Vasyl I
Vasyl Vyshyvanyi, born Archduke Wilhelm Franz von Habsburg-Lothringen of Austria, was king of Ukraine. He was also the youngest son of King Charles I of Poland.
During his childhood, Wilhelm's father attempted to bring up the family in the Polish culture. Raised in the Austrian city of Saybusch in the Kingdom of Galicia, which would become Poland, he and his siblings were made to learn Polish. However, Wilhelm rebelled, preferring the culture of the Ukrainians, the rivals of the Poles. Wilhelm's family eventually accepted this fascination, and the ruling Hapsburgs attempted to groom him for a leadership role among the Ukrainian people of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. He was a vocal supporter of the Tsardom of Ukraine, much to the dismay of Austrian foreign ministers who viewed the nation with cautious optimism, believing they might wish to include the Ukrainians living among the empire.
During the Great War, Wilhelm raised an army of Ukrainian volunteers. It was in this role he recieved the nickname of the "Red Prince", and was given an embroidered shirt called a vyshyvana that he wore under his uniform. When he came of age, he returned from the front lines and entered the Austrian parliament, where he worked with Ukrainian ministers arguing for the creations of a Grand Duchy of Ukraine under the Austrian Empire. Should the tsardom of Ukraine lose the war, Wilhelm argued for the incorporation of some lands from the Russian Empire into this new Grand Duchy. However, the Austrian Empire lost the Great War, and instead Emperor Leopold II would later create the Habsburg Confederation. This included a Ukrainian state of East Galicia, wherein Wilhelm wished to serve.
Upon the collapse of the Confederation in 1930, Wilhelm, having officially changed his name to Vasyl Vyshyvanyi, left to East Galicia in order to serve the new nation. Though he merely wished to serve as a minister initially, he quickly came in the running to be king. He was elected in 1931, having faced opposition from Russian Tsar Ivan VII to the appointment as Vasyl argued for the independence and unification of all ethnic Ukrainians.
Though he received little international support for his irredentist views, he did have sympathy from the German Empire under Chancellor Paul von Hindendburg. This increased under Hindenburg's successor, Erich Ludendorff, who funneled equipment into East Galicia through Poland. This action was protested by the Russian Duma, and led to the start of the Russo-German War. Vasyl and East Galicia became the first nation to ally with Germany, following by Poland under Vasyl's brother, Charles II.
During the war, Vasyl took an active role in leading his government and military. The East Galicians invaded the Russian Empire where they met little resistance, as the former territory of the old Tsardom was waging several underground revolts against Russian rule. Vasyl was largely held as a liberator, and while he had critics among the Ukrainian ministers, many of them still supported his efforts of Ukrainian unification. Following the siege of Kieve, Vasyl moved the capital and government from Lumberg to Kiev, proclaiming the start of the Kingdom of Ukraine. From there, Vasyl sent the Ukrainian military to support the siege of Tsaritsyn, wherein the Russian government sued for peace. Though Vasyl was successful in his dreams of a unified Ukraine, the population suffered a great loss of life that constituted a pyrrhic victory.
Reign
As per usual, the level of detail you go into is absolutely AMAZING. You really cooked with this one!
While I would love to go on an adventure, writing them is enough for me.
Thank you so much, Jon!