Stalin's "double accounting" in the national policy of the Bolsheviks in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s – early 1930s

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to highlight the role of J. Stalin in the development and implementation of the national policy of the Bolsheviks in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s - early 1930s. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism scientific, objectivity and systematicity. When solving the tasks set, the following research methods were used: historiographical analysis, logical, problem-chronological, descriptive methods. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the author made an attempt to analyze a number of aspects of the national policy of the Bolsheviks in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s - early 1930s, which remain insufficiently studied or require new rethinking. The work characterizes the main stages of the formation of the Bolshevik national policy in the Ukrainian SSR, determines the role of Stalin in its implementation, analyzes the mutual influence of the policy of "Ukrainization" with the struggle for power in the Kremlin. Conclusions. The implementation of the Bolshevik national policy in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s and early 1930s had ambivalent consequences. On the one hand, the proclamation of a course of "Ukrainization" as a tool for strengthening the Bolshevik regime in Ukraine and neutralizing the liberation aspirations of the Ukrainian people; on the other hand, the forcing of the processes of cohesion of national forces that sought state self-determination. A tendency towards democratization was noted national relations, the revival of national traditions, and at the same time the tendency towards centralization is increasing, the creation of a rigid one-party regime is being established, the foundations of a totalitarian system are being laid, which will cover all spheres of society. The reform of the educational system has begun in the direction of the formation of a national school, publishing has developed, primarily the publishing of literature in the Ukrainian language, and at the same time censorship is being introduced, private printing houses are being closed. The number of national personnel in party, Soviet and economic institutions has increased, noticeable successes have been achieved in translating paperwork into Ukrainian. And at the same time, the ideological influence of the Bolshevik party on Ukrainian society is growing. In contrast to the active involvement of old specialists in state-building processes, the creation of new cadres of the intelligentsia, the first political processes are being organized. Dozens of different literary and artistic groups and movements emerge, Ukrainian culture receives real state support for the first time, and at the same time, a campaign to accuse the best Ukrainian artists of “bourgeois nationalism” gains momentum. In the confrontation between the healthy forces of Ukrainian society and manifestations of Great Russian chauvinism, the Kremlin authorities take the side of the revival of imperial policy towards the national outskirts. The movement for the restoration of Ukrainian statehood is declared “Petliurism”, and various forms of persecution are applied to its supporters: removal from active activity, restrictions on rights, political trials, exile, executions.