Vasyl' Matviyovych Shakhrai (; February 11, 1888 – 1919) was a Ukrainian political activist and

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

revolutionary during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He was а founder of what came to be called

National Communism National communism is a term describing various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent ...

Biography

Shakhrai joined the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

after completing his training at the Military Academy in

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

in 1917, while some sources claim that he was a member and activist of Bolsheviks since 1913. He was one of the few Ukrainians amongst the Poltava

. At the time the Bolsheviks were in a unified organisation with the local

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

, but Shakhrai supported Serhii Mazlakh, a 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 supporting Ukrainian national interests within the party. Although this caused concern amongst the predominantly Jewish local Mensheviks, he gained support amongst 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 Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

Brest Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

for the

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

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 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

consented to the dismemberment of Ukraine through the founding of the Donets-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic 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 from the Bolsheviks was more or less complete.Introduction by Michael Luther, ''On The Current Situation in the Ukraine'' 1970 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 ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

, then occupied by

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

. Here he worked on a number of underground newspapers, before being arrested and shot by Denikin's administration in autumn 1919.

References

External links

* Yurenko, O.
Vasyl Shakhrai (ШАХРАЙ Василь Матвійович)
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. *Velychenko S.,"Why ukrainian communists condemned russian bolsheviks as imperialists. Two previously unknown articles by vasyl-shakhrai."

* Shakhray, V., Mazlakh, S
On the current situation. What is Happening in and to the Ukraine
(2nd edition) Prolog, Inc. New York, 1967. (in Ukrainian) * Shakhray, V., Mazlakh, S
On the current situation. What is Happening in and to the Ukraine
(original edition). Soviet typography, 5th department. Saratov, 1919. (in Ukrainian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shakhrai, Vasyl 1888 births 1919 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Piryatinsky Uyezd People of the Russian Civil War Old Bolsheviks Ukrainian communists Russian Revolution in Ukraine Soviet defence ministers of Ukraine 20th-century executions Ukrainian revolutionaries Executed Ukrainian people Ukrainian defectors Soviet people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War Deputies to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly 20th-century Ukrainian politicians

Biography

Further reading

References

External links