On 28th October 2024 at 16:00, Vasyl Maliukh, a recipient of the Baltica foreign researcher scholarship, will present his research at the Uno seminar room of Tallinn University Academic Library.
Vasyl Maliukh has studied history in Kyiv and Lublin, law in Berlin, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Freiburg. His doctoral thesis focuses on Germany’s assessments and measures regarding the so-called “Ukrainian question” during World War I, particularly the local-level activities during the German intervention in Ukraine in 1918.
The work examines the actions of the German civil and military administration on Ukrainian territory against the backdrop of local social and economic structures, based on the understanding that the motives and behaviour of actors on both sides should not be explained solely from general incentives but in the context of the background systems and interpretive frameworks of the actors, while not excluding rational motives such as the desire for power or wealth. Whether a particular group of actors (political parties or national and social groups with competing interests and opportunities for influence) is perceived as “politically capable” depends not only on their own forms of action and mobilization but also on their ability to associate with other groups and form coalitions with them.
One part of the doctoral thesis is directly related to the Baltic region, particularly Chapter 1, “Propaganda of the ‘Ukrainian question’ in Switzerland from 1914 to 1917: The Activities of the League of Foreign Peoples of Russia.” This chapter focuses on the activities of the Union of Foreign Peoples of Russia from 1916 to 1918. The organisation was established in 1915 under German auspices in Lausanne and operated in Switzerland, Berlin, and Stockholm. Its work concerned the support of non-Russian peoples, and its representatives, politicians, and activists hailed from the former Russian Empire. Among the members of the League were Herman Gummerus (Finland), Baltic German barons Friedrich von der Ropp and Bernhard von Uexküll, Paul Schiemann, Juozas Gabrys (Lithuania), Michał Łempicki (Poland), and Volodymyr Stepankivsky (Ukraine). Together, they acted in support of the independence or autonomy of non-Russian peoples in the western part of the empire (in Finland, Poland, the Baltic States, Belarus, and Ukraine).
In his presentation, Vasyl Maliukh will elaborate on his doctoral thesis and share what he has managed to uncover about the League of Foreign Peoples of Russia in the Baltic congregations.
The lecture will be conducted in German and can also be followed via Teams.
You are welcome to listen and discuss!
Microsoft Teams Join the meeting Meeting ID: 356 076 392 360 Access code: yk3NAh
