The consequences of Ukrainianization in the USSR as of 1930 (on the archival materials of the Polish Republic)

Abstract

Abstract. Purpose – of the article is to analyze the course and consequences of the process of Ukrainization on the territory of Ukraine as of 1930. The research methodology of the study is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity and a critical approach, on general scientific and special methods of historical science. The scientific novelty is based on the fact that the declared problem is covered on the basis of previously unknown archival materials of the Polish Republic. Conclusions. For the Bolshevik leadership, the Soviet policy of «Ukrainization» was a means of strengthening power, not a goal. It did not envisage the development of Ukrainian culture on the basis of universal values or the creation of a sovereign Ukrainian state. The Soviet government's attempts to Ukrainize all official and social life were in fact tactical and political moves. Given all the positive benefits of «Ukrainization», the Ukrainian intelligentsia generally approved and supported it, although in academic and literary circles it was perceived as only partial satisfaction of the natural rights of the Ukrainian people, and even warned at the very beginning against the danger of reviving Russian great power and Russification.

Despite certain difficulties that arose during the process of «Ukrainization», the Ukrainian language gradually became more widely used, which contributed to the active development of literature, art, education, science, and publishing, as well as to the overall national and cultural revival. In the early 1930s, however, “indigenization” slowed considerably, and later was stopped altogether. The strengthening of administrative control in the management of national and cultural construction did not correspond to the development of the autonomy of the union republics and the growth of national consciousness among their populations. The Ukrainian SSR also launched a campaign against the so-called nationalist bias, which resulted in repression of many prominent Ukrainian political, state, and cultural figures.