The Progressive Legacy of the Ukrainian People’s Republic
Class: Source
Author: Vladyslav Starodubtsev
Title: The Progressive Legacy of the Ukrainian People’s Republic
URL: Link
Zotero Link: PDF
1. Political Landscape and Ideology
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Two radical-left parties dominated: UPSR and USDWP (Page 2)
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Central Rada’s policy toward Petrograd varied (Page 2)
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Main objectives of Rada: autonomy from Russia, organizing Ukrainians, planning a Constituent Assembly, land reform (Page 7)
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It wasn’t a parliament but “participatory, revolutionary democracy” (Page 7)
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Ideological divisions: Soviets vs democratic republic (Page 19)
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Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries: non-Marxist, plural, radical socialism (Page 8)
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Concept of “labouring classes” (Page 9)
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Socialist League of the New East supported independence and anti-Bolshevism (Page 19)
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Democratic socialists (USDWP) vs national communists (Borotbysts, Ukapists) (Page 3)
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Later leftists (Borotbysts/Ukapists) attempted a third “national communist” path (Page 3)
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Ukrainian communists tried to flood the Bolshevik party from within—failed (Page 3)
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National communists had to prove rejection of “nationalist” past (Page 3)
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The UPR became a mobilizing myth used by various forces with differing aims (Page 20)
2. Reforms and Achievements
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UPR’s reforms aligned more with Bolshevik slogans than the Provisional Government (Page 2)
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First to introduce: 8-hour workday, collective bargaining, freedom to strike, trade unions (Page 13)
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Land reform: peasants receive land they can work; large estates nationalized (Page 13)
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Worker-state co-management system (Page 13)
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Proactive labor inspection and education of worker rights (Page 13)
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Strong cooperative economy: worker-owned, democratic ("one person, one vote") (Page 13)
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Autonomy to local authorities (Page 13)
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Built state institutions despite no experience, facing war, hunger, chaos (Page 4)
3. Failures, Internal Divisions & Collapse
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Radical reforms hampered by war, famine, and lack of cadres (Page 2)
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Government changed hands five times (Page 4)
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Petliura supported centralization in crisis but alienated SRs and SDs (Page 4)
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Labour Congress stalemated: Soviet vs democratic model → compromise “Labour principle” (Page 3)
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Later drift toward parliamentary democracy under Petliura (Page 19)
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UPR failed to prevent pogroms despite investigations (Page 16)
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Fourth Universal opposed by minorities except Poles (Page 15)
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No faction fully implemented its program (Page 4)
4. Inter-Ethnic Relations and Minorities
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UPR had ministries for Jews, Russians, Poles (Page 14)
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Budgeted for minority national activities (Page 14)
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Some Ukrainians supported Jewish autonomy early (Page 14)
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Most Jewish parties supported UPR’s creation (Page 14)
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No unified Jewish-Ukrainian identity (Page 14)
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Jewish Military Union allied with UPR against pogroms (Page 15)
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Minorities strongly represented in Central Rada (Page 14)
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Rada’s minority rights policy vs Russian chauvinism (Page 14)
5. Relations with Bolsheviks and Petrograd
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Ukrainian leftists originally saw Bolsheviks as anti-imperialist allies (Page 11)
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Mutual hatred for Provisional Government was a unifying factor (Page 11)
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Bolsheviks issued war ultimatums; even Ukrainian Bolsheviks unaware (Page 11)
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Later realization of Bolshevik imperialism confirmed by invasions in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia (Page 12)
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Cooperatives crushed and transformed into state-controlled enterprises (Page 17)
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National communists fought each other under Bolshevik pressure to renounce their past (Page 3)
6. Cooperative Movement
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Economic backbone of the UPR, tied to national liberation (Page 10)
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Cooperatives united millions, forming economic basis of Ukrainian society (Page 10)
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Spent revenue on education, museums, cultural work (Page 17)
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Prohibited undemocratic hierarchies (Page 17)
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Grew alongside the Ukrainian revolution (Page 17)
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Bolsheviks replaced cooperatives with party-controlled pseudo-cooperatives (Page 17)
7. Popular Resistance
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Between 1917–1932: 692 underground organizations, 1,435 insurgent units, 268 uprisings (Page 5)
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Kholodnyi Yar republic resisted Bolsheviks and drafted a constitution based on democratic market socialism (Page 5)
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Resistance only ended with genocide (Page 5)
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Ukrainian forces organized an insurgent movement after frontline collapse; peasant resistance reached 300,000 fighters (Page 4)
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Dissidents later carried the UPR banner as a symbol of resistance (Page 21)
8. Cultural and Social Identity
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Ukraine was a peasant society; urban working class was tiny (Page 6)
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Any social mobility tied to Russification (Page 6)
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Being Ukrainian equaled an anti-capitalist, anti-landowner identity (Page 6)
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Ukrainian activists were mostly religious but politically secular (Page 18)
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Ukrainian SSR and 1920s Ukrainization resulted from earlier anti-Bolshevik struggles (Page 20)
9. Symbolism and Legacy
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The UPR became a lasting symbol for various movements (Page 20)
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Far-right OUN concluded democracy had weakened the Republic (Page 20)
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Ukrainian Insurgent Army later adopted a semi-democratic model with SR leadership (Page 21)
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Post-Soviet trauma suppressed discussion of UPR’s progressive reforms (Page 21)
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Whole range of organizations after WWII advocated restoring UPR ideals (Page 21)