The Motrona Holy Trinity Monastery as one of spiritual and military centers of the rebel movement of Middle Dnieper region in 1918 – early 1920’s (by the memoirs of petty officers and officers of the Ukrainian People’s Republic Army)

Анотація

Introdution. The challenges facing Ukraine and its people over the past years, requires high interest to the historical significance of the religious factor in the Ukrainian liberation movement, especially during the National Revolution 1917 – 1921, as well as the relationship between various rebel forces personnel and Orthodox Church.

Methods of researching are represented by: analysis of sources; comparative method; comparative and systematization; generalization.

Results. The author analyzed the content of the memoirs of petty officers and officers of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, including memoirs of Chief Otaman S. Petliura, generals O. Grekov, M. Omelianovych-Pavlenko and Y. Tyutyunnik, colonel O. Vyshnivsky, lieutenant colonel Y. Gorodyanin-Lisovski (Gorlis-Gorsky) and O. Dotsenko, captains H. Avramenko, Y. Galchevsky and I. Lutiy- Lyutenko, black Cossacks – P. Dyachenko and M. Doroshenko.

Author’s presents, commented and analyzed a number of aspects related to the way the military personnel of of Ukrainian People’s Republic evaluated the place of Christian morality in rebels everyday life; especially festive and funeral ceremonies in the insurgent environment; religious identity of rebels; religious motifs in the slogans and programs of the rebels; the details of the interaction between the servants of the clergy and the rebels, etc. The results of research will enable more thoroughly reconstructing of the religious life of the rebels of Middle Dnieper in the times of the First liberation struggle, the influence of Christian ethics on the minds of the insurgent peasantry, to find out the vision of these processes by petty officers and officers of the Army of Ukrainian People’s Republic, to understand the rationale of some conflicts, that are arisen historically in relations between the guerrillas and the professional military.

Originality. Author of the publication by the analysis of memoirs and epistolary heritage of petty officers and officers of the Army of Ukrainian People’s Republic firstly in the ukrainian historiography touched problem about the influence of the religious factor on the minds, motives and actions of the rebels – the participants of the liberation struggle on the lands of the Middle Dnieper in the 1918 – 1921.

Conclusion. Memoirs of petty officers and officers of Ukrainian People’s Republic are valuable, perspective and not enough studied group of sources on the history of insurgency in the Middle Dnieper during 1918 – 1921. Different authors showed various aspects of guerrilla life: political-military, economic, daily, organizational, spiritual etc. The latter, in our opinion, is the least illuminated today, despite the fact that the place and role of the religious factor in the rebel struggle in the pages of the memoirs of military personnel of Ukrainian People’s Republic a lot of space was given.