INTRODUCTION
This anthology of political
writings of the Ukrainian underground during and immediately after the Second
World War (1943-51) includes the works of the leading underground publicists
who made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian political
thought. The articles and documents collected here also mark several points at
which important ideological shifts took place and changes were made in the
organizational structure, strategy and tactics of the Ukrainian underground.
The underground struggle in
Ukraine occurred in two stages, each with its own strategy and tactics and each
determined by the specific conditions of the time.
The first stage (1941-4) was the
period of German occupation. This period was characterized by the vigorous,
large-scale development of partisan warfare waged by the Ukrainian Insurgent
Army (Ukrainska povstanska armiia, UPA), which was created in 1942. The army's
foremost task was to defend the population against the racist, destructive
policies of the Nazis and against the marauding bands of Red partisans, which
often behaved in the most callous and provocative manner toward the Ukrainian
population. At this time the UPA grew into a major force (its peak strength was
approximately 40,000) capable of clearing large regions of Ukrainian territory
of the enemy and administering them on its own.
The underground writings of this
period fully reflected the conditions of the struggle. They exposed the
criminal policy of the Nazis toward Ukraine and neighbouring countries. They
discussed the hostile attitude of the Ukrainian population to the occupiers.
They indicated the need to develop proper countermeasures against the forcible
conscription of young people for work in Germany and advised how best to resist
the enemy. The writings of this period, which are full of optimism, express the
belief that in the cataclysmic confrontation of the two brands of imperialism,
Nazi and Soviet, both would perish, and that all the subject peoples of Europe,
including the Ukrainians, would win a free and independent existence in their
sovereign states.
The second stage (1945-51) is
marked by a shift to new forms of struggle under conditions of renewed Soviet
control. The years 1945-7 may be considered a transitional period characterized
by large-scale armed resistance as heretofore, as well as intensive underground
organization and activity of small conspiratorial groups.
During this second period the
underground writers exhibited a more judicious and sober evaluation of the
prospects for the liberation struggle. They were fully aware that the contest
would be very long, complex, difficult and full of sacrifices. Nevertheless,
they concluded that in the conditions of Soviet totalitarianism underground
warfare was the only viable form of political struggle available to them. This
activity was to be undertaken by small guerrilla detachments for purely
political purposes. However, underground work in general was to be conducted in
highly conspiratorial fashion with a view to the political education and
mobilization of the masses.
This change of tactics and
development of new forms of struggle represents only one side of the coin. The
other side - much more important. in our opinion - manifested itself in the
changes brought about within the ideological sphere. Organized Ukrainian
nationalism had developed during the inter-war period as a reaction against the
socialist and democratic populist currents which dominated the revolution of
1917-20. Before the revolution, the leading Ukrainian intellectuals in the
Russian Empire favoured a decentralized federation with broad political and
cultural autonomy for Ukraine. It was only after the Provisional Government and
the Bolsheviks had demonstrated their hostility to the federalist concept that
the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed in January
1918. In the western Ukrainian lands under Habsburg rule, where the national
movement was much farther advanced than in the Russian Empire, Ukrainian
independence was seen as an ultimate goal to be achieved after a period of
federation with Austria. The Western Ukrainian People's Republic was not
proclaimed until November 1918, when Austria was on the point of collapse. The
united Ukrainian republic, established in January 1919, was overwhelmed by the
invading Russians and Poles.
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