The Spring of Nations. Russians and Ukrainians between Bulgakov and Petlyura

Sergei Belyakov is a historian and literary theorist, winner of the Big Book Award and a finalist for the National Bestseller Prize, author of Gumilev Son of Gumilev and Mazepa's Shadow. The Ukrainian Nation in the Age of Gogol.

The Spring of Nations was the European revolution of 1848-1849, but it was defeated in the Habsburg Empire. The real Spring of Nations was the victorious revolution in Russia. National states of the Finns, Poles, Estonians and Georgians emerged from the ruins of the empire. Ukrainians even created several states - the People's Republic, the Ukrainian State, the Soviet Ukraine...

The future film director Dovzhenko and his fellows-Petlyura supporters attacked the rebelling Arsenal factory; Russian officer Mikhail Muravyov, whose name became a symbol of evil in Ukraine, rushed to the aid of the rebels; Ukrainian socialists and Russian aristocrats cheered German invaders; Russian general Skoropadsky committed to state-building in Ukraine; Russian scientist Vernadsky founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences...