100 YEARS OF STRUGGLE. THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION 1917-1921

YEARS OF STRUGGLE
THE UKRAINIAN
REVOLUTION
1917-1921

2
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF STRUGGLE
On August 24, 1991, Verkhovna Rada, the Supreme Council of the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was preparing to adopt one of the
most important decisions in its history. The decision had actually become
the last one it would ever make, as it put an end to the existence of the
USSR. The democratic minority made a proposal for its approval, but the
fact that thousands of people on the streets were ready to support it,
forced the uncompromising Communist majority in the parliament to
adopt the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.
Although under pressure, there were fiery discussions and extorted
concessions from the Democrats. A long-term former political prison-
er, Levko Lukyanenko, who had been entrusted with the preparation of
the draft proposal, at the last minute had to change the name of the
document. The draft of the Act on the Restoration of the Independent
State of Ukraine, written by him, became known as the Act of the Decla-
ration of Independence of Ukraine. It may seem that a concession to the
Communists, agreed by their opponents, was insignificant but, in fact, it
played a decisive role during the next two decades of the state’s devel-
opment. In such a way, an independent Ukraine detracted from previous
attempts to affirm its statehood and renounced the legacy of the Ukrain-
ian liberation movement.
Thus, its appearance on the map of the world was caused, not due to
the long-lasting struggle of Ukrainians, but to a unique international politi-
cal situation, which led to the collapse of the USSR. The renunciation of the
liberation movement’s legacy enabled the former Communists to preserve
most Soviet ideas from the past, and keep them alive in the publics’ con-
sciousness. This, in its turn, made it possible for them to remain the ruling
elite of the newly proclaimed state. The actual existence of the Ukrainian
SSR continued even after the proclamation of independence on August 24,
1991. The process of state-building continuity from the Ukrainian National
Republic to independent Ukraine was completed by the symbolic transfer
of power by the last president of the UNR in the exile to the first President
of the independent Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk. Though it was a powerful
symbolic act, it was quickly forgotten.
Twice after 1991, in 2004 and 2014, Ukrainians rose to unprecedented
levels of protest to disallow the ruling party’s attempt to revert to the
authoritarian rule of the past. Only after the second protest, which was
paid in blood, did we begin to systematically overcome the totalitarian
inheritance.

3
In 2015 the Ukrainian parliament passed the “decommunization laws”,
which allowed for the removal of thousands of monuments and symbols
linked to those who destroyed the state of Ukraine in 1917-1921 and its
people for the next seven decades. Their names have finally disappeared
from the map of our country. Among the new names that have appeared
there are several related to the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921. By the
Law, which recognized the participants in the struggle for the independ-
ence of Ukraine, the present state has finally paid tribute to those who
fought with arms in their hands, or with nonviolent methods and brought
independence closer, especially to the soldiers of the armed formations
of the era of the Ukrainian Revolution.
Ukrainian society gradually rids itself of the post-Soviet residue, and
gradually returns to its state heritage, which was so inadvertently wast-
ed a quarter of a century ago. The main task of the work to be carried
out by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance is to recall the
events, which happened centuries ago and laid the foundation for mod-
ern governmental institutions: the Ukrainian parliament and govern-
ment, the armed forces, diplomacy and the Academy of Sciences. The
exhibition “The Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921: 100 years of struggle”
which took place in November 2017 in Kyiv showed various aspects of the
creation of Ukrainian statehood in 1917-1921.
This booklet has been prepared reflecting the exhibition materials as
well as Information and educational activities of the Institute. It is cru-
cial not only to tell Ukrainians, but the whole world about this continui-
ty. We need to deny one of the key thrusts of Russian propaganda, that
Ukraine appeared on the world map as a geopolitical misunderstanding
in the wake of the collapse of the USSR. We need to talk about Ukraine’s
heritage of a hundred-year war for truth and freedom alongside its bru-
tal lessons, which is exacerbated by the fact that Ukraine opposes Rus-
sia’s aggression. Our long war for freedom continues. Modern politicians
must carefully learn the lessons from the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-
1921. One of the most important lessons is that here, in Ukraine, each of
them can have friends, allies, competitors, rivals and opponents. The en-
emies we must uncompromisingly fight are outside the country; they are
in Russia, which is waging war against us. Competitors, rivals and oppo-
nents can see Ukraine as a different country in the future. Ukraine’s ene-
mies don’t see it as a country at all. They can pretend to be allies or even
friends, formulate very tempting plans for the struggle with opponents,
but we cannot forget that their main goal is to destroy our state. The par-
ticipants of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 understood this lesson
too late. Therefore, they left the country by giving it up to their enemies,
and wrote their instructive memoirs sitting in the cafes in Vienna, Paris
or Berlin.
We have a rare chance to do everything for our descendants to read
about our era without bromine. Let’s make the most of it. Let’s take ad-
vantage of this opportunity to the fullest.
Volodymyr Viatrovych,
Director of the Ukrainian Institute
of National Remembrance, historian.

4
THE AWAKENING
OF A NATION
Fall of autocracy in Russia due to the February revolution trig-
gered the unprecedented upsurge of the Ukrainian National Lib-
eration Movement. After 200 years of statelessness and ferocious
oppression on the territory of the former empire of the Romano-
vs, Ukrainians began to seek the rights of national-cultural autono-
my. There were numerous rallies and demonstrations where a lot of
different proclamations and resolutions were adopted. At the same
time, cultural, educational institutions and civic organizations re-
sumed their work. All this led to the beginning of the Ukrainian Rev-
olution of 1917-1921.
In the very first days of the revolution, the Provisional Ukrainian
Revolution Committee of Petrograd issued its first appeal “To Ukrain-
ian citizens, students, workers and Ukrainian officers in Petrograd.”
On March 25, 1917, on the occasion of Taras Shevchenko holiday there
was a demonstration in which 25 thousand of Ukrainians took part.
Its participants, mainly soldiers and students, marched under revolu-
tionary and national blue-and-yellow flags. Several Ukrainian organ-
izations in Moscow declared their demands that the new democrat-
ic government would recognize the autonomy of Ukraine and raised
other issues: the use of the Ukrainian language in schools, local gov-
ernment and courts.
Public mass demonstration of Ukrainians
in Khabarovsk, May 1, 1917.
A solemn procession of the Ukrainian
community in Tomsk, March 23, 1917.
Ukrainian demonstration in Vinnytsia. Spring in 1917.
“Overview Map of Ukrainian Lands”
by Stepan Rudnytsky.
The demobilized Russian soldiers return
from the front, 1917.
Ukrainian soldiers of the Volyn
regiment participating in the tens
of thousands demonstration in
Petrograd, March 25, 1917.

5
The participants of the Ukrainian
national demonstration on St. Sophia
Square in Kyiv, April 1, 1917.
The removal of the monument to the
former Russian Prime minister, Peter
Stolypin, in Kyiv. March in 1917.
Ukrainian demonstration
in Kharkiv. April 23, 1917.
Ukrainian soldiers at the
demonstration in Chernivtsi.
May 1, 1917.
The permit
of Peter Stebnytsky,
one of the leaders of the Ukrainian
community in Petrograd, 1916.
Kyiv became the epicenter of Ukrainian national life. Here on
March 17, on the initiative of the Society of Ukrainian Progres-
sives with the participation of other political parties the Cen-
tral Rada was founded. At first, it was a public organization. Lat-
er on, it became the governing body of the Ukrainian national
movement and the Parliament of the UNR. There were dozens
of gatherings, congresses, rallies and demonstrations in the city.
For instance, according to the newspapers, on March 29, almost
200 thousand people took part in a large-scale event “Holiday of
Freedom”. In those days, a monument to the Tsarist Prime Minis-
ter, Peter Stolypin, was demolished on the Duma Square (now -
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, literally: the Independence Square). On
April 1, on the initiative of the Central Rada, 100 thousand of
Ukrainians took part in the national demonstration, which was
held in Kyiv. It had become the turning point, which made the
Russian revolutionary democrats take a fresh look at the as-
pirations of Ukrainians and reconsider their attitude towards
the Ukrainian national identity. Mykhailo Hrushevsky said that
this demonstration showed that “Ukrainian movement is not
mere fiction in the minds of romantic circles or some intellec-
tual maniacs, but a living force, inspiring and leading the mass-
es.” In March, protest was the climax of the movement all over
Ukraine. Mass rallies and demonstrations swept Kharkiv, Polta-
va, Mykolayiv, and Odesa.
“Just after 10 o’clock in the morning people from all over the capital of
Ukraine like big rivers and small streams were flooding to the main point - St. Vo-
lodymyr’s Cathedral where Kyiv’s highest clergy, that time from their own initiative,
held a requiem service for Taras Shevchenko. In front of the Cathedral there were
Ukrainian troops under the Cossack flag, numerous banners and flags of organized
in different groups Ukrainians (workers, civil servants, students with their teachers,
peasants and others) were fluttering in the wind. People snapped up the first issue
of the paper “News from the Ukrainian Central Rada” and spread out printed Ukrain-
ian songs, brochures, and appeals. A lot of them were falling down like rain from the
balconies and roofs of the houses. “
The paper “News from the Ukrainian Central Rada”
about the Ukrainian national demonstration on April 1, 1917.

6
CREATION OF A NEW STATE:
THE CENTRAL RADA
The building of the Ukrainian Central Rada where the General
Secretariat worked as a Chief executive body where a number
of Ukrainian congresses and assemblies took place.
The participants of the Ukrainian national demonstration
on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv, April 1, 1917.
The initial composition of the General Secretariat in 1917. Sitting (from left to right):
Ivan Steshenko, the Central Rada’s General Secretary of Education, Krystophor
Baranovsky, General Secretary of Finance, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, the President of
the General Secretariat and General Secretary of Internal Affairs, Serhiy Yefremov,
General Secretary of International Affairs, Symon Petliura, General Secretary of
Military Affairs. Standing: Pavlo Khrystiuk, General Chancellor, Mykola Stasyuk, General
Secretary of Food Supply, Borys Martos, General Secretary of Agrarian Affairs. In the
picture of that time government, there was no Valentyn Sadovsky, General Secretary of
Court Affairs.
Volodymyr Vynnychenko,
a writer, a Vice-President
of the Ukrainian Central
Rada, the first President of
the General Secretariat and
General Secretary of Internal
Affairs. Photo of the early
1920s.
The demonstration in front of the building of the Ukrainian General Military
Committee in Kyiv during the First All-Ukrainian Military Congress held
in May in 1917.
Brochure
“Independent
Ukraine”
by Mykola
Mikhnovsky.
During the revolution of 1917-1921, Ukrainians
created several forms of statehood, which changed
or continued one another. The representatives of
political parties and public organizations founded
the Ukrainian Central Rada in Kyiv. Mykhailo Hru-
shevsky was chosen in absentia as the Chairman of
the Rada. He was released from exile after the Feb-
ruary Revolution of 1917 but still lived in Moscow.
After the All-Ukrainian Congress (April 17-21, 1917)
which took place in the Merchants’ House (today
the National Philharmonic Hall of Ukraine) the Cen-
tral Rada gained legitimacy and the right to speak
on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people. For in-
complete six months of work, it had changed from
a public organization into a representative body
of the Ukrainian movement and eventually to the
UNR parliament. Universals of the Central Rada re-
flected the evolution of the Ukrainian state from
autonomy and federalism within Russia to inde-
pendence. The Fourth Universal (January 22, 1918)
proclaimed the Ukrainian National Republic an in-
dependent state.

7
Mykhailo Hrushevsky, the Chairman
of the Ukrainian Central Rada, Photo made
on May 1, 1918.
The poster with the Fourth Universal of the
Ukrainian Central Rada, which proclaimed
the Ukrainian National Republic an
independent state. January 22, 1918.
The identification document of
Isaac Baziak, a member of the
Ukrainian Central Rada from
the Ukrainian Party of Socialist
Revolutionaries, issued on
March 14, 1918.
The appeal “To the Ukrainian
people”, the first official
document of the Ukrainian
Central Rada from March 22(9),
1917.
The First Universal (June 23, 1917)
which proclaimed Ukraine’s autonomy.
Serhiy Yefremov, publicist and literary critic, Deputy
Chairman of the Central Rada and General Secretary of
International Affairs.
The Merchants’ House where
on April 17-21, 1917 the All-
Ukrainian National Congress
declared the Central Rada
to be the highest national
authority in Ukraine and
elected Hrushevsky as its
head.
Ukrainian demonstration in Kyiv on the
Third Universal of the Central Rada, which
proclaimed the creation of the Ukrainian
National Republic. November 20, 1917.
“The proclamation of the Ukrainian
National Republic”. Photo from the
newspaper “Le Miror” (Paris).
March 30, 1918.
The Central Rada passed a series of important laws for setting up the
life of the state establishing the eight-hour working day, a land reform,
laws on the monetary system, citizenship in the Ukrainian National Re-
public, a national coat of arms and the army. They also created a system
of higher governmental institutions of the Ukrainian National Republic:
the Ukrainian Central Rada with a Small Rada (it consisted of members
of the presidium, secretaries of the Rada and two representatives from
each political party) and worked between the plenary sessions and the
government. First, it was the General Secretariat and then it was re-
named to the Council of National Ministers of the Ukrainian National
Republic with general secretariats and ministries. There appeared the
Ukrainian State Bank, the General Court and the Ukrainian Telegraph
Agency. The Ukrainian National Republic established diplomatic rela-
tions with other countries and became a subject of international law.
“The Central Rada should be the center of Ukrainian political life; it must complete the
organization of the territory and inform the broadest masses of Ukraine about political tasks,
which thus is a national awareness”
Mykhailo Hrushevsky, April 21, 1917

8
CREATION OF A NEW STATE: HETMANATE
On April 29, 1918, Pavlo Skoropadsky was proclaimed
Hetman of All Ukraine by 6 thousand delegates at the Con-
gress of Landowners. In a night, Hetman’s supporters cap-
tured the buildings of important state institutions. In place
of the UNR, there appeared the Ukrainian State or Het-
manate as it is called in historiography. Less than a day after
Congress, Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky made public a “Let-
ter to the entire Ukrainian people” and published “Laws on
the interim government of Ukraine”. According to them,
all legislative and executive powers were transferred to
the Hetman who, at the same time, was proclaimed Com-
mander in Chief, entrusted with absolute power. The gov-
ernment, the Council of Ministers were responsible for leg-
islative functions and public administration. The highest
judicial body was the General Court. One of the first steps
of the Hetmanate government was the restoration of the
right to private property “as the foundation of culture and
civilization» and the free sale of land. He proposed to create
the so-called “Independent Cossakhood”, the mighty mili-
tia that could carry out the functions of the army and the
police.
Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky accompanied by the Сommander
of his own convoy, Mykola Ustymovych, General Chancellor,
Ivan Poltavets and German officers at the door of the house on
Katerynynska Street (now Lyps’ka Street, 16).
Peter Krutykov’s “Hippo-Palace” Circus in Kyiv where, Pavlo Skoropadsky was proclaimed
HetmanofAllUkraineattheCongressofBreadmakersconvenedbytheUnionofLandowners.
In his first speech, Skoropadsky emphasized: “I do not take on the burden of temporary
authority for my own good. You yourself know that anarchy is spreading everywhere and
only power that rules with a firm hand can bring order. On you, farmers and wealthy people,
I will rely and pray to God that He will give us strength and firmness to save Ukraine “.
The German military men disarmed the soldiers of the Sich Riflemen
regiment who refused to serve Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, May 1, 1918.
The barracks of the Sich Riflemen in Kyiv were located in Kyiv, at L’vivska
Street, 24(now Sichovych Stril’tsiv, 24).
His Highness, Almighty
Hetman of All Ukraine,
Pavlo Skoropadsky, 1918.
Prayer Service on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv honoring the
election of Pavlo Skoropadsky as Hetman of All Ukraine, April
29, 1918.

9
The brief existence (7.5 months) of the Hetmanate was a fruitful stage of
state-building. During this period, the Council of Ministers passed about 400
laws. Russian money was withdrawn from the circulation while the position
of the national currency strengthened, the National Bank of Ukraine set up its
work. The number of cooperative societies had tripled: from 4.9 thousand to
15 thousand. The total balance sheet of the credit union capital increased and
the union “Central” even bought a factory of agricultural machines in Germa-
ny. Compared to the first revolutionary year, coal mining had almost doubled.
At the time of the Hetmanate, there were two customs wars - with Roma-
nia and the Crimea. As a result of the latter, the peninsula became the part of
Ukraine on the rights of autonomy. Hetman’s plans included the construction
of a gateway arterial transportation system from the Baltic to the Black Seas
and the building of hydroelectric power stations on the Dniester, Bug and
Dnieper. Significant results had been achieved in education and culture. The
Ukrainian State Archive, the Ukrainian National Library, the Ukrainian Acade-
my of Sciences, the Ukrainian State Universities in Kyiv and Kamyanets-Podil-
skyi were created. However, the defeat in the First World War, the agrarian
reform that farmers did not understand, “punitive expeditions” of the Ger-
man-Austrian allies and anti-Hetman opposition activity became the main rea-
sons for the fall of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky in late 1918.
Fedir Lyzohub, Chairman of the Council
of Ministers in May-November 1918.
Dmytro Doroshenko, a historian,
a diplomat, Minister of Foreign
Affairs in the government of
the Ukrainian state.
Vyacheslav Lypynsky, a historian, a theoretician
of Ukrainian conservatism, in 1918 - served as
the Ukrainian ambassador to Austria-Hungary.
A visit of Ukrainian officials to Berlin. From
left to right: Chairman of the Council of
Ministers, Fedir Lyzohub, Ambassador
of the Ukrainian State in Berlin, Baron
Theodor von Steinheil, a friend of Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Olexander Paltov,
September 1918.
The auto with Hetman Pavlo
Skoropadsky on the porch of
Hetman’s palace at Instytutska
Street, 40 in Kyiv. The building is
not preserved – it exploded during
the retreat of the Polish troops from
the city in May 1920.
The German patrol
in Kyiv streets,
August 1920.
Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky with
the delegates of Volyn province at
the Congress of Breadmakers,
April 29-30, 1918.
The period of the Ukrainian Hetman State of 1918... with all its flaws and
disappointments, was the period of the greatest discovery of Ukrainian crea-
tivity in the field of political, economic and cultural-and-educational develop-
ment”.
Dmytro Doroshenko, “History of Ukraine, 1917-1923”.

10
CREATION OF A NEW STATE:
THE UNR DIRECTORATE
In November-December, 1918, there was an anti-Hetman uprising, which forced Pavlo
Skoropadsky to give up power. The Ukrainian National Republic was restored, the supreme
power of which was embodied in the UNR Directorate. It consisted of five people: Volod-
ymyr Vynnychenko (Head), Symon Petliura, Fedir Shvetsʹ, Opanas Andriyevsky and Andriy
Makarenko. The idea of the Directorate as a collegiate governing body was borrowed from
the history of the Great French Revolution of the late XVIII century. The policy of the UNR Di-
rectory was aimed at the consolidation of the Ukrainian nation. Its leaders tried to take into
account public expectations and demands of political parties. Based on coalition formation,
a new government – the Council of National Ministers of the Ukrainian National Republic –
was established. The political system of the UNR had become a peculiar compromise based
on the principle of labor councils when the representatives of the government could only
delegate “working classes”. Concerning the national question, they took a course on the de-
velopment of an independent state. On January 1, 1919, the Directorate approved the law on
the state language in the UNR and the law on the highest church government of the Ukrain-
ian Autocephalous Orthodox Church according to which the Orthodox Church in Ukraine
should have become autocephalous. They also adopted the law on the national currency of
Ukraine – Hryvnia. According to the law, the Russian money (“tzars’ki”, “kerenki”) was with-
drawn from the circulation. Private ownership of land was abolished; it was declared “pub-
lic property». At the time of the Directorate, there was a steady expansion of diplomatic re-
lations with foreign countries; science and culture were rapidly developing. One of the most
prominent achievements was the proclamation of the Act of Union – the reunification of
the UNR and WUPR (Western Ukrainian People’s Republic) into one unified sovereign state.
Volodymyr Vynnychenko, the Head of the UNR
Directorate, and its member, Symon Petliura, at the
military parade of the Ukrainian troops on St. Sophia
Square on the occasion of the Directorate entry into Kyiv.
The picture of the movie. December 19, 1918.
A large public meeting in support of the UNR Directorate.
December 1918.
The UNR Army Colonel Eugene
Konovalets, the Сorps Сommander of
Sich Riflemen who in November in 1918
supported the uprising against Hetman
Pavlo Skoropadsky. Photo made in 1920.
The appeal “About the Directory of the
Ukrainian National Republic” with short
biographies of its members.
November 1918.
The Head of the UNR Directorate and the Chief Otaman
of the UNR Army, Symon Petliura with his colleagues.
Kamyanets-Podilsky, 1919.
Members of the UNR Directory, from left to right:
Fedir Shvetsʹ (1st), Symon Petliura (3rd), Andriy
Makarenko (5th), Kamyanets-Podilsky, 1919.

11
However, in December 1918, Soviet Russia without declaring war start-
ed a military advance into Ukraine. Its troops quickly moved deep into the
Ukrainian territory. On February 2, 1919, the Directorate and the state appa-
ratus of the UNR were forced to evacuate from Kyiv to Vinnytsia.
Volodymyr Vynnychenko could not withstand pressure and weight of re-
sponsibility and on February 10, 1919, resigned. Symon Petliura became the
Head of the UNR Directorate. He had to lead the Ukrainian state in the most
dramatic period of its existence. Without any external support under ex-
tremely tough conditions, Ukraine continued the armed struggle against
the “black” and “white” Russia. In November 1920, the remnants of the
Ukrainian army and the state apparatus of the UNR, under the pressure of
the prevailing Bolshevik army were forced to retreat to Poland.
Panorama of Kamyanets-Podilsky, the capital of the
Ukrainian National Republic from June, 14
to November, 16 in 1919.
The Law “On the Form of Power in
Ukraine” approved by the Labour
Congress on January 28, 1919. The
Chairman of the Congress Semen
Vityk and the secretary, Serhii
Bachynsky, signed the document.
Passport of the UNR citizen,
Valentyn Atamanovsky, issued
on September 5, 1919.
Recruits’ oath-taking while training, held by the Sich
Riflemen, in the presence of the Chief Otaman of the UNR
Army, Symon Petliura. Starokostiantyniv. Summer 1919.
The soldiers of the Sich Riflemen Corps, the structure that
led the revolt against Hetman Skoropadsky. 1918.
The Head of the UNR
Directorate and the Chief
Otaman of the UNR Army,
Symon Petliura. Kamyanets-
Podilsky, 1919. After the retreat
of the UNR Army from Kyiv and
the emigration of Volodymyr
Vynnychenko from Ukraine,
Symon Petliura assumed
command of the Directorate.
He remained in the Directorate
from the first until the last day
for 10 months fielding troops
against both the Red Army and
anti-communist White Guard
forces in Ukraine.
“Have we won anything fighting for Ukraine? Yes, our struggle in the history of the Ukrainian nation will be
written in golden letters. We came forward on the historic arena at the moment when the whole world didn’t
know what Ukraine was. Nobody wanted to recognize it as an independent state, nobody considered our peo-
ple as a separate nation. Only through our struggle, stubborn and uncompromising, we showed the world that
Ukraine exists, its people live and fight for their rights, for their freedom and state independence”
Quote from Symon Petliura’s speech at the meeting of the Directorate in Starokostiantyniv.
November 26, 1919. The Cossack soldiers and officers of the Third Iron
Riflemen Division of the UNR Army. 1920.

12
CREATION OF A NEW STATE: WUPR
The revolutionary events in Great Ukraine, the end of the First World War and the
fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire intensified the Ukrainian national liberation move-
ment in Western Ukraine. Halychyna (Galicia), the eastern part of the Austrian Crown
lands, entered the arena of conflict between Poland and Ukraine. The Ukrainian Na-
tional Council and Polish Liquidation Commission claimed their rights to govern it. The
Ukrainians of Transcarpathia and Northern Bukovyna wanted to unite with their Gali-
cian brothers but their lands were also in danger due to encroaching neighbours. After
a series of attempts by politicians to gain statehood, military leaders took the initiative.
In the early hours of November 1, one day ahead of the Poles, who had been preparing
the uprising as well, the Riflemen units led by Dmytro Vitovsky, captured the most im-
portant governmental institutions in L’viv. “Expressing the will of Ukrainian people the
Ukrainian state emerged on the Ukrainian lands of the former Austro-Hungarian Mon-
archy. The highest power of the Ukrainian State is the Ukrainian National Council. “In
the present day Ukrainian National Council has embraced the power in the capital Lviv
and the whole territory of the Ukrainian state”, said the announcements which were
rapidly spread about the city. Those events came into history as “November Uprising”
or “Lystopadovyi zryv”. Ukrainians quickly and decisively began to establish power in
the provinces of the region.
The memorial plaque in honour of raising a blue-
yellow flag over Lviv City Council, November 1, 1918.
The building of the “People’s
House”, which became
the uprising headquarters and
the epicenter of the Ukrainian
national liberation movement.
The building of the “People’s Hotel”
in Lviv, the seat of the Central Military
Committee which helped to prepare a
Ukrainian uprising in Lviv. Photo before
1914.
Yevgen Petrushevych, President of
the WUPR in 1918-1919.
Kost Levytsky, a lawyer, Head of
the State Secretariat, one of the
most prominent political leaders in
Galicia.
The basic temporary
law on state independence of Ukrainian
lands of ex Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
November 13, 1918
Dmytro Vitovsky, Commander of the
Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion, one of the
organizers of “November Uprising”, later
– State Secretary of Military Affairs of the
WUPR. Photo made in 1916.
A postage stamp of
the Western Ukrainian People’s
Republic, May 1919.

13
On November 13, 1918, the Ukrainian National Council ap-
proved the “The basic temporary law on state independence
of Ukrainian lands of ex Austro-Hungarian Empire”. The Ukrain-
ian state was named the Western Ukrainian People’s Repub-
lic. By the time of the meeting of the Constituent Assembly, the
functions of supreme power had been exercised by the Ukrain-
ian National Council – the Parliament and the State Secretariat
– the government headed by Kost Levytsky, a lawyer. The em-
blem of the WUPR was a golden lion on a blue background, and
the blue-and-yellow flag was the state flag of the independent
Ukrainian State. The territory of the WUPR, which united East-
ern Galicia, Bukovyna and Transcarpathia, covered an area of 70
thousand square km with a population of 6 million people. It was
divided into 40 provinces and 12 military districts. From the ear-
ly days, the WUPR authorities started actively contribute to the
development of the state. They adopted the laws on the estab-
lishment of the Ukrainian Galician Army, the temporary adminis-
tration and the organization of legal proceedings, the state lan-
guage and citizenship. They started a lot of new reforms, among
them – a state monopoly on the sale of basic types of industrial
products and foodstuffs, the eight-hour working day and others.
They actively participated in the development of foreign policy
service and, as a result, opened a number of embassies and dip-
lomatic missions in the countries of Western Europe and Ameri-
ca. One of the greatest achievements of the WUPR was the proc-
lamation of the Act of Union to form a single state, comprising
all Ukrainian lands. The continued development of the WUPR
was hampered by Poland’s Aggression. A full-scale Polish-Ukrain-
ian war lasted from 1918 to 1919. Under the onslaught of prevail-
ing Polish troops supported by the Entente, in July 1919 the Gali-
cian troops and the WUPR government were forced to cross the
Zbruch to the Right Bank Ukraine. On March 14, 1923, the Con-
ference of Ambassadors of the great powers of the Entente rec-
ognized the Polish occupation, although with the provision that
eastern Halychyna (Galicia) was to remain autonomous.
A seal imprint of
the State Secretariat
of Military Affairs of
WUPR.
Resolution of the
Ukrainian National
Council of the WUPR
that adopted the
Unification Act
between the WUPR
and UNR.
January 3, 1919.
The President of the WUPR, Yevgen Petrushevych, with the members
of the government in exile in Vienna. 1920.
Elder officers of the second Corps of the Ukrainian Galician Army.
Stryi, 1919.
Olena Stepaniv,
a legendary female
officer (khorunzha)
of the Legion of
Ukrainian Sich
Riflemen. One of
the organisers
of “November
Uprising”.
The delegation representing the Western Province of the UNR
at the Directorate’s building in Kamyanets-Podilsky. September 1919.
A letter of the WUPR
President, Yevgen
Petrushevych, sent
to the Headmaster of
Stanislav gymnasium.
January 4, 1919.
“The entire ethnographic Ukrainian region in Aus-
tro-Hungary, in particular, the Eastern Galicia with the bor-
der line of the Syan including Lemkivshchyna, north-west-
ern Bukovyna with the cities of Chernivtsi, Storozhynets and
Seret and the Ukrainian band of north-eastern Hungary com-
pose a single, united Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian na-
tional territory is confirmed by this as a Ukrainian state»
Proclamation of the Ukrainian National Council,
October 19, 1918

14
THE ACT OF UNION
For the Ukrainian people who were for centuries deprived
of their own statehood and split between powerful empires,
the idea of unity had always been decisive. Even in the middle
of the 19th century, the first Ukrainian political organizations in
the Western and Dnieper Ukraine emphasized the unity of 15 mil-
lion Ukrainian people and the inseparability of its lands. At the
end of the 19th century, the idea of unity became the corner-
stone in the ideological declarations of the majority of Ukraini-
an political parties and public organizations. The First World War
opened the possibilities of its implementation. The collapse of
the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires contributed to the
emergence of new states. In January 1918, the Ukrainian Na-
tional Republic proclaimed its independence, and in Novem-
ber 1918, an independent Western-Ukrainian People’s Republic
was established. The leaders of the latter initiated the unifica-
tion. The Western Ukrainian Republic’s delegation began official
talks with Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky and subsequently contin-
ued them with the Directorate of the UNR. And on December 1,
1918, the representatives of both governments signed a “pre-ac-
cession agreement” in a passenger car at the station of Fastiv.
In it, they pledged to conclude in the near future the unification
of the UNR and WUPR “into a single state”. On January 22, 1919,
the official Proclamation of the Act of Union between the UNR
and WUPR took place on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv. The next day
the Labour Congress of Ukraine officially approved the unifica-
tion of western and eastern Ukrainian lands into one state.
Postcard “Let’s unite! Let’s
fraternise!”1918.
“The Wagon-Museum of the Union between the UNR and WUPR” at
the railway station of Fastiv, where the “pre-accession agreement”
between the UNR and WUPR about “further unification” was signed.
The Universal of the UNR Directorate
claimed that UNR and WUPR are
united in one independent state,
January 22, 1919.
The UNR
military
formation
representatives
participating
in the solemn
celebration
of the Union
between the
UNR and WUPR
in Kolomyia.
January 1919.
The soldiers from Dnieper Ukraine celebrate the Union between
the UNR and WUPR in Stryi. January 5, 1919.
The Head of the UNR Directorate, Volodymyr Vynnychenko,
and the Member of the UNR Directorate, Symon Petliura, during
a prayer service on the occasion of Proclamation of the Act of
Union between the UNR and WUPR. January 22, 1919.
The Deputy Certificate of the Labour Congress of Ukraine,
which approved the Act of Union between the UNR and
WUPR. January 23, 1919.
The newspaper clipping from “Narodna Volya” about
the establishment of an internal postal tariff with
Galicia. January 7, 1919/

15
The WUPR changed its name to the Western Province of the Ukrain-
ian National Republic. The Government of the UNR provided financial
support to Western Ukraine for the purchase of food, the development
of the transportation system, military construction and culture. In re-
turn, in the summer of 1919, the Ukrainian Galician Army supported the
UNR Army in the fight against the “white” and “red” Russians and they
even reached Kyiv by joint efforts. However, the war became the main
reason why the Act of Unity failed to be realized. In February 1919, the
governmental institutions of the UNR were forced to leave Kyiv be-
cause the Bolsheviks captured it. Subsequently, most of the Western
Province of the UNR was occupied by the Polish troops, Northern Bu-
kovyna by Rumania, Transcarpathia moved to Czechoslovakia. Despite
this, the date of January 22, 1919, became the symbol of a democrat-
ic, civilized gathering of land in one sovereign state, and the idea of
unification of Ukraine had become a decisive factor for future fighters
for the independence of Ukraine. Celebrating the 71st anniversary of
the Act of Unity, on January 21, 1990, millions of Ukrainians formed the
“Live Chain” between L’viv and Kyiv, demonstrating the unity of the
Ukrainian nation and its desire to live in an independent state.
The article in the
newspaper “Nova
Rada” with the
appeal to volunteers
to join the Ukrainian
Galician army.
November 9, 1919.
The solemn demonstration on the Proclamation of the Act of Union
between the UNR and WUPR on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv. January 22, 1919.
The solemn Proclamation of the unification of the UNR and WUPR
on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv. January 22, 1919.
Kyiv residents participate in the action holding hands and
creating a “Live Chain”. January 21, 1990.
The Kyiv City Theatre (now Ukrainian National Opera
and Ballet House) where the meeting of the Labour
Congress of Ukraine was held on January 23-28, 1919.
People celebrate the unification of Ukrainian lands into a single
state in Kalush. January 8, 1919.
“Citizens!
Only then will we shout “Glory!” freely when we strengthen our power, when peace comes to our land. As
one man, stand shoulder to shoulder to defend our homeland from enemies. I, as the Otaman of the entire
Ukrainian army, tell you that enemies on all sides surround us. Not words but deeds, the Ukrainian National
Republic is expecting from you. Prove your love for it by doing honest work, prove that you are worthy of this
holiday. I I will shout with you “Glory!” when no enemy is in our territory. The Ukrainian Republican Army has
passed by you. They spare neither their lives nor effort in the fight against enemies. Help them with clothes and
food! Support the Republic which you glorify not in word, but indeed”.
Symon Petliura, January 22, 1919.

16
STATE SYMBOLS
State Anthem
The poet Pavlo Chubynsky and the composer Mykhailo Verbytsky
wrote a song “Ukraine has not yet died” that became popular in the
Ukrainian national-liberation movement long before the events of
the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921. Alongside Taras Shevchenko’s
poem “Testament”, it was performed as a national anthem at the
Ukrainian meetings. At the beginning
of the revolution, the anthem “Ukraine
has not yet died” gained its populari-
ty. It was recorded on the plates and its
words and notes were printed on the
postcards. Since the end of 1917, the
words of the song had been changed
into – “Ukraine has already resurrect-
ed ...” On June 17, 1918, the American
newspaper “The New York Times” pub-
lished an article which said that the
song “Ukraine has not yet died” was
adopted as an official state anthem of
Ukraine and provided the translation of
the lyrics into English. However, at the
time of the Ukrainian Revolution, the le-
gal approval of the anthem did not take
place, as there were no laws protecting
national anthems.
Flag
Sincethesecondhalfofthenineteenthcen-
tury, blue-and-yellow flags became popular in
the Ukrainian environment of Galicia, Bukovy-
na and Transcarpathia. In Dnieper Ukraine,
people could use them only after the Revolu-
tion of 1905-1907. At the time of the February
Revolution, which overthrew the Tsar, those
colors were recognized and generally accept-
ed elements of the Ukrainian national symbol-
ism. On March 25, 1917, there was a demon-
stration of as many as 25 thousand Ukrainians.
Its participants, mainly soldiers and students,
marched under revolutionary and national
blue-and-yellow flags. And on April 1, 1917, Kyiv
saw a 100-thousand people rally that carried
over 320 national flags.-
Hence, blue-and-yellow flags became an
obligatory attribute of all meetings of the
Ukrainian public in different cities of Ukraine
and the former empire. In the summer of
1917, the first Ukrainian division, the regi-
ment named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, was
sent to the front under a blue-yellow flag. The
flag was officially approved in the “Provision-
al Law on the Navy” on January 27, 1918. The
flag of the merchant fleet was determined as
“A cloth in two - blue and yellow colors”. The
flag of the navy differed only in the presence
of a blue Trident over a blue background. The
colors of the WUPR state flag were also blue
and yellow. During the spontaneous use of the
national flag, the order of its colors had not
been established. There were two variants of
stripe placement. Instead, all documents ap-
proved by the Ukrainian governments in 1918
confirmed the blue-yellow (blue or light blue
upper stripe) color order.
The Ukrainian national demonstration
on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv, April 1, 1917.
The participants
of the Ukrainian
demonstration in
Chernivtsi with
blue-and-
yellow flags.
May 1917.
The postcard “Ukraine has
not yet died” printed on
request of the Ukrainian
community in Petrograd.
March 1917.
The Ukrainian anthem
translation, published in
the newspaper “The New
York Times”
on June 14, 1917.
The design of the Ukrainian
State seal by Heorhiy Narbut.
August 1918.
The blue-yellow flag of the Cold Ravine Haydamak
Regiment. The inscriptions on the flag – “Long Live
Free and Independent Ukrainian National Republic!”
and “We would prefer to die but bring you glory and
honor of our native land!” and trident images.
Postcards (with the
image of the Ukrainian
Trident) used by Ukrainian
immigrants.
The UNR Army General Oleksandr
Udovychenko passes the flag of the third Iron
Division to the UNR Army Colonel Oleksandr
Danylenko for its placement in the Ukrainian
Museum in Ontario.
The seal of the
Ukrainian Central
Rada. 1917.
The Ukrainian national
demonstration on St.
Sophia Square in Kyiv,
April 1, 1917.

17
Emblem
For the first time in the Ukrainian office administration,
the princely sign of Volodymyr the Great – the Trident - was
placed on the General Secretariat seal, which was used to af-
fix the government acts and documents. The initiator of its
creation was General Chancellor Pavlo Khrystiuk and a well-
known antiquity connoisseur Mykola Bilyashivsky who took
part in its development. With the proclamation of the UNR,
the issue of the state coat of arms had become very relevant
and even considered by a special commission. The General
Secretariat of Ukraine faced the problem of printing mon-
ey. The first banknote with the value of 100 karbovanets was
put into circulation on January 6, 1918. On the banknote de-
signed by Heorhiy Narbut in the 8-corner frame there was a
sign of Prince Volodymyr the Great – the Trident with a cross
above the middle “tooth”. In such a way, this sign had be-
come well known. Officially, the Trident became the state
coat of arms of the UNR on February 25, 1918. Subsequently,
it was decided to approve the sketches of the large and small
coats of arms decorated with an olive wreath created by the
graphic artist Vasyl Krychevsky.
Heorhiy Narbut, a Ukrainian
graphic designer, illustrator, one of
the founders of the art aesthetics
of the Ukrainian State, the founder
and Rector of the Ukrainian
Academy of Arts.
Project of the coat of arms used
as a basis for the State Emblem
and Seal of the Ukrainian State
created by Heorhiy Narbut. 1918.
Vasyl Krychevsky, a Ukrainian painter,
architect, graphic artist one of the
founders of the art aesthetics of the
UNR and the designer of the Ukrainian
coat of arms (the State Emblem).
The small coat of arms of
the UNR created by Vasyl
Krychevsky. March 1918.
The award certificate for
the Iron Cross “For Winter
Campaign” №1 given to
the UNR Army General Yurko
Tyutyunnyk.
The UNR Directorate taking an oath under blue-and-yellow flags
in Kamyanets-Podilsky, August 1919.
The silver coin of Volodymyr
the Great with the image of
his prince’s mark. Weight -
3.46 g, 27 mm in diameter.
Cover of the project of the large coat of arms of
the Ukrainian State by Heorhiy Narbut. In it, on the left,
there is a hetman, a scientist and Cossack Mamay on
the background of a heraldic tree. And on the right, there is
a worker holding a shield with a trident on it standing next
to the obelisk. 1918.
“There was no time to convene a special historical commission that would produce a draft of such a seal, therefore, after
consulting with a well-known antiquity connoisseur, the director of the Kyiv City Art-Industrial and Scientific Museum, Bilyas-
hivsky; it was decided to make two seals – a large seal for particularly important acts and a small one - for current work. The
Trident of Volodymyr the Great was stamped on both seals, herein there was a lively discussion about the cross on the Trident.
The opinions of our scholars were divided; many of them claimed that the cross had been added to the Trident at the end of
Volodymyr’s reign that is why it was preserved predominantly without a cross. There were proposals that imposed the tradi-
tions of Zaporizhzhya Sich. It was suggested that the large seal should be with the Trident and a small one should follow the
model of Zaporizhzhya Sich otamans’ seal (Cossack with a musket). However, that proposal was denied due to the narrower
symbols of that Cossack seal. The majority agreed that theTrident itself, which was left to us by the sovereign princes of Kyivan
Rus, must now be the national emblem of the Ukrainian state and a symbol of our struggle for freedom”.
Mykola Kovalevsky. “Near the sources of struggle for freedom”

18
UKRAINIAN MONEY
One of the first serious challenges for the Ukrainian Central
Rada and the General Secretariat was the lack of its own money.
Taxes from Ukraine were sent to Petrograd and from there the
Provisional Government distributed them to different organiza-
tions in Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities. Those tranches,
especially in the autumn of 1917, often became an instrument of
political pressure on the Central Rada and the General Secretar-
iat. For instance, in order to raise labor unrest among the work-
ers of “Arsenal”, it was enough to hold up their wages. After the
proclamation of the UNR, the Central Rada initiated the issue of
the national currency. This question became one of the key top-
ics at the meetings of the Ukrainian parliament and government.
In November-December, a number of important decisions were
made: it was decided to turn the Kyiv office of the State Bank
into the Central Bank of Ukraine, to design paper currency, to
indicate the value of money on the banknotes in four languag-
es and to negotiate with the publisher Kulzhenko. On January 1,
1918, the Small Council of the UNR adopted the law on the issue
of Ukrainian money.
The monetary unit of the UNR was called “karbovanets”. Its
value equaled 17,424 shares of pure gold (1 share =0,044 g of gold)
and was divided into 200 “shahiv”. All individuals and institutions
were obliged to exchange the Ukrainian money for Russian and
vice versa without any benefit to themselves. There was a penal-
ty envisaged by the law for counterfeit banknotes, namely depri-
vation of civil rights and hard labor. However, it was impossible to
avoid excesses, abuses and speculation. The first Ukrainian bank-
note was a note of 100 karbovanets. On it, there was a year of its
release - 1917, but in fact, it was put into circulation on January 18,
1918. It was created by Heorhiy Narbut, an outstanding Ukraini-
an graphic designer. It contained the image of Trident and inscrip-
tions in Ukrainian. On March 1, 1918, the Ukrainian Central Rada
adopted the Law “On the Monetary Unit, Сoinage and State Cred-
it Note Printing”. It introduced a new currency - the hryvnia, which
was divided into 100 shahiv and equaled 1/2 karbovanets. In 1917-
1918, banknotes in denomination of 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 1000 kar-
bovanets were printed and later, in 1918-1919, the banknotes in de-
nomination of 2, 5, 10, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 hryvnias.
The building of the Ukrainian State Bank, which was reorganized
by the Small Council of the UNR. The former building of the Kyiv
office of the State Bank of Russia, the present one - the National
Bank of Ukraine. Photo of the early 20th century.
The first money of the UNR. The banknote
in denomination of 100 karbovanets. Obverse.
The banknote created by Heorhiy Narbut people called
“horlynka” for its similarity to the Ukrainian embroidery.
Khrystofor Baranovsky - a financier and
a leader of cooperative movement,
Secretary of Finance in the first and second
composition of the General Secretariat.
Kulzhenko’s prining house in Kyiv where in December 1917 the first
Ukrainian money was printed using the lithographic technique.
There, they also printed post stamps of the Ukrainian State and
the UNR. The average amount of the printed matter was 0.85-1.0
million each. After Ukraine was captured by the Bolsheviks, Stefan
Kulzhenko’s printing house was nationalized.
Mykhailo Tuhan-
Baranovsky, an economist,
from September to
November 1917 served
as General Secretary
of Finance. During his
term of office, the issue
of Ukraine’s national
currency became a reality.
The cover of Mykhailo
Tuhan-Baranovsky’s
book “Paper Money
and Metal”. 1919.

19
Printing clichés used in the UNR for production of
banknotes in denomination of 50 karbovanets.
Printing clichés
for production
of banknotes in
denomination of 1000
hryvnias. Probably
1919.
Postage stamp money in
denomination of 10 shahiv,
which was in circulation on
the territory of the UNR in
1918-1919. The stamps were
printed on carton, which
was more convenient for
long-term use.
Banknote in denomination of 100 hryvnias. Obverse and reverse. The issue of the Ukrainian Central Rada. 1918.
Banknote in denomination of 1000 hryvnias. Obverse and reverse. Issue of the Ukrainian State in 1918. The sketch of the banknote
was drawn by the Ukrainian graphic artist Ivan Mozalevsky. Put into circulation in October 1918.
Formal completion of the Ukrainian monetary system forma-
tion took place on April 18, 1918, when the Central Rada adopted
a law “On giving the Minister of Finance the power to issue stamp
money”. According to it, on July 8, 1918, divisional coins in the
form of stamps were issued. In 1919, the Directorate announced
the strengthening of Ukraine’s national currency. To do this, they
began to collect all available gold and silver for the production of
metal coins and to melt copper monuments of the Russian tsars
for coining. It was planned to mint the bust of Taras Shevchenko
on gold hryvnias and the house of the Ukrainian Central Rada on
the silver ones. However, the start of minting and issue of coins
failed due to the Bolsheviks’ attack.
“Despite all the unfavorable conditions, the Ukrainian mon-
ey fulfilled its task quite well. During 1918 and 1919, and partly
in 1920, the entire state apparatus, mail, railroads, which did not
make any profit, and the army were maintained for that mon-
ey. In 1918, the state used that money to pay for farm products
which were imported to Germany and Austria; with that mon-
ey the Ukrainian Central Rada bought billions of currency in the
German and Austrian banks which allowed us to finance diplo-
matic missions in almost all European countries and in the United
States for three years even after the loss of territory”.
Borys Martos «The Currency of the Ukrainian State in 1917-1920»

20
UKRAINIAN ARMY
Regular units of the Russian Imperial Army in which almost 4 million ethnic Ukraini-
ans served began to be Ukrainized almost immediately after the February Revolution.
On the initiative of the Pavlo Polubotok Military Club, which was founded by a lieuten-
ant, Mykola Mikhnovsky, the process of “Ukrainization” of the armed forces began. On
May 1, 1917, Polubotok Club members announced the formation of the Hetman Bohdan
Khmelnytsky First Ukrainian Cossack Regiment in Kyiv, it was the first Ukrainian mili-
tary unit on a voluntary basis. Subsequently, in the cities of Ukraine, in garrisons and
fronts appeared other Ukrainian units mostly named after the heroes of the Cossack
era. National ideas were extremely popular, in August 1917, Ukrainization caught the
army corps, for instance, the 34th Corps of General Pavlo Skoropadsky became the first
Ukrainian corps. During the first Russian-Ukrainian war (December 1917 - April 1918), the
Halytsko-Bukovynsky Kurin of the Sich Riflemen of Yevhen Konovalets, the Haidama-
ka Kish (Regiment) of Sloboda Ukraine led by Symon Petliura, regiment named after
Otaman Kost Hordienko under the command of Vsevolod Petriv and others , stood up
for the defense of Ukraine.
During the Hetmanate period plans for establishing a regu-
lar army continued to be pursued. For example, at that time two
Ukrainian divisions of former prisoners of war, the Bluecoats and
the Greycoats (named after the color of uniforms) were formed in
the camps of Austro-Hungary and Germany. In July 1918, on the in-
itiative of the Hetman government and following the model of the
Imperial Russian Guard regiments, the Serdyutska Division which
consisted of more affluent peasants of the Left Bank was formed.
The armed forces of WUPR were formed based on the existing
Austrian spare military units of Galicia and the legion of the Ukrain-
ian Sich Riflemen. At the beginning of 1919, they were reorganized
into the Ukrainian Galician Army, which consisted of 13 brigades
built into three corps. The eastern Ukrainians provided signifi-
cant assistance to western Ukrainians, in particular, the generals
Mуkhailo Omelyanovych-Pavlenko and Oleksandr Hrekiv were the
commanders of the UGA.
Trinity Square. At the back of it, there was the
building of the former Trinity People’s House
where in 1917 the Pavlo Polubotok Military Club
was located. Now it is the Kyiv Academic Operetta
Theatre. Postcard of the early 20th century.
Mykola Mikhnovsky was an
ideologue of independence and the
formation of the national army. He
organized the Ukrainian Military
Club as well as the Hetman Bohdan
Khmelnytsky Regiment.
The Ukrainian General Military Committee meeting.
Summer 1917. Symon Petliura, the head of the
UGMC (the Ukrainian General Military Committee),
the organizer of the Ukrainian army, is in the centre.
Haidamaka Battalion (Kish) cossacks of Sloboda Ukraine near St.
Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv
(Symon Petliura is in the center). 1918.
Rally on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv on the opening
of the Third All-Ukrainian Military Congress (in the
centre - Symon Petliura, Mykhailo Hrushevsky and
Volodymyr Vynnychenko). November 1917.
Symon Petliura’s Certificate as
a deputy plenipotentiary of the
All-Russian Union of Zemstvo aid
committee at the headquarters
of the fourth Army. June 1916.
The flag of the first Ukrainian regiment named after
Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. It was embroidered
and sent to the soldiers (Bohdanivtsi) by the Froliv
Convent nuns. On one side of the golden-green cloth
there was an embroidered silk portrait of Bohdan
Khmelnytsky and on the other side, the flag was dark
red, with four stars and the moon.

21
In December 1918, the Directorate Army consisted of about 100
thousand fighters, mostly rebels. However, after the victory of the
anti-Hetman uprising, under the influence of destructive Bolshevik
agitationtheirnumberhadrapidlydecreased.During1919-1920,there
were several reorganizations of the Ukrainian armed forces and their
structure changed. In May 1919, the UNR Army was reorganized into
11 divisions as part of five groups: the Volyn, Zaporizhzhya Corps, the
Corps of Sich Riflemen, the rebels of Yuri Tyutyunnyk and the third
Iron Division under the command of Oleksandr Udovychenko. The
latter officially received the name “Iron” for its bravery and endur-
ance. In the summer of 1919, during the campaign of the Dnieper and
Galician Armies, Mykola Yunakiv was appointed as a Chief of joint
staff for both Ukrainian armies during the counter advance onto Kyiv
and the army was divided into three groups: Western, Middle and
Eastern. In the spring of 1920 in Poland, the sixth Sich Division under
the command of Marko Bezruchko was formed. He commanded the
unit in the Kyiv Offensive of the Polish Army and later showed her-
oism by fighting for Zamosc. On the eve of its retreat to Poland and
internment, the UNR Army had eight divisions under the command
of General Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko and numbered 23 thou-
sand people.
The delegation of the “Union for the Liberation of Ukraine”
in the Ukrainian prisoners of war camp for elder officers who
served in the Russian Imperial Army. Hann. Münden in Austria-
Hungary. Sitting in the first row: Hryhoriy Syrotenko with
an envelope in his hands - the head of the Ukrainian camp
community, Minister of Justice at the time of the Directorate
of the UNR, later the head of the Military Court of the UNR
Army. Second to the right - Colonel Vasyl Yavorsky with a
commemorative award “Soborna Ukraine” – in the camp he
was responsible for recruiting elder officers for the second and
planned third Ukrainian divisions of the Central Rada armed
forces. Spring 1918.
The elder officers of the Sich Riflemen
group. Shepetivka, September 1919.
. First to the left: Yevhen Konovalets,
Commander of the Sich Riflemen.
The commanders of
the first Ukrainian
(Syniozhupannyky -
Bluecoats) Division.
1918.
The Flag of the Ukrainian Sich
Riflemen.
Military training of the first Bluecoat Division on the outskirts of Kyiv, 1918.
The third Iron Rifle Division Flag of
the UNR Army.
The badge of
Andriy Melnyk,
a member of the
Ukrainian Sich
Riflemen Combat
Council.
The original collar patches of
the General in the First Winter
Campaign. 1921.
The cockades of the Ukrainian
Armed Forces in 1917-1921.
Symon
Petliura’s
Military Cross.
1936.
The Iron Cross - the UNR
award for military valor
or patriotic service in the
First Winter Campaign.
1921
The badge of
the sixth Rifle
Division. 1920.
“The whole burden of the liberation struggle fell on
the young Ukrainian Army. It was supposed to maintain
the inner peace, to protect and defend the external
borders of the country. In spite of that extremely unfa-
vorable situation, the Ukrainian Army began to fulfill its
tasks, full of faith in victory, ready to make the highest
level of its sacrifice for the sake of nation. Indeed, soon
it had to go through a range of endurance and national
consciousness tests. The Ukrainian Army entered a new
stage in the struggle for independence. That unequal
fight (on four fronts) was full of tragedy and heroism. In
those incredibly difficult times, hundreds of thousands
of Ukrainian soldiers sacrificed their lives for the free-
dom of Ukraine while European countries were either
neutral or helped the enemies of Ukraine”.
Olexandr Udovychenko. “Ukraine in the War
for the Statehood. History of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
military organization and combat operations in 1917-1921”.

22
IN THE VORTEX OF FIGHT
Revived after the revolution Ukraine faced a lot of risks and
dangers. One of the important theatres of military operations
on the Eastern Front in the First World War was the territory of
Ukraine. There was a strong argument among several old and
new states about where their borders would be. The situation
was aggravated by the revolutionary chaos: there appeared hun-
dreds of armed units of different political spectrum. Since its cre-
ation the UNR had to defend itself from numerous and power-
ful enemies.
The conflict with Soviet Russia began immediately after the
October coup in Petrograd. In December 1917, after unsuccessful
attempts to seize power in Kyiv through a rebellion and the con-
gress of soviets, the Russian Bolsheviks unleashed war against
the UNR. Ukrainians restrained the enemy in the battle of Kruty,
fought on the streets of Odessa and Kyiv and defended the gov-
ernment, which had been evacuated to Volyn. After securing the
unconditional support of their powerful allies, Germany and Aus-
tro-Hungary, the Ukrainian troops expelled the “red” occupiers
from the country. On June 12, 1918, the Ukrainian State and the
Bolshevik Russia signed a preliminary peace treaty.
The second Ukrainian-Soviet war began in December 1918.
Russian Bolshevik troops launched an offensive against the UNR
without a declaration of war. The bitter defeats and retreats al-
ternated with a swift counteroffensive defense. The unification
of the Dnieper and Galician Army guaranteed the campaign to
Kyiv and Odesa, which ended in the liberation of Kyiv from the
Bolshevik occupation on August 31, 1919. The following year, the
Ukrainians repeated the offensive on Kyiv together with the Pol-
ish army. Near Zamosc, the Ukrainian soldiers – the fourth Rifle
Division under the command of Marko Bezruchko restrained the
offensive of Budenny’s cavalry against Poland.
They also had to fight with the Whites who supported “one
and indivisible” Russia, an idea that had little appeal to non-Rus-
sians. The leader of the White movement, Anton Denikin, did not
recognize the national rights of the Ukrainians. Instead of con-
cluding a military defensive alliance with the UNR to fight the
Bolsheviks, in September 1919, Denikin’s army began war with
it. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, the Ukrainian army did
not surrender and went on the First Winter Campaign in the rear
of the Bolsheviks and Denikin’s troops. The partisan raid lasted
five months; the army passed 2.5 thousand km, won many bat-
tles and eventually joined the Polish allies in May 1920.
Soldiers of the first Ukrainian regiment
named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
Spring 1917. While sending to the front on
August 8, 1917, the echelon with soldiers
of this regiment was fired by the Russian
Cuirassiers and Don Cossacks at the
Post-Volynskyi station. 16 soldiers were
killed, later they were buried on Frolivska
(Starokyivska) mountain.
The elder officers and soldiers of the first (4th) regiment of the
Sich Riflemen. Kyiv, March 23, 1918.
Sich Riflemen listening to the kobzar
Antin Mytyay from Medvyn, to
the left of him – the chotar (junior
officer) Mykhailo Turok. Kyiv. 1918.
Scheme of the battle of Kruty given in the
work of Averky Honcharenko.
Haidamakas near
the armoured car
“Shvydkyi” (“Fast”).
1918.
The escort of the Commander Mykhailo Omeliano
vych-Pavlenko in the First Winter Campaign.
Portrait of the UNR Army
General, the Commander
in the First Winter
Campaign, Mykhailo
Omelianovych-Pavlenko.
Funeral service honoring the Bolsheviks’ victims in the Kyiv
Bratsky Cemetery.

23
The Ukrainian-Polish relations were not cloudless either. The Ukrainian-Polish war broke
out in Galicia and spilled over into Volyn. It lasted from November 1918 to July 1919. Before
finally retreating eastward, in June 1919, the Galician Army carried out the successful Chort-
kiv offensive. Only lack of ammunition prevented them from liberating L’viv.
In the autumn of 1920, abandoned by all allies to the mercy of fate, the UNR Army for
more than a month alone held the front against the Bolsheviks in Podillya. On November
21, 1920, under pressure of numerically stronger and better equipped enemy it retreated
across the Zbruch River. That was the end of the armed struggle for independence of the
UNR regular forces.
The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV aircraft in the service of the
Ukrainian Army.
The elder officers and Cossacks of the 1st
Zaporizhzhya Aviation Detachment pose in
front of the Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV 69/18
with Ukrainian marking, the aerodrome
near Kamianets-Podilskyi, August 1919. This
aircraft was used for providing an air bridge
between the UNR and Western Europe.
The elder officers of the third Iron Division
of the UNR Army. 1920. The second row:
the first from the left is the Chief of Staff
of the seventh Brigade, Sotnyk (Centurion)
Oleksandr Niziyenko, the second - the
Commander of the 7th Brigade of the
3rd Division Pavlo Shandruk, the third
– the Division Commander Oleksandr
Udovychenko, the fourth - the adjutant
of the Division Commander, Sotnyk
(Centurion) Marko Kryzhanivsky.
The armored train “Haidamaka” of the 1st
Zaporizhzhya detachment.
The interned elder officers of the second
Volyn Rifle Division of the UNR Army, 1920.
The presentation of the Flag to the sixth Sich Rifle Division of the UNR Army by the Chief
Otaman Symon Petliura.
The map of Ukraine entitled “World Peace in Ukraine” published in Vienna by Christoph Reisser & Sons in
either 1919 or 1920. The artist was called “Verte”. The author of the idea was Yuriy Hasenko.
“The army soldiers felt that a lot of people regarded them as defense– except
the name “Petlyurivtsi”, one could frequently hear “Ukrainians”, “Our Army”, after all,
many Ukrainian families had at least one member on active military duty: some of them
were struck down by an enemy bullet and died, others were wounded and stayed as in-
valids at home, there were a lot of missing in action soldiers, whose fate remained un-
known, etc. Cossack and farmer opinion strengthened in blood and tears - curses and
calls for revenge mingled with firing salutation volleys and singing the anthem “Ukraine
has not died yet”. Finally, the Ukrainian language that was used in the army united it with
the society”.
Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko. “Memoirs of the Commander (1917-1920)”.

24
UKRAINIAN FLEET
After the February Revolution of 1917, the Ukrainianization
stirred not only the Black Sea but also other fleets of the for-
mer Russian Empire where the Ukrainians accounted for a sig-
nificant proportion of the personnel: the Black Sea Fleet - 65%,
the Baltic Fleet - 15%. At the end of March in 1917, a mass meeting
of Ukrainian seamen took place in Sevastopol, and on the sec-
ond day after Easter thousands of people took part in the ral-
ly carrying blue-yellow and crimson flags and portraits of Taras
Shevchenko. At the same time the Sevastopol Ukrainian Black
Sea Society was formed, it set goals to prepare the ground for
the development of the future Ukrainian navy.
At the end of April 1917, there were ship councils and Ukrain-
ian circles on many vessels. According to midshipman Yakym
Khrystych, their participants were 7 thousand people or 10% of
the entire personnel of the Black Sea Fleet. The Ukrainian Black
Sea Society used a large national flag and its military section -
Zaporizhzhya crimson flag with a white cross - the first modern
naval flags.
The development of the Ukrainian fleet gained momentum
in the summer of 1917, when the crews of a number of warships
and separate naval units declared their native language to be
Ukrainian. Ukrainian national flags were hoisted over ships. The
Sevastopol Naval Sub-Depot headed by Lt. Colonel Volodymyr
Savchenko-Bilsky was first Ukrainianized. On July 12, 1917, the
destroyer “Zavydnyi” was the first to raise the blue-yellow flag.
The Ukrainian movement for national identity reached its peak
when in November 1917 the Central Rada proclaimed the UNR.
Officers and crew of large warships, including the cruiser “The
Memory of Mercury” and the dreadnought battleship-“Volya” -
the most powerful ship of the Black Sea Fleet, announced that
they would side with the Ukrainian government. By some ac-
counts, Ukrainian flags began to be hoisted on most ships of the
Black Sea Fleet. On 22 December 1917, Dmytro Antonovych, a
noted public figure, was appointed Secretary General for Naval
Affairs in the Central Rada. Soon It approved “A Temporary Law
on the UNR’s Fleet” drafted by the General Secretariat for Naval
Affairs. It proclaimed, among other things, that the entire Navy
and the commercial Black Sea Fleet was Ukrainian.
A rally organized
by the Ukrainian
Black Sea Society in
Sevastopol. May 10,
1917.
Speech of the Ukrainian sailor,
the Baltic Fleet delegate, in front
of the Ukrainianized units of
the “Special Naval Landing Forces”
on the Historical Boulevard in
Sevastopol in the summer of 1917.
The cruiser “The Memory of Mercury” was one of the first ships, where
the Ukrainian Naval Council was created. The flag raising on the cruiser
on November 25, 1917, became an example for other ships.
A Ukrainian flag raising on
the cruiser “The Memory of
Mercury”. November 25, 1917.
From the official telegram of
the “The Memory of Mercury”
crew members to the Fleet
Commander, November 24,
1917: “The ship committee of
the cruiser “The Memory of
Mercury” reports: tomorrow,
November 12, at 8 am instead
of the stern Andreevsky flag
the Ukrainians decided to raise the Ukrainian national
flag. It was done in view of the intransigence of the
two sides that Velikorossy (the chauvinistic Russian
people) and those who are not sympathetic to the rise
of the Ukrainian flag in the number of 200 people to go
ashore. Because of this, the ship committee urgently
asks you to resolve the issue of manning the cruiser
with the Ukrainians instead of the departed, the lists of
them will be sent in addition”.
The linear ship “Volya”, the most powerful of the Black Sea Fleet, raised
the Ukrainian flag following the cruiser “The Memory of Mercury”. The
magnificent flag waving on the dreadnought mast had an image of a woman
- the allegorical symbol of Ukraine and the inscription: “Don’t cry, Mother,
don’t be sad, your sons in the fleet are fighting for Your Freedom – smile!”
The Ukrainian flag on the gaff
of the cruiser “The Memory of
Mercury”. November 25, 1917.

25
One of the brightest pages in the history of the Ukrainian Navy
was the events of April 29, 1918. A brigade of the Zaporizhzhian Di-
vision of the UNR’s Army led by Lt. Colonel Petro Bolbochan, sup-
ported by the German troops cleared the Crimea of the Bolshe-
viks. The Vice-Admiral Mуkhailo Sablin, Commander of the Black
Sea Fleet, referring to the decision of the delegates of the ship
crews and the mood of the Ukrainian sailors and officers, official-
ly declared the entire Black Sea Fleet as the fleet of the UNR and
ordered to raise Ukrainian flags. The decision was supported by a
significant part of the ships. Those, influenced by the Bolsheviks
hastily evacuated their ships from Ukrainian Sevastopol to Novo-
rossiysk.
Ensign General, Commander of the
Naval Forces of the UNR Volodymyr
Savchenko-Bilsky
“Raising the Ukrainian flag
on the ship of the Black
Sea Fleet. April 29, 1918” by
Leonid Perfetsky (1901-1977).
Festively decorated ships in honor of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky
birthday in Odessa harbor. 1918.
An illustrated annex
to Order № 192/44 of
July 18, 1918, which
approved the sketch
of the Ukrainian Navy
Flag.
Ukrainian Navy Sailor caps. 1918.
Naval Minister, Senior Lieutenant Mykhailo Bilynsky and his adjutant Sviatoslav Shramchenko. Both
in the uniform of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. 1919.
The stamps of the
Ukrainian Underground
Post with the Ukrainian
Naval Flag. Lyubomyr
Rychtytsky issued them
in 1950.
The “Kubanets” gunboat
was officially renamed as
“Zaporozhets” on September
17, 1918. It was the first
renaming in the history of the
Ukrainian fleet. “By order of
the Board of the Supreme
Rulers of the Ukrainian State, I
announce that the “Kubanets”
gunboat is officially renamed as
“Zaporozhets”. Acting Marine
Minister, Captain of the 1st rank
Maxymiv”, was said in the order
of the marine department.
“This happened on April 29, 1918. It was a wonderful day. The Sevastopol raid was glit-
tering like a mirror. At 4 pm, from the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, battleship “Heorhiy
Pobidonosets”, the Fleet Сommander sent a signal: “Fleet! Hoist the Ukrainian flag!” The
red flags fell down. On most ships, the crew heard: “Get to board!”. Obeying this com-
mand as it used to be on the Black Sea Fleet, which had not yet been ruined by revolu-
tion, the sailors stood alongside the ship facing the middle of it. “To the colors! Haul up
the Ukrainian flag!” The Ukrainian flag went up with bugle calls and whistling of sailors.
“Dismiss!” Together with this command, the buglers started playing. Large yellow-blue
flags were fluttering in the wind on the significant part of the Black Sea Fleet ships.
For the history of the Ukrainian fleet, this day April 29, 1918, when the whole Ukrainian
fleet showed its affiliation with the Motherland, became the most celebrated day of the
Ukrainian State Fleet and the holiday of the Ukrainian Sea”
Sviatoslav Shramchenko.
“The rise of the Ukrainian flag in the Black Sea Fleet”

26
THE UKRAINIAN CRIMEA
Victory of the February Revolution intensified the Ukrainian na-
tional movement in the Crimea. In Simferopol, a provincial center,
the Ukrainian Community and the Ukrainian Military Club named
after Hetman Petro Doroshenko were founded. One of the most
active participants in them was the warrant officer of the 32nd Re-
serve Regiment, later Ensign General of the UNR Army, Yuriy Tyu-
tyunnyk. In May 1917, he participated in the creation of the first
Hetman Petro Doroshenko Simferopol Regiment.
The Sevastopol Ukrainian Black Sea Society and its first chair-
man Professor Vyacheslav Lashchenko who worked as a teach-
er in the girls’ high state school, began the Ukrainianization of
the Fleet. In total, the number of Ukrainian communities in the
Crimea reached several thousand people.
Under these conditions, the main allies of the Crimean Tatars
were Ukrainian organizations in the Crimea and in Ukraine itself.
On April 7, 1917, the All-Crimean Muslim Congress was held in
Simferopol, they elected the Provisional Crimean-Muslim Exec-
utive Committee headed by Noman Chelebidzhikhan . Eventu-
ally it was turned into a national representation of the Crimean
Tatars. On November 26, 1917, the First Qurultay of the Crime-
an Tatar people proclaimed the Crimea Democratic Republic,
adopted the Constitution and created a national government -
the Directorate. At the same time, the Bolsheviks began to seize
power in the Crimea. On January 26, 1918, they occupied the en-
tire peninsula. A wave of bloody red terror swept across the
Crimea. Several thousand Crimeans, including the leader of the
Crimean Tatar movement Noman Chelebidzhikhan, became the
victims of the “red terror” in two months.
The Black Sea Fleet mariners
participating in the demonstration
after autocracy overthrow.
Sevastopol, March 1917.
Vasyl Vitynsky’s coffee house on
Nakhimovsky Prospekt in Sevastopol
- one of the Ukrainian movement
centers in the Crimea. 1917.
Yuriy Tyutyunnyk, Ensign
General of the UNR Army.
Photo of 1920. In May
1917, he organized the first
Simferopol Regiment
named after Hetman Petro
Doroshenko; he was a
representative of the
Simferopol garrison at
the Second All-Ukrainian
Military Congress, member
of the Central Rada.
“The Ukrainian Catechism”
published in 1917 by a member
of the Black Sea Society, Vasyl
Vitynsky in Sevastopol printing
house “Energy”.
Noman Chelebidzhikhan
(Noman Çelebicihan),
the first President
of the short-lived
independent Crimean
People’s Republic, an
accomplished poet and
writer, one of his poems
“Ant etkenmen!” (“I’ve
Pledged!”) became the
lyrics of the Crimean
Tatar national anthem.
The leaders of the Crimean Tatar national movement. From left to
right: Seitdzhelil Khatat - Director (Minister) of Finance, Asan Sabri
Ayvazov, the Head of the First Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people
(national parliament), Noman Chelebidzhikhan, the Head of the
Directorate (government), Dzhafer Seidamet, Director of Military and
Foreign Affairs. December 1917.
The participants of the First Qurultay
of the Crimean Tatar people in the
Khans palace in Bakhchysarai. The ninth
to the left in the first row is Noman
Chelebidzhihan. December 1917.
The delegates of the First Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people pose
for a group photo. December 1917.

27
Strengthening the enemy’s political regime on the peninsu-
la threatened the southern borders of Ukraine, deprived of free-
dom in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas. The UNR Min-
istry of Defense ordered to form the Crimean Group from the
Zaporizhzhya Corps. A brigade of the Zaporizhzhian Division of
the UNR’s Army led by Lieut. Colonel Petro Bolbochan cleared
Simferopol of the Bolsheviks on April 24, 1918. Afterwards, be-
cause of an effective economic blockade organized by Pav-
lo Skoropadsky’s government, the peninsula became a part of
the Ukrainian state on the rights of autonomy. In 1919-1920, the
Crimea became the scene of fierce battles between the Com-
munist Bolsheviks (Reds) and their anti-Communist opponents
(Whites) and passed from hand to hand. The UNR Directorate
was in rather complicated military-political conditions and could
not intervene in this struggle. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian gov-
ernments kept the course on joining the peninsula; the Ukrain-
ian delegation submitted the relevant proposals to the Paris
Peace Conference.
Petro Bolbochan, Lieut. Colonel
of the UNR Army, in April 1918 the
Zaporizhzhya Corps of the UNR
Army and its Crimean Group led by
P. Bolbochan completely freed the
Crimea from the Bolsheviks.
German battleship “Goeben” on the raid in Sevastopol. 1918.
Mykola Nekliyevych, Captain 2nd
rank, the Head of the military
section of the Ukrainian Black Sea
Community Council, the Head of
the Shipbuilding Department in
the Main Naval Technical Council of
the Ukrainian Marine Ministry.
The victims of the “red terror” whose
bodies had been thrown into the sea
and later returned to the shore by
strong currents near Yevpatoria in
the summer of 1918.
The panorama of Sevastopol. German photo of 1918.
“There were several extremely popular manifestations and processions in Sevas-
topol which showed the power of the Ukrainian movement and were well arranged
with a great number of yellow-blue flags, with participants dressed in national Ukraini-
an clothes. And in one manifestation, there was a Chumak wagon with crescent-horned
oxen and a group of sailors from the battleship “St. Eustathius” dressed like Cossacks
and riding the horses.”
Mykola Nekliyevych. ““On the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet 20 years ago”
The Crimean Tatar newspaper
“Holos Tatar” (“Crimean Tatar
Voice”) from September
22 (9), 1917, printed body
of the Crimean Muslim
Revolutionary Committee.

28
UKRAINIAN DIPLOMACY
Diplomatic activity was an important aspect of state-build-
ing in 1917-1921. The first diplomatic experience of the Ukrain-
ian Central Rada was the negotiations with the Russian Provi-
sional Government on Ukraine’s autonomous status in May 1917.
They ended without any result and this disagreement gave the
impetus to issue the Universal, which proclaimed the autono-
my of Ukraine. The prototype of the foreign policy department
– the General Secretariat of International Affairs was later re-
organized into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first Secre-
tary General of International Affairs of the UNR was a historian
and a diplomat Oleksandr Shulhyn. During 1917, there were ne-
gotiations between the leaders of the Central Rada and the mil-
itary missions of the Entente, which resulted in the recognition
of the UNR de facto but not de jure. On February 9, a Ukrainian
delegation headed by Olexandr Sevryuk signed a peace treaty
with Germany and its allies in Brest. The Peace Treaty of Brest Ly-
tovs’k was the first international act of the Ukrainian State rec-
ognition and the first peace treaty of the World War. The Ukrain-
ian Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Dmytro Doroshenko
achieved important diplomatic results, first, with Germany al-
lies and neutral states. The Ambassador of Ukraine in Vienna, Vi-
acheslav Lypynsky, defended the Ukrainian rights to Kholmsh-
chyna, provided by the Brest Treaty. The delegation headed by
Serhiy Shelukhin led the border negotiations with Soviet Rus-
sia. On September 4-18, 1918, Hetman Skoropadsky visited Ber-
lin where he had fruitful talks with Emperor Wilhelm II and Reich
Chancellor Georg von Hertling.
House of the UNR Ministry
of Foreign Affairs at
Tereshchenkivs’ka Street, 9
in Kyiv. Later there worked
the Department of foreign
affairs of the Hetmanate and
the Directorate. Currently,
it is the Museum of Russian
Art. Photo of the early 20th
century.
The delegation of the
UNR during negotiations
in Brest standing on the
railway platform. Among
those present: Mykola
Lyubynsky, Olexandr
Sevryuk, Mykhailo Poloz,
Mykola Levytsky. Brest,
January 1918.
Oleksandr Shulhyn, - First General
Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
the Ambassador of Ukraine in
Bulgaria, a member of the
Ukrainian delegation at the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919,
Head of the UNR Extraordinary
Diplomatic Mission in Paris.
Photo of 1930s.
Signing of Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between
the representatives of the UNR and the
countries of Quadruple Alliance, the first peace
treaty of World War I. February 9, 1918.
The house at Istiglaliyat St. 31 in Baku where the UNR’s
diplomatic mission in the Caucasus headed by Ivan
Kraskovsky stayed. In 2009 a memorial
plaque was installed on the wall of
this house on the occasion of the 90th
anniversary of diplomatic relations
between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
The negotiations between the Ukrainian and the Russian Federation
delegations in Kyiv. They lasted from May 23 to October 4, 1918, and ended
without a result. In December 1918, Russia began a new aggression against
the UNR. From left to right (sitting): a representative of the Ukrainian War
Ministry, Oleksandr Slyvynsky, Head of the delegation, Serhiy Shelukhin,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Doroshenko, Professor of
International Law, Olexandr Eichelman, 1918.
A diplomatic mission in
Bulgaria. 1918.

29
The diplomatic process with other countries initiated by the UNR Directorate
took place under the most unfavorable conditions because the victorious Entente
favored Poland and White Russia. To reverse this negative tendency, in January
1919, it was decided to form the Ukrainian Delegation and send it to the Paris Peace
Conference. The diplomatic mission headed by Hryhoriy Sydorenko sought to use
this international assembly on the results of the First World War in order to gain
the recognition of Ukraine and its borders and to receive military assistance in the
fight against the Bolsheviks. The real breakthrough in international isolation culmi-
nated in the Treaty of Warsaw, signed in April 1920. At the price of territorial con-
cessions, the Head of the Ukrainian delegation, Andriy Livytsky, won recognition
and military support to the UNR by Poland. During 1917-1921, Ukraine developed an
effective network of its own diplomatic and consular missions. Extraordinary dip-
lomatic missions were sent abroad, foreign ambassadors and consuls accredited
to Ukraine. The Ukrainian envoys were in Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Brazil, the Vatican, Great Britain, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, the Don, Estonia, Ita-
ly, Canada, the Kuban, Latvia, the Netherlands, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Po-
land, Russia, the USA, Hungary, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Yu-
goslavia and other countries.The Map of Ukraine presented by the Ukrainian delegation at the Paris Peace
Conference in 1919.
Congress of diplomatic missions and embassies
leaders of the UNR in Carlsbad. 1919.
The diplomatic staff of the Ukrainian Embassy in
Washington, DC (the USA). In the center - the Head of
the diplomatic mission Eugene Golitsynsky. 1919.
The Embassy
of the UNR in
Hungary. Sitting
(from left to
right): the second
- Mykyta Shapoval
(Ambassador),
Mykola Halahan,
and Mykola Shrag.
1918.
Congress of Ukrainian diplomatic missions and
embassies leaders in Vienna
The Code of Laws and
Resolutions of the Ukrainian
government on foreign
institutions. 1919.
Head of the UNR
Directorate, Symon
Petliura, (in the center),
Head of the UNR
diplomatic mission in
Switzerland Mykola
Vasyl’ko (left) and a
staff member of the
UNR diplomatic mission
in Budapest, General
Vasyl Sikevych. 1921.
“Many hostile sentiments exist in the world against the rise of a new state - it is
not easy to find place among the old nations, therefore, these difficulties must be
overcome. Moreover, even worse enemy than conservatism itself was, especial-
ly in 1919, ignorance of the world diplomacy about Ukrainian challenges. To make
things worse, our enemy spread false information that outperformed facts. For
15 years working abroad we had to fight false, malicious information to teach and
persuade foreigners that the Ukrainian people exist and want to be independent”.
From Oleksandr Shulhyn’s book
“Without Territory”

30
NATIONAL MINORITIES
At beginning of the revolution, the national minorities of
Ukraine intensified their activities. All Ukrainian Governments
conducted a democratic policy towards them, tried to come to
a mutual understanding and involve them in the state-building.
Even in the first Ukrainian Government the initial composition of
which included eight General Secretariats there was the Gener-
al Secretariat of Interethnic Affairs, headed by Serhiy Yefremov.
In a short while, on its basis three separate Secretariats were
formed – the Secretariat of Russian Affairs (Dmytro Odynets),
the Secretariat of Jewish Affairs (Moishe Zylberfarb) and the
Secretariat of Polish Affairs (Mieczysław Mickiewicz). After
the adoption of the Second Universal, 30% of the seats in the
Ukrainian Central Rada were delegated to the representatives
of national minorities. The Law on National-Personal Autonomy
of January 22, 1918 guaranteed all ethnic minorities within the
UNR the broad rights. The special UNR Ministry of Jewish Af-
fairs was functioning in the Directorate Governments. In accord-
ance with the decision of the National Council, the positions of
state secretaries of Polish, Jewish and German affairs were to be
introduced in the governments of the WUPR. One of the most
negative phenomena of the revolutionary era was the Jewish
pogroms. Almost all military formations resorted to them – the
Red and White Armies, the UNR Army, insurgent Otamans and
the Polish Army. Most of all, the White Volunteer Army of Anton
Denikin. The absolute majority of pogroms for which the Ukrain-
ian national forces were to blame, were carried out by the un-
controlled detachments of rebels that acted in certain areas
and often changed their political orientation depending on the
needs of the moment. In historical literature, they are called the
“dark mass of society”.
The transition of the second Polish Corps on the
territory of Ukraine. Kaniv district, April 1918.
The military rally of the third Russian Army on the Western Front. Belarus,
autumn 1917. Among the flags is the Ukrainian one with the slogan “Long live
Free Ukraine!” and the Jewish with the slogan “In Unity, Strength!”
The Lists of candidates for the Constituent
Assembly of the Jewish Social Democratic
Party (Poalei Zion) which, on the initiative
of Solomon Goldelman, was the first among
the non-Ukrainian parties who recognized
the Ukrainian Central Rada.
The Beit Chasidim Synagogue on the corner of the streets Lazneva
and Bozhnycha in Lviv. It was burnt by the Poles to revenge the
Jews for their active help to Ukrainians during November fighting in
1918.
The elder officers who served in the first kurin of
the sixth brigade of the Ukrainian Galician Army.
Third to the left, sitting in the first row is Solomon
Leinberg, the former Commander of the Strike
Battalion of the Galician Army, better known
as “Zhydivsky kurin” (UGA’s Jewish Battalion).
November 17, 1919.
The Jewish delegation meets the Chief Otaman
Symon Petliura in Zhmerynka. August 1919.
Solomon Goldelman - a Deputy
Minister of Trade and Industry,
a Deputy Minister of Labour in
Volodymyr Chekhivsky’s and Isaak
Mazepa’s cabinets. On December
10, 1918, on Goldelman’s proposal,
the Directorate adopted a
Resolution on the Restoration of
National Personal Autonomy of the
National Minorities. Photo of later
time.
Streets in the Jewish quarter of L’viv.
1918.

31
It is established that the Jewish pogroms occurred in more
than 500 settlements of Ukraine. As a result, thousands of Jews
lost their lives in the violence. At the same time, many repre-
sentatives of national minorities became the participants of the
Ukrainian national liberation movement. In particular, Semen
Yakerson, a Jew, Sotnyk (Centurion) of the Border Guard Corps
of the UNR, Oleksandr Porochovshchykov, a Belorussian, Ensign
General of the UNR Army, Balatukiv Alibey, a Crimean Tatar, Sot-
nyk (Centurion) of the 6th Sich Rifle Division and hundreds of
others. There were national military units which fought on the
side of Ukraine, e.g. “Zhydivsky kurin” (UGA’s Jewish Battalion)
numbering about one thousand people, under the command of
Lieutenant, Solomon Leinberg, and the Polish-Ukrainian volun-
teer squad, under the command of Walery Jan Slawek.
People meeting Symon Petliura at the railway station
in Fastiv after clearing the city from the Bolsheviks.
August 29, 1919. Among those who meet him is a Jewish
delegation. In the central part of the photo, one can
see the canopy, which is traditionally used in those rare
cases when the scrolls of the Torah are taken out of the
synagogue.
Sotnyk (Centurion)
of the Border Guard
Corps of the UNR,
Semen Yakerson,
twice wounded
fighting for
Ukraine.
Peteris Radzins – Colonel, Deputy Chief of
Staff of the UNR Army, Commander of the
National Armed Forces of Latvia from 1924
to 1928. Photo of 1929.
Walery Jan Slawek – the Commander of the
Polish-Ukrainian volunteer squad in 1920, later
the Prime Minister of the Polish Government,
Marshal of the Sejm (Speaker of the Sejm).
Photo of 1930s.
Solomon Goldelman: Letters of a Jewish Social-Democrat on Ukraine.
Materials concerning History of the Ukrainian-Jewish Relations during the
time of the Revolution. Vienna. 1921.
The UNR banknote of 100 karbovanets
denomination. “100 karbovanets” inscription
was printed in the Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and
Jewish (Hebrew) languages. Reverse. Issued
in circulation in January 1918, people called it
“Jewish money”.
“We want to believe that the representatives of national minorities in Ukraine
will understand their situation and will, for their own part, meet Ukrainian polit-
ical demands and thereby strengthen the position of defending the national mi-
norities’ rights which will be ensured. Byelorussians, Russians, Poles, Jews, Moldo-
vans, Czechs and other Ukrainian nationalities will be provided with a proportional
representation in our autonomous bodies and their language will be tolerated in
relations with governments and self-government in those districts where these
nations establish a complete national minimum. “
Mykhailo Hrushevsky “To the Peoples of Ukraine”. 1917.
Дмитром Дорошенком розвивало відносини пере-
дусім із союзними Німеччині та нейтральними держа-
вами. Посол у Відні В'ячеслав Липинський відстоював
українські права на Холмщину, передбачені Бере-
стейським договором. Делегація на чолі з Сергієм
Шелухіним вела перемовини про кордони з радянсь-
кою Росією. 4-18 вересня 1918 р. відбувся візит геть-
мана Скоропадського до Берліна, де пройшли плідні
переговори з імператором Вільгельмом ІІ та рейхс-
канцлером Георгом фонГертлінгом.
«Багато ворожих настроїв мається у світі супроти повстання нової держави -
трудно віднайти собі місце поміж старих націй, отже ці труднощі треба
поборювати. А ще гіршим нашим ворогом, ніж цей консерватизм, була,
особливо у 1919 році, повна неосвідомленість в українських справах світової
дипломатії. Гірше того, вона була поінформована, але фальшиво з рук ворогів
наших. Яку колосальну працю протягом 15 років мусили ми за кордоном
проробити,щобпоборюватинеправду,злісніінформації,щобучитиіноземців,
щоукраїнськийнародіснуєіхочебутисамостійним»
Із книги Олександра Шульгина «Без території»
Сливинський, голова делегації Сергій
Шелухін, міністр іноземних справ
Дмитро Дорошенко, професор
міжнародного права
Олександр Ейхельман. 1918 р.
Посольство УНР в Болгарії. 1918 р.
З'їзд керівників українських
дипломатичних місій і посольств
УНР у Карлсбаді. 1919 р.
Група співробітників посольства УНР
у Вашингтоні (США). В центрі - голова
дипломатичної місії Євген Голіцинський.
1919 р.
Посольство УНР в Угорщині.
Сидять (зліва направо): другий -
Микита Шаповал (посол),
Микола Галаган, Микола Шраг. 1918 р.
Голова Директорії УНР
Симон Петлюра (у центрі),
керівник дипломатичної місії УНР
у Швейцарії Микола Василько (ліворуч)
та співробітник дипломатичної місії УНР
у Будапешті генерал Василь Сікевич.
1921 р.
Збірник законів і
постанов українського
уряду щодо закордонних
інституцій. 1919 р.
Карта УНР, що була представлена на Паризькій мирній конференції. 1919 р.
Дипломатична діяльність Директорії УНР відбувалася у
вкрай несприятливих умовах, адже переможна Антанта
надавала перевагу Польщі та “білій” Росії. Щоб пере-
ломити цю негативну тенденцію, усічні 1919 р. сформо-вано
Делегацію об'єднаної УНР на Мирову конференцію в
Парижі. Її члени на чолі з Григорієм Сидоренком прагнули
використати цю міжнародну асамблею за підсумками
Першої світової війни, щобдомогтися визнання України таїї
кордонів, отримати військову допомогу в боротьбі проти
більшовиків.
Проривом із міжнародної ізоляції стало укладення Вар-
шавської угоди 21 квітня 1920 р. Ціною територіальних
поступок голова української делегації Андрій Лівицький
домігся визнання та військової підтримки УНР Польщею.
Впродовж 1917-1921 рр. була створена і діяла мережа
дипломатично-консульських установ України. За кордон
відряджали надзвичайні дипломатичні місії, вдома прий-
мали послів і консулів. Українські посланці були в Австрії,
Азербайджані, Бельгії, Болгарії, Бразилії, Ватикані, Великій
Британії, Греції, Грузії, Данії, на Дону, вЕстонії, Італії, Канаді,
на Кубані, в Латвії, Нідерландах, Німеччині, Османській
імперії, Польщі, Росії, США, Угорщині, Фінляндії,
Чехословаччині, Швейцарії, Швеції, Югославії та інших
країнах.
З'їзд керівників українських
дипломатичних місій і
посольств у Відні. 1919 р.
«Ми хочем
зрозуміют
домагання
національн
молдаван
представн
і органами
мінімум».
праці в у
та Ісаак
Директ
постанов
персональ
Книга
Соломона Ґольдельмана
«Листи жидівського
соціял-демократа про
Україну. Матеріали до
історії українсько-
жидівських відносин
за часів революції».
Відень, 1921 р.
Старшини 1-го куреня 6-ї бригади Української
Галицької Армії. У першому ряду сидить третій
ліворуч Соломон Ляйнберг - колишній командир
Жидівського пробоєвого куреня. 17 листопада 1919 р.
Головного отамана Сим
Петлюру в Жмер
Серпень 19
Встановлено, що єврейські погроми ста-
лися у понад 500 населених пунктах Украї-
ни. Внаслідок цього загинули десятки тисяч
євреїв. Водночас багато представників
національних меншин стали учасниками
українського національно-визвольного ру-
ху. Зокрема, єврей, сотник Окремого
корпусу кордонної охорони УНР Семен
Якерсон; білорус, генерал-хорунжий Армії
УНРОлександр Пороховщиков, кримський
татарин, сотник 6-ї Січової стрілецької
дивізії Балатуків Алі-бей і сотні інших. На
боці українців воювали й цілі національні
підрозділи, зокрема, Жидівський курінь
Української Галицької Армії, що налічував
близько тисячі осіб, під командуванням
поручника Соломона Ляйнберґа, а також
польсько-український добровольчий загін
підкомандою Валери ЯнаСлавека.
Зустріч Симо
залізничному
звільнення мі
29 серпня 1919
єврейська дел
фото видно б
використову
коли сувої Тор
ЄВРЕЇВ – 2, 463 млн
НІМЦІВ – 565 тис.
ПОЛЯКІВ – 445 тис.
ТЮРКО-ТАТАР – 285 тис.
МОЛДАВАН І РУМУНІВ – 755 тис.
ЧЕХІВ – 44 тис.
1917 року
НАЦІОНАЛЬНІ МЕНШИНИ
с т а н о в и л и б л и з ь к о
3%населення
України1
найбільше
Волинська,
Київська,
Подільська
губерні найменше
Чернігівська,
Харківська
Полтавська
губерні
АБСОЛЮТНА БІЛЬШІСТЬ УКРАЇНЦІВ ЖИЛИ У СЕЛАХ
(908 із 1000)
а серед національних меншин було багато
міського населення:
росіян євреїв поляків
із 1000
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100 YEARS OF STRUGGLE. THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION 1917-1921

100 YEARS OF STRUGGLE. THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION 1917-1921

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100 YEARS OF STRUGGLE. THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION 1917-1921