АГРАРНИЙ АСПЕКТ СУСПІЛЬНО-ПОЛІТИЧНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ПОДІЛЬСЬКОГО ГУБЕРНСЬКОГО СТАРОСТИ СЕРГІЯ КИСЕЛЬОВА (1918 Р.)

Abstract

Introduction At the beginning of May 1918, the
establishment of the Ukrainian State authorities began
in Podillya. Hetman P. Skoropadsky considered the
owners, the middle and upper strata of the population
to be his support. Therefore, he recruited power
structures mainly from the pre-revolutionary
bureaucracy, the Zemstvo and the wealthy.
On May 13, 1918, P. Skoropadsky appointed
Zemsky activist Serhiy Kiselyov provincial head of
Podillya. Serhiy Kiselyov was a lawyer by education.
In Podillya he headed the Proskuriv Zemstvo, after the
revolution of 1917 he worked as a county commissioner,
headed the food administration, that is, he had
experience in management.
The purpose of the study is to cover the activities of
a public and political figure, Podolsk provincial elder
of the period of Hetman S. Kiselyov on the normalization
of the situation in the countryside and the
implementation of agricultural policy of the Government
of the Ukrainian State in Podillya.
Results. S. Kiselyov had a task to ensure the
stabilization of the political situation and eliminate
social tensions, which were especially felt in Podillya.
On May 19, 1918, taking office, S. Kiselyov stated the
main problems of the new administration in the rural
area covered by anarchy: the presence of a significant
number of weapons in the rural population, which can
resist the orders of the authorities; open anti-government
agitation, etc.
The repressive policies of the Hetmans and
Austrians led to the fact that in August 1918 social
tensions increased almost everywhere. Authorities
recorded peasant riots, hostility to Austrian troops,
landowners, and the bourgeoisie. Under such
conditions, the peasants, who had many weapons left,
rose in revolt. Eventually, the hetman’s power in
Podillya was overthrown and S. Kiselyov stopped
performing the powers of the provincial headman.
Originality. For the first time, S. Kiselyov’s activity
on the implementation of the agrarian policy of the
Hetman’s government in Podillia was systematically
covered. The attitude of the peasantry of the region to
this policy is determined.
Conclusion. S. Kiselyov, like most supporters of the
hetman, was of the opinion that the way out of the
difficult political and socio-economic situation is the
introduction of conservative principles of social life
close to them in spirit. The formation of the
administrative apparatus in Podolia was based on
models tested in pre-revolutionary times. His actions
were aimed at stabilizing the situation in a region with
a predominantly rural population.
Although politically S. Kiselyov was not a
supporter of repressive measures, he tried to implement
a policy of social compromise, but the anarchist
manifestations of the population and the pressure of
the ruling classes, often forced him to follow the firm
line of order embodied by the Hetman’s government and
Austrian command. However, he failed to reach a
compromise between the peasants and the landlords,
to normalize the situation in the countryside and to
stabilize agrarian relations.