Approaches to the review of the Khotyn Uprising in 1919 in soviet and contemporary Ukrainian historiography

Abstract

The Khotyn Uprising was an event that became one of the most striking pages in the history of the region in the XX century. Considerable attention was paid to the study of the history of this issue during the Soviet period, but interpretation of the rebellion has changed several times because of the increasing influence of ideology on the research of Soviet scientists. With the proclamation of Ukraine's Independence, it became possible to objectively cover these events, which led to a process of rethinking the scientific works of Soviet researchers. The presence of different approaches in covering this issue necessitates a detailed analysis of the transformations that took place in the interpretation of the Khotyn uprising.

The article explores the specific features of the main approaches to the coverage of the Khotyn uprising in Soviet and contemporary Ukrainian scientific historical literature.

It is established that in the 20^th – 40^th of the XX century the Khotyn uprising was reported as a spontaneous peasant rebellion against the Romanian invaders. According to the Representatives of this approach, one of the main causes of the defeat of uprising was the absence of a Bolshevik insurgency organisation.

It is revealed that 50^th of the XX century became a transitional period between the previous interpretation of the Khotyn uprising and the new coverage of events, as scientists still emphasized that the uprising was peasantry, but began to provide a significance to revolutionary elements among them.

Since the 60^th of the XX century the situation is changed: ideology has become a decisive element in research of the uprising and, therefore, all events related to the uprising have been covered in according to the ideology. Thus, the Khotyn uprising is reported as prepared by the communist-led committee, had a well-planned commencement and aimed at restoring Soviet power in the Khotyn region.

It is established that with the proclamation of Ukraine's Independence in the coverage of the uprising, there are dramatic changes related to the nature and purpose of the uprising, the political orientations of its leaders, etc. In contemporary Ukrainian science, for example, the Bolshevik character of the uprising and the struggle for power of the Soviets is refuted; instead, the emphasis was made on national liberation; it was confirmed the thesis about the orientation of some of the organizers of the uprising to the Ukrainian People's Republic in Kiev. The neutrality of the UPR’s Directory is explained because of the threat of war with Romania.

Keywords: Khotyn uprising, Soviet historiography, contemporary Ukrainian historiography.