“Attending courses is mandatory for everyone...”: the experience of hardware Ukrainization of the 1920s

Abstract

This article discusses the functionalities of courses on the study of the Ukrainian language in the Ukrainian SSR during the Ukrainization of the 1920s. There are many studies on the history of Soviet national policy in Ukraine. However, the daily practice of Ukrainization has not been studied enough. The purpose of the article is to analyse the peculiarities of the policy of Ukrainization in relation to Russian-speaking employees of state institutions and enterprises of the Republic, to analyse organisational forms and methods of teaching the Ukrainian language, and the format of knowledge in the field of Ukrainian Studies. Primary attention is paid to the characteristics of resolutions, instructions and methodological guidelines that regulated the form and activities of courses on the study of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian Studies, as well as teaching methods and the procedures for conducting exams. The study shows that the courses were supposed to ensure the knowledge of the Ukrainian language by employees of various organisations. This was necessary for the translation of office work into Ukrainian. Ukrainian was the language “for official relations” in the Republic, since it was the language spoken by the majority of the population of the Ukrainian SSR. At the same time, the courses gave students an idea of the “Ukrainian question”, Ukrainian literature and history. The Republican authorities expected to force officials to switch to the language of the titular nation within a short time. They used harsh administrative pressure: in the resolutions and orders of the Kharkiv leadership, there was a clause on the dismissal of those who did not want to be Ukrainised.