Military actions in southern Bessarabia in 1918

Abstract

The events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 occupy an important place in the history of our country. However, some Ukrainian regions, due to a complex of military and political reasons, fell out of the general attention of researchers, because they were outside the boundaries of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian state. One of these regions was Southern Bessarabia (modern southern Odesa region). Even modern historiography practically does not pay attention to what happened in this region in the stormy year of 1918. The purpose of the article is to consider the military-political situation that developed in Southern Bessarabia at the beginning of 1918 and a simple study of the course of hostilities between various military units, as a result of which the region came under the rule of Romania. To create a more reliable picture, the author involved a number of different sources and works of researchers of foreign origin. It has been proven that in 1918, several military and political forces claimed power in Southern Bessarabia at once: the UCR, which was supported by Ukrainianized units of the former Russian army; Rumcherod, which relied on the Bolshevik units of the Romanian Front and the Black Sea Fleet; Sfatul Cerius, who appealed for military aid to Romania. However, the complexity of the conditions in which each of the parties found themselves did not allow taking this region under complete control. It was the Romanian army in 1918 that had the strength, opportunity, and international support to conquer all of Bessarabia. The article details the chronology of the movement of the Romanian army from Cagul to Ackerman in 1918 and the combat clashes between various military formations that took place in the region.