Ukrainian Nationalism - Soviet Union and Ukrainian Bourgeoisie Nationalism

Soviet Union and Ukrainian Bourgeoisie Nationalism

In the Soviet ideology exists such concept as Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism (UBN) (Ukrainian: Український буржуазний націоналізм, (УБН)). This nationalism concept was presented as a form of anti-socialist movement and counterrevolution, bourgeoisie-like. All counter-revolutionary activities were persecuted by the Article 58 of the 1922 Russian Criminal Code. The definition of Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism was well put in a foreword of one Soviet book "Under foreign flags" from 1950s (author Volodymyr Byelyayev). The book claimed that the Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism was invented by an archenemy of the Ukrainian people, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, who as the author claims was a German spy. Having a great political and public popularity and respect, those groundless accusations were the Soviet form of a negative public relations. Those accusations also were confirmed by the doctor of historical sciences Vitaliy Sarbei who was published in the popular Russian informational agency "Rosbalt" (February 2011). The book "Under foreign flags" gives the following definition for the Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism:

The Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism is an ideology and a policy of Ukrainian bourgeoisie. In exploiting society the social base of Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism was a stratum of all urban and rural bourgeoisie starting from big capitalists, owners of big industrial enterprises, and finishing with the most numerous layer of bourgeoisie class under capitalism, kurkul. The economical base of growth of the Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism in the epoch of imperialism is common for any nationality that is an increase of imperial competition for sale markets and raw materials.

Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism was a cliche of the Soviet phraseology such as "Proletarian Internationalism", "Red Army", "Fraternity of peoples", "Agitprop", "Stakhanovite movement", "New Economic Policy", "Enemy of the people", "Kolkhoz", "War communism", "Thief in law" and numerous other. According to the Soviet ideology Ukrainian bourgeoisie nationalism was a specific form of bourgeois nationalism and was directed to recognize superiority of national interests over class (see Class in Marxist theory). The idea of bourgeoisie nationalism was required to keep consistency with the Bolshevik's Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia which set a wave of succession movements across the former Russian Empire. This type of nationalism was also used to identify everyone who did not share national policy principles of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the proletarian internationalism, and was not falling under the definition of bourgeoisie cosmopolitanism. In the Soviet ideology the bourgeoisie cosmopolitanism was a negative phenomenon and opposite to the fraternity of peoples.

The term has appeared in 1920s at first in documents of the Communist Party then it transferred into journalism and science literature. It performed functions of ideological request. Another ideological request in Soviet historiography was equating Ukrainian nationalism with fascism and in the first place with nazism. This was conducted even despite that racism and cult of personality were extrinsic to Ukrainian nationalism, which was its distinction.