Troops of the Central States in Ukraine (1918): cases of violations and material damage

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to find out the amount of losses inflicted in 1918 to the Ukrainian treasury and private individuals by Austro-Hungarian and German troops. The research is based on the data that had been collected by Hetman P. Skoropadsky`s Ukrainian Government.
 In 1918 the population of Ukraine was subjected to penalties by the troops of the Central States in Ukraine. The military units seized the property of the former tsarist army as military loot, requisitioned and confiscated property of the local population. In some cases, in this way the troops carried out orders of their military command about using of coercive measures in food procurement and protective actions conducting. In other cases, soldiers and officers acted according to their own initiative using their official position for enrichment and their benefit. Both cases contradicted Ukrainian laws and agreements about procedure of Central States troops staying in Ukraine.
 According to the hetman authorities, the most common violation of law was committed by withdrawal of food. Among the incidents related to foreign troops, the greatest damage was caused by explosions at ammunition depots in Kiev (6 of June, 1918) and Odessa (31st of August – 1st of September, 1918). Since the troops of the Central States were responsible for protection of ammunition in both Kiev and Odessa, they were responsible for the incident and for damage recovery.
 The Ukrainian authorities calculated that the total amount of losses that the Austro-Hungarian and German troops had inflicted to Ukraine in 1918 was 6 921 520 241 rubles (DM 7 690 578 046).