Activation of the Ukrainian national movement in the 1860s: participants, requirements, consequences

The purpose of the article is to examine the development of the Ukrainian national movement in the 1860s, the formation of populist ideology in social and political thought, and the efforts of the imperial government to suppress this movement with all kinds of measures. The research methodology is based on the principles of scientificity, historical objectivity and systematic analysis, as well as on the use of methods: analysis and synthesis, historical-comparative, problem-chronological. The scientific novelty is the determination of the place of the Hrodavits in the Ukrainian national liberation movement of the 1860s, the disclosure of its significance in relation to the consolidation of the Ukrainian nation. It is emphasized that tsarism constantly persecuted the Ukrainian people in their desire for their native language and suppressed it with all kinds of methods. Conclusions. In the mid-60s of the 19th century. as a result of the Valuev decree and political persecution and repression by the imperial authorities, teaching in the national language in primary schools and the activities of Ukrainian communities temporarily stopped. The formation of populist ideology in socio-political thought falls on this time. Communities were the carrier of populist ideology. They were the social associations that represented the Ukrainian national movement in the second half of the 19th century. The majority of community members were apolitical, leaning towards educational and cultural activities. The scientific, educational and cultural activity of Hrodiv citizens in those conditions was of leading importance for the further development of the Ukrainian national movement. The activities of the communities could not remain unnoticed by the imperial government. Therefore, in the early and mid-1860s, a new period began in the attitude of tsarism to the Ukrainian national liberation movement. The activities of Ukrainian citizens constantly aroused suspicion on the part of the authorities. Administrative and police measures were taken against some of them. Tsarism constantly persecuted the Ukrainian people in their desire for their native language and suppressed it with all kinds of methods. The Valuev circular and the tsarism’s administrative persecution of the national intelligentsia were the product of imperial ideology in the fight against the Ukrainian national movement. They cherished the ideological task of neutralizing the Ukrainian national idea.