«Украинский вопрос на страницах газеты «Южный край» (март – октябрь 1917 г.)

Abstract

The article analyses the editorial policy of the newspaper “Yuzhny Kray”, which had a significant circulation in Kharkiv. The subject of the study is the newspaper’s publications from March to October 1917, i.e. during the Provisional Government. Among other issues put on the agenda by the revolutionary wave, the Ukrainian question can be singled out in particular. In modern conditions, when Russian-Ukrainian relations are subject to serious tests, it is important to refer to the crucial events of 1917. The author focuses on the plots related to the spread of the Ukrainian language and culture, the dialogue of Russian and Ukrainian cultures in the Kharkiv province, which had a very diverse ethnic composition. Of particular interest are the issues related to the teaching of the Ukrainian language in the Kharkiv province. In addition, the author analyses the articles about the Ukrainian Central Rada, some events (all-Ukrainian Peasant Congress, Congress of Ukrainian socialists-revolutionaries, Kiev Congress of Ukrainian Lawyers, etc.), newspaper publications concerning the reaction of the authorities and social groups to the problem of Ukrainism. The athour concludes that the newspaper “Yuzhny Kray” reflected primarily the views of the liberal intelligentsia and followed the policy of the Provisional Government on the Ukrainian issue, generally supporting the idea of creating national and cultural autonomy of the Ukrainian people, but criticizing the the Central Rada policy of federalization and demanding guarantees for national minorities in the territory of the would-be Ukrainian autonomy.