Theme 13. The Ukrainian Lands between the 1920s and 1930s

The purpose of the theme is to give the idea of the history of the Dnieper Ukraine under the hard Bolshevik regime and the Western lands under the ruling of Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.

The theme includes the following main topics: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); the great famine in the Soviet Ukraine; the New Economic Policy (NEP); the campaign against kurkuls in the Soviet Ukraine; the economical changes in the period of NEP; the rivalry among the top leaders of the Communist Party; the course for Industrialization and collecti­vization; the policy of Ukrainization; the fight against illiteracy; the develop­ment of the Ukrainian culture; the Soviet forced Industrialization and total Collectivization; the Holodomor (1932 - 1933); the administrative develop­ment of the Soviet Ukraine and the Totalitarian system; the Stalinist repress- sions; the annexation of Eastern Halychyna, Western Volhynia, Western Polissia, and Zakerzonnia by the Second Polish Republic; the annexation of Zakarpattia by Czechoslovakia; Poland's policy relating to the Western Ukrainian lands; the radicalization of the national movement; Romania's policy relating to the Western Ukrainian lands; the Czechoslovakia's policy relating to Zakarpattia; Carpatho-Ukraine.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In 1920 the Go­vernments of the Ukrainian SSR and the Soviet Socialist Federative Republic of Russia (SSFRR) signed the Agreement on military and economic alliances. Two projects of uniting the Ukrainian SSR and the SSFR Russia were put 99

forward later. The Plan of Autonomization was to convert all the republics in the RSFS of Russia the autonomous regions (Yosyp Stalin, Dmitriy Manu- ilsky).

On December 30, 1922, the first Congress of Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR voted the Declaration and the Treaty of the Union. The Congress also elected the Central Executive Committee. Thus, the Soviet Ukraine became the part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union, the USSR).

The first states-members of the Soviet Union became the Ukraini­an SSR, the SSFR of Russia, the Soviet Transcaucasian Federation (the Soviet Georgia, Soviet Armenia, and Soviet Azerbaijan).

In 1924 the Second Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union adopted the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which was architected by Mykhailo Kalinin. The highest authority of the Ukrainian SSR was the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, and between its sessions, the All-Ukrainian Central Execution Commitee (later on, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR) governed.

Between 1921 and 1922, the Ukrainian SSR was recognized by Lithua­nia, Turkey and Germany [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The Government of the Soviet Ukraine. For a long period in the Soviet Ukraine two branches of Authority had been:

1) the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks’) of Ukraine (CC CP(b)U);

2) the Soviet of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR (the SPC of the Ukrainian SSR).

From 1923 to 1925 Emanuil Kvirinh was the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine.

In 1923 Kh. Rakovskyi for criticizing Y. Stalin was removed from the office of the Head of the Soviet of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR. From 1923 to 1934 the Head of the SPC was Vlas Chubar [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 28; 29; 38].

The great famine in the Soviet Ukraine. Between 1921 and 1923 in Ukraine was the great famine. Its causes were Summer drought and the Policy of Military Communism. Hungry people got active help from the American Relief Administration (ARA).

The New Economic Policy (NEP). In 1921, the Bolsheviks changed the confiscation of grain and other agricultural produce from peasants by the fixed food tax. The Communists declared the New Economic Policy (NEP). This policy allowed the market, but the state controlled a lot of industries [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The campaign against kurkuls in the Soviet Ukraine. The Ukrai­nian SSR came to the NEP only in 1922 because in Ukraine it still had been provided the campaign against kurkuls (in Ukrainian "kurkuli"; in Russian "kulaki"), as wealthy farmers were called. This campaign was run by the methods of the Military Communism. As soon as wealthy farmers had been approved that they were kurkuls, the village committees of poor (komnezams) robbed them [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The economic changes in the period of NEP. In 1921 the Bolsheviks allowed the economic cooperation. The growth of prices for industrial products led to the crisis of 1923, 1925, and 1928. In the agricultural sector the Government created the collective farms (5 % of farmers). At all, the state enterprises of the same type were combined into the Trusts. Between 1922 and 1929 the monetary reform was implemented. Due to this reform the gold chervontsi were introduced [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The rivalry among the top leaders of the Communist Party. In 1924, Volodymyr Lenin died. It led to a struggle for the power between the People's Commissar of Military Affairs Lev Trotsky and the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks’) Yosyp Stalin [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The course for Industrialization and Collectivization. In 1925 at the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks’) voted the course for the Industrialization (the primary development of the heavy industry). In 1927 the policy of Collectivization was taken in the country in order to make better supply of food to towns.

The policy of Ukrainization. Between 1923 and 1933 the policy of the so-called Nativization (in Ukraine - the Ukrainization) was implemented by the Communist Government. This policy aimed at calming the peoples by showing them that the Bolshevik parties were the native ones.

In 1923 the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR issued a decree on the Ukrainization of the educational system. The Ukrainization was managed by the Ukrainian SSR People's Commissar of Education Oleksandr Shumskyi (1890 - 1946). After him the Ukrainization was implemented by Mykola Skrypnyk, who from 1927 to 1933 was the Head of the Commissariat of the People's education. In 1928 he approved the new Ukrainian orthography. The enemy of the Ukrainization was a General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (bolsheviks') of Ukraine, a former shoe­maker, Lazar Kahanovych [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The fight against illiteracy. In 1921, People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR adopted a Decree "On the Fight Against Illiteracy". Accor­ding to it all people aged from eight to fifty years had to learn the reading and writing. In 1923 the company "Down with illiteracy," which created points of elimination of illiteracy, was founded. After the "fight against illiteracy" literate persons was 70 per cent of adults in the urban area and 50 per cent in the rural area [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The development of the Ukrainian culture. The Ukrainization made conditions, which were favourable for the Ukrainian literature. In 1922, in Kharkiv peasant writers' association "Pluh" (Plow) was founded. In 1923 the association of proletarian writers "Hart" (Hardening) was established.

1925 - 1928). The VAPLITE was headed by Mykhailo Yalovyi. The leader also was the writer Mykola Khvyliovyi (real name Fitiliov). He made slogan against the influence of the Russian literature upon the Ukrainian one, - "Away from Moscow, Up with Europe!". In 1928 he was forced by Soviet commissars to renounce his notions publicly [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 29; 38].

In 1920s a number of great writers, like Volodymyr Sosiura and Pavlo Tychyna, made their works.

In 1922, in Kharkiv the stage actor Les Kurbas founded the theatre, named "Berezil" (literally, a little birch). At the end of the 1920s he headed the theatre "Funny Proletarian". Later on, he was accused of nationalism.

In the 1920s Ignat Yura worked as stage director and actor. In 1920 he became co-founder of the Ivan Franko Ukrainian Drama Theatre, in Vinnytsia region (since 1926 it had been the Ivan Franko Kyiv Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre). The famous playwright was Mykola Kulish.

Since 1922 film studio had been working in Odesa. The acting director and screenwriter Oleksandr Dovzhenko (1894 - 1956), who had got some experience in Berlin, worked there. Then, he worked in the "Kyiv film studio" (in 1929 - 1941). He created the movies "Zvenyhora" (literally, sound

mountain), "Arsenal", "Zemlia" ("Earth"), etc.

In 1920s many prominent artists painted original pictures. There were I. Yizhakevych, F. Krychevskyi, M. Boichuk, etc.

The conductor of the Kyiv Conservatory and organizer of the Ukrainian State Folk Choir H. Veriovka was well-known.

In the field of Sciences the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (UNAS, also known as VUAN from Vseukrainska akademia nauk) worked. From 1922 to 1928 its president was the botanist V. Lypskyi.

In 1924 M. Hrushevskyi returned to Kyiv. He became a member of the VUAN and headed the section of the History of Ukraine. In the Academy the economist Mykhailo Volobuiev worked. In the article "The Problems of the Ukrainian Economy" he argued that Ukraine still was an economic colony of Russia (1928). Later on, the NKVD forced him to renounce his views. In 1938 Mykhailo Volobuiev was shot by the Soviet commissars.

Since 1919 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) had been acting. In 1921, in Kyiv, its first gathering (sobor, synod) elected the Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivskyi [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 29; 38].

The Soviet forced Industrialization and total Collectivization. In 1929 the newspaper "Pravda" (the Truth) published an article written by Y. Stalin "The Year of Great Change", in which he urged the forced Industrialization. That year the Communist Party in Moscow announced the forced development of Industrialization in the Soviet Union. The total Collectivization - the enforcing peasants to join their farms into the collective farms (kolkhozes) - was also started. It was necessary for supplying the basic industry.

The Industrialization and the Collectivization are considered to be the one process of modernization of the Soviet Ukraine Economy. The period of Soviet modernization in Ukraine took place between 1928 and 1939. It was made by way of compleating the five-year plans. Untill the Second World War there had been three five-year plans (1928 - 1932, 1933 - 1937, 1938 - 1942). The main result of the Soviet modernization for Ukraine was changing its agrarian-based economy towards an industrial economy.

The funds for the Industrialization were taken from the light and food industry, high taxes, the sale of vodka, the export of raw materials and energy sources abroad, and, of course, the hard exploitation of the peasantry.

During the first five-year plans in Ukraine, a number of great plants were built. There were metallurgical plants (Zaporizhstal, Azovstal, Kryvorizh- stal, Dniprostroi, Dniproaliuminiibud), machine-building plants (Krammash- bud, the Kharkiv Tractor Plant), and etc. [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

Stakhanov movement. In 1935, for six hours a miner Alexei Stakhanov extracted 102 tons of coal, when generally miners used to extract seven tons of coal. Thus, the so-called Stakhanov movement for breaking records started. Later on, records were established by a miner, coal-cutter M. Izotov. P. Angelina organized the first female tractor team [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The great dispossession of the kurkuls in the rural area. Between 1927 and 1928 the food supplying situation became disastrous. The Commu­nist top-leaders supposed this was caused by nature of the market economy, by which they explained the problems of grain procurements, crises of sales and etc. [26, p. 23]. On the other hand, the Industrialization needed finances. In order to buy machinery from 1930 to 1931 the Communists increased the export of grain from 48,8 mln centners up to 51,8 mln centners [26, p. 27].

Between 1929 and 1930 a lot of activists were sent by the Party into the country. They made the dispossession of kurkuls (according to the Dekula­kization policy of the state). Having been robbed kurkuls had no way, but to enter the collective farms. During the period of Collectivization nearly 200 000 private farms (from 1.2 to 1.4 m persons) were dekulakizated [26, p. 32].

In towns the ration cards were introduced for the workers and employees [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The Holodomor (1932 - 1933). In 1932, in Ukraine the Extraordinary Grain Procurement Commission, headed by Viacheslav Molotov, worked. The Commission had the extraordinary powers in the rural area.

The Collectivization and excessive grain procurement plans caused the greate famine of 1932 - 1933, called the Holodomor (literally, killing by hunger, to starve to death). Other names of this famine are the "Terror-famine in Ukraine" and the "Famine-genocide in Ukraine". It was planned destruction of the Ukrainian peasantry, which always tended to be independent land­owners, and did not want entering any collective farms.

In 1932 the so-called Five ears of corn law was implemented. It appointed the execution or imprisonment for term of ten years as punishment for embezzlement property, including corn ears, of collective farms.

The Holodomor killed from 5 to 7 million persons [26, p. 60]. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions were especially affected [33; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The administrative development of the Soviet Ukraine and the Totalitarian system. In the Soviet Union the totalitarian system (from the Italian totalita - covering everything) and regime of personal power of Y. Stalin were formed. It is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.

In 1934 the capital of the Ukrainian SSR became Kyiv, instead of Kharkiv. From 1928 to 1938 years the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine was Stanislav Kosior, and, then, Mykyta Khrushchov.

In 1936 the Communists adopted new Constitution of the USSR. According to it the highest authority was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

By this time the number of the Soviet Republics had grown from 4 to 11 ones.

In 1930s through the policy called the "Cultural Revolution" the Communists stopped the policy of the Ukrainization [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The Joint State Political Directorate and the Stalinist repressions. In 1923 the Joint State Political Directorate (Obedinennoe gosudarstvennoe politicheskoe upravlenie, OGPU) was created, its main task was to inves­tigate crimes against the Soviet State [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The first show trial. In 1928 OGPU made "The Shakhty Triaf' ("Shakh- tynska Sprava", "Shakhtinskoe Delo"), the first important show trial in the So­viet Union. The charges against the suspected persons were false. The OGPU arrested a group of engineers in the North Caucasus town of Shakhty. They were accused for conspiring with former owners of coal mines. Since the Revolution these owners had been living abroad of the Soviet Union. It was alleged by the OGPU that engineers had been sabotaging the Soviet economy. As a result of the trial five of the fifty-three accused engineers were put to death and another forty-four sent to prison. Undoubtedly, this trial was the offensive against old intelligentsia [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The beginning of the Stalinist repressions. The Shakhty trial marked the beginning of the use of accusations of sabotage against real and imagined class enemies within the Soviet Union. On March 10, 1928, in response to the arrests, Pravda announced that the bourgeoisie were using sabotage as a method of class struggle. Yosyp Stalin mentioned a month later that the Shakhty arrests had proved that class struggle was intensifying as the Soviet Union moved closer to Socialism. "We have internal enemies. We have external enemies. We cannot forget this for a moment" - Yosyp Stalin said [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The show process of the Union for Liberation of Ukraine. In 1929 (1930), in Kharkiv the process of "the Union for Liberation of Ukraine" was proceeded. It was another show trial. The event took place in the Opera Theatre in Kharkiv (at that time the Ukrainian State Central Opera) from March 9 to April 19, 1930. Forty-five (45) Ukrainian intellectuals, theologists, writers, and a librarian were accused of anti-state activities (counter­revolutionary classification was present there as well) and imprisoned for different terms (up to ten years). Of course, the charge was false. It was the attack on the old academical intelligentsia and the representatives of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). All they were alleged to be the supporters of the old bourgeois ideas, the enemies of the Soviet system. Among the condemned were Serhii Yefremov (the academician of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, former deputy chairman of the Central Rada, and a member of UPSF) and Mykhailo Slabchenko (the academician, historian, professor of the Odesa Institute of People's Edu­cation, a former member of USDRP). In 1930 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was forced by the OGPU to disolve itself. Shortly after the show trial of 1930, 700 other people were arrested in connections with the process. In 1931 the former leader of the Central Rada Mykhailo Hrushevskyi was arrested by the OGPU commissars [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The show trial against the Ukrainian National Centre. In 1931 the OGPU fabricated the show trial on the Ukrainian National Centre (50 innocent persons were imprisoned, among them M. Hrushevskyi and M. Yavorskyi).

In 1932 the militia was subjected to the OGPU [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The Executed Renaissance. The repressions intensified after the mur­der in 1934 of the head of the Party organization in Leningrad Sergei Kirov. After it the campaign against Ukrainian writers was launched. In 1934 there were arrested 37 writers (H. Kosynka, D. Falkivskyi, K. Burevii, A. Krushel- nytskyi and others). 28 of them were shot. In 1933 the prominent Ukrainian writer Mykola Khvyliovyi shot himself, after being persecuted by commissars for a long time. In 1933 the famous stage actor and founder of the theatre "Berezil" Les Kurbas was arrested. In 1937 he was shot by the NKVD commissars.

All these events of the 1930s are known as the Executed Renaissance (Rozstriliane Vidrodzhennia) - the brutal crushing of the national cultural flowering by the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and methods of the Stalinist repressions. From 1934 to 1946, instead of the OGPU, another body worked - the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Narodnyi komissariat vnutrennikh del, NKVD). This body implemented Soviet internal policy with respect to perceived enemies of the state ("enemies of the people"). NKVD is recognized as a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet Union.

Under colour of the hunting on "the enemies of the people" (public enemies), NKVD sent to GULag (the Chief Administration of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies) or executed multitudes of people, most of which were innocent. In general, people were convicted by the NKVD troikas ("triplets"), the special court martials. A tip-off made by an anonymous informer used to be considered by the troikas sufficient grounds for arrest. Interrogations very often accompanied by tortures, "physical means of persuasion", which was sanctioned by a special decree of the state. It was proved by historians that the NKVD was guided by secret "plans". This "plan" established the number and proportion of "public enemies" in a given region. In other words, NKVD commisares knew very well how many clergy, former nobles, kurkuls, men suspected to be nationalists and etc. They had to find and try. The families of the repressed, including children, were also auto­matically repressed. The NKVD also prosecuted ethnic groups, and religious denominations.

Between 1934 and 1936 the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs was Henrikh Yagoda, between 1936 and 1938 - Mykola Ezhov, and between 1938 and 1953 - Lavrentiy Beria [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The waves of the Stalinist repressions. In general, three waves of repressions are distinguished by historians:

1928 - 1931 - repressions against kurkuls and wreckers (like, the

engineers accused in the Shakhty trial of 1928);

1932 - 1936 - the Holodomor, struggle with bourgeois nationalism, the starting of the "Executed Renaissance" (the repression of writers, artists, and etc.).

1937 - 1938 - the "Great Purge" - the struggle against nationalists, former members of the Communist Party, repressions in the army, the end of the Executed Renaissance [3; 5; 8; 10; 11; 17; 28; 29; 38].

The Western Ukrainian lands between 1921 and 1938

The annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna by Roma­nia. In 1918 Romania annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna. Next year these annexations were approved by the Entente in its Treaty with Austria. In 1920 in Paris Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan signed the Bessarabian Protocol, which secured Bessarabia for Romania [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The annexation of Eastern Halychyna, Western Volhynia, Western Polissia, and Zakerzonnia by the Second Polish Republic. According to the decision of the Paris Peace Conference (1919), the Second Polish Republic occupied Eastern Halychyna (Lviv, Ternopil and Stanislav province). According to the Riga Peace of 1921, Poland got Western Volhynia, Western Polissia, Kholmshchyna, Pidliashshia, Osiannia and Lemkivshchyna.

In 1923, the Council of the Entente ambassadors finally secured Eas­tern Halychyna for Poland [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The annexation of the Zakarpattia by Czechoslovakia. In January of 1919, in Hust all Ukrainian People's Congress of Hungary announced the reuniting of Zakarpattia with Ukraine, but in May of 1919 the Central Ruthe- nian Council announced the accession to Czechoslovakia. In September of 1919 the Paris Peace Conference approved this decision [3; 5; 11; 17;

20; 28].

The Poland's policy relating to the Western Ukrainian lands. The Polish government promoted a colonization of Western Ukraine by the Polish colonists. All public offices were occupied by the Poles. In office work and education the Polish language was introduced. In 1924 there were bilingual school (utrakvistychni). However, a lot of teachers these schools had were the Poles, who did not know the Ukrainian language. Due to the high cost most of the Ukrainians could not study in high schools and middle schools. 70 per cent of the population of Western Ukraine was illiterate.

In 1920 it was proposed by some Polish politicians to call Eastern Halychyna "Little Poland" [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Pacification. In 1930, in the Eastern Halychyna, the punitive action ('pacification", Polish: Pacyfikacja Malopolski Wschodniej) was made by police and military of Poland against the Ukrainians. The pretext the Poles used was a wave of more than 2 200 acts of sabotage against Polish property in the region [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The pacification involved the search of private homes as well as buildings in which the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and other illegal Ukrainian organizations (including the Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) were based. The searching included the tearing up of floors and ceilings. During the course of the search the furniture and property inside the houses were often destroyed. During the searches, physical force was also used and many people were publicly whipped. Ukrainian reading rooms and cooperatives were also burnt down, and Ukrainian private schools were closed [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

Bereza Kartuska detention camp. In 1933 in Polissia Voivodeship Bereza Kartuska detention camp was created by a personal order of the President of Poland Ignacy Moscicki. People were detained in this camp even without formal charges or trial for, at least, three months. For the most cases Bereza Kartuska detention camp was the concentration place for political prisoners [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The economic development of the Western lands under the Polish rule. In Poland the native land of the Poles - the Poland "A" - developed faster than Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, which were called the Poland "B". In the Poland "B" small businesses were dominated, like wood and leather industries, industries of processing agricultural products (distilling, brewing, tobacco, etc.). The working day lasted 10 - 14 hours.

Unemployment was widespread.

Although the Ukrainian cooperatives were operating, only Polish cooperatives received the state benefits. In the village over 40 per cent of lands were owned by large private, public and church landowners. A small part of the landlords' land was distributed among farmers by the agrarian reform of 1919. The emigration of the Ukrainians intensified [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The political activities in the Western Ukrainian lands under the Polish authority. In the political area between 1925 and 1939 the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO) had been acting. It was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic. The leader was Dmytro Levitsky. The UNDO was the direct descendant of the prewar Ukrainian National Democratic Party, which had been the leading western Ukrainian political party during the Austrian-Hungarian rule. The UNDO pursued the independence for Western Ukraine by legal moderate way.

In 1935, the UNDO reached a compromise with the Polish government known as the "Normalization". The UNDO agreeded to work with the Polish government. In return, the Ukrainians were guaranteed nineteen seats total in both houses of the Polish Parliament, as well as the position of Vice-Marshal (speaker) of the Polish Sejm (Parliament), many Ukrainian political prisoners were amnestied, and financial credits were given to Ukrainian cooperatives. Vasyl Mudryi was elected the Vice-Marshal of the Polish Sejm. The UNDO tended to be the party of moderate views [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Galician Radical Party (GRP), another Ukrainian group, was more decisive one in its methods of struggle. It pursued the agrarian reform, restrictions of private ownership, and the independence for Ukraine. The Head of the GRP was Lev Bachynsky. In 1926 the GRP united with the Volhynia Ukrainian Party of the Social-Revolutionaries and took another name - the Ukrainian Social-Radical Party (USPR). Since 1930 the USDP had been headed by Ivan Marchuk. In 1931 the USPR joined to the Second Socialist International [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Ukrainian Agrarian Statist Party (UASP) promoted the ideas on the establishing in Ukraine the constitutional monarchy and gaining sovereignty for it. The creator and ideologist of the USHD was Viacheslav Lypynskyi.

The Communist Party of Western Ukraine (CPWU) operated illegally. Until 1923 it had been known under the name of the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia. The leader was Joseph Vasylkiv (alias Krilyk). These Com­munists intended to make Western Ukraine the part of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1923 CPWU had become the autonomous part of The Communist Party of Poland [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

All Communist parties were governed by the Comintern, which acted after the instructions of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks’) (in Russian, Vsesoyuznaya Kommunisticheskaya Partiya - VKP(b)). In 1938 the Comintern dissolved the CPP and the CPWU.

From 1930 to 1939 the Ukrainian Catholic People's Party (since 1931 - the Ukrainian People's Obnova) made its political activity. Its leaders were the Uniate bishops H. Komyshyn and O. Nazaruk. At the same period the another religious party worked, the Ukrainian Catholic Union (Andrii Sheptytskyi). However, between these two parties there were differences in their aims. While the UPO wanted to merge the Greek Catholic Church with the Catholic Church, the UCU aimed at the full independence of the Greek Catholic Church from the Catholic one [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The radicalization of the national movement. The Polish oppression the Ukrainians led to a radicalization of the national movement. In 1920 in Prague Ukrainians military officers launched the Ukrainian Military Organi­zation (UVO) and elected its Head Yevhen Konovalets, the former officer of the Ukrainian legion of Sich riflemen. The UVO were making preparations for a nationwide uprising. The political plans of the UVO based on the ideas of the integral (efficient, effective) nationalism, after which the nation was of the highest value, even higher than a family had. The integral nationalism firstly was described by Dmytro Dontsov in his work "Nationalism" (1926).

In 1929 in Vienna members of the UVO established the millitary Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN, the first head was Yevhen Konovalets).

The OUN fought against foreign and domestic enemies, particularly Poland and Russia. The OUN's immediate goal was to protect the Ukrainian population from repression and exploitation by Polish governing authorities; its ultimate goal was an independent and unified Ukrainian state that would include whole territories inhabited primarily by ethnic Ukrainians.

In 1934 in Warsaw OUN members killed B. Peratski, Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, who was responsible for the "pacification" of 1930 in the Halychyna. Shortly after, S. Bandera, one of the killers, was condemned to be a life-term prisoner.

In 1938 in Rotterdam a Soviet agent killed Yevhen Konovalets. It led to that in 1940, the OUN split into two parts. The older more moderate members were supporting Andrii Melnyk (OUN-M) while the younger and more radical members were supporting Stepan Bandera (OUN-B) [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Romania's policy relating to the Western Ukrainian lands. Bet­ween 1918 and 1928 the Ukrainian lands under Romania were under martial law, in "a state of siege". The Romanian Government abolished local self­governments.

The Ukrainian names of towns and villages have been changed to Romanian ones, the Ukrainian language was forbidden in state and municipal authorities. All Ukrainian-educational institutions were closed.

The Act of 1929 allowed the Ukrainian language in the Educational System. In schools the lower classes and the higher classes, in which the Ukrainian pupils dominated, got some training in the Ukrainian language. However, in 1934 the Ukrainian language in schools was abolished [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Tatarbunary uprising. In 1924 bolsheviks inspired the revolt of 6 000 peasants in and around the town of Tatarbunary (Tatar-Bunar or Tatarbunar) in Budjak (Bessarabia), now a part of Odesa Oblast, Ukraine. After the rebellion had been suppressed the Romanian Government started show trial against instigators of the revolt - "the process of 500". As a result 85 persons were imprisoned [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The economy of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna under the Romanian authority. In the economy of Ukraine under Romania small-scale production dominated. The production was grounded on manual and semi­manual labour. Food industry, weaving, soap-boiling, production of oil were developed. According to the agrarian reform in 1919 only 16.8 % of land was distributed among peasants. Most lands were in possession of rich landowners [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The political activities Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna. In Nor­thern Bukovyna since 1927 the Ukrainian National Party (UNP, leader V. Za- lozetskyi) had been working. It tried to improve the living environment for the Ukrainians by way of a compromise with the Government of Romania. The UNP was only one legal party in Romanian Ukraine.

Among the illegal political groups the Bukovyna regional organization of the Communist Party of Romania (1926 - 1938) and the Ukrainian section of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (1921-1931) acted. They operated to establish the socialist system in Bukovyna. In 1931 the latter was transformed into the Ukrainian Communist Party, which worked until 1931 [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Czechoslovakia's policy relating to Zakarpattia. In Zakarpattia, officially known as Subcarpathian Ruthenia, many Czech schools were ope­ned. 80 per cent of state officers were Czechs. In 1925 the Administrative Court of Czechoslovakia recognized the Ukrainian language "foreign" for Zakarpattian population. Zakarpattian economy mostly produced raw materials. The peasants got a lot of lands, given them by the Government. In Zakarpattia the Government built roads, bridges, and made electrification [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The political movements in Zakarpattia. In Zakarpattia the Parties were absent, but there were four ideological currents among the intellectuals: the Ruthenians, the Narodovtsi (Ukrainophils), the Russophils, "Madyaro- rosy" ("Madyarophils", "Karpatorosy").

The Ruthenians contended that the local people of Zakarpattia were the original nation, nor the Ukrainians no the Russians.

The Ukrainophils led by Avhustyn Voloshyn were of polar opposite opinion. They argued the Zakarpattians were no any others, but the Ukrainians.

Arguing that all Ukrainians were the part of the Russian people, the Russophils debated with both groups. The Russophils' leader was Andrii Brodii.

The "Madiarorosy" had rather political basis, on which their ideas grounded - the people of Zakarpattia was the original nation, which needed to be the part of Hungary, they affirmed. They argued Zakarpattia had a long history as the part of Hungary (since the 13^th century), hence it had become naturally to be in the Hungarian State [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

Carpatho-Ukraine. On 29 September 1938 in Munich Great Britain, France and Nazi Germany implemented the Agreement, by which Czechoslovakia gave much of its border region to Nazi Germany. Soon after Carpathian Ruthenia and Slovakia declared their autonomy within Czechos­lovakia, which Prague accepted. The autonomous Carpathian Ruthenia (early officially known as Subcarpathian Ruthenia) changed its name to the Carpa- tho-Ukraine soon afterwards, in November 1938. The month earlier the Ukrainophil Avhustyn Voloshyn was elected the Prime Minister of the Carpathian Ruthenia. He replaced on this post the Russophil Andrii Brodii. In February the Sejm (Parliament) was elected. On March 14, 1939, in Khust the Sejm passed the independence of Carpatho-Ukraine. Avhustyn Voloshyn became the President of the new state. However, the same day with the permission of the Fuerer of Germany Adolf Hitler Khust was occupied by the Hungarian army. In the night to March 17, the last Czechoslovak troops left Khust and retreated to Romanian borders. Together with them, the one-day president of Carpatho-Ukraine, A. Voloshyn, emigrated to Romania [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

The Hungarian Army continued their advance and reached the Polish border on March 17. Sich volunteers, who came from the province of Galicia to defend Carpatho-Ukraine, were captured by the Hungarians. Later on, the volunteers were handed over to Polish soldiers. After a short hold in captivity all Sich volunteers were taken by the Poles to the banks of the Tisza River and executed [3; 5; 11; 17; 20; 28].

Questions

1. How was the Soviet Union established?

2. What reasons caused the New Economic Policy (NEP)?

3. What reasons caused the great famine in the Soviet Ukraine?

4. What results did the policy of Ukrainization have?

5. Find the substance of the Stalinist totalitarian regime.

6. What consequences did the Soviet forced Industrialization and the total Collectivization have for the Ukrainian people?

7. What reasons and consequences did the Holodomor of 1932 and 1933 have?

8. What were the Stalinist repressions? Describe the show trials and everyday persecutions of the "people's enemies".

9. Analyze the economical and political development of the Western Ukrainian lands in 1920s and 1930s.

10. When did the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists appear? What political agenda did the OUN pursue?

11. Why was Carpatho-Ukraine proclaimed?