Reichskommissariat Ukraine
Ukraine After the Collapse – From Reichskommissariat to National Turmoil
Reichskommissariat Ukraine (1941–1944)
Established after the rapid German advance into Soviet territory, the Reichskommissariat Ukraine was intended to serve as one of the Reich’s most important colonial holdings. Under the brutal rule of Erich Koch, the territory was exploited for its agricultural wealth, labor force, and strategic position between the Reich and the Caucasus.
Koch ruled with an iron fist, overseeing mass deportations, forced Germanization, and harsh repression of any local nationalist sentiment. While the region contributed to the Reich’s eastern ambitions, resentment grew beneath the surface, especially among former Soviet partisans, Ukrainian nationalists, and displaced peasants.
The Slavic Uprising of 1944
In late 1944, taking advantage of German overextension on the Eastern Front and growing instability following the fall of the Soviet Union, a massive multi-ethnic insurgency erupted across Ukraine and parts of Belarus. Known later as the Slavic Uprising, it united remnants of Soviet partisan cells, Ukrainian nationalists, and defected Axis conscripts in an effort to drive out German occupation forces.
During this chaos, Erich Koch was assassinated in Zhytomyr, reportedly by a joint unit of nationalist fighters and rogue Wehrmacht defectors. His death triggered a collapse of the administrative structure of the Reichskommissariat. German forces responded with brutal reprisals, but the rebellion had already spread beyond control.
Creation of the Ukrainian National Assembly
As order disintegrated, German High Command chose to abandon direct civilian rule, shifting instead to a policy of “strategic containment.” Amid the power vacuum, various Ukrainian factions convened in Kyiv, forming the Ukrainian National Assembly (UNA)—a semi-independent governing body made up of military officers, nationalists, and former collaborators.
- The UNA now controls central and western Ukraine.
- It claims to be the legitimate successor of a sovereign Ukraine, while maintaining loose allegiance to Berlin for security and military support.
- Propaganda paints the UNA as a “bulwark of European anti-Bolshevism,” despite its chaotic origins.
Creation of the SS-K Galizien – A Shield State
In response to the continued instability, the SS created a fortified buffer zone in the west: the SS-Kommissariat Galizien (SS-K Galizien). Administered by the SS and manned with foreign SS volunteers, especially from Galicia and ethnic German settlers, it acts as a shield state to:
- Prevent further partisan infiltration.
- Maintain supply routes through the Carpathians.
- Serve as a recruiting base and training ground for Waffen-SS units.
Heavily militarized and racially managed, SS-K Galizien is often described as a “bastion of order in the Slavic East”, although unrest still simmers near its borders.
Present Status (1946)
Ukraine remains deeply divided:
- The Ukrainian National Assembly governs the core territory but struggles with legitimacy and internal factionalism.
- The SS-K Galizien is stable but isolated, acting more as a military garrison than a functioning state.
- The Reich formally recognizes neither entity as fully sovereign, but uses both as tools in its broader eastern policy.
Germany's hold on the region has shifted from domination to strategic delegation, hoping to maintain order without further overextension.
