Chapter 257： Bessarabia and Western Ukraine

Edel called the Chief Guard to come over mainly to learn about Bessarabia and West Ukraine.

If Romania wants to expand its strength, it can't just stare at the Transylvania region in the hands of Austria-Hungary. Russia’s Bessarabia and Western Ukraine are the keys to Romania’s strength. Of course, the Transylvania region is also indispensable, which allows Romania to occupy the topographical advantage of the surrounding countries. Only now Edel needs to carefully understand the intelligence of the two places in order to make a good reference for the future.

After Carust was called in, he was questioned face to face by Edel. "How much does your intelligence department know about Bessarabia and Western Ukraine?"

Carust understood what Edel wanted to ask, so he spoke. "Your Majesty is now politically chaotic in the Bessarabia area, and there are all kinds of political ideas, but at present, their political demands can be divided into three main aspects."

“Among them, the main political family of Bikost in Chisinau proposed to obey the orders of the St. Petersburg provisional government and currently occupy the mainstream opinion in the Bessarabia area. And most of these people are land noble factory owners, etc. We analyze that this is just an instinctive action of these people to ensure their own interests."

"anything else?"

"Then it is the return to Romania proposed by several small parties that we funded jointly. Because our economic development has been exceptionally good in recent years, there are many local people who envy the country. Several small parties have attracted a lot of local people. People. Especially after the Russian Revolution, these parties have joined more people, and many children of families have joined them."

Edel nodded when he heard it. "Very good, these are smart people."

The way these families operate is the same for both the East and the West. For example, the gentry at the end of the Qing Dynasty also had a good choice, with the old university tradition, the second and the newest, and the third to study abroad. This is all for the inheritance and continuation of the family, there is nothing to worry about, as long as the local people do not block the protection of the Romanian army at that time.

Edel continued to ask. "You keep talking."

Carust continued. "Finally, some scholars in Bessarabia offered to make it independent..."

When Edel heard that someone had proposed independence, he immediately interrupted the head of the bodyguard. "Are there many people? Who brought it up?"

Facing the fierce reaction from the king, the chief guard could only answer Edel's question first. "It is mainly the sociologist Dostav of Kiev University, and a few people who are mainly the head of the Bolz Middle School Swiksi. No one pays attention to their ideas at present. Everyone knows that it is impossible to be than Sarabia. independent."

After hearing the answer from the chief guard, Edel felt a little irritable. "Let you arrange an accident for these two gentlemen. I don't want to see them."

Facing the order of Edel Kusuga's life, Carust didn't defend himself, just replied. "Your Majesty."

After seeing that Edel was not talking about these issues, Carust continued. "Compared to the Bessarabia region, Western Ukraine is much more complicated."

How complicated the details are, Edel also learned after listening to Carust's explanation. Galicia under the rule of the Habsburg family has more than 70,000 square kilometers of land in western Ukraine, and there are more than 2 million Ukrainians on this land. And they were not killed in the process of being conquered, and their homes were not destroyed in the war, so that the West Ukrainians were very compliant with the Habsburgs.

The greatest "good luck" of the Ukrainians is the fruits of the reforms of Queen Theresia and Joseph II after being included in the rule of Austria. In the 1880s, Austria began to implement a series of radical reform measures.

First, in 1782, it was announced that the peasants' personal dependence on the landlord was abolished and the peasants were given the most basic citizenship rights. Then, in 1786, it was stipulated that the time for the peasants to work for the prefectures was only three days a week for the landlord. In 1787, the land used by the peasants and the land of the landlord were prohibited, and the landlord was prohibited from arbitrarily controlling the land of the peasants. Finally, in 1789, it was announced that land rent was used to replace the abolition of the labor service system, and farmers could retain more than 70% of their harvest.

90% of Ukrainians in Austria live in rural areas, and before the reform they were treated like slaves from Polish landlords. Therefore, this reform not only helped them get rid of the exploitation of Polish landlords, but also allowed them to obtain "personal freedom" nearly 50 years earlier than their Ukrainian brothers in Russia.

Because, at the same time, Empress Ekaterina is strengthening the Ukrainians under Russian rule who imposed slave-like rule on them, and their "liberation still needs to wait until the serfdom reform in 1861."

The Austrian Ukrainians have benefited a lot from the economy, and the Ukrainians have gained a lot of religious and cultural independence. The Austrian emperor implemented the principle of reciprocity between Roman Catholicism and Greek Catholicism, allowing Greek Catholics and Roman Catholics to obtain equal status. This policy makes Catholic Ukrainians grateful.

At the same time, in order to free the Ukrainians under Austrian rule from the dominance of Polish culture. The Austrians began to carry out cultural reforms to the Ukrainian masses, although their goal was to cultivate an elite class that was obedient and Austrian. However, with the acquiescence of the Austrians, the Ukrainians successfully promoted the Ukrainian language.

In 1893, it was recognized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to use Ukrainian in schools in areas where Ukrainians lived. By 1914, Galicia had more than 2500 primary schools and 16 colleges and universities that spoke Ukrainian.

Although Ukrainian personnel under Austrian rule sought their origins from Russian culture, contrary to Austrian rule, Russia not only banned the existence of the Greek Catholic Church, even in Kiev in 1900 it did not allow the publication of books in the Ukrainian language. The differences in religious and cultural policies undoubtedly made the Ukrainians under Austrian rule grateful and loyal to the Habsburg family. For this reason, they received a new name called the "Oriental Tyrolean" (Austrian).

It is precisely because of this loyalty to Austria that in the movement that swept the European national awakening in the mid-19th century, the Ukrainians showed a rare "reaction". When the Poles in Galicia wanted to seek self-government in 1848, they were unsuccessful because of the opposition of the Ukrainian leader "General Roslada".

After seeing the role of "General Roslada", the Austrians stingly "given" the Ukrainians the right to vote, and they can elect 25 seats out of the 100 representatives of Galicia. However, Ukrainians’ political rights under Austrian rule seem to be nothing more than that, and even if Hungary forced the Austrian empire into a “dual Austria-Hungarian empire” in 1867, even Poland and other ethnic groups have gained huge political autonomy. right.

Perhaps it was to fight for more rights, or perhaps it was dazzled by the gift of Austria, "Zero Rosslarda" tried to organize armed forces to help the Austrian government suppress the revolution in Hungary. This is not the first time that Ukrainians proposed to form an armed force (in 1846, Ukrainians proposed to build a national army in the city and a self-defense force in the countryside), but it was the first time they proposed to fight for the Habsburg family. For unknown reasons, Austria did not agree to this proposal.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Austria-Hungarian Empire had its first unit formed by the Ukrainians alone. At this time, it has been nearly 70 years since they requested the formation of a separate armed force. What is even more ironic is that the Ukrainians who are loyal to the Habsburg family have been unable to realize their desire to form an armed force for a long time, while other ethnic groups have already realized it. This gap between ideals and reality is actually the Austrians’ distrust of the Ukrainians, and this distrust will bring more serious disasters to the Ukrainians in the subsequent World War I.

In the short time before World War I, the Austro-Hungarian army expanded from more than 180,000 in 1912 to 2.3 million in 1914. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was a history of warriors, but the Ukrainians under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were split.

Ukrainians who fled Galicia hoped that their compatriots would welcome Tsarist Russia’s army as "liberators"; Ukrainians, known as the "Union of Ukrainian Liberators," hoped to rely on Germany to realize Ukraine's dream of establishing an independent nation. The Ukrainian General Rada called on the Ukrainians to join the Austro-Hungarian army and prepare to fight for "the greatest friend" Austria against its "most fierce enemy" Russia. Therefore, the Ukrainians, who accounted for 8% of the population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have 250,000 people joined the Austro-Hungarian army, and the number accounted for about 10% of the Austro-Hungarian army.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire recruited 250,000 "cannon fodder" from Galicia and other places, it still rejected the request to establish an integrated "Ukrainian Legion" composed of Ukrainians, although in order to establish this corps the Ukrainian General Rada 30,000 young Ukrainians have been mobilized. Moreover, the 250,000 Ukrainians enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were dispersed and integrated into the regular army.

Although most of the soldiers in the three infantry regiments of the Galician 15th Infantry Regiment, the Galician-Bukovina 24th Infantry Regiment and the Galician 30th Infantry Regiment were also made up of Ukrainians, But for the Chief of Ukraine Radha, there is still a huge gap between this and the desire to establish an independent Ukrainian army.

In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire refused to form a "Ukrainian Legion". One was worried that Ukrainians with their own armed forces would embark on the road of armed independence and founding of the country. The other was that the Polish nobles who had long oppressed the Ukrainians stood in the way and did not want Ukrainians to have independence. Armed forces.

However, in order to appease the loyalty of the Ukrainians for nearly a century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still allowed the Ukrainians to form a small armed force. Although this force has only 2500 people, it is the first armed force formed by Ukrainians in modern Ukrainian history. This unit, which is only equivalent to a regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Defense Forces in terms of organization, is called the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooting Corps." Judging from the name of this unit, it is likely to be a fortress defense unit formed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Because "Sech" in Ukrainian means "a fortress constructed of felled logs".

Perhaps, it is precisely because the original "mission" given to this Ukrainian force by the Austro-Hungarian Empire is only to defend the fortress, it is also extremely "stingy" with this unit in terms of weapons and equipment. By September 1914, the troops guarding the passes of the Carpathian Mountains could only be rationed with single-shot rifles. Unfortunately, the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters" was dispatched to the Carpathian Mountains on September 25, 1914.

Perhaps it was because the Austro-Hungarian Empire only regarded Ukrainians as "cannon fodder", or it was because of the weak industrial production capacity of the Austro-Hungarian country, and its weapon production capacity was completely unable to adapt to the empire's military expansion speed. When the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has expanded to 2.3 million people, the "M1895 Steyr-Manlixia Rifle" has become a "luxury" for the Austro-Hungarian army. Two-thirds of the army's equipment can only be used for nearly Old-fashioned rifle of the quarter century.

However, for the "Ukrainian Sech Shooters", the rifle's advanced level does not seem to matter. Because, as a defensive force, the officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have always believed that close-range machine gun firepower is the most important. Therefore, the level of training was originally not as good as that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in other countries, and training in shooting was even less important.

What's more, the training materials and training subjects prepared by Marshal Konrad, the chief of the general staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, are purely for offensive purposes. At that time, the armed forces of various countries believed that "hand-to-hand assaults can force the enemy to abandon the positions it has occupied." For the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters" with poor equipment and low shooting training, they seem to have only one choice on the battlefield-to resolutely implement the tactics of completely annihilating the enemy with bayonets in an offensive battle.

Once the war machine is activated, it will become a "meat grinder" that devours lives. After all the young lives that enter the battlefield have gone through the **** fight, they will only serve as footnotes to testify to the cruel tragedy of the war. The fate of the Ukrainian Sech Shooters and the other 250,000 Ukrainians who joined the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I may be even more tragic.

After the war broke out, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lost nearly 400,000 troops in the Battle of Galicia, had to relocate the Ukrainian Sechi shooters with inferior weapons and equipment to the front of the Carpathians. This 2,500-strong armed force, together with the Royal Hungarian Local Defense Army and other newly formed units, is responsible for guarding the Carpathian Pass.

However, the front-line command of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not send Ukrainian Sech Shooters to conduct a defensive battle. Instead, they were all broken up into small groups, with 20 people as a team to perform the task of infiltrating the Russian army's rear. Perhaps the front-line commanders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire believed that the identity of the Ukrainian ethnic Ukrainians of the Ukrainian Sech shooting soldiers was the best cover, and they could obtain a lot of intelligence in the Czarist ruling zone.

It is a pity that the opponents of the Ukrainian Sechi Shooting Forces who are carrying out the infiltration mission are the elite Kuban Cossack brigade of Russia. As a result, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire successfully blocked the Russian army in the Carpathian Mountains in this battle, the Ukrainian Sech Shooters also lost hundreds of men. In the first battle, although the Ukrainian Sech Shooters completed their strategic missions, they also suffered heavy losses.

Perhaps for these Ukrainian fighters, the baptism of war is only the beginning of their tragic fate. In the future battles, they not only fought with Ukrainians in the Tsarist Russian army, but also staged a tragedy of the Ukrainians killing each other. It is because they cannot get the trust of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so they have been fighting on the most dangerous front lines.

This Ukrainian army fought bravely in the battles from October to November 1914, April to May 1915, and August to September 1916. In the First World War, three famous battles were carried out on the Eastern Front in these three time periods: the rescue of the Pumizhel Fortress in 1914, and the Battle of Gorlitze jointly launched by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany in 1915. And the "Bruschlov Breakthrough" in 1916.

In these three battles with millions of people at every turn, the 2500 Ukrainian Chess shooters were just a drop in the ocean. However, they showed extremely strong combat effectiveness in the war. They first broke through the defense line of the Russian army with bayonets along with the Hungarians and Croats in the rescue of Pumizhel. Then in the Battle of Gorlitze, he and his ally German annihilated more than 500,000 Russian troops and regained Galicia occupied by Tsarist Russia. In the end, the battle in 1916 blocked the Tsarist Russian army from attacking like a tide and wiped out the protruding part.

It is precisely because of their bravery in this battle that the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have to admit that they are "the best force in the entire Austro-Hungarian army." However, this Ukrainian Chess shooter, recognized as the "best unit", was completely defeated after a fierce battle with the Russian army in the autumn of 1916, and has since disappeared in the long river of history.

Of course, in addition to the 2,500 Ukrainian Chess shooters, there are as many as 250,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although they had a bad record of abandoning their weapons and escaping in the Battle of Galicia, they had also passively avoided the battle during the siege of the Pumigel fortress.

But saw the atrocities committed by the Tsarist army that invaded and occupied Galicia in the spring of 1915. Together with Polish soldiers, they burst into a rare blood in the battle to guard the Carpathian Pass. They took advantage of the natural dangers of the Carpathian Mountains and used rifles, bayonets and even engineer shovel to fought against the Russian army several times their own for the 5th. Not only did they massively injure the vital forces of the Russian army, but also helped the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German army against the Russian army The counterattack gained enough time.

However, neither the Ukrainian Chess shooters who fought bravely nor the other Ukrainian soldiers who knew their shame to be brave could not exchange the great achievements of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the trust of the Ukrainian ethnic group.

After the Battle of Galliasi, the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire arrested and executed hundreds of Ukrainians without trial, on the grounds that these people sold the military intelligence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Tsarist Russia and led to their disastrous defeat. In addition to the execution of so-called pro-Russian elements, thousands of Ukrainians were moved to the west to prevent them from providing intelligence to Tsarist Russia, and more than 30,000 Ukrainians were imprisoned in concentration camps in Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire Marshal Conrad, the chief of the general staff of Ukraine, even referred to the Ukrainian ethnic group as "untrustworthy and lazy personnel."

Perhaps, the reason why the Austro-Hungarian Empire recruited a large number of Ukrainian soldiers in the war was only to make up for the shortage of troops. In addition, it hoped to use the bayonet of the Russian army to consume the elite of the Ukrainians in the war.

Perhaps, the "conspiracy" of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has succeeded. Countless Ukrainian soldiers drained their blood on the battlefield. The residential area of ​​the Ukrainian ethnic group was also ruthlessly devastated by the war because it was the main battlefield of Austria, Germany, and Russia. .

Edel seems to want to have ideas in Western Ukraine, so some of the practices of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are still inspiring for him. But now there is a news that Edel does not let go of his work now. Concerned about other issues.