У другій частині статті аналізуються соціально-політичні процеси, що відбувалися
на Кубані протягом 1917–1921 років. Дається характеристика державних утворень
на території краю, діяльності тодішніх військових і цивільних керівників кубанських
урядів, у тому числі Кубанської Народної Республіки та Кубанського Краю. Звертається увага на складну ситуацію на території Кубані й Чорноморщини, боротьбу
між різними політичними течіями, у першу чергу проукраїнськими й проросійськими,
вибору союзника – Добровольчої армії чи України. Робиться висновок, що зусилля
представників української спільноти не принесли бажаних результатів, і остаточним
переможцем як на Кубані, так і в Україні, стали більшовики.
The second part of the article analyses the socio-political processes that took place in Kuban
during the period from 1917 to 1921. The characteristic of state formations throughout the
territory and activities of military and civilian leaders of Kuban governments of that time is
given. Attention is drawn to the difficult situation on the territory of Kuban and the Black Sea
area, the struggle among different political trends, primarily pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian,
the choice of an ally – the Volunteer Army or Ukraine.
Since the overwhelming majority of the population in Kuban were Ukrainians, during
the revolutionary events numerous political forces considered Kuban as part of a future
autonomous Ukraine. Significantly, the All-Ukrainian National Congress, which took place
in April 1917 in Kyiv and formed the Central Council as a national body, was headed by the
Kuban Cossack, Stepan Erastov.
However, the Ukrainian population in Kuban did not reach such proportions as it was in
Dnieper Ukraine and Western Ukraine, and Ukrainian leaders, having established ties with
other Cossacks and Denikin, could not establish long-lasting relations with the town Cossacks
(Horodovi Kozaky). Bolsheviks used this to their advantage.
In principle, the outbreak of the revolution of 1917 caught the population of Kuban
politically unprepared. Among the politically conscious stratum of Kuban, there were four
trends: the pro-Russian trend, that considered Kuban to be an ordinary Russian province; the
Cossack trend, that was primarily focused on the interests of the Kuban Army, linked further
with Russia; the trend, which stood for the state separation of Kuban within the Russian
Federation; the pro-Ukrainian trend, that wished to join Kuban to Ukraine on a federal basis
without contact with Russia.
These divergent views on the future of Kuban led to the class grouping shortly after the
outbreak of the revolution, which immediately set the line between the Cossacks and the town
Cossacks.
In the end, the efforts of the Ukrainian community did not bring the desired results, and
the Bolsheviks became the final winners both in Kuban and in Ukraine.
