Page - 142 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 figure of 5,000more accurate. The proposed banner of the new national unit wouldcombine theUkrainiannational colours (blueandyellow)with theAus- trian double-eagle alongside the Ukrainian lion and a black-gold campaign streamerhoistedonablack-gold flagpole.5 After theArmyHighCommandapprovedthemeasure,aUkrainianmilitary detachment, which subsequently incorporated the so-called ‘Ukrainian Sich Sharpshooters’ (Ukrainski Sichovi Striltsi,USS)was duly created in early Sep- tember1914.ThelegionservedintheAustrianLandwehr(territorials),attached to the 55th Infantry Division and the 129th and 130th Brigades. The USS also formedpartofthe131stBrigadeofthe8thCavalryDivision.6In1915itcameunder the commandofWilhelmvonHabsburg, a self-fashionedUkrainophilewhose penchant forwearingablue-yellowembroidered shirtwonhim thealiasVasyl Vyshyvanyi and theheartfelt affectionof hisUkrainian troops. TheUkrainian Legionengagedinheavyfightingthroughout1915and1916,sufferingcasualties of over 1,500men during this period. By 30 September 1916, with only nine officersand444infantrymenremaining,thedepletedUSSwassenttotherearin order to reform.7 Far from sliding into obscurity, however, the legionwould recoverandplayaleadingroleintheHabsburginvolvementinDnieperUkraine in1918. TheUnion for theLiberationofUkraine The creation of theUkrainian Legion had its parallel in the creation of aUk- rainianpolitical organisation, the ‘Union for theLiberationofUkraine’ (Soiuz vizvolenniaUkraini, ULU), byUkrainian 8migr8s fromRussia in cooperation withGalicianUkrainians inLembergon4August 1914.Albeit an independent Ukrainian institution, the ULU received financial support from the Austro- Hungarian (around 200,000 kronen in 1914) and, increasingly, the German ForeignOffice. TheUniondescribed itsmain immediateobjective as bringing togetherRussianUkrainian 8migr8s for political and culturalwork. In the au- tumnof 1914, it published aManifesto on theUkrainianQuestion inmultiple 5 Urbas anHoyos:Über die Frage der Bildung einer ukrain. Legion und der Schaffung eines ukrain. Staates, 06.08.1914, in: Theophil Hornykiewicz (ed.), Ereignisse in der Ukraine 1914–1922, deren Bedeutung und historische Hintergründe, vol.1 (Publikationen des ost- europäischenForschungsinstituts inPhiladelphia,SerieI–IV,1),Philadelphia1966,p.4–7,here p.4–5. 6 OksanaDudko,SichRiflemen, in:1914–1918Online. InternationalEncyclopediaof theFirst World War, URL: <http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/sich_riflemen> (last access January26,2018). 7 Dudko,SichRiflemen(seenote6). BorislavChernev142