After the Bolshevik coup, the revolution turned into a civil war. Gone were the euphoria, the feeling of solidarity, the massive demonstrations, tumultuous assemblies, and heated debates of 1917.

For the next three years numerous claimants for power in Ukraine and throughout the former empire were embroiled in a bitter, merciless military struggle, complete with large-scale terror and atrocities, to decide who and what form of government should replace the old order.

For many Ukrainians, the rise of the Bolsheviks in Russia not only ushered in a new, violent phase of the postrevolutionary period but also brought about a radical change in their political thinking. Repulsed by the dictatorial nature of the Bolshevik regime in the north, many Ukrainian leaders abandoned their traditional preference for an autonomous or federal relationship with Russia. Henceforth, independence became their goal. However, Ukrainians, like other peoples of the former empire, became increasingly divided over their other goals and the ways to achieve them. Moreover, because of Ukraine’s abundant natural resources and strategic location, almost every participant in the Civil War sought to gain control of the land. Therefore, after the relatively calm hiatus imposed by the German occupation, Ukraine became the scene of the most chaotic, complex events of the Civil War.