BEGINNING OF UKRAINIAN POLITICAL EMIGRATION IN SWITZERLAND IN THE OTHER HALF 1870's

Abstract

The article analyzes the beginnings of Ukrainian political emigration in Switzerland in the second half of the 1870s, which is related to the activities of prominent Ukrainian political, public and cultural figure M P Drahomanov. The repression by the tsarist authorities, which began after the suppression of the first wave of the populist movement, forced a number of figures of both the Ukrainian and Russian revolutionary movements to leave their homeland in order to continue their struggle in emigration. It was in Switzerland after the end of the revolutions of 1848, as well as the defeat of the Paris Commune in 1871, that people from different countries gather, aiming to analyze the causes of the defeat of the revolutions and to develop measures for the future. M. Drahomanov managed to unite supporters of Ukrainian federalism and start publishing in Geneva both the first free Hromada magazine and literature on current topics of history, culture and major problems of Ukrainian life. At the same time, Drahomanov and his adherents take an active part in the social life of the Geneva colony of emigrants, and he himself becomes one of the most respected figures to be acquainted with by all those who came from Russia. At this time, the revolutionary views of M. Drahomanov and his supporters crystallized as well, which consisted in the need to fight for the federal system of the future of Russia and to abandon the state in general for the benefit of self-governing communities. At the same time, an important component of the activity of Ukrainian political emigration was the promotion of their views among revolutionary figures, especially from Russia. To this end, M. Drahomanov and his supporters spread the ideas of federalism and anarchism through the publishing of literature, the Hromada magazine, and meetings with revolutionaries who came from the Russian Empire. Their views were often incompatible with the ideas of other revolutionaries, as many of them advocated the preservation of Russia as a single state. This has led to misunderstandings and sometimes negative attitudes on the part of Russian figures. Nevertheless, M. Drahomanov did not back down from his ideas, which aroused respect from emigrants and made him a respected figure for all refugees from Russia.