Ukrainian Historical Science of the Soviet Era

Abstract

The article-review of the book by O. Yasya examines the theoretical and methodological principles of the functioning of the scientists of the Institute of History from 1936 to 1986, the peculiarities of the functioning of the institution and the principles of its activity, the development of the Soviet concept of the history of Ukraine, one that would suit Moscow, this is the history of historians, their difficult human destinies, the construction of new professional and human ethics in their environment.

The Institute of History, its scientists, after the first congress of Marxist historians (1929), had to recognize simplified vulgarized Marxism, which was combined with positivism, as the only scientific methodology of history. This led to the loss of man as a subject of history and a subject of research, as well as to a simplified understanding of the problems of epistemology.

The Soviet version of Marxism was planted both by directive methods – the activities of the Institute were controlled by the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine and by terrorist methods – by means of bloody repression against Ukrainian humanitarians. The work of pre-revolutionary historians was stunned, contacts with world scientists were practically absent. The Soviet Ukrainian science of history and other humanitarian sciences were in a stage of stagnation.

The second important problem of the Institute of History of Soviet times was the creation of such a concept of the history of Ukraine that would suit Moscow. And this vulgarized and simplified historical concept was created and instilled in the Ukrainian people.

Since the time of “perestroika”, the history of Ukraine has been conceptually revised. As for its methodological reconstruction, the problem remains, in particular, the issue of developing the civilizational history of Ukraine is urgent. We also need a restructuring of the education system and qualitative changes in the training of research historians.