UKRAINE

state, formerly included in Austria-Hungary and Ru ia (c. 46° 10 —53° 20’ N., 22° 30 ’—-40° E.), bounded N. and &. by Ru ia, s. by Taurida and the Black Sea, w. by Rumania, Hungary, Czecho-Slovakia, and Poland; surface marshy in n., low plateau in s.; Black Sea coast includes Ode a and Kherson ports; chief rivers are Dnieper, Dniester, Bug, and Donets trib. of Don. Climate continental; Ode a, Jan. 26°4° F., July 733° F., ann. rainfall 16 in.; rain mainly in summer. Wheat, barley, rye, and oats are the chief crops; sugar beets, potatoes, tobacco, also grown. Coal from Donets valley, average ann. production 14,000,000 tons; iron ore near Krivoy-Rog (c. 5,000,000 tons annually); manganese, mercury, salt. Manufactures few, sugar is chief; cereals comprise over 85 per cent of exports; imports mainly manufactured textiles; railway mileage 11,070. Provisional government is a Directory of five members. Two-thirds of pop. belong to Ukrainian-Orthodox Church, which is very similar to Ru ian Orthodox; remainder to Gr. Catholic, Ru ian Orthodox, Jewish, etc. There are primary and secondary schools and _ colleges; universities at Kiev and KamenezPodolsk. State founded (880); zB. part to Lithuania (1315), w. part to Poland (1340); whole incorporated with Poland (1569-1648); =. under Muscovy by Treaty of Pereyaslavl (1654), w. to Austria (1795). Nationalist government dating from 1846 culminated in proclamation of independence (Nov. 1918), and in union of BE. and W. Ukraine (Jan. 1919). In Feb. 1918 Bolshevist Red forces invaded the Ukraine and took Kiev. In accordance with the peace with the Germans signed at BrestLitovsk (March 3) they withdrew. The Germans recognized the independence of the Ukraine, but did not scruple to invade it. An army was organized under an adventurer, Petlura, who repulsed the invaders, and, after the Armistice, occupied Kiev (Dec. 9), expelling the pro-German government of Skoropad- - The then committed the imprudence of fighting the Poles for Lemberg and Galicia instead of getting rid of the Red menace. ‘Throughout Jan. 1919 the Ukrainian army endeavored, without succe , to take the Galician cap. The enterprise was abandoned in May after a heavy defeat. Ukrainian troops under Petlura then proceeded to attack the Reds. Kiev was lost, taken and lost again, and Denikin, who had organized resistance to the Bolsheviks in the s., refused to recognize Petlura. Later he joined forces with the Ukrainian leader, and the Reds, hard pre ed, were compelled to evacuate Kiev (Sept. 1.).. When the Bolsheviks returned (Oct.) Petlura threw in his lot with them, but was defeated by Denikin’s volunteer forces. Kiev again fell (Dec. 17). Subsequently the Bolsheviks withdrew, and the situation in the Ukraine became comparatively settled. The political status was that of an independent republic with strong affiliations with the Soviet Republic. Area, c. See map Ru ia,