Ukrainization: the emergence and dissemination of the concept (first quarter of the twentieth century)

Abstract

The article analyzes the origin of the concept “Ukrainization” and the interpretation of the word in the socio-political lexicon of the first quarter of the 20th century. Attention is paid to the assessment of the Ukrainization by supporters and opponents of the Ukrainian national movement. The leaders of the Ukrainian movement actively talked about the Ukrainization in the early twentieth century. They insisted on creating conditions for the realization of the rights of the Ukrainian nation to independent development. The concept has been repeatedly used by M. Hrushevsky and Ye. Chykalenko. With the beginning of the revolution in Russia, the need for the Ukrainization was constantly discussed in the Ukrainian Central Rada. The concept was used both in a narrow sense (the Ukrainization of the school, the Ukrainization of local governments, etc.) and in a broad sense (the Ukrainization of all life). The concept of “Ukrainization” was associated with the idea of the policy of building a national Ukrainian state and the process of development of national consciousness. Opponents of the Ukrainian movement insisted on the artificiality of the process of the Ukrainization. For example, S. N. Shchegolev considered it “an experiment on the people”. The emotional perception of the Ukrainization was associated with the attitude to the “Ukrainian question” and the way it was resolved, but not with its meaning. For the supporters of the Ukrainian project, the Ukrainization was a method of achieving the goals of the national movement. The Ukrainization was a policy aimed at establishing the Ukrainian character of the socio-cultural space of a certain territory.