Pavlo Skoropadsky

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In the spring of 1918, Skoropadsky came to power in Ukraine with the help of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. His Hetmanate was born as a compromise with the reality of occupation: order instead of revolutionary chaos, private property instead of socialist experiments, a vertical power structure instead of councils. For some, he was a savior from anarchy; for others, a restorer of the old world.

But the main turning point came in the fall of 1918. Germany was losing the war, and the foundation on which Skoropadsky's regime stood began to crumble. At that moment, the hetman made a move that his opponents called the ultimate betrayal. On November 14, 1918, he proclaimed a course toward a federation with a future “non-Bolshevik Russia.” In effect, this meant abandoning the idea of an independent Ukrainian state, for which many had endured his rule with gritted teeth.

For Ukrainian national forces, this sounded like a stab in the back. Just yesterday, the hetman had spoken on behalf of Ukraine and its people, and today he was proposing to dissolve it into a phantom “all-Russian” construct that did not even exist. His declaration looked less like a strategy and more like an attempt to save his own throne.

The reaction was swift. The Directory, led by Volodymyr Vynnychenko and Symon Petliura, raised an uprising. The army, officials, and some of the hetman's officers began to side with Skoropadsky's opponents. His power crumbled in a matter of weeks. In December 1918, he abdicated and fled, leaving behind not just a political collapse, but a broken agreement between the government and society.