Ethnic, educational and religious aspects in the state-forming ideology of ukrainian nationalists in the first half of the 20th century

The article is devoted to issues of the ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in the field of education, church and religion, issues of national minorities and peoples who lived on the territory of Ukraine in the first half of the 20th century. The authors note that in the interwar period, the OUN did not attach much importance to the issue of national minorities, and among some members of the OUN there was a somewhat critical attitude towards the Polish and Russian peoples. Such a situation with regard to the mentioned national groups was determined by historical realities, as well as by such factors as the deterioration of the attitude of the Polish authorities towards Ukrainians in Galicia, mass repressions and famines against Ukrainians in the territories controlled by the USSR. The position of representatives of the OUN towards national minorities was changing and brought its positive results, which is confirmed by the facts of the cooperation of the OUN and the UPA with representatives of various national minorities, including Russians, Poles, Jews and others. The article also analyzes the views of all OUN groups on the role of religion in the state, which evolved over time in the direction of democratic standards of religious pluralism and indifference. The role of the religious factor in the education of citizens was defined as paramount. The need to unify churches was put forward as a priority idea. It was the Christian religion that was recognized as the basis of morality and spiritual peace of the Ukrainian people, and the unification of Ukrainian Christian churches was considered a national necessity. Ukrainian nationalists were aware of the leading role of the educational sphere in the promotion of statist ideas, and therefore promoted absolute state control over the latter. As the authors note, the state ideology in the independent Ukrainian state was to be Ukrainian nationalism. In the concepts of the future Ukrainian state, considerable attention was also paid to the problem of the individual, his role in the life of society and the state. Nationalists argued that the rights of each person are directly proportional to the duties to the nation.