Ukraine during the World War II. Ukraine during the after-war period ( ). Plan 1. Second World War in Ukraine. 2. Post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. 3. Destalinization. 4. Dissident movement. 5. Social and economic development in 60-80th years. 6. Chornobyl disaster.

SECOND WORLD WAR IN UKRAINE  Second World War for Ukraine actually started on September , when Germans attacked Poland,  The most cruel and tragic stage of the war began with the attack of Germany on the USSR on June and continued till the autumn of 1944, when German forces were turned out from Ukraine.  Having guarantee of neutrality of the Soviet Union Hitler attacked Poland, initiating the start of the Second World War.

 On September the Soviet army went to eastern Poland and occupied almost all territory, settled by Ukrainians and Belorusians.  In June 1940 the USSR forced Rumania to give back Bessarabiya and Bukovyna  Punitive bodies of the USSR arrested and deported Ukrainian political leaders to the East of Russia.  From 20 to 30 thousand Ukrainian activists run away to Poland, occupied by the Germans.

 At the beginning many representatives of intelligence were impressed, as they received job in soviet educational and cultural establishments, but they quickly understood, that became strictly controlled by organization men of regime, and in case of violation of directions arose threaten of arrest and deportation  In the spring of 1940 the regime opened the mask of democracy and began wile-ranging repressions – as against the Ukrainians, as against Poles.  The most popular and awful their type was deportation to Siberia and Kazakhstan, where people died by the whole families.

Ukrainians under the fascist occupation. Movement of Opposition  In 1939 about 550 thousand of Ukrainians from Lemkivshina and Holemshina turned out in German occupation zone in the eastern remote area of Poland  Zacarpathian with 550 thousand Ukrainians formed a part of Hungary.  Soon after coming of Germans, in Ukraine appeared the national movement of opposition.  There also existed underground organizational system of Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN)

 Partisans were mainly collected in northern west part of the country – in the forests of Volyn, bogs of Polissya and Carpathians.  In the beginning of 1944 on the occupied lands of Ukraine in general 47 thousand 800 people in the form of partisan detachments and struggled with fascist conquers.  In 1942 members of different branches of Organization of Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) created small elements in Volyn.  Ukrainian revolt army (URA) quickly grew in the big, well-organized partisan army, which took control under the significant parts of Volyn, Polissya and finally Galychyna.

Return of the soviet power to Ukraine  The decisive crisis arose in the war in 1943: the soviet army began the counter-offensive, the main purpose of which was in liberation of the left-bank Ukraine.  During the end of the summer-autumn of 1943 the soviet army occupied left-bank and Donbas.  On August 23 in result of desperate fight Kharkiv was liberated. In September-October the Red army broke powerful line of German defense at the Dnieper and on November 6 entered to Kyiv.

 In January 1944 after the short stop almost 2,3 million of Red army began clearing from Germans right-bank and Crimea.  In September they crossed the Carpathians and till the October 1944 all ethnic Ukrainian territory appeared in soviet hands.  Second World War took the lives at least 5,3 million Ukrainians, or one from every six citizen of Ukraine died in the struggle.  2,3 million Ukrainians were taken out from the forced labor in Germany.

 Completely or partly it were destroyed over 700 big and small cities and 28 thousand villages, in result of what 10 million people became homeless.  As the war caused in Ukraine more damage, than in any country in Europe, losses in the economy gained huge measures.  It was estimated, that Ukraine lost over 40 percent of its economy.

Post-war reconstruction of Ukraine  Four years of war had a harmful effect on the Ukrainian economy;  Reconstruction of the hard industry swallowed up 85 percent of all investments, but it was successful.  In 1950 Ukraine again became one from the leading industrial countries in Europe;  The life level of people improved very slowly;

 The currency reform of 1947 devaluated karbovanets;  Started in 1954, project on development the lands of Kazakhstan required the use of huge labor and material resources, and the big part of those expenses took Ukraine.  Though this program gave some positive results, it exhausted resources of Ukraine and weakened agricultural production of the republic.

 The government did not manage to reach so quick growing of agricultural production as it was planned;  The officials in the far Moscow continued to decide, what cultures should cultivate collective farms, how to sow them;

karbovantsiv banknote

karbovantsiv banknote

karbovantsiv kupon

Destalinization  After the death of Stalin in 1953 new government tried to receive wider support among the nonrussian nations and especially among Ukrainians;  Intelligentsia, students, workers and even partial officials – all repeated that the special status of the Russian language in the USSR did not mean, than the Ukrainian language should be discriminated;

 Many million of Ukrainians jailed in the Siberian camps of forced labor, received amnesty and the permission to come back home;  This partly liquidation of gigantic system of concentration camp was precipitated by the row of camp revolts.  For youth became unbearable the monotone of the soviet life, old-fashioned manner to dress and very ideological system of studying.

Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev

 Ceded Crimea from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR in  Met with U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Camp David, Maryland in September He was the first Soviet leader to visit the United States in a diplomatic capacity.  Coping with housing crisis by quickly building millions of apartments according to simplified floor plans (khrushchovkas).  Created a minimum wage in 1956.

The Khrushchev era saw increased construction of rapidly built, prefabricated apartment complexes.

Leonid Brezhnev

Dissident movement  During 1960 the part of Ukrainians, living in cities, reached 55 percent.  In Ukraine grew the quantity of specialists with higher education;  Censorship continued strictly regulation of all, that were allowed to read, to see and to hear;  Communist party retained absolute monopoly on the politic power.

 A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established policy.  The term “dissident” was used in the USSR during the period of for citizens who criticized the authority of the Communist party.  An important part of the activity of dissidents was informing society about human rights.  The first demonstration of this movement took place at the end 1950th – the beginning of 1960th, when in the Western Ukraine it was organized several small secret groups.

 They called to execution of the legal right of Ukraine on going out of the Soviet Union.  After disclosure of these groups their participants were sentenced to the long period imprisonment.

Social and economic development in 60-80th years  In five-year plan, in Ukraine real income per man increased by 15 %.  Putting in order the automate machines and equipment lines promoted intensive development of hard industry, building, transport field, agriculture and power industry. Actively developed airplane building and motor-car industry.  Ukraine became food donor for all the USSR.

 Implementation of compulsory general secondary education, enlargement of the system of secondary-special and higher educational institutions in Ukraine.  The field of functioning of the Ukrainian language greatly narrowed.  At the low level was social development of villages.  During years 4,6 people, mostly youth left Ukrainian villages.

 But in spite of all Ukrainian culture became firmly established.  Also impressed the achievements of the Ukrainian sportsmen, who appeared on the international arena under the soviet flag.

DneproGES hydro-electric power plant, one of the symbols of Soviet economic power

Soviet Soyuz rockets like the one pictured above were the first reliable means to transport objects into Earth orbit.

“ Dynamo Kyiv” -- the Cup Winners.

Oleh Blokhin -- the Best European player 1975.

Chornobyl  Chornobyl was a city in nothern Ukraine in the Kyiv Oblast near the border with Belarus.  Prior to its evacuation the city was inhabited by about residents.  On April 26, 1986 the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded at 01:23 AM.  Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a “cloud” of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere.

 Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.  The “cloud” drifted over extensive parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern, Western and Northern Europe and eastern North America.  Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation of over people.  It is difficult to accurately tell the number of deaths caused by the events at Chornobyl.

 The Soviet government hid the lists of victims and later forbade doctors to write “radiation” on deaths certificates.  The overall costs of the disaster is estimated at $200 billion. This places the Chornobyl disaster as the costliest disaster in modern history.  The Zone of Alienation is the 30km exclusion zone around the site of the Chornobyl nuclear reactor disaster.  Now Chornobyl is a home to more than 500 residents.

References :  1. Subtelny, Orest. Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1988).Subtelny  2. Andrew Wilson. The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation. Yale University Press; 2nd edition (2002).Andrew Wilson  3. Anna Reid. Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine. London, Orion Books; 4th impression (1998, preface 2003).  4. Paul Robert Magocsi. A History of Ukraine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1996).  5. Mykhailo Hrushevsky. History of Ukraine-Rus’ in 9 volumes.Mykhailo Hrushevsky