The outbreak ofWorld War I and the onset of hostilities betweenRussia andAustria-Hungary on August 1, 1914, had immediaterepercussions for the Ukrainian subjects of bothbelligerent powers. In theRussian Empire, Ukrainian publications and cultural organizations were directly suppressed and prominent figures arrested or exiled. As Russian forces advanced intoGalicia in September, the retreating Austrians executed thousands for suspected pro-Russian sympathies. After occupying Galicia, tsarist authorities took steps toward its total incorporation into the Russian Empire. They prohibited theUkrainian language, closed down institutions, and prepared to liquidate theGreek Catholic church. The Russification campaign was cut short by the Austrian reconquest in spring 1915. Western Ukraine, however, continued to be a theatre of military operations and suffered great depredation.

TheRussian Revolution of February 1917 brought into power theProvisional Government, which promptly introducedfreedom of speech and assembly and lifted the tsarist restrictions on minorities. National life in Ukraine quickened with the revival of a Ukrainian press and the formation of numerous cultural and professional associations, as well as political parties. In March, on theinitiative of these new organizations, theCentral Rada (“Council”) was formed in Kyiv as a Ukrainian representative body. In April the more broadlyconvenedAll-Ukrainian National Congress declared the Central Rada to be the highest national authority in Ukraine and elected the historianMykhaylo Hrushevsky as its head. The stated goal of the Central Rada was territorialautonomy for Ukraine and the transformation of Russia into a democratic, federative republic. Although the Provisional Government recognized Ukraine’s right to autonomy and the Central Rada as alegitimate representative body, there were unresolved disputes over its territorial jurisdiction and politicalprerogatives. Locally, especially in the Russified cities of eastern Ukraine, the Rada also had to compete with the increasingly radical soviets of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies, whose support in the Ukrainian population, however, was quite limited.

Ukrainian-Russian relations deteriorated rapidly following theBolshevik coup in Petrograd (nowSt. Petersburg) on November 7, 1917. The Central Rada refused to accept the new regime’s authority over Ukraine and on November 20 proclaimed the creation of theUkrainian National Republic, though still in federation with the new democratic Russia that was expected to emerge from the impendingConstituent Assembly. The Bolsheviks, in turn, at the firstAll-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, held inKharkiv in December, declared Ukraine to be a Soviet republic and formed a rival government. In January 1918 the Bolsheviks launched an offensive in the Left Bank and advanced onKyiv. The Central Rada, already engaged in peace negotiations with theCentral Powers, from whom it hoped for military assistance, proclaimed the total independence of Ukraine on January 22; on the same day, it passed a law establishing national autonomy for Ukraine’s Jewish, Russian, and Polish minorities. Almost immediately, however, the government had to evacuate to the Right Bank, as Soviet troops occupied Kyiv. On February 9 Ukraine and the Central Powers signed the Peace Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk (seetreaties of Brest-Litovsk). AGerman-Austrian offensive dislodged the Bolsheviks from Kyiv in early March, and the Rada government returned to the capital. In April theRed Army retreated from Ukraine.

The socialist policies of the Ukrainiangovernment, especially land nationalization, conflicted with the interest of the German high command to maximize the production of foodstuffs for its own war effort. On April 29, 1918, the Rada government was overthrown in a German-supported coup by Gen.Pavlo Skoropadsky. Acollateral descendant of an 18th-century Cossackhetman, Skoropadsky assumed the title “hetman of Ukraine” (which he intended to become hereditary),abrogated all laws passed by the Rada, and established aconservative regime that relied on the support of landowners and the largely Russian urban middle class. The new government aroused intense opposition among Ukrainian nationalists, socialists, and the peasantry. To coordinate political opposition, theUkrainian National Union was formed by the main parties and civic organizations, while the peasantsmanifested their hostility through rebellions and partisan warfare. The capitulation ofGermany andAustria in November removed the main prop of Skoropadsky’s regime, and the Ukrainian National Union formed theDirectory of the Ukrainian National Republic to prepare for his overthrow. In a bid for the support of the Allied powers, Skoropadsky announced his intention to join in federation with a future non-Bolshevik Russia, triggering an uprising. On December 14 the hetmanabdicated, and the Directory assumed control of government in Kyiv.

Even before the collapse of Austria-Hungary, an assembly of western Ukrainian political leaders in October 1918 declared the formation of a state, shortly thereafter named theWestern Ukrainian National Republic, embracing Galicia, northernBukovina, and Transcarpathia. On November 1 Ukrainian forces occupiedLviv. This act touched off awar with the Poles, who were themselves resolved to incorporate Galicia into a reconstituted Polish state. The Poles took Lviv on November 21, but most of Galicia remained under Ukrainian control, and the government, headed byYevhen Petrushevych, transferred its seat to Stanyslaviv (nowIvano-Frankivsk). On January 22, 1919, an act of union of the two Ukrainian states was proclaimed in Kyiv, but actual politicalintegration was prevented by the ongoing hostilities. These ultimately took an unfavourable turn for the Ukrainians, and by late July the Poles were in full control of Galicia. Petrushevych and his government evacuated to Right Bank Ukraine and in the autumn went into exile inVienna, where they continued diplomatic efforts against recognition of the Polish occupation.

In Kyiv the Directory that had taken power in December 1918—initially headed byVolodymyr Vynnychenko and from February 1919 bySymon Petlyura, who was also the commander in chief—officially restored the Ukrainian National Republic and revived the legislation of the Central Rada. Its attempts to establish an effective administration and to cope with the mounting economic and social problems were stymied, however, by the increasingly chaotic domestic situation and a hostile foreignenvironment. As the peasants became restless and the army demoralized, partisan movements led by unruly chieftains (commonly known asotamany) escalated in scope and violence. In addition, a substantial irregular force emerged under the command of thecharismatic anarchist leader Nestor Makhno. In many places the government’s authority wasnominal or nonexistent. TheAllied powers, includingFrance, whose expeditionary force held Odessa, supported theRussianWhites, whose army was grouping around Gen.Anton Denikin in southern Russia.

As authority broke down in Ukraine, random violence increased. In particular, a ferocious wave of pogroms against the Jewish population left tens of thousands dead. The majority of the pogroms occurred in 1919, perpetrated by virtually all regular and irregular forces fighting in Ukraine—including Directory troops, theotamany, the White forces, and the Red Army—as well as civilians from both the peasant and landowning classes.

The Bolsheviks had already launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine in December 1918. In February 1919 they again seized Kyiv. The Directory moved to the Right Bank and continued the struggle. In May Denikin launched his campaign against the Bolsheviks in the Left Bank; his progress westward through Ukraine was marked by terror, restoration of gentry landownership, and the destruction of allmanifestations of Ukrainian national life. As theBolsheviks retreated yet again, Petlyura’s Ukrainian forces and Denikin’s White regiments both entered Kyiv on August 31, though the Ukrainians soon withdrew to avoid overt hostilities. From September to December the Ukrainian army fought with Denikin but, losing ground, began a retreat northwestward intoVolhynia. There, confronted by the Poles in the west, the returningRed Army in the north, and the Whites in the south, the Ukrainian forces ceased regular military operations and turned toguerrilla warfare. In December Petlyura went toWarsaw to seek outside support. At the same time, the Bolsheviks were beating back Denikin’s forces, and on December 16 they recaptured Kyiv. By February 1920 the Whites had been expelled from Ukrainian territory.

Petlyura’s negotiations with the Polish government ofJózef Piłsudskiculminated in theTreaty of Warsaw, signed in April 1920; by the terms of the agreement, in return for Polish military aid, Petlyura surrendered Ukraine’s claim to Galicia and western Volhynia. A Polish-Ukrainian campaign opened two days later, and on May 6 the joint forces occupied Kyiv. A counteroffensive mounted by the Bolsheviks brought them to the outskirts of Warsaw in August. The tides of war turned again as the Polish and Ukrainian armies drove back the Soviets and reentered theRight Bank. In October, however,Poland made a truce with the Soviets, and in March 1921 the Polish and Soviet sides signed theTreaty of Riga. Poland extended recognition to Soviet Ukraine and retained theannexed western Ukrainian lands. (See alsoRussian Civil War;Russo-Polish War.)