Eichhorn, Hermann von

Eichhorn, Hermann von, b 13 February 1848 in Breslau (now Wrocław), d 30 July 1918 in Kyiv. Eichhorn was a German field marshal who in 1918 was appointed commander in chief of the German army in Ukraine. On 6 April 1918, without consulting the Central Rada, he issued an order to the Ukrainian populace concerning crop sowing. This action brought him into conflict with the Ukrainian government. On April 13 the Little Rada issued a writ reversing Eichhorn’s order. Eichhorn was largely responsible for the repressive German policy in Ukraine. He was murdered in Kyiv by the Russian Socialist Revolutionary B. Donskoi.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]