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Pavlo Skoropadskyi

Pavlo Skoropadskyi was a Ukrainian statesman and military figure, Hetman of the Ukrainian State (1918). During his rule, the first serious attempt was made to legally formalize the incorporation of Crimea into Ukraine.

Overview

After the coup d'état in Kyiv backed by the Germans (when Petro Bolbochan's detachment was leaving Crimea), Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi came to power. It was during the Hetmanate that systematic work on the incorporation of Crimea began. On May 7, 1918, on his initiative, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State approved an address to Germany regarding the need to incorporate Crimea. Skoropadskyi believed that "part of the population of Crimea sincerely expressed a desire for the closest possible ties with Ukraine."

In parallel, Ukrainian special services were active: for example, in 1918 in Yekaterinodar, Denikin's White Guards uncovered the intelligence network of Hetman Skoropadskyi, which had the task of facilitating the reunification of Kuban with the Ukrainian State.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Role in the Crimean question: initiator of negotiations with Germany and the Crimean Regional Government over the peninsula's incorporation.
  • Activities of the special services in 1918: the work of the Hetmanate's intelligence in the south (Yekaterinodar) regarding the incorporation of Kuban and countering the White russians.
  • Customs war: on September 18, 1918, with the hetman's consent, the customs war with Crimea was temporarily halted to negotiate the "merger of Crimea with Ukraine" (slianie Kryma s Ukrainoi).
  • Supreme authority: the "Main Principles of the Unification of Crimea with the Ukrainian State" recognized Crimea as an autonomous entity under his supreme authority.