Taras Kurylo
Strength and Weakness of Ukrainian Nationalism in Kyiv during the German
Occupation
The article attempts to evaluate the popularity of Ukrainian nationalism
in Kyiv during the German occupation. It demonstrates that the nationalists
failed to generate a significant support in the city, which was not surprising
in the light of the deep atomization and lack of clearly defined political views
among the overwhelming majority of the population. However, they managed to
establish a root base in a small but influential group of intelligentsia. This
was the only group with a clear-cut political agenda, which made them dominant.
This dramatic reverse with the previous time happened in the result of the
city's assumption of the capital status of Soviet Ukraine, which delegilimized
the Russophile camp and brought in intelligentsia from all around Ukraine. At
the same time, it was a time of big uncertainties and ambiguities, everything
depended on a development of the war, and the pendulum could shift in any
direction.