History of Ukraine-Rus', Vol. 8: The Cossack Age, 1626-1650

Myroslav Shkandrij is head of the Department of German and Slavic
Studies at the University of Manitoba and the editor of The Cultural
Renaissance in Ukraine: Polemical Pamphlets, 1925–1926.

This is in many ways the key volume of Hrushevsky’s monumental work.
It deals with the second quarter of the 17th century and covers the
Khmelnytsky uprising that led to the creation of a Ukrainian state. The
era was as momentous for Eastern Europe as the Reformation was for
Germany and the French Revolution was for Western Europe. Hrushevsky
describes the uprising’s origins in the spontaneous and widespread
Ukrainian colonization of Left Bank Ukraine, the growing anger of the
Orthodox Ukrainians toward the oppression of their religion, and the
restrictions imposed by Polish rule upon the Cossacks. His conclusion is
that Orthodox concerns over religious rights, Cossack concerns over
political rights, and the drive of the masses for social emancipation
combined to create the massive conflagration of 1648–49 that defeated
the armies of what at the time was one of the largest powers in Europe.
Khmelnytsky only gradually moved toward establishing the “liberation
of all Rus” as a goal, but, insists the historian in contrast to some
Russian and Polish commentators, the revolution was national in scope
and character.

The volume is based on a detailed examination of scholarly sources,
many of which were later destroyed during World War II. It includes
excellent summaries of key issues and substantial notes on
bibliographical and archival materials, now updated by the present
editors. Hrushevsky uses his evidence judiciously, quoting extensively
from available documents and taking care to evaluate dubious or
contradictory testimony. His massive erudition and scholarly energy are
evident throughout.

The work was originally published in three parts, in 1913, 1916, and
1917, respectively. The second part appeared in only 500 copies. The
third part was never released to the public and survived in only a
single author’s copy. All three parts were reissued in 1922 in Lviv
and were then reprinted outside Ukraine. Only after the declaration of
independence in 1991 could the history be published in Ukraine. The new
volume has been elegantly translated and expertly edited and introduced.

For many, Hrushevsky’s work remains the standard against which other
accounts are judged. He is essential reading for scholars in a number of
disciplines. He is, of course, himself a figure of great historical and
political importance.

After the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, Hrushevsky headed the
Ukrainian government until the invasion of the Red Army and the ensuing
civil war destroyed the dream of independence for the ensuing 80 years.
All the opprobrium heaped on him in Soviet times might lead an observer
to expect a strong or polemical bias. Shaping the presentation, however,
is a scrupulous intelligence and a dignified personality that allows the
evidence to speak for itself.

The history, his life’s work, is a colossal achievement that
continues to have wide-ranging effects on East European scholarship and
life. Now finally available in English, it provides a broad readership
with the ability to judge for itself whether the decades of criticism
leveled against the historian and political leader were justified, and
whether traditional schemes in Russian or Polish historiography need
reassessing.