Diagnostics of the Regime: German Military Analytics about the Hetmanate

The first German occupation in Ukraine in 1918 is still insufficiently studied due to the specificity of the historiography of the problem, on the one hand, and to the loss of many necessary sources in the German military archives, on the other. Although the process of including new sources into scholarly analysis continues, there is an obvious and unjustified imbalance in the field due to the predominance of politically biased Ukrainian evidence. There is a clear preponderance of diplomatic documentation, although the military, especially the German military, was extremely reluctant to share information with other agencies, especially with the Foreign Ministry, due to frequent conflicts. Many of the staff documents that survived or were rediscovered after the Second World War were still not studied, without any proper reason for it. The study of the military archive funds in Freiburg revealed several documents that are important for assessing the Hetman regime, its relationship with the German staffs, and the dynamics of the social and political crisis, even during the relatively stable period of German occupation. These primarily published sources demonstrate both the evolution of Ukrainian-German “allied” relations and the unchangeable traits of the socio-political situation in several regions of the Ukrainian State. The new documents allow to overcome the a priori formed and unfounded opinion about the systematic mistakes and illusions of the German military elite in the East in 1918.

Keywords

First German Occupation, the Ukrainian State, Army Group Kiev, food supply, W. Groener, H. Gronau

Received

11.08.2020

Publication date

29.01.2021

Number of characters

62148

Cite

GOST	Lannik L. Diagnostics of the Regime: German Military Analytics about the Hetmanate // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2021. – Issue 1 C. 196-213 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640013388-4-1 (circulation date: 07.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640013388-4
MLA	Lannik, Leonty "Diagnostics of the Regime: German Military Analytics about the Hetmanate." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 1 (2021):196-213. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640013388-4
APA	Lannik L. (2021). Diagnostics of the Regime: German Military Analytics about the Hetmanate. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (1), pp.196-213 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640013388-4

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 1, views: 690

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Dokumenty vneshnej politiki SSSR [Documents of foreign policy of the USSR]. T. 1–24. Moskva, 1958–2000. (In Russ.)

2. Getman P.P. Skoropadskij. Ukraina na perelome. 1918 god. Sb. Dokumentov / Pod red. O. K. Ivancovoj i dr. [Hetman P.P. Skoropadsky. Ukraine at the turning point. 1918] Collection of documents / Under the editorship of O.K. Ivantsova and others]. Moskva, 2014. (In Russ.)

3. Krah germanskoj okkupacii na Ukraine (po dokumentam okkupantov). Sb. Dokumentov / Pod red. M. Gor'kogo, I. Minca, R. Ejdemana [The collapse of the German occupation in Ukraine (based on the documents of the occupiers). Collection of documents / Under the editorship of M. Gorky, I. Mintz, R. Eideman].. Moskva, 1936. (In Russ.)

4. Lannik L.V. “Ukrainskij factor” v kampanii 1918 g. na Zapadnom fronte: cena i posledstviya intervencii dlya Central'nyh derzhav [“The Ukrainian factor” in the 1918 campaign on the Western front: the price and consequences of intervention for the Central powers] // Russkij sbornik [Russian Collection]. Vol. 28. Moskva, 2020. P. 487–513. (In Russ.)

5. Lannik L.V. Posle Rossijskoj imperii. Germanskaya okkupaciya 1918 g. [After the Russian Empire. German occupation of 1918]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2020. (In Russ.)

6. Mashkevich S. Kiev 1917–1920. Proshchanie s imperiej [Kiev 1917-1920. Farewell to the Empire]. Vol. 1. Kiev, 2019. (In Russ.)

7. Mashkevich S.V. “Wir werden Ordnung schaffen!” Nachalo nemeckoj okkupacii Ukrainy, fevral'–aprel' 1918 g. (po materialam nemeckih arhivov) [“Wir werden Ordnung schaffen!” Beginning of the German occupation of Ukraine, February–April 1918 (based on the materials of German archives)] // Russkij sbornik [Russian Collection]. Vol. 28. Moskva, 2020. P. 242–285. (In Russ.)

8. Puchenkov A.S. Ukraina i Krym v 1918 – nachale 1919 g. Ocherki politicheskoj istorii [Ukraine and Crimea in 1918 - early 1919. Essays on political history]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2013. (In Russ.)

9. Sovetsko-germanskie otnosheniya ot Oktyabr'skoj revolyucii do zaklyucheniya Rapall'skogo dogovora, v 2-x t. T. 1. Ot Oktiabr'skoi revoliutsii do kontsa 1918 g. [Sovie-German relations from the October revolution to the conclusion of the Treaty of the Rappallo Treaty, in 2- x t. T. 1. From the October revolution to the end of 1918]. Moskva, 1968. (In Russ.)

10. Sovetsko-germanskie otnosheniya ot Oktyabr'skoj revolyucii do zaklyucheniya Rapall'skogo dogovora, v 2-x t. T. 2. 1919–1922 gg. [Sovie-German relations from the October revolution to the conclusion of the Treaty of the Rappallo Treaty, in 2- x t. Vol. 2. 1919–1922 gg.]. Moskva, 1971. (In Russ.)

11. Ukraina – 1918. Vzgliad iz Germanii / Per. s nemetskogo i kommentarii L.V. Lannika [Ukraine-1918. View from Germany / Trans. from German and comments by L.V. lanik]. Moskva, 2018. (In Russ.)

12. Ereignisse in der Ukraine 1914–1922: Deren Bedeutung und historische Hintergründe / Hrsg. von T. Hornykiewicz, 4 Bd. Philadelphia, 1966–1969. Bd. 3.

13. Fedyshyn O.S. Germany’s Drive to the East and the Ukranian Revolution, 1917–1918. New Brunswick, 1971.

14. Mędrzecki W. Niemiecka interwencija militarna na Ukrainie w 1918 roku. Warszawa, 2000.

15. Militarismus gegen Sowjetmacht 1917 bis 1919. Das Fiasko der ersten antisowjetischen Aggression des deutschen Militarismus. Berlin, 1967.

16. Reshetar J.S. The Ukrainian revolution, 1917–1920: a study in nationalism. Princeton, 1952.

17. The Ukraine, 1917–1921: A Study in Revolution / Ed. T. Hunczak. Cambridge, 1977.

18. Von Brest-Litovsk zur deutschen Novemberrevolution. Aus den Tagebüchern, Briefen und Aufzeichnungen von Alfons Paquet, Wilhelm Groener und Albert Hopman, März bis November 1918 / Hrsg. von W. Baumgart. Göttingen, 1971.