Authors

Discussion

Pavlo Skoropads’kyj was the leader of the Ukrainian ‘Hetmanate’–a short-lived puppet state dependent on the Germany military. His brief reign between April and December 1918 provided an umbrella for various political factions in Ukraine in their struggle against Bolshevism. During this period, the journalist Aleksandr Maliarevskii accompanied and supported Skoropads’kyj as the Hetman’s press secretary and first personal biographer. Maliarevskii never wrote a full biography but he wrote short biographical sketches and leaflets about Skoropads'kyj and the Cossacks. They were supposed to provide a conciliatory narrative for the different political strands and also for the German overlords, who financed the publishing process of allegedly a million leaflets.

I will examine his writings and and show on the one hand the peculiar nature of Ukrainian station- and nation-building under German occupation. Maliarevskii's vision of Ukraine had to align with Germany's (and Austria-Hungary's) military interests - practically and ideologically. He emphasized the significance of great land owners for Ukraine, legitimizing therefore German plans for agrarian reform. On the other hand, I will show how premodern notions of governance and historical narratives of Cossack statehood were adapted and translated for a 20^th Century audience. Maliarevkskii's ideas of Ukrainian history combined imperial and national(ist) folklore in order to appeal to various political factions and Skoropads'kyj's self-image. He wanted to create an image of impartial imperial authority that would also evoke patriotic sentiments and not alienate the majority of the population: the peasantry. 

Ultimately, neither Skoropads'kyj himself nor Maliarevskii's sketches drew much attention or support from the public. The claim for impartiality was quickly interpreted as lack of ideological commitment. Their plea for a federalist relationship with Russia (inspired by Viacheslav Lypynsky) alienated most nationalists, and the military defeat of Germany sealed the Hetmanate's fate after a few months.

Still, the “Hetman”-concept served as a canvas for contradictory notions of Ukrainian state- und nationhood. Its analysis shows how in 1918 ideological frontlines (between socialism and nationalism e.g.) were often blurred in the political arena under German occupation, thereby illustrating the volatile nature of post-imperial state- and nation-building.