1918 Central Powers occupation of Ukraine

The 1918 Central Powers occupation of Ukraine, also known as the Austro-German occupation of Ukraine or German and Austro-Hungarian occupation of Ukraine, in pro-Hetman sources also sometimes Control of Austro-German troops over the territory of Ukraine, was the military occupation of the territory of Ukraine by the Imperial German Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army during February–December 1918. It was carried out by the two main Central Powers of World War I, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, in accordance with their 9 February 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), that on 22 January 1918 had proclaimed Ukraine's independence from Bolshevik-controlled Soviet Russia.

The Central Rada, the revolutionary council of Ukraine, sought to consolidate the UPR's independence and protect it against Soviet Russian attempts at (re)conquering Ukraine, while Germany and Austria-Hungary sought to prevent a food crisis by accessing Ukraine's rich grain resources, as well as using occupied Ukrainian territory as leverage in the ongoing peace negotiations with the Bolsheviks. Beginning on 18 February, the Central Powers conducted their successful Operation Faustschlag against the Bolshevik-controlled Russian Army, ending with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918 between them and Soviet Russia, as the Bolsheviks decided to exit World War I in order to focus on fighting the Russian Civil War against the White Armies and separatist forces first.

The period was decisive in establishing the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), although its leading Central Rada had tenuous control over internal affairs. After two months, the Rada was overthrown by a German-backed military coup on 29 April 1918 that brought lieutenant general Pavlo Skoropadskyi to power and proclaimed the Ukrainian State. With the looming defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I, as well as internal revolutions that brought down both the Hohenzollern and Habsburg monarchies, Austro-German troops gradually withdrew from Ukraine in November 1918. As a result of the simultaneous Anti-Hetman Uprising, power in Ukraine passed to the Directorate of Ukraine, which restored the Ukrainian People's Republic in early December 1918.


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