The Vancouver Numismatic Society
This 1918 Ukrainian banknote for 100 hryven* is a memento of the short-lived, Ukrainian Peoples' Republic. The standing figures represent agriculture and industry. The familiar trident (tryzub), a symbol of Kyiv's ancient rulers, appears behind the written value. During the civil war in Russia, after the Russians withdrew from the First World War, a Ukrainian Council proposed that Ukraine become an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. That ambition increased and the Ukrainians declared independence on January 22nd, 1918. This banknote was issued at that time. The Ukrainians claimed territory in what is now Belarus, but not the Crimean peninsula. That northwestern extension may have been a reason for the end of their alliance with the Poles who were also carving out their own nation state in the same region.
By November 1920 the Russian Bolsheviks had seized the last of the brief republic's territory. In 1922 Ukraine became a "republic" of the USSR which, despite its name, was not a self-governing republic. This banknote is a reminder of the first attempt by the Ukrainians in the twentieth century to break free of Russian domination. The second attempt was successful. In 1991 Ukraine separated from Soviet Union after a referendum in which over 92% of the Ukrainians voted for independence. The struggle against Russia continues, now on the battlefield.
* The word under "Cto" [=one hundred] is "Greevnya" (converted to Latin letters) and not "Hryven." If anyone can explain this inconsistency, I would be grateful to that person. Another oddity is the statement of equivalent values in dollars and Polish zloty given at the bottom of the banknote.
A Memento of the Ukrainian drive for Independence by Peter N. Moogk