ARTILLERY OFFICERS’ ROLE IN THE UKRAINIAN ARMIES FORMATION AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917 – 1921

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to analyze the artillery officers’ role in the armies artillery formation of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) (since 1917) and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (ZUNR) (since 1918), when the Ukrainian revolution of 1917 – 1921 broke out. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of objectivity, historicism, as well as the use of methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization. The scientific novelty is that, in spite of the presence of diverse studies on the officer corps in the historiography of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921, the artillery officers’ role in the formation of artillery of the UNR / ZUNR armies was not clarified comprehensively. On the basis of official and unofficial documents, as well as memoirs of military and political figures of the UNR / ZUNR era, the artillery officers’ efficacy and their impact on the combat readiness of artillery units have been analyzed. The efficacy and impact are considered to be one of the determining factors. The Conclusions. After the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires collapse, the Ukrainian people had the opportunity to build an independent state, but it was impossible to achieve this goal without the army ready for combat. The officers, who became the driving force of the Ukrainization process of corps, brigades and regiments of the former empires (in the summer and autumn of 1917, the Ukrainianization of 17 light artillery brigades and 102 batteries of the Russian army; in November of 1918, the Ukrainization of the 33rd Artillery Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), played an important role in the formation of the first military units of the Ukrainian army. The first Ukrainian artillery divisions and batteries began to be formed on the initiative of the artillery officers (on January 1, 1918, on the initiative of O. Almazov, a cavalry and artillery division was formed; in January of 1918, under the leadership of K. Smovskyi, a cannon battery of the Haydamatskyi Kish of Slobidska Ukraine was formed, at the beginning of January of 1918 a separate cannon battery was formed in R. Dashkevych’s Galician-Bukovynian Kurin, during December of 1918, on the initiative of S. Leshchi and other officers, cannon kish was formed in Kolomyia, Stanislaviv, Stryi, Sambir, Chortkiv, Ternopil, and Zolochiv), as evidenced by the memoirs of the direct participants in the events. The artillery officers were the most active among the large corps of officers of the Ukrainian army and made plenty of efforts in order to form the artillery of the UNR (since 1917) and ZUNR (since 1918). In spite of certain difficulties, which were caused by the external military threat and internal political contradictions, the process of army formation took place and played an important role in the formation of the Ukrainian statehood during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921.

Keywords: artillery officers, the UNR army, Galician Army, Ukrainian revolution of 1917 – 1921, Ukraine, artillery.