The February Revolution and Its Consequences

The war was a heavy burden for all combatant sides. The first country to break down was Russia. In March 1917 demonstrations against food shortages in Petrograd (Russia’s capital at the time)³ resulted in deposing Russian tsar Nikolai II. This event came down into history as the February Revolution, since it occurred in February according to the official (in tsarist Russia) Julian calendar, which was two weeks behind the Gregorian calendar.

A liberal government (known as the Provisional Government) assumed power and proclaimed democratic freedoms in Russia. That was a great mistake as democracy is rarely effective during wars, especially in countries without democratic traditions. Censorship was abolished and newspapers started to criticize the government. Numerous socialist agitators, who had been released from prisons by the Provisional Government, went to the front and started to tell the soldiers that they were fighting for the interests of capitalists and not for their own. As a result of such propaganda the army was demoralized and started to disintegrate. Formerly forbidden political parties (including those struggling for autonomy or even independence from Russia) were legalized. The result of such a policy was horrible for Russia’s integrity. Numerous nationalistic organizations in different parts of the Russian Empire emerged and started to demand autonomies for their lands.

Ukraine was no exception in this process. Nationally-minded Ukrainians formed a kind of parliament called the Central Rada (with famous historian M. Hrushevsky at its head) which proclaimed Ukraine’s autonomous status on 23 June of 1917 (First Universal).⁴ The General Secretariat (cabinet of ministers) headed by V. Vynnychenko was also formed. The Central Rada was quite a democratic organization; one-fourth of the seats were given to national minorities. The political ideology of the Central Rada was socialism.

Unfortunately for the Ukrainians, the activity of the Central Rada was not efficient. Made up of people inexperienced in politics it was unable to solve numerous problems facing Ukraine in that critical time. Deputies failed to develop a unanimous policy. They quarreled all the time and accused each other of wrong political views. Gradually disorder and anarchy started to spread all over Ukraine.

The Bolsheviks and the Central Rada

In early 1917, the Bolshevik party in Russia, consisting mainly of Jews ⁵ and Russians, was small and could not play a major role in politics. But, in contrast to other parties, the Bolsheviks managed to create a very centralized and disciplined political organization led by very gifted politicians Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. The Bolsheviks invented a very powerful slogan which touched the emotions of the masses: “Peace, Bread, and Land”.⁶ The party’s popularity was growing day by day.

Like most Russians in Ukraine, the Bolsheviks were against the Ukrainian national movement. They feared that it would undermine the unity of the working class. The famous Bolshevik slogans read: “Workers of the World, Unite!” (“Пролетарии всех стран объединяйтесь”) and “The Working Class does not have Fatherland” (“У пролетария нет отечества”).

In November 1917 the Bolsheviks staged a coup and seized power in Russia.⁷ That caused a civil war between the Reds (Communists) and the Whites (supporters of the old regime) for the control over Russia. Ukraine with its vast resources was strategically important in this struggle.

In December 1917 the Bolsheviks established a government (made up mostly of Jews and Russians) in Kharkiv and proclaimed the Ukrainian People’s Republic.⁸ This government was in fact a puppet government completely controlled by Moscow. Lenin needed this government to justify the invasion of Ukraine by the Red Army. The Bolshevik government in Kharkiv “asked” the Bolshevik government in Moscow in the name of the Ukrainian working people (“трудящиеся массы”) to provide military help. The population of Ukraine was confused. There were two socialist governments in the country – the Central Rada in Kyiv and the Bolshevik one in Kharkiv which were at war.

Confused by contradictory propaganda from both sides and tired of the long First World War the people decided to remain neutral and wait. Short of military forces the Central Rada even had to appeal to gymnasium (high school) and University students to defend Kyiv from the advancing Bolshevik troops. Several hundred responded to the call and dozens of them died in a fight near Kruty.⁹ At the beginning of February 1918 Kyiv fell to the Bolsheviks who established a reign of terror in the city.