Page - 154 - 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 the territories claimed by the Ukrainian People’s Republic from Bolshevik forces. For the next eightmonths, a virtual Austro-German condominium of Ukraine existed, wherein Austrian forces were responsible for the Podolia, Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, and southwestern Volynia provinces, with Odessa as generalheadquarters. TheAustro-Germanoccupation ofUkraine in 1918 has been the subject of some excellent recent research focusing primarily onmilitary and economic developments.Thesestudiesemphasisethehaphazardandimprovisednatureof theoccupationpolicyof thetwopowers,characterisedby theabsenceofclearly definedgoals.39Inthefinalanalysis,arguesWolframDornik,theoccupationwas a fiasco for everyone involved.40However, theoccupation’s impact onnational identity formation, especially in the countryside, remains less clear.While the Germans had the upper hand for the duration of the occupation, it is worth pointingoutthatAustria-Hungaryeitherinitiatedoranticipatedcertainpolicies relevant to themobilisationofethnicitywhichGermany lateractivelypursued. The first of thesewas the forced requisitioningof foodstuffs, whichHabsburg troops began to carry out as early as mid-March in the face of the passive resistanceofferedbylocalUkrainianfunctionaries;incontrast,Germanmilitary authorities had strictly forbidden suchbehaviour in their zone.41SinceUkrai- niannational identitywas closely tied to the agrarianquestionduring thispe- riod, this helped de-legitimise among the peasantry aUkrainian People’s Re- public allied to the Central Powers. The second was the replacement of the socialistRadawithamorereliable,conservativegovernment,mootedbyBaron Mykola Vasyl’ko, deputy in the Viennese Reichsrat and influential Ukrainian politician fromBukovina, in conversationwith theAustro-Hungarian ambas- sador inKiev(whoendorsedit) in lateMarch.42 InfantryGeneralAlfredKrauss, the Habsburg commander in Odessa, expressed a similar view when he de- scribed theUkrainian People’s Republic in a report toArmyHighCommand aroundthesametimeasa ‘phantom’, a republicnoone inthe importantBlack Sea port recognised.43 Following the German-backed coup in the last days of 39 WolframDornik(ed.),TheEmergenceofUkraine.Self-Determination,Occupation,andWar inUkraine,1917–1922,Edmonton2015;WolframDornik/StefanKarner(ed.),DieBesatzung Der Ukraine 1918. Historischer Kontext – Forschungsstand –wirtschaftliche und soziale Folgen (Veröffentlichungendes LudwigBoltzmann-Institutes fürKriegsfolgen-Forschung, 11),Graz2008. 40 WolframDornik,ConcludingObservations, in: idem(ed.),TheEmergenceofUkraine (see note39),p. 399–406,herep.399. 41 Forg#chto theForeignOffice,no.86/481, 29.03.1918.HHStA,PAX:Rußland,Karton152: Russland, Liasse XI: Entwicklung des russischen Reiches zu einer Pluralität von Staaten (1917–1918). 42 Forg#chto theForeignOffice,no. 78,28.03.1918.HHStA,PAX,K152. 43 Arz toCzernin,no.1329,30.04.1918.HHStA,PAX,K152. BorislavChernev154