Volodymyr Vynnychenko's Mission to Moscow and Kharkov

Abstract

This article analyses the decision in 1920 by the leading Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Vynnchenko to travel to Moscow and Kharkov to negotiate with the Bolsheviks. It argues that though an apparent change in the Bolsheviks' nationalities policy had enabled him to adopt a Sovietophile position, he and his supporters justified their new stance with the claim that the Bolsheviks were the leaders of the world socialist revolution. The mission itself is also described. Vynnychenko's refusal to accept the posts offered to him condemned this undertaking to failure. However, the episode also highlights the difficulty of uniting Ukrainian national goals with support for a world revolution led by a party which was frustrating these desires.