85 years ago, the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was officially moved from Kharkov to Kiev. Then there was a move to the city on the Dnieper of the central authorities of the Ukrainian SSR.

The founding of Kiev

Among historians and archaeologists there are still debates about the time of the foundation of Kiev. Some believe that the city appeared in the V — VI century AD. Oe., others believe that the settlements on the banks of the Dnieper of the middle of I millennium had nothing to do with the future center of the Old Russian state and that Kiev was formed only in the IX century.

According to medieval chronicles, at the end of the 9th century, Prince Oleg of Novgorod moved his residence to Kiev. The full status of the capital Kiev remained until the XII century, but as the feudal fragmentation grew, its role began to diminish. The center of the old Russian statehood began to shift to North-Eastern Russia, and in the second half of the 13th century, the capital status passed to Vladimir.

In the XIV century, Kiev became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in the XVI century, following the results of the Union of Lublin, became one of the provincial cities of the Commonwealth. In the second half of the XVII century after the uprising under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitsky and the Russian-Polish war, Kiev became part of Russia. The city was first the center of the Kiev regiment, and then - Kiev province.

"First Capital"

In the course of the February Revolution of 1917, self-organization bodies of the population were created in Kiev, advocating the autonomy of Ukraine within Russia, in particular the Central Council. In the autumn, workers in Kiev factories, among which Bolshevik ideas were popular, tried to establish Soviet power in Kiev. But their speeches were suppressed by "Ukrainianized" military units and former military personnel of the Austro-Hungarian army from among the residents of Galicia.

In December 1917, pro-Bolshevik-minded delegates of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Workers ', Peasants' and Soldiers 'Deputies' Councils moved to Kharkov and proclaimed the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which was later renamed the Ukrainian SSR. In 1918, after the temporary transition of Kiev under the control of the Bolsheviks, an attempt was made to transfer the actual capital from Kharkov. However, under the terms of the Brest Peace, Ukraine was occupied by Germany, and Kiev became the political center of Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky, controlled by Berlin, and then the Directory of Simon Petlyura.

  • Leaflets about the Union of the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR

Meanwhile, the Soviet government changed several residences - Poltava, Yekaterinoslav, Taganrog and Suju. In January 1919, the authorities of the Soviet Ukraine moved to Kharkov, occupied by the Red Army. In March, another attempt was made to transfer the capital of the Ukrainian SSR to Kiev, but the city on the Dnieper passed into the hands of Ataman Ilya Struk, then Denikinians, then Poles. Therefore, in early 1920, the official authorities of Soviet Ukraine (Revkom and the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolshevik)) were located in Kharkov.

“Back in the times of the Russian Empire, Kharkov became a large industrial center - a significant amount of proletariat oriented towards the Bolsheviks lived in it. In addition, he was more Russian and less affected by Ukrainian ideas than the cities of Central Ukraine, ”said the candidate of historical sciences, associate professor at Moscow State University in an interview with RT. Mv Lomonosov Fyodor Gaid.

According to the expert, the very fact of the location of the capital of the Ukrainian SSR in Kharkov brought the republic closer to the RSFSR.

On July 13, 1923, the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a resolution, according to which Kharkov was officially proclaimed the capital of the republic. In 1929, the status of the city was enshrined in the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR.

  • House of State Industry in Kharkov
  • © Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images

At that time, Kharkiv was developing dynamically: it opened scientific, cultural and educational institutions, administrative buildings were built. In particular, in 1928 one of the first Soviet skyscrapers was erected in the style of constructivism - the House of State Industry. Even after the formal loss of the capital status (in 1934. - RT ), Kharkov retained the title of "first capital".

National question

Even before the government came to power, the Bolsheviks criticized the tsarist administration for its “russification policy”. After the Revolution of 1917, the Communists headed for the provisioning process in the national republics. It was officially proclaimed at the XII Congress of the RCP (b) in April 1923. Two years later, a resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR was adopted “On measures to urgently complete the Ukrainization of the Soviet apparatus. The Soviet authorities allowed political emigrants from among the nationalists to return to the USSR and migrants from Galicia moved to the Ukrainian SSR.

The policy of Ukrainization began to soften slightly in 1927-1928. The divisions of the Red Army were allowed to keep records in Russian, and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) opposed the forced carrying out of indigenization and for admitting to the state service those who did not speak Ukrainian.

The policy of Ukrainization was carried out until the end of the 1930s - the Soviet authorities began to be wary of their former allies from among the left-wing nationalists. When conducting a general passporting of representatives of Eastern Slavic peoples who lived in the Ukrainian SSR, they en masse were recorded by the “Ukrainians”, regardless of their native language and self-identification. At the same time, the Allied authorities began to speak out with harsh criticism of “national-deviationism,” and people suspected of it began to be dismissed from senior positions.

Transfer of the capital

The proposal of the leadership of the Soviet Union on the transfer of the capital of the Ukrainian SSR from Kharkov to Kiev was put on the agenda of the January plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (B) U in 1934. The question was raised by the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine and the first secretary of the Kharkov regional committee Pavel Postyshev.

As he writes in his book “What do we know about the face of Ukraine?”: Ukrainization as a model of state policy in 1918–1941, the doctor of historical sciences, head of the Eastern Slavs department of the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Elena Borisenok, Postyshev “began to talk about Soviet Ukraine "is now a mighty country, strong in all respects," and therefore "all reasons that previously prevented Kiev from becoming the capital of Ukraine were eliminated." Finally, one of the decisive reasons is that the Right Bank is the “main part of Ukraine”, its “core”.

On January 21, the 12th CP (B) U Congress passed a resolution on the transfer of the capital of Ukraine to Kiev, “which is its natural geographical center”, for the development of national-cultural construction and Bolshevik Ukrainization on the basis of industrialization and collectivization. The document also spoke of the need to strengthen the main Ukrainian industrial areas and the approach of the Soviet apparatus to agricultural areas on the right bank of the republic.

  • Resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee on the transfer of the capital to Kiev
  • © Wikipedia

As Borisenok notes, “this act was supposed to demonstrate the victory of the Soviet version of Ukrainian identity, that is, for the party leadership, this marked the victory of Soviet Ukrainization in the fight against nationalists.”

“Therefore, we should not consider the transfer of the capital to Kiev as a final rejection of Ukrainization. At the same time, the changes in the national policy of the Bolsheviks from 1932-1933 give grounds to speak about the adjustment of the course of Ukrainization, ”writes the expert.

On June 24, 1934, the central authorities of the Ukrainian SSR moved from Kharkov to Kiev. At the same time, individual commissariats and other republican institutions, due to the lack of material and technical base, remained to work in the same place. After the liberation of Kiev from the Nazis in November 1943, the capital of Ukraine finally moved to the city on the Dnieper.

According to a member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of Russia, Bogdan Bezpalko, if it were not for the transfer of the capital of the Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine in its present form could not have taken place.

“Alternative versions can be very different. It is possible that the political center of the Ukrainian SSR would remain in Kharkov, after the annexation of Western Ukraine, the republic would acquire completely different borders, for example, it would be divided, ”the expert suggested.

For his part, Fyodor Gayda considers the transfer of the capital of the Ukrainian SSR to Kiev as an attempt to balance the interests of various political groups in the republic.

“It was a policy of compromise, a way to calm the nationally oriented part of the Bolsheviks,” he stressed.

According to the historian, the consequences of this step are difficult to assess unequivocally.

“The process was extremely difficult. On the one hand, the stay of the capital in a particular city left a definite imprint on the political processes in the republic. On the other hand, because of their capital status, the cities themselves changed. Kharkov, however, remained a Russian city, and quite a serious transformation occurred that we are witnessing today, ”concluded Gayda.