Кукавское восстание, август 1918 года: украинские гетманские власти, антигетманская оппозиция, австро-венгерские войска

Abstract

The study of the official documentation of the Ukrainian State authorities (the Ukrainian state headed by Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskiy) and the Austro-Hungarian troops command of stationed in Ukraine makes it possible to determine the goals, nature and staff of the participants in the uprising in Kukavka (Podolia) in August 1918 and to reconstruct the sequence of events connected with this uprising.
 The uprising was organized by former executives of the Ukrainian People's Republic. It was conceived as part of a public uprising. Its programme provided for liquidation of the hetman state, restoration of the Ukrainian People's Republic, expulsion of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops supporting the hetman, destruction of large landholdings in Ukraine and distribution of landowners’ land among the peasants. Probably, following the example of the participants in the anti-government movement in Ukraine in 1768 (Koliivshchyna), the rebels of Kukavka intended to exterminate those who were considered as the oppressors of the Ukrainian people, especially the of estate owners.
 The uprising was preceded by thorough preparation. The members were well armed and had a considered plan of action. The battle groups formed in the villages consisted mainly of former military men of the Russian tsarist army, the veterans of World War I.
 On August 14, in Kukavka, the part of the combat groups united into a large detachment. In the following days, the detachment raided the territory of Mogilev, Yampolsky and Bratslav districts, absorbing the rest of the battle groups and trying to raise wide circles of population to fight.
 The plan of involving of a large number of peasants into the uprising failed. The movement did not become widespread. The total number of the participants, did not exceed three thousand people. By the end of August, the rebel army had been eliminated after a series of clashes with Austro-Hungarian military units.