History 17/02/20 What Ukrainians fought against Russia in the First world
Almost a hundred years – from 1815 to 1914 – the territory of the Ukrainian ethnic group was divided between two empires. The Russian Empire belonged to the greatly predominant part of Austrian – Western Ukraine. Accordingly, the residents of the other subject to mobilization in the army by nationality.
Ukrainians in the Russian army 1914-1917
By the beginning of the First world war in the Russian Empire there were about 30 million Ukrainians (little Russians, as they are officially called in the Republic of Ingushetia), mainly in the territory of Novorossiysk and little Russian provinces, and in the North Caucasus, some part (about 2-3 million) – in Siberia and the far East. Given that in the Russian Empire (without Poland, soon captured by the enemy, and Finland, whose population was not Viennabased) during the years of the First world war were mobilized for approximately 12% of the population, presumably about three and a half million Ukrainians were drafted into the Imperial army. As the Russian Empire irrevocably lost in the war nearly two and a half million people, i.e. 13% of all mobilized, we can assume that about 450 thousand Ukrainians did not return from the fronts of the First world war.
There is evidence in some provinces, which show that the relative number of mobilized in the provinces of little Russia was not lower but even higher than in Russian. So, in Kiev province were mobilized 51.8% of all men of working age in Chernihiv – 50,6%, in Volyn – 49,9%, in the Poltava – 49.4%, in Kharkiv – was 49.1%. For comparison: in Moscow province, this figure was 45.1%, in Yaroslavl – 50%, in Ryazan – 48,1%, in the Vladimir – 46,3%, in Tver and 42.5%, in St.-Petersburg – 39,7%. Thus, our extrapolation about the total number of mobilized (and deaths) of the inhabitants of MaloloSiska provinces is likely far from the true figures.
About the relative strength of the contingents of conscripts from different regions of the Russian Empire may be indicative percentage of prisoners of the total number of combat losses. If we exclude the province of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, it is a sad championship in the European part of Russia is holding in Moscow province – 49% of the losses designed it in the First world war made prisoners. Rather high this figure is in many other great Russian provinces: 46% in Pskov, 43% in the Tula, 42% in the Tver and Kostroma, 41% in the Ryazan and Kaluga, decreasing to 34% in St. Petersburg and 32% in the Yaroslavl province. Similar indicators in Ukraine is close to the lowest in great: 32% in Poltava province, 33% in Kharkiv, Kherson and Podolsk, 35% in Ekaterinoslavskoy, 36% in Kiev, 37% in Volyn, reaching only in the province of Chernigov 47%.
However, from these figures it is impossible to conclude more durability little Russian conscripts fighting in the First world than great Russian. Because so much depended on what fronts fought certain divisions. Most enlisted in the Kiev and Odessa military districts of the Russian Empire, the source fought in the South-Western front, where the main enemy was the Austrians are weaker than the Germans.
However, it would be correct to assume that the resistance mobilized in the First world war the Russian army of Ukrainians were for the most not less, than the Russian.
After the February revolution, when the collapse of the old army, in parts where most of the soldiers were Ukrainians, became popular the idea of Ukraine’s independence. The provisional government strongly opposed the establishment of a national Ukrainian units. Sometimes, according to the testimony of General A. I. Denikin, was things like:
“soon as I sent in any of the regiment the order of expulsion the main mouth to the front, as in living up to that time peaceful life and not think aboutkrimiserie regiment convened the meeting, raised the Ukrainian yellow-blue flag and heard the cry:
— the pid Pudemo ukrainskim ensign!
And then freeze. As the weeks pass, a month, and the company did not move not a red or a yellow-blue flag.”
However, such behavior demonstrated in almost all parts of the Russian army, regardless of nationality, where the only difference is the motives to disobedience.
Thus, the vast majority of Ukrainians of the Russian Empire honestly and selflessly fulfilled their military duty to their country called, and then, after its collapse, experienced the same demoralization, as well as the bulk of Russian soldiers.
the Ukrainians of Austria-Hungary
Undoubtedly, that equally performed their duty most of the Ukrainian subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Interestingly, after 1867 and the creation of the dual Austro-Hungarian Empire along the former unitary Austrian monarchy, there was essentially and army of two. The Ukrainians of Transcarpathia were drafted into the Hungarian army (in Honved), where there was no separation of nationalities. On the contrary, the Austrian part of the dual monarchy was divided into a dozen historical regions, differing in the way of control. In the same way divided and the Austrian army.
in addition, the Austrian government since the beginning of the war decided to play the Ukrainian national map. Throwing a slogan, it is a war for the liberation of Ukraine from the yoke of Moscow of the tsars, it became the create of the inhabitants of Galicia and Bukovina part of the “Riflemen”, which tried to include prisoners of the Russians. The number of Ukrainian volunteer Legion never exceeded 7,000 people.
an Important element of Ukrainian national ideology in our time are fighting Riflemen in the spring of 1915 for mount makivka. They are treated as an important victory for the Ukrainians in the struggle for independence against Russia. However, by the fall of 1916 Ukrainian Legion practically ceased to exist, having put a large part of the personnel and many gave up in Russian captivity.
Most of the Austro-Hungarian Ukrainians fought in the common parts. Before the war in the dual monarchy that lived 4.2 million Ukrainian (Ruthenian). Extrapolating the numbers as was done above for the Russian Empire, we can assume that mobilized in the Austro-Hungarian army was 700 thousand Rusin, of which about 80-100 thousand people were killed. Thus, the total losses of the Ukrainian people, only on the fronts of the First world war (not counting the later civil wars and Polish) exceed half a million people.
Russian Seven
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© Russian Seven
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