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Red Banner and Black Tryzub: The Rise and Fall of the Ukrainian Nationalist Left
Delaney, David Martin
Delaney, David Martin
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Abstract
Nationalism is not inherently tied to any specific political persuasion or tradition. Nationalism can be liberal, socialist, conservative, or reactionary. Ukrainian nationalism need only be defined by the view that Ukrainians constitute a distinct people from the other East Slavic nations. This thesis, a project in intellectual and political history, seeks to develop a narrative explaining the shift in ideological hegemony from socialist and liberal Ukrainian nationalism in the late Russian Empire and revolutionary period towards reactionary ethnic nationalism in post-revolutionary Ukraine. The “Ukrainian Nationalist Left” is defined as the intellectual tradition and political milieu that emerged from the social conditions of Ukraine in the 18th century. People adhering to these articles of faith organized themselves into political parties and societies dedicated to someday realizing their goal of the national liberation of Ukraine, and indeed, all of the peoples of the Russian Empire. These groups also identified the Ukrainian struggle for national liberation as part and parcel of an international movement to liberate humanity from the evils of economic and social dictatorship, ignorance, and cruelty and establish a new world defined by socialism, radical democracy, and ethical humanism. For almost a century this coalition grew and developed, and enjoyed almost uncontested hegemony over national thought in Ukraine. This hegemony was tested by the cataclysmic inferno of war and revolution, which dragged the 19th century world through a maelstrom of blood, steel, and tears into the 20th century. In this time of change, the Ukrainian people rose their voice, and the Ukrainian Nationalist Left attempted to realize their ideological project of an authentically Ukrainian democratic republic. This project, which began with tremendous optimism, idealism, and joy, ended with the feelings of bitterness, resentment, and anger. After the defeat of their efforts and their exile into Europe, the national movement in Ukraine was faced with an existential reckoning for how to reconcile their desire for a Ukrainian state with the changed post revolutionary and post war world. In the face of such catharsis and trauma, disillusioned elements of the national movement became attracted to new ideologies and methods for accomplishing their aims, reshaping the ideological project entirely. This gave way to the rise of a new nationalist idea that embraced class collaborationism over class struggle, Social Darwinism over ethical humanism, and racial ultranationalism over democratic pluralism. It would be these groups that would claim the common banner of “Ukrainian nationalism” in the 1930s and 40s, and who would seek to define it in stark terms of blood and soil.
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2025-01-01