«Товариство єдності і згоди»: ланка зв’язку поколінь (1923-1925 рр.)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyse archival materials, participants’ memoirs and researchers’ works to highlight the activities of the Society of Unity and Consent, founded by the patriotic students and teachers of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv Labour School. Th e methodo- logical basis of the study is the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematicity and compre- hensiveness. Th e scientifi c novelty of the publication lies in the fact that for the fi rst time, on the basis of published and unpublished archival materials, the preconditions, formation and history of the Society of Unity and Consent are studied. Conclusions. Th e founding of the Society of Unity and Consent was a challenge to the system of government of that time, which sought to eliminate any alternative organisations that openly or indirectly put the preservation of national identity above Bolshevik ideology. To belittle the importance of such ideas, the Bolsheviks delib- erately accused their participants of “bourgeois nationalism”, “backwardness”, and called them people who went against the demands of life and adhered to “dead slogans”. However, despite such pressure, some graduates not only maintained their connection with the school, but also formed their own opinions on the manipulative and insulting accusations. Due to various objec- tive and subjective reasons, only twelve out of 60 members remained in the organisation, which is a signifi cant result by sociological standards. It was this part of the youth that later became the basis of the well-known Union of Ukrainian Youth.