Самвидавна періодика як джерело дослідження військово-політичної історії України кінця 80-х – початку 90-х рр. ХХ ст.
самвидав, Українська РСР, «неформали», перебудова, військово-політична історія України.
The paper analyzes the content of samizdat («informal») periodicals
of the Perestroika, Glasnost,
democratization in the USSR periods (the late '80s – early '90s of the 20th
century), in particular emphasizing its significant source potential while
studying complex problems of the military and political history of the
Ukrainian SSR. Traits of samizdat as a historical source are determined, the
emergence specifics of such «informal» magazines are clarified, the
distribution geography is defined, the coverage of military-political processes
in the USSR by Ukrainian «informal» periodicals is retrospectively analyzed. As
noted, samizdat is a unique phenomenon in the contemporary history of Ukraine,
one of the defining sources in studying the then socio-political processes and
military history, and the emergence of this press is associated with «informal»
socio-political organizations that contributed to its spread. In the absence of
access to official media, socio-political organizations, oppositional to the
Communist Party of Ukraine, used the «informal» press as one of the main means
of communication with the population to debunk government myths in national
history, culture, politics of the past and modernity. The topic focus of the
publications was adjusted by the purpose of «informal» societies' activities,
quality of the editorial boards, sharpness of a political moment. As concluded,
during the growing confrontation of national democratic forces with the CPU, samizdat
paid considerable attention to military-political issues, including
discrediting communist ideology, the CPU's practical activities, and justified
the Ukrainian statehood and national armed forces restoration inevitability.