The Workers' Movement and the National Question in Ukraine, 1897-1918

423 Pages·2021·1.641 MB·English

by  Marko Bojcun

TheWorkers’MovementandtheNationalQuestioninUkraine
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
LorenBalhorn(Berlin)
DavidBroder(Rome)
SebastianBudgen(Paris)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume 229
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hm
The Workers’ Movement and the
National Question in Ukraine
1897–1918
By
MarkoBojcun
leiden | boston
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Bojcun,Marko,1951-author.
Title:Theworkers'movementandthenationalquestioninUkraine:1897-1918/by
MarkoBojcun.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,[2021]|Series:Historicalmaterialismbook
series,1570-1522;volume229|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:lccn2021017589(print)|lccn2021017590(ebook)|
isbn9789004223707(hardback;alk.paper)|isbn9789004466302(ebook)
Subjects:lcsh:Communism–Ukraine–History.|Workingclass–Politicalactivity–
Ukraine–History.|Ukraine–History–Revolution,1917-1921.|Ukraine–Politics
andgovernment–1917-
Classification:lcc hx315.45.a6b652021(print)|lcc hx315.45.a6(ebook)|
ddc335.4309477–dc23
lcrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021017589
lcebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021017590
TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill‑typeface.
issn1570-1522
isbn978-90-04-22370-7(hardback)
isbn978-90-04-46630-2(e-book)
Copyright2021byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillnvincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillNijhoff,BrillHotei,BrillSchöningh,BrillFink,Brill
mentis,Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,BöhlauVerlagandV&RUnipress.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedinaretrievalsystem,
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Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaperandproducedinasustainablemanner.
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
ListofMapsandTables viii
TransliterationandDates ix
Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 StatePowerandtheDevelopmentofCapitalism 9
2 TheWorkingClass 36
3 SocialDemocracyandtheNationalQuestion 62
4 FebruarytoOctober1917 112
5 November1917:AttemptsatReconciliation 168
6 December:TheFailureofReconciliation 212
7 TheFirstTreatyofBrestLitovsk 262
8 BattlesforKyiv 279
9 KyivunderBolshevikRule 309
10 ThePogromsinMarchandApril1918 331
11 ResistancetotheAustro-GermanOccupation 344
12 LastDaysoftheRada 364
Epilogue 393
References 395
Index 404

Acknowledgements
IvanMaistrenko,PanasFedenkoandVsevolodHolubnychyintroducedmeto
the1917RevolutioninUkraine.IhadthegoodfortunetomeetMaistrenkoand
FedenkoinMunichin1974.IntheiryouththeytookpartintheRevolutionand
wroteextensivelyaboutit.AroundthesametimeIcameacrossVsevolodHol-
ubnychy’swritingsandmethimin1976inToronto.AMarxisteconomistand
historian,hewasararityintheUkrainiandiaspora.Ifirstglimpsedthesigni-
ficanceoftheUkrainiannationalquestionfortheworkingclassandpeasantry
throughthelivesandworksofthesethreepeople.
Edward PalmerThompson deeply influenced me with his great historical
study, The Making of the EnglishWorking Class (1963). His work showed me
the value of approaching the workers’ movement through its origins in dif-
ferentsocialstrata,nationalitiesandpoliticaltraditions.Thiswasanecessary
foundationforunderstandingitsfurtherevolution,thedifficultquestforunity
initsownranksandwiththepeasantryduringtheRevolutionandCivilWar.
I gained the confidence to investigate a relationship that Stalinist historians
dismissedaslargelyirrelevantandnationalisthistoriansdeniedevenexisted:
namelythatbetweentheworkers’movementandtheUkrainiannationalques-
tionasaproblemoftheradicaldestructionandreconstructionofstatepower.
Iwouldliketoacknowledgeandthankthepeoplewhosupportedmewhen
completingmyPhDdissertationin1986,whichwasthefirstdraftofthepresent
work:myparents,AnnaandRomanBojcun,mysisterAlexandra,andmypre-
vious partner, the late Marta Danylewycz. Bohdan Krawchenko and Roman
SenkusattheCanadianInstituteof UkrainianStudiessupportedmeinthose
yearsasacademicsandpoliticalallies.
I thank Christopher Ford in London for sharing with me his wide know-
ledgeofUkrainian,English,ScottishandIrishlabourhistory,andforrepeatedly
urging me to publish my work. Zakhar Popovych in Kyiv assured me that I
havesomethingnewtooffertoreadersinUkraineaswellasothercountries.
MaksymKazakovandLesiaBidochko,whotranslatedthisworkintoUkrain-
ian,offeredvaluablecriticalobservationsandfactualcorrectionswhichIhave
incorporatedintomyfinishedwork.
MythanksgotoHalyaKowalskyforherpersonalsupportandherhardwork
proofreadingboththeEnglishandUkrainianversions.
Finally,IthankJaneGreenwood,mypartnerinlifewhohasgivenmeher
unfailingsupportovermanyyears,whichhashelpedmetobringthisworkto
completion.
Maps andTables
Maps
1 Hetmanate,theUkrainianCossackstate,1648 17
2 UkrainianprovincesoftheRussianEmpire 20
Tables
1 BranchesofproductioninUkraine,1904 26
2 ImportsandexportsofUkrainefor1909–1911 30
3 StatetaxesandexpendituresinUkraine,1898–1910(inmillionsofroubles) 32
4 IndustrialplantworkersinUkraine,1861–1917 44
5 WageearnersinUkraine,1897–1917 45
6 IndustrialworkersinUkraine,1910–1917(inthousands) 48
7 WageearnersinUkraine,January1917(inthousands) 51
8 StructureoftheworkingclassinUkrainebynationalgroup,1897 53
9 DistributionofUkrainianworkers,1897(inthousands) 54
10 Populationofmajorcitiesbynativelanguagespeakers,1897 56
Transliteration and Dates
TransliterationisbasedontheModifiedLibraryof Congresssystem.Ukrain-
iannamesoftowns,citiesandprovincesusedbeforetheRevolutionhavebeen
retained.
AlldatesaredesignatedbytheJuliancalendarupto31January1918;thereafter
they follow the Gregorian calendar, when 1 February by the Julian calendar
became14FebruarybytheGregorian.
Abbreviations
BlackHundreds UnionofRussianPeoples
Bund JewishGeneralWorkers’Union
cec CentralExecutiveCommitteeoftheCouncilsofUkraine
cp(b)u CommunistParty(Bolsheviks)ofUkraine
cpc CouncilofPeople’sCommissars
Fareinigte UnitedJewishWorkers’Party
Folkspartei JewishPeople’sParty
Kadets RussianConstitutionalDemocraticParty
mrc MilitaryRevolutionaryCommittee
PoaleZion JewishSocialDemocraticParty(WorkersofZion)
pps PolishSocialistParty
rcp RussianCommunistParty
rsdwp RussianSocialDemocraticWorkers’Party
rup RevolutionaryUkrainianParty
Spilka UkrainianSocialDemocraticUnion
sup SocialistUkrainianParty
tup SocietyofUkrainianProgressives
udfp UkrainianDemocraticFarmersParty
ujf UnionofJewishFighters
umrc UkrainianMilitaryRevolutionaryCommitteeofthePetrogradSoviet
upr UkrainianPeople’sRepublic
upsf UkrainianPartyofSocialistFederalists
upsi UkrainianPartyofSocialistIndependentists
upsr UkrainianPartyofSocialistRevolutionaries
urdp UkrainianRevolutionaryDemocraticParty
usdwp UkrainianSocialDemocraticWorkers’Party
utp UkrainianLabourParty