The Model of the Ukrainian State in the Concept of the Right-wing Political Environment of the Interwar Period

Abstract

The changes that took place at the end of the First World War significantly affected all spheres of society: economic, political relations, ideology, and culture. They took place in almost every state and, despite the differences in their course, had one thing in common: the desire of political elites to achieve stability as soon as possible. The democratic and liberal methods of governance that governments tried to use to meet this challenge proved ineffective. As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian sentiments intensified in political thought at the time. They manifested themselves in a search for new concepts of state systems that would guarantee rapid success in carrying out reforms and ensure the proper functioning of the entire state apparatus for the benefit of society. The most suitable ground for their establishment and implementation was in those European states that had lost the war or failed to overcome economic recession and political instability. Having restored its statehood in 1917–1920, Ukraine then lost it. Among its political elites, active debate erupted over the question of who was to blame. Leaders of the Ukrainian People’s Republic were severely criticized by rightwing circles, who accused them of making the democratic republic model of the state unviable, which resulted in the loss of national independence. As an alternative, they formulated their own vision of the future Ukrainian state that included totalitarian or authoritarian models of government, which were bring established in a number of European countries and proved effective in neutralizing the communist movement, strengthening the state apparatus and playing the part of main arbiter in the life of society. Theoretical substantiations of these concepts were reflected in the works of right-wing radical and conservative politicians – Dontsov, Stsiborsky, Lypynsky, Kuchabsky, and Nazaruk. The model of the Ukrainian state in the vision of the rightwing political circles of the interwar period generally reflected the tendencies of European political ideas at that time, with the difference that the issue of restoring its independence remained a priority.