German and Austro-Hungarian Armies’ Invasion of Ukraine: Phase One (February 18—20, 1918)

Abstract

Modern Ukrainian historiography tends to consider the march of Central Powers’ armies into Ukraine as a mere sideshow caused by internal political and social processes. This view was also influenced by the overideological and factually incorrect Soviet scholarly heritage. Recently, valuable investigations have been published by the Austrian scholars V. Dornik and P. Lib, as well as the Polish scholar V. Medrzecki, with the use of new data from German archives of Munich, Dresden, and Stuttgart. However, some facts have been misinterpreted. At the same time, 1918 historical events cannot be correctly reconstructed without proper understanding of German and Austro-Hungarian military operations in Ukraine. Therefore, it is important to reconstruct the order of battle of German and Austro-Hungarian forces in Ukraine, to study operations aimed to expel Bolsheviks from the territory of Ukrainian People’s Republic and the progress of the following occupation of Ukraine. The objective of the article is to study the first phase of the Central Powers armies’ march into Ukraine (February 18–20, 1918). At that moment, plans of the German High Command were not specified, and total occupation of Ukraine was not considered yet. Advance in Ukraine was a part of the Faustschlag operation, commenced on February 18, 1918, and aimed to conquer Baltic region and Belarus. Initially, only 6 divisions were employed; they were considered sufficient to restore the power of Central Rada and to help Ukrainians fight Bolsheviks. Phase one lasted only for two days (February 18–20, 1918). During those days it became apparent that German divisions would meet no organized or tough opposition. Therefore, offensive turned into hot pursuit along railways and principal roads. On February 20, 1918, German High Command started phase two of the operation, aimed at capturing Kyiv and restoration of power of the Ukrainian government.