The German overthrow of the Central Rada, April, 1918: New evidence from German Archives¹

This essay is based almost entirely on the unpublished papers of German General Wilhelm Groener, chief representative of the German High Command in the Ukraine in 1918. Until 1945, his papers were in the Heeresarchiv in Potsdam. After the collapse of the Third Reich they were brought to the National Archives, Washington, DC, where, in 1948, they were microfilmed (35 reels) and made available to scholars. The title of the microfilm is Papers of General Wilhelm Groener, File Microcopy No. 137.Washington: National Archives, 1948. The bulk of the material dealing with the Ukraine is on reel XXVII, folders 254–1 and 254–11. Hereafter, they will be referred to as Groener Papers. In 1954 these papers were returned to Germany. Literature on German occupation of and involvement in the Ukraine in 1918 is abundant in Soviet and non‐Soviet publications. Representative samples of Soviet works include: V. Manuilov, ed., Pid hnitom nimetskoho imperializmu (Kiev, 1927); M. Gorky, I. Mints and R. Eiderman, eds, Krakh germanskoi okkupatsii na the Ukraine (po dokumentu‐mokkupantov) Moscow, 1936). A German edition of this work was published in Strasbourg in 1937, entitled Die deutsche Okkupation der the Ukraine: Geheim‐dokumente (hereafter cited, Deutsche Okkupation); and I Premysler, “Geramskaia okkupatsiia na the Ukraine v 1918 godu,” No. 1 (1938), pp.75–84. Representative non‐Soviet works include: Xenia J. Yudin, “The German occupation of the the Ukraine in 1918,” Russian Review, I (November, 1941), pp. 89–105; Henry Cord Meyer, “Germans in the the Ukraine, 1918: Excerpts from unpublished letters,” The American—Slavic and East European Review, IX (April 1950), pp. 105–115; Ihor Kamenetsky, “The Ukrainian central Rada and the status of German and Austrian troops after the Treaty of Brest‐Litovsk,” Ukrainskyi Istoryk, 20 (1983), pp. 119–127; Stefan Horak, Der Brest‐Litovsker Friede zyvischen der the Ukraine und den Mittelmachten (Erlangen, 1949); and Oleh Fedyshyn, Germany's Drive to the East and the Ukrainian Revolution 1917–1918 (New Brunswick, 1971).

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Notes

This essay is based almost entirely on the unpublished papers of German General Wilhelm Groener, chief representative of the German High Command in the Ukraine in 1918. Until 1945, his papers were in the Heeresarchiv in Potsdam. After the collapse of the Third Reich they were brought to the National Archives, Washington, DC, where, in 1948, they were microfilmed (35 reels) and made available to scholars. The title of the microfilm is Papers of General Wilhelm Groener, File Microcopy No. 137.Washington: National Archives, 1948. The bulk of the material dealing with the Ukraine is on reel XXVII, folders 254–1 and 254–11. Hereafter, they will be referred to as Groener Papers. In 1954 these papers were returned to Germany. Literature on German occupation of and involvement in the Ukraine in 1918 is abundant in Soviet and non‐Soviet publications. Representative samples of Soviet works include: V. Manuilov, ed., Pid hnitom nimetskoho imperializmu (Kiev, 1927); M. Gorky, I. Mints and R. Eiderman, eds, Krakh germanskoi okkupatsii na the Ukraine (po dokumentu‐mokkupantov) Moscow, 1936). A German edition of this work was published in Strasbourg in 1937, entitled Die deutsche Okkupation der the Ukraine: Geheim‐dokumente (hereafter cited, Deutsche Okkupation); and I Premysler, “Geramskaia okkupatsiia na the Ukraine v 1918 godu,” No. 1 (1938), pp.75–84. Representative non‐Soviet works include: Xenia J. Yudin, “The German occupation of the the Ukraine in 1918,” Russian Review, I (November, 1941), pp. 89–105; Henry Cord Meyer, “Germans in the the Ukraine, 1918: Excerpts from unpublished letters,” The American—Slavic and East European Review, IX (April 1950), pp. 105–115; Ihor Kamenetsky, “The Ukrainian central Rada and the status of German and Austrian troops after the Treaty of Brest‐Litovsk,” Ukrainskyi Istoryk, 20 (1983), pp. 119–127; Stefan Horak, Der Brest‐Litovsker Friede zyvischen der the Ukraine und den Mittelmachten (Erlangen, 1949); and Oleh Fedyshyn, Germany's Drive to the East and the Ukrainian Revolution 1917–1918 (New Brunswick, 1971).