The 1920s were culturally vibrant times in Ukraine. After years of ferocious conflict over Ukrainian statehood, the Bolsheviks succeeded in forging the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922. At that point, some politically active Ukrainians gave up hopes for a sovereign state and fled. Others, however, saw an opportunity for cultural renewal, even if full political independence wasn’t on the cards.
In this, they were aided by Soviet “nativization” policies, which aimed to reverse decades of Russian cultural dominance and to promote the languages and cultures of non-Russian peoples. It was in this context that the Ukrainian Renaissance of 1920 and ’30s arose. The motto of this era was: “Get Away From Moscow!” The phrase is usually attributed to the modernist writer Mykola Khvylovy, a major figure of the Ukrainian Renaissance who was both a devoted Communist and an avid patriot.
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