Remaking Ukraine after World War II
The Clash of Local and Central Soviet Power

Examines Soviet Ukraine's long transition from war to 'peace' after World War II, and the bitter struggle for land, food and power.

Filip Slaveski (Author)

9781108840255, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 January 2021

200 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'Slaveski's monograph … provides a fascinating insight into relations between Ukrainian collective farmers and the different layers of the Soviet state, and how these intertwined with clashes between local, republican and central officials. Slaveski ably underlines the difficulty the centre faced in having to rely upon local officials, who had their own interests and networks, to implement its policies.' Christopher Gilley, Europe-Asia Studies

Ukraine was liberated from German wartime occupation by 1944 but remained prisoner to its consequences for much longer. This study examines Soviet Ukraine's transition from war to 'peace' in the long aftermath of World War II. Filip Slaveski explores the challenges faced by local Soviet authorities in reconstructing central Ukraine, including feeding rapidly growing populations in post-war famine. Drawing on recently declassified Soviet sources, Filip Slaveski traces the previously unknown bitter struggle for land, food and power among collective farmers at the bottom of the Soviet social ladder, local and central authorities. He reveals how local authorities challenged central ones for these resources in pursuit of their own vision of rebuilding central Ukraine, undermining the Stalinist policies they were supposed to implement and forsaking the farmers in the process. In so doing, Slaveski demonstrates how the consequences of this battle shaped post-war reconstruction, and continue to resonate in contemporary Ukraine, especially with the ordinary people caught in the middle.

Introduction
Part I. The Battle for Land between the People and Local and Central Soviet Authorities: 1. A brief survey of illegal appropriations of collective farmland by local state and party officials
2. Taking land: officials' illegal appropriations and starving people in Raska, Bila Tserkva and elsewhere
3. Taking land back: the people and central authorities' recovery of land and prosecution of local party and state officials
Part II. The Cost of the Battle for Land to People and the State: 4. The cost of taking land: the damages caused by illegal appropriations of collective farmland to kolkhozniki, communities and the state
5. Then and now: the shaping of contemporary Ukraine in the post-war crises
Conclusion
Appendix. Archival source locations and guide for further research.

Subject Areas: Regional government [JPR], Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000 [HBLW3], Regional & national history [HBJ]