Theories of Nationalism and the Soviet Ukrainian Context

Abstract

On 24 August 1991 the Ukrainian parliament, or Supreme Council, declared national independence, their action subsequently being confirmed by 90.3 per cent of the population in a referendum on 1 December 1990. The central task of any contemporary political history of Ukraine must be to try to explain how this occurred. This opening chapter seeks to place Ukrainian nationalism in a theoretical context, without, however, arguing that Ukraine’s entire recent history can or should be retrospectively analysed as a necessary development towards the nationalism of today.