VOLYN REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINIAN-GERMAN MILITARY-POLITICAL RELATIONS IN SPRING OF 1918

Various aspects of the development of the Volyn region (hubernia) in the spring of 1918 are considered. This was the period when initially the officials of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and later the officials of the Ukrainian State, were establishing military-political relations with the countries of the Quadruple Alliance, including the German military command, politicians, and diplomats. The main issues in which it was difficult to reach compromises have been clarified. The reasons for conflicting situations between allies, factors influencing differences in military and economic matters, and their impact on the situation of the Volyn population have been determined. Attention is focused on the fact that the main issues that influenced the development of Volyn land the most in the spring of 1918 were agrarian, food, and private property issues. The main directions of negotiations between Ukrainian and German representatives regarding the governance of republican and monarchist (hetman) officials have been analyzed; the circumstances of the reorientation of the German military command in Ukraine, and later German politicians and officials, to cooperation with hetman forces have been determined. The directions of movement of the German army across the territory of the Volyn region are identified, the reaction of the local population to the appearance of allied forces there is provided, and the places of combat use of military units of the UPR’s army are specified. Author presents statements and quotes from the memoirs of direct participants of the negotiations held during that time – heads of the Ukrainian government V. Vynnychenko and V. Holubovych, Hetman P. Skoropadskyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs D. Doroshenko, and representative of the German occupation administration Lieutenant General V. Grener. Excerpts from the texts of documents of local authorities of the Volyn region regarding the presence of allied troops and their reaction to Ukrainian-German agreements are shared.