Crimea as a Part of the Ukrainian State. The Year 1918
During 1917–1921, Crimea found itself at the epicenter of revolutionary battles and interventions. The newly created Ukrainian government cautiously and gradually built ambitious plans to join the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine.
During 1917–1921, Crimea found itself at the epicenter of revolutionary battles and interventions. The newly created Ukrainian government cautiously and gradually built ambitious plans to join the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine.
Despite the fact that according to the Third Universal of the Central Rada, Crimea did not belong to the Ukrainian People's Republic, and contrary to rather unfavorable military and political circumstances, established contacts with representatives of the Crimean Tatar national movement still gave the UPR leadership reason to count on the peninsula joining the Ukrainian state.
State Archives of Lviv Oblast, Map of Ukraine, published in Vienna in 1918.
For a long time, documents from the period of the Ukrainian Revolution (1917–1921) were classified. The access restriction label was lifted in the 1990s after the declaration of Ukraine's Independence. The Central State Archives of Supreme Authorities and Administration of Ukraine preserve administrative documents from the time when state institutions were being established in Ukraine in the early 20th century, including recorded decisions regarding the jurisdiction of the Crimean Peninsula. Adhering to the chosen course regarding the territorial affiliation of Crimea, according to the log of the meeting of the Council of People's Ministers of the UPR dated February 14, 1918, it was determined that "Crimea remains under the influence of Ukraine," and "the entire fleet (including the merchant fleet) in the Black Sea belongs only to Ukraine."
From the log of the meeting of the Council of People's Ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic on the ownership of the entire fleet in the Black Sea by Ukraine. February 14, 1918. Certified copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 1064. Op. 1. File 5. Sheets 25, 25obv.
The Crimean Peninsula has always been a strategically advantageous foothold, and the Black Sea Fleet of the early 20th century comprised about 400 warships as well as auxiliary vessels. The Bolsheviks and other representatives of opposing forces constantly sought to strengthen their positions on the peninsula. In April 1918, the Crimean helm slipped from the hands of the Bolsheviks. The Zaporozhian Corps of the UPR Army, under the command of Colonel Petro Bolbochan, forced them to retreat from the peninsula. The set goal – establishing Ukrainian authority on its territory and control over the Black Sea Fleet – was achieved.
The date of April 22, 1918, was forever engraved in the annals of Ukrainian history. By the way, in 2018, Ukraine celebrated 100 years since the liberation of Crimea from the Bolsheviks. Ukrainian troops were greeted enthusiastically, and Crimean Tatar cavalry detachments eagerly joined them. Since the struggle for Crimea in the spring of 1918 took place under the conditions of a simultaneous offensive by German and Ukrainian troops against the Bolsheviks, the Germans obviously saw the Ukrainians as a serious competitor.
Particularly against the background of the active formation of volunteer detachments that sympathized with the Ukrainian military, from which Colonel Petro Bolbochan intended to create a separate regular unit. The Chairman of the Central Rada, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, and Prime Minister of the UPR government, Vsevolod Holubovych, did not risk open confrontation with Germany and agreed to order the Ukrainian army to leave Crimea.
At the time when Petro Bolbochan's detachment was leaving the peninsula, a coup d'état occurred in Kyiv with German support, and Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky came to power. It was during the Hetmanate period that the first serious attempt was made to legally secure the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine. According to Pavlo Skoropadsky, "a part of the population of Crimea sincerely expressed a desire for the closest connection with Ukraine, believing that any other combination was ruinous for both Crimea and us."
In the log of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State dated May 7, 1918, a copy of which is preserved in the Central State Archives of Supreme Authorities and Administration of Ukraine, the question of the necessity of annexing Crimea to Ukraine is raised: "To recognize as borders the initial border outlined on the map presented by the Minister of War, corresponding to ethnographic conditions, while paying special attention to the necessity of annexing Crimea to Ukraine. Having heard in this latter regard the statements of the Lord Hetman about his negotiations with the German Ambassador and his intention to send the German Ambassador a letter in his own name confirming the necessity of annexing Crimea to Ukraine – to approve the sending of such a letter so that additional data on this subject, upon approval by the Council of Ministers, be communicated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the German Government."
From the log of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State on the necessity of annexing Crimea to Ukraine (item 8). May 7, 1918. Copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 1064. Op. 1. File 6. Sheets 5, 6obv.
On June 5, 1918, the German occupation command delegated governing authority on the Crimean Peninsula to Suleyman Sulkevych. Sulkevych's government began negotiations with Kyiv in September 1918, and as early as October, a preliminary agreement was concluded between the Crimean and Ukrainian governments. This document provided for Crimea's accession to the Ukrainian State as an autonomy with its own parliament, government, and armed formations. A permanent state secretary from Crimea was to become a member of the Ukrainian government. From the log of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State on ending the customs war with Crimea to conduct negotiations on Crimea's accession to Ukraine (item 7).
September 18, 1918: "Having learned of the decision of the representatives of Crimea to enter into negotiations with the Ukrainian Government on the conditions of merging Crimea with Ukraine, and in view of the difficult situation of the population of Crimea, unable under the conditions of a customs war to sell their harvest of fruit and grapes, with the permission of the LORD HETMAN, resolved: 1. to temporarily suspend the customs war on condition of the immediate dispatch by the representatives of Crimea of authorized individuals to Kyiv to open the aforementioned negotiations"; 2. To request the Minister of Finance to lift the customs inspection of goods heading to Crimea from Kyiv; 3. Negotiations with the representatives of Crimea upon their arrival in Kyiv regarding the conditions of merging Crimea with Ukraine are to be conducted directly by the ministers of the interested departments, without delegating their powers to other persons."
From the log of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State on ending the customs war with Crimea to conduct negotiations on Crimea's accession to Ukraine (item 7). September 18, 1918. Certified copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 1064. Op. 1. File 11. Sheets 61, 61obv., 62
Letter of authorization from the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Crimean Regional Government, S. Sulkevych, to the Hetman of All Ukraine, P. Skoropadsky, regarding the sending of a delegation to Kyiv for negotiations on settling economic and financial issues and the conditions of the political unification of Crimea with Ukraine. September 26, 1918. Certified copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 3696. Op. 2. File 703. Sheet 1
According to protocol [No. 2] of the meeting of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State, F. Lyzohub, with representatives of the Crimean Regional Government on relations between Crimea and Ukraine and the Main Principles of Unification of Crimea with the Ukrainian State on October 9, 1918, 19 items of preconditions for Crimea's accession to the Ukrainian State were discussed with authorized representatives of the nationalities of Crimea. However, it was not possible to agree on them immediately, as the authorized officials of the Crimean government expressed the conviction that such a decision should only be made after consultation with the parliament, which represented the interests of the people of Crimea.
Protocol [No. 2] of the meeting of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State, F. Lyzohub, with representatives of the Crimean Regional Government on relations between Crimea and Ukraine. October 9, 1918. Copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 3808. Op. 1. File 21. Sheets 37-45
The Main Principles of Unification of Crimea with the Ukrainian State, dated October 9, 1918, contained items on the annexation of the peninsula on the rights of autonomy "under the sole Supreme authority of His Serene Highness the Lord Hetman." In turn, Crimea had the right to "its own Regional Government and Regional People's Assembly, as well as the right of local legislation within the limits of the competence of the Regional Government."
The Main Principles of Unification of Crimea with the Ukrainian State. October 9, 1918. Copy. TsDAVO of Ukraine. F. 3808. Op. 1. File 21. Sheets 37-45
The unstable geopolitical situation did not affect subsequent developments in Ukraine in the best way. The defeat of Germany and its allies in the First World War made the fall of Sulkevych's government, which resigned on November 14, inevitable. Consequently, the agreement between Crimea and Ukraine on the peninsula joining the Ukrainian State was not implemented.