Ukrainian leftist public discourse on the world war is studied on the basis of the newspapers Robytnicha Hazeta and Borotba. The first mentioned was the organ of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party, while the second was the newspaper of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. Chronologically, the study covers the period from the launching of the papers to the Ukrainian Treaty of Brest-Litovsk January 27/February 9, 1918. The first issue of Robytnicha Hazeta appeared on March 30 and that of Borotba on April 17, 1917.

At first, the two newspapers supported the idea of revolutionary defensism: while the front must be held, peace must be concluded without annexations or reparations. However, in summer and fall, the Ukrainian leftists wrote on the war in increasingly critical tone. They also demanded participation of the representatives of Ukraine in the peace conference. After the Soviet Russian attack on Ukraine in December 1917, the Ukrainian interests, and the survival of Ukraine as a state took priority over international solidarity or general opposition to imperialism.

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We will pre-circulate an unpublished paper in advance of this workshop, so that we can read them in advance and have a fruitful discussion with the author.

Johannes Remy, Wilfrid Laurier University

Johannes Remy is Instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Helsinki in 2000. He is the author of award-winning books Brothers or Enemies: The Ukrainian National Movement and Russia from the 1840s to the 1870s (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016) and Higher Education and National Identity. Polish Student Activism in Russia 1832-1863 (Helsinki: Society of Finnish Literature, 2000).