“A Ukrainian” as Self-Identification in the Context of the Collapse of Empires in the Early Twentieth Century

The article discusses the history of using the term “a Ukrainian” in the prerevolutionary period of the history of Russia and during the revolutionary events of the early 20th century. It is shown that initially (at the end of the 19th century), Ukrainians were understood as supporters of the Ukrainophile movement. In the early years of the 20th century the term was reconsidered to acquire class meaning and began to designate the oppressed population of Ukraine (Malorossiya [Little Russia]) following the path of the formation of a new nation. The concept “Ukrainians” was propagandized by the supporters of the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party, who also insisted on the necessity of abandoning the traditional regional selfdesignations (Malorossy [Little Russians], Rusyns). In the circles of the intelligentsia, the term “Ukrainians” became widely used on the eve and during the February Revolution of 1917. At that time, it was adopted by the Bolsheviks and later became an instrument of their policy. “Ukrainians” as an ethnic self-designation took root only in the Soviet times. In general, the ethnonym “Ukrainians” became a symbol of breakdown of imperial ideology and a marker of the new national movement in Eastern Europe.

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