The last hetman of Ukraine, installed under German occupation in 1918
On 29 April 1918 in Kyiv, the All-Ukrainian Congress of Landowners rose and unanimously acclaimed Pavlo Skoropadskyi as Hetman of Ukraine with shouts of 'Long live the Hetman!'
A Ukrainian aristocrat and tsarist lieutenant general who commanded a corps in the First World War. In April 1918, backed by the German army that occupied Ukraine after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, he overthrew the socialist Central Rada in a coup and was proclaimed Hetman of the Ukrainian State. During his eight-month rule he founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, established universities, and built diplomatic ties, but his pro-landlord agrarian policy and the German occupiers' forced grain requisitions provoked widespread peasant resistance. When Germany collapsed in November 1918, Symon Petliura's Anti-Hetman Uprising drove him from power; he abdicated in December and spent the rest of his life in German exile, refusing to collaborate with the Nazis.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1893Commissioned as an officer in the Chevalier Guard regiment
- 1904–1905Commanded Cossack units in the Russo-Japanese War, decorated for bravery
- 1912Promoted to major general, aide-de-camp to Nicholas II
- 1914–1916Commanded cavalry divisions in WWI, promoted to lieutenant general
- 1917Commander of 34th Army Corps, Ukrainised it into the 1st Ukrainian Corps
- 1917.10Elected Otaman of the Free Cossacks
- 1918.04–12Hetman of the Ukrainian State
- 1919–1945Exile in Germany, led the Hetmanite movement
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World WarRussian corps and cavalry division commanderHe commanded cavalry divisions for Russia in the First World War.
- 1917.12–1918.11Brest-Litovsk and Germany’s eastern occupationGerman-backed HetmanProclaimed Hetman by a congress of landowners on 29 April 1918 with German backing; after Germany's defeat he proclaimed federation with Russia in November and left Kyiv with the German army in December.
- 1917–1921Ukraine’s revolution and warsHetman of the Ukrainian StateRuled as Hetman of the Ukrainian State under German protection from 29 April to 14 December 1918, founding the Academy of Sciences but provoking peasant revolt by restoring the landlords' land.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionHetman of the Ukrainian StateIn April 1918, with German military backing, he overthrew the Central Rada in a coup and was proclaimed Hetman of the Ukrainian State, ruling an anti-Soviet regime until Petliura's uprising forced his abdication that December.