State Building in Revolutionary Ukraine

Stephen Velychenko is a historian and research fellow at the Chair for Ukrainian Studies of the University of Toronto.

Pointing out that Bolshevik administrations at the time were no more effective in implementing policies than their rivals, Velychenko argues that more effective governance was not one of the reasons for the Russian Bolshevik victory in Ukraine.

'State Building in Revolutionary Ukraine tackles an issue present in all historical debates on the Ukrainian revolution, but which has never before been researched in a comprehensive scholarly fashion-how the administrations of competing political regimes struggled for control over Ukrainian territory from 1917 to 1922. Stephen Velychenko's extensive archival research and careful evidence handling allow this book to mark a significant series of firsts: the first time a comparative perspective has been used for this topic, the first time old stereotypes about non-existence or utter incompetence of the local bureaucracy have been challenged, and the first time a wide range of non-partisan sources have been examined. A significant contribution to the literature on revolutionary state building in general, Velychenko's book will appeal to all those interested in how new states emerge from former imperial territories.' -- Andriy Zayarnyuk, Department of History, University of Winnipeg

List of Illustrations and Maps