Ukrainian liberation movement (1920–1950)

The Ukrainian liberation movement from 1920 to 1950 was an armed and political struggle to re-establish an independent Ukrainian state following the defeat of Ukrainian statehood in the Ukrainian War of Independence. It opposed the partition of modern Ukraine among the Soviet Union, Second Polish Republic, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. The movement included various political, military, and underground organisations, which was mainly active in Western Ukraine.

The movement comprised many ideologies, including Ukrainian nationalism, monarchism, republicanism, which differed in their visions for a future Ukrainian state. Ukrainian nationalism became dominant, shaping organisations such as the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists, while monarchist and republican groups remained active in exile.

During World War II, these organisations engaged in political activity, armed resistance and at times cooperated with foreign powers such as Nazi Germany. The Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO), Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) were among the most important groups. The movement declined by the early 1950s due to suppression by Soviet authorities.

Ideology The main goal of the movement was to establish an independent Ukrainian state through armed struggle. The movement was a direct consequence of the loss of statehood in the early 1920s. The movement included different ideologies and views on the future political and socio-economic order of an independent Ukraine.

Ukrainian nationalism Ukrainian nationalist ideas developed in the early 1920s under the influence of the political thinker Dmytro Dontsov. Ukrainian nationalists rejected socialism and liberal democracy, as they viewed these ideologies as contributing to the failure of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Nationalism advocated for independence through a national revolution led by a strong and centralized authority, emphasizing the importance of the nation over individual interests. It was often described as "active nationalism". It promoted unity, the mobilization of society to achieve statehood, and accepted political violence as a legitimate means to achieve its goals.

These ideas greatly influenced organisations such as the Ukrainian Military Organisation (UVO) and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). They shaped the strategies and activities of these groups during World War II. Some scholars have noted the similarities between Ukrainian nationalism and other movements in Central and Eastern Europe, including groups such as the Ustaše, especially in their emphasis on authoritarian leadership and revolutionary methods.

Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO), a Ukrainian nationalist party, was founded in 1925. It was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic and was active in western Ukraine. The UNDO supported constitutional democracy and the organic development of Ukrainian society. It was dissolved during the Soviet annexation of Western Ukraine in 1939.Orest Subtelny. (1988). Ukraine: a History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 434-441

During the 1930s, some scholars describe Ukrainian nationalism as undergoing a process of "fascistisation", which resulted in a mixture of national-liberationist and fascist elements. This development was identified by scholars as one of the factors that influenced cooperation between some Ukrainian nationalist groups and Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Cossack movement

Cossack nationalism is a socio-political movement that seeks to recognize the Don, Kuban, Astrakhan, Terek, and Ural Cossacks as a single political nation and the creation of a Cossack state named Cossackia.

Following the suppression of the Kuban People's Republic, small Cossack insurgent groups continued to operate in the Kuban region from 1921 to 1926. But were all ultimately suppressed by Soviet authorities. During World War II, a new Kuban Cossack movement emerged. Their aim was to establish a Cossack nation in the Cossack-inhabited regions.

Some Cossack units were incorporated into German-controlled formations. They are often referred as Cossack units within the Wehrmacht. They were deployed in various regions, including Yugoslavia. Their alignment with Nazi Germany was driven mainly due to their opposition to the Soviet Union. After World War II, limited underground activities persisted in the Kuban, including groups associated with the OUN such as the Cossack Insurgent Army; however, these formations were not directly related to the earlier Cossack movements.

Monarchism (Hetman movement)

The Hetmanite movement was a conservative-monarchist movement that sought to restore Ukrainian independence and establish the Ukrainian State and Hetmanate under Pavlo Skoropadskyi. The movement was based on the theory of Ukrainian monarchism by Vyacheslav Lypynsky. It emphasized political stability and continuity with historical Cossack state traditions. It had the indirect support of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Although it played a role in émigré political circles, the Hetmanite movement did not engage in significant armed struggles and remained marginal compared to other nationalist organizations.

Historian John Armstrong described the movement as a form of Ukrainian monarchist nationalism.

Republican democracy The republicans composed the majority in the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile. The government was led by Andriy Livytskyi, the President of the UNR since 1926. Symon Petliura and his party, the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party, was not part of the UNR Government in exile, but accepted its legitimacy.

The Republicans opposed foreign interference and advocated for a fully independent Ukraine. However, they engaged with limited contact with the Germans at the beginning of the occupation of Ukraine.Bulba-Borovets, Taras (1981). An Army Without a State . Winnipeg: Volyn Society.

History

The Ukrainian liberation movement emerged in the aftermath of the Ukrainian War of Independence, which resulted in the defeat of Ukrainian statehood and the partition of modern Ukraine among the Soviet Union, Second Polish Republic, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.

In August 1920, the UVO was formed by former members of the Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Galician Army. The organisation was led by Yevhen Konovalets, the former commander of the Sich Riflemen. The UVO carried out many operations, including acts of sabotage and targeted attacks, primarily against Polish and Bolshevik authorities. The organisation's headquarters was in Lviv.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Ukrainian people under Polish rule faced political repressions, cultural restrictions and limited autonomy. This resulted in the formation of underground paramilitary groups, such as the OUN, which was established in 1929. It was also led by Yevhen Konovalets. The OUN adopted a strategy of violence, terrorism, and assassinations with their goal to create a totalitarian and ethnically homogeneous Ukrainian state. In November 1938, the Carpathian Sich was established by OUN soldiers and Galician Ukrainians. It is a paramilitary organization in Transcarpathia.

World War II

Ukrainian nationalists hoped that a German victory over the Soviet Union would lead to the creation of a Ukrainian state, or that such a conflict would be a repeat of World War I whereby the dominant empires had exhausted themselves, giving rise to a period of anarchy in which a Ukrainian state could assert itself. Nationalists therein wanted to use their collaboration with the Nazis to establish military formations, as well as a foothold in eastern Ukraine. The day after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed, the UNDO declared that, despite outstanding disagreements, it would defend Poland in the event of war. Following the Soviet invasion of Poland and its annexation of eastern Galicia and Volhynia, the UNDO was dissolved and its leaders were imprisoned by the Soviet authorities.

The OUN collaborated with the to plan an uprising during the German invasion of Poland and train a legion commanded by Roman Sushko, however this was largely abandoned due to the Nazi–Soviet Pact and may have been used by the Germans to pressure the Soviets to launch their invasion. The OUN leadership had been given the impression by Abwehr chief Wilhelm Canaris that Germany would support the creation of a Nazi-aligned West Ukrainian state, with the 1939 constitution drafted by the OUN envisaging this as "sovereign, authoritarian, totalitarian... bearing the name 'Ukrainian State'". Following the release of OUN members from Polish prisons, the younger more radical generation rallied around Stepan Bandera and in 1940 the OUN split into two factions: the Melnykites (OUN(M)) led by Andriy Melnyk and the Banderites (OUN(B)) led by Bandera.

During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the OUN factions sent expeditionary groups into Soviet Ukraine to shadow the Wehrmacht's advance and set up local administrations, with the OUN(B) forming the Nachtigall and Roland battalions under the Abwehr in early 1941. Both factions of the OUN were antisemitic and engaged in pogroms, including the mid-1941 Lviv pogroms involving members of the OUN(B), though neither considered Jews their main enemy which remained the Soviet Union or Poland. OUN members also joined the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, which supported the implementation of the Holocaust in Ukraine.

OUN(B) In Lviv on 30 June 1941, the OUN(B) unilaterally proclaimed an independent Ukrainian state, with Yaroslav Stetsko as prime minister under Bandera. The proclamation specified that the state would "cooperate closely with National Socialist Greater Germany... under the Führer Adolf Hitler." Bandera and Stetsko were arrested by the Germans shortly afterwards and taken to Berlin, later being transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Initially allowed to continue his political activities, Stetsko delegated the leadership of the OUN(B) in Ukraine to Mykola Lebed. Following the assassination of OUN(M) members Mykola Stsiborskyi and Omelyan Senyk in August 1941, and amid mutual denunciations, the Nazi authorities initiated a wider crackdown on the Banderites.

Forced underground, the OUN(B) decided at an October 1942 conference in Lviv to establish an army. The first partisan units were formed in January–February 1943 swelled by deserters from the auxiliary police, with the Banderite force co-opting the name Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in April–May to capitalise on the popularity of Taras Bulba-Borovets's partisan formation of the same name. Roman Shukhevych was appointed commander of the UPA in November, later becoming head of the OUN(B) by 1944. The UPA resisted the German occupation, combatted Soviet and Polish partisans, and pursued a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Poles in Volhynia and eastern Galicia that led to Polish reprisals. According to Timothy Snyder, the Banderite leadership believed that the final conflict would be with a resurrected Poland once Germany and the USSR had exhausted themselves. The OUN(B) sought to absorb Melnykite and Borovets partisan groups through negotiations or by force. In August 1943, the OUN(B) liberalised its ideology and in 1945 publicly abandoned ethnonationalism.: "However, the shift toward democracy was not solely a propaganda manoeuvre. The later actions of UHVR activists in exile and their disputes with Bandera seem to indicate a certain evolution of views." The OUN(B) established the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR) in mid-1944, chaired by Shukhevych, to serve as a pluralist non-partisan platform, though representatives of the OUN(M), UPR, and Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky did not attend and it was practically dominated by the OUN(B). Following the Soviet counteroffensive, the UPA continued to wage an insurgency against the USSR.

OUN(M)