The 1st Ukrainian Corps was a Ukrainianized combined–arms military formation created during the "democratization" of the army in Russia in August 1917 based on the 34th Army Corps of Lieutenant General Pavlo Skoropadskyi. After the October Revolution, the 1st Ukrainian Corps became part of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, but it ceased to exist in January 1918.
Background
On January 22, 1917, Lieutenant General Pavlo Skoropadskyi was appointed commander of the 34th Army Corps by the All–Russian Emperor.
After the Kerensky Offensive's failure by the Russian Army, coupled with the Tarnopol breakthrough by the Austro–Hungarian and German troops, General Lavr Kornilov, the 8th Army's commander, who managed to hold the front in a difficult situation, was appointed commander–in–chief of the armies of the Southwestern Front. On the evening of the same day, Kornilov sent a telegram to the Provisional Government with a description of the situation at the front ("The army of maddened dark people ... is running ...") and his proposals for rectifying the situation (the introduction of the death penalty and field courts at the front). Two weeks later, he was appointed the Supreme Commander–in–Chief. Before accepting this position, he stipulated the conditions on which he would agree to do so – one of such conditions was the implementation of the army reorganization program. To restore discipline, at the request of General Kornilov, the Provisional Government returned the death penalty in the army. By decisive and harsh methods, with the use of deserters in exceptional cases, General Kornilov restored the army's combat capability and restored the front.
According to Kornilov, one of the measures that could radically increase the troop's combat capability was the creation of large national military formations – primarily Ukrainian ones. Kornilov noted that it was the Ukrainians who directly defended their native land that showed the greatest stamina and discipline in battle. In August 1917, at Lavr Kornilov's suggestion, Skoropadsky began to "Ukrainize" his corps (104th and 153rd Infantry Divisions). For reorganization, the corps was transferred to the Medzhybizh Region.
The 34th Army Corps was "Ukrainized" with all the Russian soldiers and officers in the unit being transferred to the 41st Army Corps, with their places, both soldier and officer, being substituted with Ukrainians from other parts of the front; in the regiments, along with the all–Russian, national symbols and the Ukrainian language were introduced.
It was assumed that the 1st Ukrainian Corps, consisting of 8 regiments, united in two divisions, would have a total strength of 60,000 soldiers.
History
The date of creation of the 1st Ukrainian Corps in several sources is July 2, 1917, although in fact, Ukrainization began only in August and ended at the end of September.
In October 1917, after the Bolsheviks came to power, Skoropadskyi, having changed his oath to the emperor, recognized the Central Council of Ukraine's power, although its leaders socialist ideas seemed unacceptable to him.
In November–December, the corps implemented the plan developed by the corps' chief of staff, General Yakov Safonov, to neutralize the "Bolshevized" military units of the 2nd Guards Corps, which had left the front and were advancing on Kyiv. Parts of the corps occupied strategically important railway stations – Vinnytsia, Zhmerynka, Koziatyn, Berdychiv, Bila Tserkva and Fastiv – and blocked the way for the Bolsheviks to Kyiv from the south. The "red" echelons were intercepted, disarmed and sent to Soviet Russia.
However, the leadership of the Central Council and the Ukrainian People's Republic continued to treat Skoropadskyi with prejudice, considering him as a future rival in the power struggle or not believing that an aristocrat and one of the wealthiest people of the former empire could sincerely defend the interests of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Skoropadskyi's growing popularity is atested by the fact that he was elected General Ataman on 6 October 1917, at the All–Ukrainian Congress of Free Cossacks in Chigirin, which aggravated relations with the Central Council. This was a manifestation of special trust and respect, testifying to great authority among the masses.