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Characteristics of the Borderland Legal Conscience: the Ukrainian Variant of the Idea of Federalism
ture of Ukraine as a part of any federation was a strong belief of the majority of adherents
of the national movement both in the East and in the West of Ukraine.
Program provisions of the URP registered the demand to create a national autonomy:
“In political affairs we want full freedom of the individual, word, assemblies, societies,
press, autonomy of communities, districts, areas in affairs which concern only them...
Domination in the internal policy of Austria of the real autonomy which could demon-
strate the strength of the monarchy in the best cultural and national prosperity of prov-
inces and nationalities”
7
.
Representatives of the Ukrainian parties in the Russian State Duma had a similar posi-
tion. Formed in the ²st Duma the Ukrainian community openly declared in “Ukrainsky
Vestnik” (“Ukrainian Bulletin”) its purpose, namely, the achievement of the autonomy of
Ukraine. M.S. Grushevsky prepared special “Deklaratsija avtonomii Ukrainy” with main
positions stated in the article “Nashi Trebovanija”. Main demands of M.S. Grushevsky’s
“Declaration” included the federal structure of the state, national-territorial autonomy,
convocation of the Ukrainian seym with legislative functions and the promulgation of
law on national languages.
However, the solution of the ethnic question in the ²st and ²²nd Dumas was saddened
by social and political problems. As N. Dolinsky said in his article, “deputies from Ukraine
came to the Duma with the order to extract land and will”. It was necessary to cultivate
the ideas of autonomy on Ukrainian lands in broad masses. N. Dolinsky’s idea finds its re-
flection in the materials of orders of rural assemblies of voters which were analyzed by V.I.
Mihajlova. For example, only six out of 245 orders contain the demand for the autonomy
of Ukraine. G. Gredeskul, a deputy of Kharkiv, marked that the adjournment of the ethnic
question was made under the consent of all nationally focused groups and fractions as
deputies considered it minor in relation towards other “needs of the Russian land”.
In the opinion of G. Borkovsky stated in the work “Poraboshchjonnye narody tsarskoj
Rossii: ih natsionalnoje osvobozhdenije i avtonomnye Ustremlenija”, almost all parties of
the Ist and IInd Dumas spoke against national oppression in Russia. The discussion of the
ethnic question arose spontaneously and was connected with the Jewish problem. For
instance, out of 20 speeches at the sessions of the ²st Duma which was directly concerned
with
the ethnic question, 10 were devoted to the problem of Jewish pogroms.
In “Ukrainsky Vestnik” representatives of Ukrainian intelligentsia constantly insisted
on solving the ethnic question by granting autonomy to Ukraine within the borders of
Russia. The dominating topic of autonomists was the granting to Russian society of wide
democratic freedoms and the change of the state system into the constitutional federal
system. From the very beginning of their political activity in Dumas representatives of
Ukrainian lands declared continuity of the course towards democratic changes in Russia
with the course towards autonomism of Ukraine.
After the formation of the Ukrainian fraction in the ²²nd Duma and the program
registration of demands of Ukrainian deputies regarding the solution of the ethnic ques-
tion principles and structure of the federal organization of Russia and rights of national-