrainian statehood. They were more interested in enriching themselves than in achieving independence. That fact explains why anarchy dominated the countryside. Many historians note that in contrast to Russians our people do not want to be submitted to a single leader, they do not like tyranny but at the same time it is very difficult for them to be united around some leader for achieving a common goal.
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Unfavorable external circumstances. Poles, Russians (the Whites and the Reds), and the victorious Entente were against Ukraine’s independence.
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Inability to solve the land problem. The Ukrainian leaders in contrast to the Bolsheviks failed to provide the peasantry with land. That was the decisive factor explaining the failure of Ukrainian politicians to create an independent Ukraine.
It should be noted that in contrast to East Ukrainians the unfavorable external circumstances (Poland and the Entente) played the first role in West Ukrainians’ failure to get independence. The Galician army was well-disciplined and strong. The population was nationally conscious and ready to sacrifice much for obtaining statehood. The bureaucratic apparatus worked efficiently. West Ukrainian leaders showed much more unity than their eastern counterparts in solving important problems. The major problem was the relatively small number of West Ukrainians (3,5 mln.) compared with that of the Poles (18 mln.) who had considerable financial and military support from the Entente.
Despite numerous mistakes and its eventual fall, the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-20 played a great role in Ukrainian history. Thanks to it the Bolshevik Moscow could not ignore the Ukrainian question. It allowed Ukrainians to have their own statehood (the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic), though limited and formal. That formal statehood, however, provided Ukrainians with a judicial basis for getting independence in 1991.
One of the most important results of the Revolution and the Civil War in Ukraine was the growth of national consciousness among all segments of the society. Before these turbulent events it was limited to a part of the intelligentsia.
1 During WWI the German-sounding St. Petersburg was renamed in the Russian-sounding Petrograd.
2 This event came down into history as the February Revolution, since it occurred in February according to the official in tsarist Russia Julian calendar, which was two weeks behind the Gregorian calendar.
3 Universal is the historic name used by the Cossack hetmans for their decrees.
4 Jews were heavily over-represented in the Bolshevik party in relation to their numbers.
5 This event came down into history as the ‘October Revolution, since it happened in October according to the Julian calendar, which was official in Russia at the time (until 1918).
6 The foreign minister D. Doroshenko characterized the members of cabinet as ‘Ukrainian by blood but Muscovite in spirit.’ It does not mean, however, that they tried to please Russia. They sincerely believed that Ukrainians and Russians were the two branches of the same people.
7 It was named after the French revolutionary government of 1795 to 1799.
8 He was disguised as a wounded German officer.
9 That is why many people in the West considered Petliura to be a violent anti-Semite. Petliura was killed in emigration by a Jew as punishment for pogroms in Ukraine.
10 These lands included eastern Galicia, northern Bukovyna, and Transcarpathia.
11 Most of these lands were not under control of the ZOUNR. Only part of Eastern Galicia was under the control of the ZOUNR at the time.
12 The Allies (Entente) allowed Polish troops to occupy Ukrainian territories only till the Zbruch River, which served as a border between the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires.