THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE STUDIES OF UKRAINIAN HISTORIANS: MODERN INTERPRETATIONS 

Karnishin Valeriy Yur'evich, Doctor of historical sciences, professor, head of the sub-department of Russian history, state and law, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: valerykarnishin@mail.ru 

[947+957]«1941/1945» 

DOI

10.21685/2072-3024-2020-4-9 

Background. The article examines the features of the historiographic situation of the study of World War II by historians of modern Ukraine. The article shows the relationship between the policy pursued by the Ukrainian authorities and the attempts of historians to create the foundations of “national history” in the context of the course towards the formation of a “Ukrainian political nation”.
Materials and methods. The main research methods are chronological and comparative historical. The evolution of historians’ views on the content of the events of World War II on the territory of Ukraine is determined with the help of the chronological method. The comparative historical method makes it possible to understand the peculiarities of the approaches of historians of different countries in assessing the events under study.
Results. The points of view of Ukrainian historians on the key events of the war are investigated, the content of contradictions in assessments of the role of the USSR and the nationalist movement is shown.
Conclusions. In Ukrainian historical science, assessments of the Second World War prevail, reflecting the immaturity of Ukrainian statehood, which is manifested in the emergence of new myths reflecting political attitudes and the desire to get rid of the traditions’ influence that bind the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. 

Key words

Ukrainian historiography, USSR, Russia, Ukrainian SSR, The Second World War, German-Soviet War, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, historical politics, historical memory 

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