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Searching for the Ukrainian Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2020

Serhy Yekelchyk
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Abstract

This article discusses the possible ways of conceptualizing the revolutionary and nation-building struggles in the Ukrainian lands between 1917 and 1921. The author argues that these processes, which stemmed from the collapse of two European empires, display features not easily accommodated within the traditional interpretive model of the “Russian Revolution.” In comparison, the Ukrainian concept of “national-liberation struggle” is too reductionist and teleological. The term “Ukrainian Revolution,” which was widely used by the participants of these events, is better suited for an inclusive analysis of this period that emphasizes the significance of the national factor without ignoring the others. Rather than “nationalizing” the story of the Revolution, such an approach highlights the transnational dimensions of the Ukrainian question.

Type
Critical Discussion Forum: Ukraine in Revolution
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 78 , Issue 4 , Winter 2019 , pp. 942 - 948
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 2020

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Footnotes

Although he did not read this text, the mentorship and publications of the late Mark von Hagen shaped my thinking about this topic.

References

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