The strategy and tactics of the armed nationalist underground in the struggle for the Ukrainian state (1949 - mid-1950s): visions of contemporary scholars
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/app2023.03.115Keywords:
Ukrainian liberation movement, armed nationalist underground, insurgent units, strategy, tactics, Soviet totalitarian regimeAbstract
A modern historiographical analysis has been conducted on the evolution of the strategy and tactics employed in the struggle of the armed nationalist underground movements for an independent and unified Ukrainian state during the concluding period of the liberation fight from 1949 to the mid-1950s.
It is argued that after the reorganization and temporary suspension of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) units' activities, its fighters integrated into the structures of the nationalist underground, bearing the entire burden of resistance against the punitive and repressive structures of the communist regime.
It is proved that in contemporary Ukrainian historiography, a conclusion has emerged regarding significant popular support for the Ukrainian liberation movement. This support is explained not only by the desire to restore Ukrainian statehood but also by the population's rejection of the essence of Soviet orders and the cruelty of the Soviet totalitarian regime in eradicating Ukrainian identity, which constituted the alpha and omega of the essence of communist government policy. The heroic struggle of the forces of the independence movement laid the foundations for subsequent stages of the liberation movement for the Ukrainian state.
In the context of further scholarly studies on the concluding stage of armed nationalist underground against the communist regime, it is advisable to focus on the continued search and publication of a comprehensive set of archival documents from the period of 1949 to the mid-1950s; the production of analytical and comparative monographs that would contextualize the struggle of the Ukrainian national liberation movement within a broader European framework, illustrate the mutual influence of the unfolding national liberation struggle in the context of the inter-bloc confrontation during the "Cold War" era.
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