SOCIO-ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN CENTRAL UKRAINE ON THE THRESHOLD OF AND DURING THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION (1881–1922): THE AGRARIAN QUESTION

Abstract

The subject of the study is the analysis of economic development (agrarian relations) in Central Ukraine in the 80s of the XIX century – the first quarter of 1922. The problematic nature of the article is stipulated by the insufficient attention of specialists to the economic history of this region. The publication deals with the socio-economic sphere of regional history. Methodology. The study is based on the use of interdisciplinary methodological optics: economics, history, geography, and law. The purpose of the article is to analyse the approaches to solving the agrarian issue in Central Ukraine in the post-reform period and during the liberation struggle of 1917-1922. The article focuses on various aspects of socio-economic development in the late XIX century – the first quarter of the XX century. Conclusions. In the 80s and 90s of the XIX century, significant economic experiments took place in Central Ukraine aimed at solving the agrarian issue and meeting the economic needs of the peasantry. They were initiated by both representatives of the authorities – zemstvo officials – and public figures, such as M. Levytskyi. These attempts were partially successful economically: the peasantry of Kherson, Yekaterinoslav, Kyiv, and Poltava provinces had larger land holdings than in other areas, and were more entrepreneurial, as evidenced by their support for the cooperative movement. The second part of the article deals with the analysis of socio-economic relations during the liberation struggle of 1917-1922. The analysis of this struggle suggests that the peasantry of Central Ukraine was the driving force behind various insurgent movements. There were several major uprisings on socio-economic grounds in these areas, which were caused by the Ukrainian peasantry's rejection of the economic experiments of the Russian occupiers: the Bolsheviks and their opponents, the White Guards. The interests of the Ukrainian peasantry were partially satisfied by the introduction of a new economic policy in 1921, which contributed to the gradual decline of the insurgency.

Keywords

• economy
• agriculture
• reform
• peasantry
• co-operation
• new economic policy
• uprising
• central ukraine