Russian Nationalism and Ukraine: The Nationality Policy of the Volunteer Army During the Civil War

Edmonton & Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 1995. First edition, hardcover in blue cloth binding, 218 pages. A Near Fine condition copy in a VG+ dustjacket (a few short edge tears). No inscription or book-plate; no textual markings of any kind; a clean, bright, unworn copy. Jacket is now protected in a mylar sleeve. An excellent copy of a scarce, very hard to find book. Anna Procyk focuses on the nationality policy of the Volunteer Army and the Russian liberals who dominated its politics. Challenging the generally accepted view that the character of the White movement was primarily anti-Bolshevik or even restorationist, she shows how the concept of "one, indivisible Russia" was central to the Volunteer Army's ideology and identity and how it contributed to its failure. Dr. Procyk also challenges the view that the Volunteer Army's generals were reactionary monarchists and that they were primarily responsible for the White movement's failure. She persuasively demonstrates that the ideology and political program of the Russian liberal intellectuals who dominated the Volunteer Army's Political Centre reinforced Denikin's refusal to deal with the independent Ukrainian governments of 1918-19 and his hostility toward the idea of a Russo-Ukrainian federation and an anti-Bolshevik alliance. The Volunteer Army failed to defeat the Bolsheviks because it was unable and unwilling to come to terms with the Ukrainian question. At critical junctures during the Russian Civil War, its struggle against an independent Ukraine overshadowed its struggle against the Bolsheviks. 'Russian Nationalism and Ukraine' revises our understanding of the White movement. It is a major contribution to Russian and Ukrainian historiography. "A valuable contribution to our understanding of the White movement" - Rex A. Wade, Canadian Slavonic Papers, XLI, Vol. 1 (March 1999). "Dr. Procyk's study has been extremely well researched" - P.S. Pirie, Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 74, No. 4 (October 1996). "[A] carefully researched volume" - W.Bruce Lincoln, American Historical Review (October 1997)..