Formation of the Bodies of the Russian Occupation Administration in Bukovyna During the Years of the First World War

Abstract

The aim of the study is to highlight the processes of organizing the system of Russian occupation administration in Bukovyna in 1914–1917, to determine the structure of local bodies of Russian government, and its personnel policy. In particular, three periods of Russian occupation are reflected, which were embodied in the activities of the Provisional Military Governorate-General of Galicia (late August 1914 — spring 1916), the Governorate-General of the regions of Austria-Hungary occupied by the right of war (summer 1916 — March 1917), and the Regional Commissariat of Galicia and Bukovyna created by the Provisional Government of Russia in the spring of 1917.

As a result of the analysis of the modern historiography of the problem, as well as unpublished documents, the conclusion was formulated that during the governorship of S.D. Evreinov (August 1914 — June 1915), the activities of his administration were aimed at creating conditions for the rapid incorporation of Bukovyna into the Russian Empire. Instead, his successor as Chernivtsi governor, V.V. Ligin, in 1916, tried to pursue a balanced policy aimed at meeting the needs of the Russian army and the front, taking into account the local characteristics of the socio-economic and political development of the occupied provinces of Austria-Hungary. However, the Russian occupation administration failed to overcome the personnel shortage and restore the judicial system of power. Not all candidates for positions in the newly created bodies of Chernivtsi province were appointed governors for various reasons. At the same time, the processes of unification of the administration of Bukovyna were ineffective, did not have much support from local residents, former Austrian officials. Against the background of mutual distrust, the authority of the Russian occupation administration was discredited by frequent repressions, restrictions and espionage. In addition, the proximity of the front determined the temporary nature of all decrees and decisions of the occupation authorities turned the interests of the Russian army into priorities in the policy of the civil administration. The third period of the Russian occupation (March — August 1917) turned out to be somewhat different in its nature. After all, the Regional Commissar of Galicia and Bukovyna, D.I. Doroshenko, appointed after the February Revolution in Russia, tried to democratize the administrative bodies, to rely on Ukrainian personnel in the activities of the occupation administration. However, the chaotic retreat of the Russian army in the summer of 1917, the complications of the geopolitical situation in the region led to the curtailment of the activities of the D.I. Doroshenko administration in Bukovyna. The Russian occupation authorities, which for three years tried to institutionally establish themselves in the territory of Bukovyna, finally ceased to exist at the end of 1917.