BOLSHEVIK RUSSIA’S FIRST WAR AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL REPUBLIC THROUGH THE EYES OF THE UKRAINIAN MEDIA

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the publications of Ukrainian periodicals during the first war of Bolshevik Russia against the Ukrainian People’s Republic and to reveal their role in shaping public opinion. The scientific novelty lies in the disclosure of the social function of the press, which played an important role in the life of Ukrainian society as a means of mass information, agitation and propaganda in late 1917 – early 1918 on the example of the three most massive and popular newspapers – “Nova Rada”, “Robitnycha Gazeta” and “Narodna Volya”. Conclusions. At the beginning of the first war of Bolshevik Russia against the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Ukrainian media were represented by a wide range of newspapers representing the dominant parties in the Ukrainian Central Rada, from moderate centrists to left-centrists. The newspapers chosen for analysis are “Nova Rada”, “Robitnycha Gazeta”, and “Narodna Volya”, which were daily, covered almost all segments of society at the time, and promptly responded to breaking news and provided up-to-date information. Despite some differences, they all opposed the Bolshevik perspective for Ukraine. Negative assessment of the Bolsheviks’ policy and attempts to seize power in Kyiv, protests against the ultimatum to the Ukrainian People’s Republic from the Russian Council of People’s Commissars, condemnation of hostilities and Bolshevik terror, support for the Ukrainian delegation during the Brest- Lithuania peace talks were the main topics discussed in the Ukrainian media. The newspaper pages show that in less than six months, the Ukrainian political movement made a tremendous leap in the face of war: the idea of proclaiming the independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic matured and was implemented, but the Ukrainian Central Rada failed to preserve it due to a number of circumstances. All this gives grounds to assert that the Ukrainian media played a significant role in shaping public opinion during the hostilities of December 1917 – March 1918, as they not only helped to navigate real events but also acted as a kind of co-creators of a new reality.