The "change of signposts" in the Ukrainian emigration

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The failed attempts to establish a Ukrainian state during the 1917-21 revolution led to a significant Ukrainian émigré community in Central Europe, which developed a strong anti-Communist ideology rooted in integral nationalism due to its experiences fighting the Bolsheviks. However, during the 1920s, some émigrés began advocating for reconciliation with their former adversaries and a return to Soviet Ukraine. This shift included notable figures from the Ukrainian governments formed post-1917, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, and Ievhen Petrushevych. Utilizing both published and unpublished writings from the Sovietophile émigrés, this study reconstructs and analyzes their justifications for cooperating with the Bolsheviks. It contrasts those who viewed the Bolsheviks as leaders of an international revolution with those who highlighted the national achievements of the Soviet Ukrainian republic. Furthermore, it investigates Soviet policies towards pro-Soviet émigrés and their interactions with the Bolsheviks, drawing from historical documents in Kyiv. The Ukrainian movement is compared to the Russian émigration phenomenon Smena vekh (‘Change of Signposts’), contributing to the understanding of the New Economic Policy, Ukrainianisation in the Soviet Union, and the political thought of the Ukrainian émigration in the 1920s.