By Drake Long
Note: this is the third of several articles posted to The New Contemporary that feature writing from this Fall’s Havighurst Colloquium, “Russia in War and Revolution.” Each student in the class had to select an object from the Andre de St.-Rat Collection in Miami’s Special Collections and write about it. These writings, as you will see, spotlight the incredible collections in our library. They also highlight how the Russian Revolutions in 1917 involved a battle over meaning: through these primary sources, one can read the words, see the images, and therefore gain more insight into the experiences of revolution. Other papers have been posted to the History Department’s new online journal, Journeys Into the Past: http://sites.miamioh.edu/hst-journeys/category/essays/. Special thanks to Masha Stepanova, Miami’s extraordinary Slavic Bibliographer.
Ukrainian Banknote: Karbovanets, 1919. Andre de Saint-Rat Collection, Special Collections, Miami University.
This is a 1919 Ukrainian bank-note with a value of 50 karbovanets/karbovantsi from the end times of the short-lived independent Ukrainian state, which lasted from March 1917 to April 1920. Karbovanets are distinct from the modern hryvnia: the word “karbovanet” is roughly translated from the Ukrainian as ‘imperial ruble.’ Banknotes such as this were printed with a value from 1 to 1,000,000 karbovanets over its lifetime as the official currency of an independent Ukrainian republic. The tear and mark down the middle is consistent with it being folded up within someone’s pocket. The color has faded, but records show the front would normally be green, as this subject shows, and the back would be blue.
This particular note features a peasant couple on the back along with a serial number (211) and two phrases: at top, it says ‘Falsification is punished by jail,’ at bottom, ‘Circulates equally with credit tickets.’. On the front, a different couple is placed center. Judging by the curled moustache of the man, it’s likely a representation of Cossacks.
A notable feature on both sides is the Ukrainian trident, a nationalistic symbol that was designed by Imperial Russian subject Heorhiy Narbut in 1917. Narbut was a preeminent Ukrainian graphic artist who was enlisted to create much of the iconography of the first independent Ukrainian People’s Republic. The trident became a coat of arms for the Republic and was heavily used even on these banknotes in an attempt to build a Ukrainian nationalist spirit. Its historical origin comes from the coat of arms of the Riurykovych dynasty, which was born in Ukraine.[1] The trident was discarded after Ukraine’s incorporation into the Soviet Union.
The language of the bill is Ukrainian, with the most obvious distinction from Russian being the use of the Ukrainian-exclusive letter ї. The use of Ukrainian in place of Russian began almost immediately after independence, with one of the first orders by the Central Rada being to send volunteers into the countryside to create Rada-loyal committees and encourage the use of the Ukrainian language.[2] This had mixed success, although for many the transition from Russian to Ukrainian was not difficult given their similarities. Ukrainian served mostly a symbolic purpose, by drawing a special distinction for Ukraine by the slow implementation of its own language into administrative use. Even the Provisional Government in Russia, nominally in charge of Ukraine, passed the Statute of Higher Administration of Ukraine on July 16, 1917. The Statue specified laws came into effect in Ukraine only when translated into Ukrainian. In autumn of the same year the Central Rada began requiring bureaucrats to retake oaths of office—in Ukrainian.[3] The significance of Ukrainian on this bill, then, is as another piece of national identity. Currency, held by citizens, would be one of the strongest ways to enforce familiarity with a language, separating Ukrainian from the Russian of its former imperial master.
The addition of the Cossack imagery comes from the Cossack host in Ukraine, located in the Don region although other groups existed elsewhere in South Russia and Ukraine at varying times. The Cossacks played an important role in the formation of an independent Ukraine, and culturally they are often brought up as part of Ukrainian national identity. In 1648 a rebellion in the Ukraine region was led by the Cossack host of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who eventually established a Hetmanate, or Cossack State, of his own. The resulting entity closely matched the geographic area of Ukraine today. Khmelnytskyi is an important national icon for Ukraine, having inspired masterful pieces of art.[4] Militarily, Cossacks were simultaneously a problem for sedentary Ukrainian communities but also a strong force for the young Ukrainian nation of 1917, as not only did many of the White armies during the Russian Civil War incorporate Cossack units disaffected by the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power but the Ukrainian’s Central Rada did as well. [5]
Not coincidentally, another Hetmanate was declared in Ukraine by the German-backed Pavlo Skoropadskyi in April 1918, who took control of Kiev. It fell with the end of World War I and was replaced by the Ukrainian Directorate, which lasted roughly until the end of 1920.
Similar to how the Cossack imagery is homage to a nationally significant demographic, the peasant couple on the back represents the majority of Ukrainians that the political class had to convince of Ukrainian independence. The Ukrainian peasant population suffered heavily under the military governments of both the Russian and German Imperial armies, and the newly-formed Ukrainian People’s Republic had a difficult time convincing peasants of their role in an independent Ukraine.[6] The language issue has already been mentioned, but other problems included the anarchist Blacks led by Nestor Makhno, an army of peasants which directly challenged the power of the Ukrainian government. Other issues such as uncertain land distribution and lack of food led to major peasant riots throughout the lifetime of the state.[7]
The Ministry of Finance after Ukrainian independence was Khrystofor Baranovsky, who printed notes such as this after the design was deliberated on by the Central Rada. The placement of this banknote in history comes not just from the formation of the Ukrainian Republic, but also in the context of the White movement itself. The serial number, 211, marks it as one in a series of notes not printed by the actual government of the Ukrainian Republic or Directorate. In 1919, Anton Denikin’s South Russian White army overran the city of Odessa and procured its printing press. To maintain his military campaign, Denikin began printing notes such as this in huge quantities, as the karbovanet was still in use by Ukraine-based merchants. This note is therefore more interesting because it was not only a tool of the formation of Ukraine, but also a tool of its destruction: over-printing led to massive inflation and the creation of banknotes in higher and higher valuation. It also illustrates the confusion of authority at the time. The Directorate’s poorly handled ministries failed to pay soldiers in its new army, and wages and salaries became incredibly unpredictable.[8] The economic problems caused the Ukrainian Republic to suffer immense internal pressures toward the end of its life, with the rival Ukrainian Soviet People’s Republic already controlling Kiev by this time.
It’s also worth noting that this currency had to exist alongside various currencies, as this was only that issued by the Ukrainian Central Rada at a very specific time. Imperial rubles continued to be used regularly, especially in the countryside, and different currencies or stamps entered circulation in Bolshevik, Cossack, and German territories.
Recommended Reading
Velychenko, Stephen. State Building in Revolutionary Ukraine: A Comparative Study of Governments and Bureaucrats, 1917-1922. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011.
Liber, George. Total Wars and the Making of Modern Ukraine, 1914-1954. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.
Wilson, Andrew. The Ukrainians, 3rd Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
Daly, Johnathan and Leonid Trofimov. Russia in War and Revolution, 1914-1922: A Documentary History. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 2009.
Sanborn, Joshua. Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War & Destruction of the Russian Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2014.
[1] Wilson. The Ukrainians, 121-124
[2] Velychenko. State-Building in Modern Ukraine, 87
[3] Ibid, 89
[4] Wilson. 58-71
[5] Velychenko. 74-75
[6] Wilson, 125-126
[7] Liber, Total Wars, 78-79.
[8] Velychenko, 135-139.
Drake Long is a senior majoring in Diplomacy and Global Politics.