The Issue of the Establishment and Activities of the Ukrainian Navy in Crimea (March 1917 – December 1918) in Contemporary Ukrainian Historiography

Abstract

The article highlights the issues of formation and activity of the Ukrainian Navy in Crimea (March 1917 – December 1918) in modern Ukrainian historiography. It is noted that in the writings of modern Ukrainian historians, the material and technical base in the Black Sea, which existed as of 1917, was characterized, the prerequisites for the construction of the Ukrainian military fleet were revealed, the processes of the struggle for its creation during the days of the Ukrainian Central Rada (UCR) and the Hetmanate of P. Skoropadskyi were highlighted. In particular historical, geographical, ethnic, political, material and technical components for the creation of this military structure were investigated. The works of modern Ukrainian scientists were considered, in which they emphasize a complex of mistakes on the part of the leaders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the government in the field of naval construction, their inconsistent defense of Ukrainian national interests regarding the Black Sea Fleet, which significantly affected the activity of Ukrainian forces in Crimea and Sevastopol and disorientated their further state-building activities. It was stated that during the existence of the Ukrainian State of Hetman P. Skoropadskyi, the government immediately took a course to join Crimea to Ukraine. Despite the indignation of the Germans, a complete economic blockade of the Crimean Peninsula was announced. The leadership of the Ukrainian State did everything to return the Black Sea Fleet under its jurisdiction, and it finally succeeded, but only after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, the beginning of the anti-Hetman uprising on November 14, 1918, the abdication of power by P. Skoropadskyi a month later, and the eventual capture of Black Sea Fleet by the Entente countries.The author also focuses on the wishes of many Ukrainian researchers of this period to the power structures of modern Ukraine, especially in the current conditions of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, taking into account the positive and negative experience of the state and military construction of Ukrainian state entities in 1917–1921.