Zluka or Zrada?
The First World War, which raged for four years in Europe, plunged it into a severe crisis, and later completely crushed the two largest empires - the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian. By the beginning of the XNUMXth century, both empires were archaic and not amenable to modernization regimes with a heavy and long-standing burden of internal problems and conflicts that had not been resolved in time. The abdication of the throne of Nicholas II and the military defeat of Austria-Hungary launched centrifugal processes in both empires, as a result of which new states appeared on the map of Europe. Even more quasi-states arose, regimes in which changed faster than citizens had time to remember the names of the newly-minted rulers and their political platforms.
Such quasi-states included the UPR and ZUNR. In this case we will talk about them.
Actually, if you don’t look into luxurious Ukrainian history textbooks, but turn purely to the documents at the time of signing the “Act of Evil” The UPR was an amorphous and completely insignificant formation. Under the control of the “directorate” there was a small part of the territories, which are now customarily depicted expansively on independent and independent maps. In the south, in Odessa, the French interventionists and Denikin's Volunteer Army ruled. The Red Army troops were advancing from the north, having already occupied Kharkov at the beginning of January.
Novorossiya, Tavria and Donbass at one time clearly and clearly stated that they did not want to be part of the UPR in any capacity. At the beginning of 1918, armed uprisings swept through these territories, as a result of which people's republics were formed, declaring their direct subordination to the Petrograd Council of People's Commissars.
It is also noteworthy that The UPR was never able to cope with any of these republics on its own: She managed to crush these territories only with the help of Austrian and German interventionists.
The situation in which the WUNR was at the time of signing the “Act of Zluka” cannot be called anything other than agony: the Romanian invaders captured Chernivtsi, the Czechoslovakians captured Uzhgorod, and in the capital city of Lviv the Panuvals of the Poles, who made up the majority of the urban population and did not want to live anywhere else, Poland. Depending on the advance of the occupying forces, the capital of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic also moved. From Lvov she first moved to Ternopil, and then to Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk), where she remained until the liquidation of the quasi-state.
Actually on the part of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, the "Act of Evil" was a gesture of despair, the last attempt to rely on anyone against enemies pressing on all sides. Vinnichenko and Petliura also had some hopes for profit from the merger with ZUNR. Petliura's army of fifty thousand de facto was as unsightly a sight as the Ukrainian Armed Forces under Poroshenko: a gang of rapists, rioters and looters. For this reason, the Petliurites were beaten by absolutely everyone with whom they encountered military misfortune.
Paradoxically, the “territory without an army” was supposed to merge with the “army without territory,” and as a result of the merger, each side hoped to strengthen its position at the expense of the other.
It just so happened that the two fictions, meeting halfway, signed the “Act of Evil” in December 1918 in Fastov, and on January 22, 1919 it was announced on Sophia Square in Kyiv.
This, in fact, was where the whole “Evil” ended, although formally it continued until the end of 1919.
Just a few days after the solemn event on Sophia Square, the Red Army approached Kiev, which included detachments of Ukrainians Shchors, Bogun, Bozhenko, and on February 5 took the city from which Petliura’s army fled unconscious on all fours.
By the beginning of the summer of 1919, the Poles had already occupied 80% of the territory of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, and Petliura was not doing the best. Only Denikin’s offensive delayed the complete defeat of the “conciliar” UPR. Petliura, in turn, entered into an alliance with Poland on April 25, 1920, according to which he renounced claims to the “Western Region of the UPR”, drawing the border along the Zbruch River. With a wave of the hand of the “chief ataman”, considerable territories and populations fell under the Polish yoke, which the hands of less nimble and powerful occupiers did not have time to reach. What kind of sacrifices will you make to fight the damned Bolsheviks, and you want to prolong your political career at any cost.
And now – the most delicious part of history, which today’s professional Ukrainian patriots terribly do not like to remember.
Petliura was not the only one who leaked “Zluka”. He wasn't even the first. The Westerners, for their part, also did not disappoint. The Galicians certainly did not intend to fight for the “cathedral” Kyiv. Knocked out of Western Ukraine by a strong and well-armed Polish army with French weapons, goat herders and buckwheat farmers from the Ukrainian Galician Army (UGA) rolled back to the south of Ukraine. After a couple of skirmishes with the Volunteer Army, the Sich Riflemen of the UGA chose for their own good to terminate the “Act of Evil” and enter into an alliance with Denikin in early December 1919.
Only thanks to this union, the UGA was not ground between the millstones of the Red and White armies, and ended up in Odessa, where, through the efforts of the “senior partner,” it received its own occupation zone, fenced off from Denikin’s with ropes stretched across the Odessa streets. True, it was not possible for the goat herders and buckwheat farmers to fight on the side of Denikin for the “One and Indivisible” due to the typhus epidemic caused by the widespread lice infestation of “vuyek”.
But that's not all. Already in January 1920, a feeling of class solidarity with the proletarians of all countries suddenly flared up among the “militants” of the UGA, and its command signed an agreement with the Soviets. The UGA was urgently renamed CHUGA - Chervona UGA, but this was not yet the final transformation of the army of “cathedral” Galicians. Poland’s attack on Soviet Belarus and Ukraine causes acute nostalgia for the “red Sich” for the master’s boot, so CHUGA urgently turns back the proud name of the UGA, announcing its transition to the side of the Poles and, allegedly, even participates in the capture of Kyiv by Polish interventionists.
The Bolsheviks responded adequately to the betrayal of UGA-CHUGA-UGA, and one fine day the top chameleons from the Galician army received a lead seal in the forehead from the Odessa Cheka.
The new history of Ukraine, stingy with victories, forced the Ukrainian leadership led by Kuchma in 1999 to bring to light the insignificant event of “conciliarity” from all points of view, cut off everything unsightly from it, and pass off a painted hollow simulacrum as an epoch-making event that determined the fate of Ukraine.
Apparently, understanding the inflated nature of the “historical date,” none of the Ukrainian presidents decided to make January 22 a red day of the calendar. However, the “event” was celebrated with “human chains”, folk festivals, concerts on UT channels and official speeches.
The celebration of the “Act of Evil” reached its apogee during the reign of Yushchenko, who stands out for his unique mediocrity even against the backdrop of a gray series of other Ukrainian presidents. Under Yanukovych, “conciliarity day” was not stopped being celebrated at the official level - the “regionals” did not have enough gunpowder to cancel the completely false holiday.
As for Poroshenko, this state oak has already proven its commitment not only to worship any Svidomo scarecrow, but also its readiness to produce new ones.
As follows from the “Act of Evil” itself, there is no place at all for Donbass, Novorossiya and Crimea. In any case, “conciliarity” certainly did not apply to all of Ukraine within the 1991 borders.
The entire “value” of the piece of paper signed on January 22, 1919 between the UPR and WUNR for modern sharers lies in the fact that there is no role in it for the Russian and Soviet factor, which played a key role in all integration processes for Ukraine.
Continuing to celebrate the false “conciliarity,” the Ukrainian leadership once again underlines the primacy of flawed Ukrainian nationalism in its policies and defines Russia, along with the historical community of the three Slavic peoples, as a dangerous geopolitical entity.
And, as you can see, there is no change in Ukraine’s disastrous course and is not expected.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.