The rural cultural and educational establishments’ activity of the сentral regions in Ukraine during 1945-1950

Abstract

Introdution. The important role in rural workers’ lives, their growth to the educational and cultural level was played by cultural and educational establishments, such as clubs, libraries. During that period, their activity was not the main subject of the special scientific research. That’s why the development of our research is of great interest and topicality both in terms of filling certain gaps in learning and full-scale reproduction of Ukrainian society during the post-war reconstruction and of creative use of accumulated historical experience.

Purpose. Based on the analysis and generalization of archival and published sources, materials of periodical press of that time, it was aimed to comprehensively investigate the activities of cultural and educational establishments in the Central Ukraine during the post-war period, its intrinsic characteristics, potential results and existing contradictions.

Results. The government wished to take control of all aspects of people’s life, especially private life. The public areas, which survived enemy occupation, not only had to endure heavy losses, brutal terror, death of loved ones, hunger, but also the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust of Soviet and Party authorities who had a biased attitude towards people who were on the occupied territory. The rural cultural and educational establishments’ work was built in such areas as explanation of current political events, political, scientific and educational propaganda, consulting in matters of economics and law, political self-education, organization of cultural activities, development of amateur villagers. A feature of all cultural and educational establishments in the conditions of a totalitarian system was its excessive politization and indoctrination. Especially the post-war period left their distinctive mark on the form and content of their work. By means of cultural work the government sought to mobilize it to solve large political and economic problems. The farmers’ worldview was artificially limited and only targeted the awareness needed for constant and persistent struggle against the enemies of socialism, tireless overcome of various difficulties.

The scientific innovation is to study the issues that have not been the object and the subject of a separate research in the proposed chronological aspects. Referrals made it possible to identify the positive and negative aspects of cultural and educational establishments in the cultural life and the propaganda system of Soviet power.

Conclusion. Thus, the reconstruction and development of the cultural establishments’ system in post-war years led to contradictory tendencies in the life of the village. On the one hand, the government took a number of measures to restore and expand the network of cultural and educational institutions, on the other – the Stalinist regime, as in the prewar years, centralized all cultural products, brought spiritual processes into a single channel controlled and managed by the Communist Party. The total control, ideological dictatorship, repressive actions significantly emptied the cultural rural development