Fighters for Ukrainian independence? Imposture and identity among Ukrainian warlords, 1917–22

• Published in: Historical research : the bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research Vol. 90; no. 247; pp. 172 - 190
• Main Author: Gilley, Christopher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.02.2017
• Subjects: Civil war; Independence movements; Russian history; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics > USSR
• ISSN: 0950-3471; 1468-2281
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-2281.12168

This article investigates whether the partisans and warlords (otamany) active in Ukraine during the Russian civil wars were ‘fighters for the independence of Ukraine’ as the Ukrainian laws on historical memory claim. Following Sheila Fitzpatrick, it suggests that the partisan leaders were ‘tearing off the masks’, that is, trying to create new identities, often via imposture, in response to the collapse of the old order. The article reconstructs this process by examining the career of the insurgent Andrei Vladimirov, the political proclamations of the otamany and the warlords’ invention of their perceived Cossack heritage. In this way, it acknowledges the situative aspect of political loyalty and national identity, while also recognizing that the warlord's leaflets are useful historical sources.