page_title: Pavlo Skoropadskyi
section_title: Political life
hierarchical_section_title: Pavlo Skoropadskyi / Political life
caption_attribution_description: English: Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky with his officers. Is second from the left - general-khorunzhiy K. Prisovsky. Digital ID: ggbain 34754
context_page_description: Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army general of Cossack heritage. Skoropadsky became a conservative leader in Ukraine following the Russian Revolution of 1917, a founder of a hetman dynasty and Hetman of Ukraine.
context_section_description: On 29 April 1918, a coup d'etat toppled the Ukrainian People's Republic and Skoropadsky became Hetman of Ukraine. The same day he was chrismated by bishop Nykodym in Saint Sophia Cathedral as the Hetman of Ukraine.
  The coup d'état had been sanctioned by the Imperial German Army, which in the spring of 1918 had occupied Kiev and other parts of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Republic was intent upon repelling an invasion by the Bolshevik Red Army. In return, the Republican government pledged food stocks, which were to be expropriated from the peasants. The German General Staff was dissatisfied with the inefficiency and incompetence of the Republican government, which repeatedly failed to deliver the supplies on time.
  Skoropadsky was accused by other Ukrainian nationalists of being a German collaborator supported by wealthy landowners. He was also considered too pro-Russian and dictatorial. Among other things, Skoropadsky formed a cabinet of mainly Russian speakers, Tsarists, and Slavophiles. Simultaneously, he committed Ukraine to federation with a restored Russian Empire.
  Despite these criticisms, by contrast with the earlier socialist Rada, his government was given credit for having created an effective administrative organization, established diplomatic ties with many countries, concluded a peace treaty with Soviet Russia, and built many schools and universities, including the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
  In November 1918 Skoropadsky was removed from power in an uprising led by the social democrat Symon Petliura and the withdrawal of German forces from Kiev. The uprising nominally restored the Ukrainian People's Republic, but power was vested in a Directoria, a provisional government of five directors chaired by Volodymyr Vynnychenko. Skoropadsky abdicated on December 14, 1918 and fled to Berlin.
  While living in Weimar Germany, Skoropadsky maintained close personal friendships with senior government and army officials originating as far back as his military-college days. In later years, however, he consistently refused offers to collaborate with the Nazis.
  During World War II, Skoropadsky fled from advancing Soviet forces with the retreating German army. He died at Metten Abbey in Germany after being wounded by an Allied bombing near Regensburg, and was buried in Oberstdorf.
  His movement continued into the early 1980s, influencing a Ukrainian monarchist program based on the Cossack State model. It ended gradually with the aging of eastern-Ukrainian émigré communities. 
  Skoropadsky's daughter, Olena Skoropadska-Ott (died 2014), resided in Switzerland, visited Ukraine several times, and had been honored for her historical writings.
caption: Pavlo Skoropadsky (right center)
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