Regional section of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921: Mykolaiv region

Abstract

Using the example of Mykolaiv region the authors highlight the features of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921 at the regional level. A comparative-historical method made it possible to compare the events of the Ukrainian Revolution at the national and regional levels; chronological method helped to establish difference between dating of the events in Kyiv and Mykolaiv; logical method provided an opportunity to combine and summarize historical facts which had already revealed earlier, and identify the features of the revolutionary events in Mykolaiv region. The scientific novelty of this study is that for the first time the specificity of the events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921 on the territory of the Mykolaiv region was discovered on the basis of unpublished sources and available historiographic basis. The main revolutionaryevents in the Mykolaiv region occurred in the context of state-building processes in Ukraine (periods of the Central Rada, P.Skoropadskyi and the Directory). At the local level, often these periods do not coincide chronologically with the general periodization of the history of the Ukrainian Revolution. For example, in Mykolaiv region the period of the Central Rada began later, namely after the October 1917 coup in Petrograd; the Directory period ended much sooner, after the second seizure of power by the Bolsheviks. A strong signal to the Ukrainian Central Rada was taken by the Mykolaiv Region after the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd. The recognition of the Ukrainian Central Rada in the region was due to the persistence of the Mykolaiv Council of United Ukrainian Organizations. The Central Rada did not have a clearly defined regional policy. This resulted in the loss of its credibility among peasants and townspeople. In the Mykolaiv area the Central Rada made mistakes in the land policy and did not take into account the powerful city factor – workers of the Mykolaiv shipyards. The peasants and thetownspeople did not solve their major problems. This led to uprisings both in the city and in the countryside. The belated attention of the Central Rada to the events in Mykolaiv had no positive consequences. Instead, the local Bolsheviks, who at the beginning of the revolution were in fact a marginal political group, strengthened and gained influence among the proletarians and peasants of Mykolaiv region. Trying to correct the errors of the Central Rada the government of P.Skoropadskyi paid considerable attention to the Mykolaiv shipyards, achieved the return of Ukraine’s fleet and shipyards. However, due to the German policy towards the shipyards and encroachment on unfinished warships, as well as the short term of power, it also failed to achieve significant results in this sphere. With it, in the period of P.Skoropadskyi the confrontation deepened between peasants and large landowners, which resulted in anti-hetman movement and uprisings. In the city, Ukrainian organizations under the Hetmanate did not have a significant impact on the population and official authorities because of ignoring them by German command and appointing former Russian generals to senior positions. The three-month period of the Directory is characterized by the chaotic power and events in which the presence of the Entente troops and the change of political views of  Ataman N.Hryhoriev – from pro-Ukrainian to Bolshevik ones – played an importantrole. It was Hryhoriev’s actions that led to the final loss of influence of the Mykolaiv Council of United Ukrainian Organizations on official authorities. Although First Winter Campaign of the Army of UPR covered a large part of the territory of Mykolaiv region and became a heroic page in the history of the Ukrainian Army, it had no natural connection with the processes taking place in Mykolaiv region. Instead, the peasant rebel movement played an important role and continued even after the major revolutionary events had ended.