Upon the outbreak ofWorld War I, Ukraine was not an independent political entity or state. The majority of the territory that makes up the modern country ofUkraine was part of theRussian Empire with a notable far western region administered by theAustro-Hungarian Empire, and the border between them dating to theCongress of Vienna in 1815.
Towards the latter 19th century, both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires attempted to exert their influence on the adjacent territory on the tide of rising national awareness of the period as borders did not undermine the ethnic composition of Europe. The Russian Empire viewed Ukrainians asLittle Russians and had the support of the largeRussophile community among the Ukrainian and Ruthenians population inGalicia. Austria, on the contrary, supported the late-19th century rise inUkrainian Nationalism.[citation needed] Western Ukraine was a major standoff for theBalkans and the Slavic Orthodox population it harboured.[citation needed]
ABalkan war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was considered inevitable, as Austria-Hungary’s influence waned and thePan-Slavic movement grew. The rise of ethnic nationalism coincided with the growth of Serbia, whereanti-Austrian sentiment was perhaps most fervent. Austria-Hungary had occupied the former Ottoman province ofBosnia-Herzegovina, which had a large Serb population, in 1878. It wasformally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. Increasing nationalist sentiment also coincided with the decline of theOttoman Empire. Russia supported the Pan-Slavic movement, motivated by ethnic and religious loyalties and a rivalry with Austria dating back to theCrimean War. Recent events such as thefailed Russian-Austrian treaty and a century-old dream of awarm water port also motivated St. Petersburg.[1]
Religion also played a key role in the standoff. When Russia and Austriapartitioned Poland at the end of the 18th century, they inherited largelyEastern-rite Catholic populations. Russia went to great lengths to revert the population to Orthodoxy, at times forcibly (as took place inChelm).[2]
The final factor was that by 1914,Ukrainian nationalism had matured to a point where it could significantly influence the future of the region. According toIvan Rudnytsky, as a result of this nationalism and of the other main sources of Russo-Austrian confrontations, including Polish and Romanian lands, both empires eventually lost these disputed territories when these territories formed new, independent states.[3]
TheRussian advance into Galicia began in August 1914. During the offensive, the Russian army successfully pushed the Austrians right up to theCarpathian ridge effectively capturing all of the lowland territory, and fulfilling their long aspirations of annexing the territory.
Ukrainians were split into two separate and opposing armies. 3.5 million fought with theImperial Russian Army, while 250,000 fought for theAustro-Hungarian Army.[4] Many Ukrainians thus ended up fighting each other. Also, many Ukrainian civilians suffered as armies shot and killed them after accusing them of collaborating with opposing armies (seeThalerhof internment camp).[5]
During World War IUkrainians found themselves between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Russia. Ukrainian villages were regularly destroyed in the crossfire. Ukrainians could be found participating on both sides of the conflict. InGalicia, over twenty thousand Ukrainians who were suspected of being sympathetic to Russian interests were arrested and placed in Austrian concentration camps inTalerhof,Styria and inTerezín fortress (now in theCzech Republic).
Theretreat of Russian troops led to mass flight of civilian population from western territories of the Russian Empire. According to estimates, starting from summer 1915, around 3,5 million people fled the advance of German and Austro-Hungarian troops. As part of theirpolicies, retreating Russian armies evacuated almost 200 firms and factories with their personnel, as well as archives and railway transport. The evacuation was accompanied by mass looting of property by Russian soldiers and purposed destruction of bridges, railways and aqueducts, as well as Catholic churches. Inhabitants of villages in frontline areas were ordered by authorities to destroy their crops and remove all grain, horses and cattle. Male inhabitants were forcibly evacuated, and the rest of the population was encouraged to leave as well by means of anti-Germanatrocity propaganda spread by soldiers andOrthodox clergy. In many cases RussianCossack troops would loot and burn down entire villages, beating their inhabitants and forcing them to leave.
The relocation campaign was aimed chiefly at theEastern Orthodox population, most of themBelarusians andUkrainians. In some locations villagers would hide in forests to evade forced deportation by authorities. At the same time, mostCatholicPoles stayed, hoping for the reinstatement of independent Polish statehood under German rule. Other groups of refugees includedJews,Tatars andProtestants. Mass flight of the population led tofamine and spread of diseases, such asmeasles,typhus andcholera.
In order to alleviate the situation of refugees, a committee headed byGrand Duchess Tatiana, the daughter of EmperorNicholas II, was established. Separate relief committees were also established by national groups including Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians. They worked to support their displaced compatriots in different parts of the empire and organized publishing and schooling in their native languages. At the same time,Ruthenian (Ukrainian and Belarusian) refugees lacked national elites who could organize such activities, so their children were forced to visitRussian language schools and gradually assimilated.
Most of the refugees who had fled from the Eastern Front during the First World War were repatriated by the authorities of newly establishedSecond Polish Republic in 1921-1924, after the end of theRussian Civil War. During that period 1,1 million people returned to their previous locations, 65% of them Ukrainians and Belarusians, 27% Poles and 7% Jews.[6]
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The brutality did not end with the end of the First World War for Ukrainians. Fighting actually escalated with the beginning of theRussian Revolution of 1917. The revolution began a civil war within theRussian Empire and much of the fighting took place in the Ukrainian provinces. Many atrocities occurred during the civil war as the Red, White,Polish, Ukrainian, and allied armies marched throughout the country.[5]
There were a couple of attempts during this period when the Ukrainians successfully established their own state. One was with the capital inKiev and the other inLemberg, but neither one of them gained enough support in the international community and they both failed.[5]
The 1919Treaty of Versailles secured the borders of Ukrainian land after those of other European countries. In the West,Galicia and westernVolhynia were left toPoland. TheKingdom of Romania gained the province ofBukovina.Czechoslovakia secured the former lands ofAustria-Hungary,Uzhhorod andMukachevo. The remaining central and eastern Ukrainian provinces were left to theSoviet Union. As a result of World War I and theRussian Civil War, Ukrainian nationalists looked on as their attempt to attain statehood crumbled in favor of other countries' territorial expansion when 1.5 million had died in the recent fighting.[5]
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