Vasyl' Shakhrai
Encyclopedia
Vasyl' Shakhrai was a Ukrainian political activist and Soviet revolutionary during the Russian Revolution. He was noted as an advocate of National Communism
and did not support the October Revolution
.
Shakhrai joined the Bolsheviks after completing his training at the Military Academy in Poltava
in 1917, while some sources claim that he was already Bolshevik since 1913. He was one of the few Ukrainians amongst the Poltava Bolsheviks. At the time the Bolsheviks were in a unified organisation with the local Mensheviks, but Shakhrai supported Serhii Mazlakh, a Jewish Poltava Bolshevik who successfully ousted the Mensheviks by August 1917.
Shakhrai and Mazlakh were then elected editors of the weekly newspaper. By this time Shakhrai was advocating Ukrainian nationalism
. Although this caused concern amongst the predominantly Jewish local Mensheviks, he gained support amongst the local Bolsheviks, who felt that it helped gain support amongst the largely anti-Russian Ukrainians of the region. Shakhrai was elected as a delegate to both the First All-Ukrainian Consultative Conference of the CP(b)U and the First All Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. He was also appointed the People's Commissar for Military Affairs in the Soviet Ukrainian government. In this capacity he accompanied Trotsky to Brest Litovsk for the treaty negotiations there in March 1918.
He was concerned about the suppression of Ukrainian cultural organizations by Russian Bolshevik troops who were sent to Ukraine in January and February 1918. Lenin consented to the dismemberment of Ukraine through the founding of Donets-Kryvyi Rog as a ruse to place it outside the terms of the Brest Litovsk Treaty. Although this stratagem failed, it further raised concerns for Shakrai as regards to how the Bolsheviks were treating Ukraine. This concern was increased when Lenin gave a speech in November 1918, which called upon party functionaries to consider themselves Russian patriots. By December 1918 his alienation form the Bolsheviks was more or less complete.
His pamphlet The Revolution in Ukraine was published in November 1918, followed by On the Current Situation in Ukraine in January 1919. It led to Shakhrai expulsion from the CP(b)U in June 1919.
Shakhrai then went to Saratov
, then being occupied by the Volunteer Army of Denikin. Here he worked on a number of underground newspapers, before being arrested and shot in autumn 1919.
National communism
The term National Communism describes the ethnic minority communist currents that arose in the former Russian Empire after Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Party seized power in October 1917....
and did not support the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
.
Shakhrai joined the Bolsheviks after completing his training at the Military Academy in Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
in 1917, while some sources claim that he was already Bolshevik since 1913. He was one of the few Ukrainians amongst the Poltava Bolsheviks. At the time the Bolsheviks were in a unified organisation with the local Mensheviks, but Shakhrai supported Serhii Mazlakh, a Jewish Poltava Bolshevik who successfully ousted the Mensheviks by August 1917.
Shakhrai and Mazlakh were then elected editors of the weekly newspaper. By this time Shakhrai was advocating Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism refers to the Ukrainian version of nationalism.Although the current Ukrainian state emerged fairly recently, some historians, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Orest Subtelny and Paul Magosci have cited the medieval state of Kievan Rus' as an early precedents of specifically...
. Although this caused concern amongst the predominantly Jewish local Mensheviks, he gained support amongst the local Bolsheviks, who felt that it helped gain support amongst the largely anti-Russian Ukrainians of the region. Shakhrai was elected as a delegate to both the First All-Ukrainian Consultative Conference of the CP(b)U and the First All Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. He was also appointed the People's Commissar for Military Affairs in the Soviet Ukrainian government. In this capacity he accompanied Trotsky to Brest Litovsk for the treaty negotiations there in March 1918.
He was concerned about the suppression of Ukrainian cultural organizations by Russian Bolshevik troops who were sent to Ukraine in January and February 1918. Lenin consented to the dismemberment of Ukraine through the founding of Donets-Kryvyi Rog as a ruse to place it outside the terms of the Brest Litovsk Treaty. Although this stratagem failed, it further raised concerns for Shakrai as regards to how the Bolsheviks were treating Ukraine. This concern was increased when Lenin gave a speech in November 1918, which called upon party functionaries to consider themselves Russian patriots. By December 1918 his alienation form the Bolsheviks was more or less complete.
His pamphlet The Revolution in Ukraine was published in November 1918, followed by On the Current Situation in Ukraine in January 1919. It led to Shakhrai expulsion from the CP(b)U in June 1919.
Shakhrai then went to Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, then being occupied by the Volunteer Army of Denikin. Here he worked on a number of underground newspapers, before being arrested and shot in autumn 1919.