ETHNONATIONAL RUSSIAN FACTOR IN THE UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT POLICY OF LEGAL FORMATIONS OF PRIDNEPROVIE (1917–1921 YEARS)

Abstract

The Russian minority as ethno-national factor in Ukrainian legal policy of national state formations of Pridneprovie of 1917–1921 – of two UPR – Central Council and the Hetman Ukrainian State and Directory – of the Ukrainian State is investigated. The thesis is substantiated that the number of Russians, their place in the ethnic structure of Ukrainian land as the second after the Ukrainian national group, and the most important thing - the developed Russian imperial tradition, were among the main factors underlying the beliefs of the Ukrainian political elite at the beginning of the liberation struggle on national-territorial autonomy of Ukraine as a part of a federal democratic Russia as the only possible form of realization of Ukrainian national statehood. The Russians within all Ukrainian provinces of the empire, last year before the collapse of the latter, numerically dominated among other non-Ukrainians (including the most numerous – Poles and Jews), although it was the second largest (after Ukrainian) national group. The Russian imperial government strongly supported ethnic Russians in alien ethnic regions. But imperial national policy provided the dominant political and legal status and high position on the social ladder. The imperial tradition prompted Russians to consider themselves the representatives of a monopoly, ruling, state nation with the relevant claims of the particular situation in the different spheres of public life. It is noted that in the revolutionary Ukraine the Russian ethno-national factor, due to the loss of the previous leading social and political significance of Russians became the creation of ethnic conflicts. This affected the nature, content and dynamics of Ukraine-Russia relations. Because many Russians considered themselves the actual representatives of Russian state interests, the Russian ethno-national factors largely determined the success of Ukrainian people in building its own national state. On the basis of the principal legal measures of the Ukrainian national state formations the research proved that their policy towards Russians and other minorities, despite the fact that depended on the «national» or «territorial» understanding of the state was reasonable and tolerant. And in this sense, it coincided with the European democratic tradition. It is observed that the Ukrainian national state formations of Pridneprovie of 1917–1921 were the first in modern times that faced the problem of regulating state-level relations with the Russians (and other national groups) as national minorities. As a result, the legal basis of free and comprehensive national development of Russian and other ethnic minorities were laid as well as the first real steps for their implementation were made.