Ukrainian Language in Educational Institutions of the USSR: 1960s–1970s

Abstract

This article examines the position of the Ukrainian language in educational institutions of the USSR during the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century. It is shown that the Soviet government actively implemented the policy of Russification, the aim of which was the complete destruction of the national-educational space of Ukrainians. Numerous decisions and resolutions of the country’s top party leadership have laid a solid foundation for the introduction of Russian as the language of interethnic communication. In the field of education, the ideologues of communism tried to shift the emphasis from the national characteristics of Ukrainians to the “common” for all – the Soviet ones. Oppression of the native language has caused alarm among the Ukrainian public. Realizing that the Ukrainian language is the basis for the preservation and development of the Ukrainian nation, the Ukrainian intelligentsia led the movement to protect it. Disagreeing with Russification, Ukrainians used all possible forms of protest against it at the time. It came to the formation of open opposition to Khrushchev’s educational reform. Many letters were received by various levels of government, newspapers, and magazines from various publishers, whose authors were concerned about the unequal position of the Russian and Ukrainian languages and expressed their indignation at the functioning of a large number of Russian-language educational institutions. Ukrainians were encouraged to spread the Ukrainian language and take care of its further development, thus seeking to preserve their own national identity. And the Ukrainian language continued to live and develop in the thick of the masses.