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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.58.10.3
How to Cite:
Sydorova, E., Yunin, O., Zhuravlov, D., Fomenko, A., & Shevchenko, S. (2022). Historical prerequisites for the formation of the
foundations of the modern humanitarian policy of Ukraine. Amazonia Investiga, 11(58), 28-38.
https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.58.10.3
Historical prerequisites for the formation of the foundations of the
modern humanitarian policy of Ukraine
Історичні передумови формування підвалин сучасної гуманітарної політики
України
Received: October 10, 2022 Accepted: November 10, 2022
Written by:
Sydorova Elvira7
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1761-1583
Yunin Oleksandr8
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4846-2573
Zhuravlov Dmytro9
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2205-6828
Fomenko Andriy10
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3755-4130
Shevchenko Serhii11
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4133-8860
Abstract
The purpose of the research is to study рistorical
background of formation of basements of
contemporary humanitarian policy of Ukraine.
The subject of the study is the humanitarian
policy of Ukraine at different times of the
development of the country. Methodology. The
following methods of scientific knowledge
helped to achieve the objectives set in the Article:
logical modeling, logical and semantic, historical
and legal, comparative analysis, abstract and
logical. Research results. The legal instruments,
which determined the principles of policy in the
humanitarian sphere of various state systems on
the territory of modern Ukraine in historical
retrospect are considered. Considerable attention
is paid to problems and difficulties, as well as
approaches to the periodization of the history of
the state and law in Ukraine, the periods of policy
implementation in the humanitarian sphere on
the Ukrainian lands at different times. Practical
implementation. The peculiarities of the
historical aspects of the formation of Ukraine’s
humanitarian policy, which are related to long
7
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Deputy Director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law and Training
of Specialists for the National Police Departments of Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine.
8
Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor, Honored worker of science and technology of Ukraine, First Vice Rector of Dnipropetrovsk
State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine.
9
Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukraine.
10
Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor, Rector of Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine.
11
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Director of the of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Distance Learning
and Advanced Training of Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine.
Sydorova, E., Yunin, O., Zhuravlov, D., Fomenko, A., Shevchenko, S. / Volume 11 - Issue 58: 28-38 / October, 2022
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stateless periods, when Ukraine was part of the
state systems of various empires, are determined.
Value/originality. It is proven that the Soviet
period of totalitarianism could not destroy the
progressive assets of the Ukrainian people in
matters of State formation according to the
Western model.
Keywords: civilizational approach, historical
background, humanitarian policy, periodization,
social security, legal instruments.
Introduction
It is difficult to argue with the fact that each
sphere of social relations, its legal regulation has
long historical background of the formation; past
experience has a direct effect on the state of
affairs that has developed in the present. Unlike
advanced countries of the Western world
(Western civilization such as the USA, Great
Britain, France and other countries), in which
State institutions and, accordingly, State policy
in various spheres formed over tens or hundreds
of years, Ukraine began to build its own
institutions according to the Western model only
in 1991; after 2014 this process took place in
difficult, and after February 24, 2022 – in
extreme conditions (in the sense of full-scale
armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine).
The key problem is that the States concerned
have had hundreds of years of experience of
establishing their own statehood for hundreds of
years, in contrast to Ukraine, which was part of
different State systems (the Russian Empire,
Austria-Hungary, the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, etc.). As an example, in the
United States the institution of private property
and its «sanctity» and inviolability has
functioned since the time of creation of states; in
Ukraine it actually began to exist only in 1991
(because in Soviet or imperial time in most of the
territory of Ukraine private property as such did
not exist).
Given the problem of lack of long-term statehood
and the current problems threatening the lives
and health of people, the stable functioning of
economic mechanisms, and the existence of
society (Kharytonov et al. 2021, p. 158), arises
the problematic question of periodization of the
history of the formation of humanitarian policy
in Ukraine, which preceded the period of modern
Independent Ukraine. It is this problematic
question that appears before this scientific study,
as well as the coverage of the substantive content
of humanitarian policy in established periods.
Thus, the purpose of the article is to determine
the main periods of the formation of
humanitarian policy of Ukraine, which preceded
the modern period of independence, as well as
the main content of such policy.
Methodology
In order to achieve the goal and solve the set tasks
set in the Article, a set of general scientific and
special research methods were used. The
methodological basis for the Article was made up
of general scientific and special methods of
cognition, in particular:
− logical modeling method was applied for the
development of methodological support for
studying historical preconditions of
formation modern humanitarian policy of
Ukraine;
− logical and semantic helped to deepen the
conceptual apparatus and determine the
essence and content of the Ukrainian
humanitarian policy;
− historical and legal method made it possible
to allocate the stages of development of
humanitarian policy on Ukrainian lands at
different times;
− the method of comparative analysis was
useful when examining methodological
approaches, concepts and developments of
leading scientists on the problem under
consideration, and identifying features and
characteristics of State humanitarian policy
on each stage of its development;
− abstract and logical method was applied for
summarizing theoretical propositions,
establishing cause-and-effect relationships
and forming relevant conclusions.
Literature Review
The essence of humanitarian policy is based on
the consideration of a person as a kind of center
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of social harmony and development. The term
“humanitarian” comes from the concept of
“humanism” – a worldview principle associated
with the concept of the human being as the
defining goal and the highest value of society
(Sytnyk, 2012).
According to Rozputenko and Moskalenko
(2012), an essential component of the core
functions of public administration is the proper
functioning and development of education,
science and culture, thanks to which the
constitutional right of every citizen to obtain a
certain level of education and involvement in
cultural heritage is realized.
Kirieieva, Khmil and Holubchyk (2017, p. 4)
believe that management in the social and
humanitarian sphere is essentially humanistic.
But none of the countries of the world considered
humanism as the most important criterion for the
formation and implementation of State social and
humanitarian policy. The transformation of
humanism into a tool for determining the strategy
and tactics of the development of the society
requires qualitative changes in the organization
and functioning of institutions of power and
education, science and production, politics and
religion, culture and art. At the same time, a
special role belongs to the concept of
management, which must be developed and
given a humanistic content.
Zdioruk and Stepyko (2011, p. 13) interpret the
humanitarian policy of the State as the consistent
adoption of measures aimed at supporting and
intensifying these processes in accordance with
the determined priorities and national interests,
and its essence should be the creation of
conditions for the identification, formation and
development of creative potential of individuals
and society as a whole. The humanitarian policy
of the State aims to humanize all spheres and
branches of social life, create conditions for the
maximum self-realization of each individual, is
aimed at the formation, development and
preservation of fundamental universally civilized
values, which are the basis and core of harmony
and co-operation in the society. The
humanitarian component of State policy is aimed
at creating the conditions for the realization of
social and cultural human rights, intellectual and
cultural opportunities, implementation of the
principles of social justice, support of social
solidarity based on democratic values and civil
rights and freedoms, countering manifestations
of xenophobia, chauvinism, racism, any forms of
discrimination based on religious, linguistic or
national-ethnic characteristics.
Thus, State humanitarian policy is a systematic
and consistent activity of the State in relations
with the individual and society in general, which
is carried out through the bodies of the State
executive, legislative and judicial authorities
involving the public and taking into account
basic human rights and aimed to achieve high
vital, spiritual and intellectual level of the
individual, both in his (her) own interests and the
interests of the State as a whole.
Results and Discussion
Before considering the main milestones and the
content of humanitarian policy on Ukrainian
lands, it is worth dwelling on approaches to
periodization in general regarding the history of
Ukraine and Europe, as well as to the
periodization of the history of the State and law
of Ukraine, the history of social services (as an
example of one of the areas of humanitarian
policy). The issue of the emergence and
development of such a concept as humanism in
Europe and Ukraine, the development of ideas of
humanism in Ukrainian lands also deserves
special attention.
For a long time, as a result of Ukraine being part
of the “prison of nations”, that is, in the Soviet
Union, the so-called formation approach to the
periodization of history (in the Western world –
the so-called civilizational approach) prevailed in
the historiography, the history of the State and
law. The main features and periods of each
should be highlighted. The formational approach
is based on the fact that world history is divided
in accordance with a certain prevailing type of
socio-economic relations; thus, the Marxists, by
the formative approach, distinguished the
primitive-communal period, the slave, feudal,
capitalist and post-capitalist, as well as socialist
periods (as a kind of “crown” of history)
(Zashkilniak, 2022). In Europe, the following
periodization of history is often used: primitive
times; ancient world; Middle Ages; early modern
times; new time; modern times. The
civilizational model sees the historical process as
a holistic simple development of various unique
civilizations; such civilizations have their own
foundations and go through a number of stages in
their existence, respectively producing unique in
content and form organization models, and the
development moves from less advanced to more
advanced stages in accordance with foundations
laid in every civilization. The stages of
civilization development are distinguished by
qualitative characteristics that determine the
content and form of the stages. For example, it is
possible to highlight the periods of existence of
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the civilizations of the Ancient East, Ancient
civilization, etc. In general, Ukraine belongs to
Western civilization, which is characterized by
the periodization that the European states had
undergone.
At the same time, if we talk about the advantages
and disadvantages of such periodizations, the
civilizational approach does not pay enough
attention to the issues of interaction between
different State civilizational systems. The
formalization approach hyperbolizes the socio-
economic factors of the historical and historical
and legal process, and the method of material
production (the already mentioned slavery,
feudalism, etc.) is considered an important
criterion for division, and this method of material
production determines all other spheres of social
life, the legal system in particular. Instead, the
civilizational approach gives preference to the
cultural factor; here the determinant is culture, in
particular behavioral one (traditions, customs,
etc.) (Reznik, 2008, pp. 10–12). When it comes
to highlighting the issues related specifically to
the humanitarian sphere, which is primarily
"tied" to cultural factors, such a civilizational
approach gains an additional advantage in
application.
There are different approaches to the
periodization of the state-legal systems operating
on the territory of Ukraine, since, unfortunately,
for a long time, Ukrainians had not have their
own statehood, but were part of different
empires. Clearly, the policy in the humanitarian
sphere was formed in accordance with a certain
state-legal system, so it is worth considering
those options for periodization of the history of
the State and law that are currently widespread in
legal science.
I. Terliuk (2011) proposes to use as a basis of
periodisation the problem-chronological
principle of separation of the process of
development of state-legal systems on the
territory of Ukraine in different historical
periods. The author highlights the following
periods: 1) the State and law on the territory of
Ukraine in pre-Slavic times (Scythian states,
ancient city-states of the Northern Black Sea
region, etc.); 2) Russian state and law
(chronological framework from the 3rd - 4th
centuries. A.D., when the first Slavic political
political entities appeared until 1569 or before
the complete liquidation of Russian state
elements); 3) the Cossack State and law (from the
15th century to the middle of the 16u century,
when the Zaporizhzhya Sich and the next stage,
which began after the formation of the Ukrainian
state of the Hetmanship, from the middle of the
17th century and its liquidation and incorporation
into the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th
century); 4) the State and legal system in the
ethnic Ukrainian lands during the imperial era –
the period from the last quarter of the 18th
century until 1917 - 1918 (at that time, the state-
legal systems and the corresponding practices
and traditions regarding the humanitarian policy
of the states-empires operated on the territory of
the Ukrainian lands); 5) the emergence of the
newest national Ukrainian statehood and law
(1917-1921) and the parallel existence of four
Ukrainian State formations: the Ukrainian
National People's Republic of the era of the
Ukrainian Central Council and the Directory era
(the second Ukrainian National People's
Republic), the Ukrainian State (Hetmanate) and
the West Ukrainian People's Republic; 6) The
state and law in the Western Ukrainian lands
during the interwar period and during the years
of military confrontation between the USSR and
Germany (the peculiarity is that Western
Ukraine, Northern Bukovyna and Transcarpathia
were part of Poland, Romania and
Czechoslovakia, respectively. The governments
of these countries determined the humanitarian
policy of Ukrainians); 7) Soviet state and law in
Ukraine; 8) The state and law of independent
Ukraine.
In his turn, Pylypchuk (2014, p. 55) allocates 10
periods of the development of the State and law
on the territory of Ukraine and calls it “classical”:
"1) state formations and law of ancient people, in
particular the Northern Black Sea region and the
Azov region (8th century BC – 3rd century AD
(according to some sources – 4th – 7th BC);
2) State entities and the right of the times of the
anto union of tribes, Rus land or Rus (4th – 8th
centuries), Kiev Rus (8th – 13th centuries) and
the Galicia-Volyn principality (first half of the
13th – first half of the 16th centuries);
3) statehood and law of Lithuanian Rus (second
half of the 14th – first half of the 16th centuries)
and the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth (second half of the 16th – first
half of the 17th centuries); 4) statehood and law
during the times of the Ukrainian Cossack State
(17th – 18th centuries); 5) administrative system
and law on Ukrainian lands as part of the Russian
and Austro-Hungarian empires (end of 18th –
beginning of 20th centuries); 6) State revival and
legislation of Ukraine during the period of
national liberation struggles of 1917–1920;
7) establishment and approval of the Soviet state-
legal system in Ukraine (1917–1939); 8) State
and legal status of Ukrainian lands during the
Second World War (1939–1945); 9) the state and
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law of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of
the period 1945 –1991; 10) the State and the law
of sovereign Ukraine (since 1991).
Humanitarian policy is a problem not only of
administrative law or the history of the State and
law, but also of the science of public
administration. Usachenko and Tymtsunyk
(2013, pp. 37 – 38) distinguish 8 periods in the
history of State administration: Scythian-
Sarmatian, Antique and Early Slavic (Antsian);
Kiev-Russian and Galician-Volyn; Lithuanian-
Russian and Polish period; Cossack period;
stateless period; the period of liberation struggles
1917–1920; Soviet period; period of the
independent Ukraine.
Similar opinion about periodization is held by
researchers Pomaza-Ponomarenko & Kriukov
(2016, pp. 8–9). Radically different periodization
of the history of the state and the law offer by
L. Bostan and S. Bostan (2008).
The history of the State and law is generally
divided into two periods: the era of state-caste
society and the era of civil society (Bostan, 2011,
p. 15). That is, the turning point is the moment
when the population in the State became equal in
political rights at the legislative level. If we
consider the history of Western civilization, the
tuning point is the consolidation of norms on the
freedom and equality of citizens and the
liquidation of State society in the US
Constitution (the Bill of Rights) and the French
Declaration of the Rights of a person and citizen.
A similar document appeared on Ukrainian lands
much later and was associated with the
restoration of Ukrainian statehood during 1917 –
1920s, when equality of rights and freedoms of a
person and citizen was also introduced at the
constitutional level.
Dzoz (2007, p. 4) sheds light on the historical
aspects of Ukraine's humanitarian policy from
the standpoint of socio-philosophical analysis
and confirms the stated opinion that a significant
negative of the absence of statehood during the
nearly seventy years of being the part of the
USSR and during the period of tsarism was the
absence of an independent humanitarian policy
of Ukraine. Since Ukrainians had been without
their own State for a long time, it became
important to transfer their cultural values among
the ordinary population. In this context the
statement by Dzoz is quite appropriate: “Such
characteristics as the philosophy of the heart,
family upbringing, respect for a person, mother
and parents, high spirituality (faith, hope, love),
love for the homeland, desire for freedom and
independence, etc. constitute a kind of
“humanitarian matrix” distinguishing it among
similar phenomena of other folks" (Dzoz, 2007,
p. 17). In the times of the absence of their own
State, the humanitarian policy of Ukrainians
preserved this so-called "cultural matrix", which
was built from the standpoint of humanism, that
is, it was distinguished by morality and
humanity, and precisely such principles were
taken as the basis of the humanitarian policy of
modern Ukraine.
The scientist examines philosophical aspects,
worldview and mental categories, but in the
context of our research, it is necessary to focus
the attention on the historical foundational
documents on the development of the
humanitarian sphere in Ukrainian State
institutions. The specificity of humanitarian
policy during the time of Kyivan Rus depended
on a number of factors, including the
peculiarities of the system of organization of
state power and feudal suzerainty-vasality, the
influence of religion, etc. Such an event as the
conversion of Kievan Rus in 988 had a
fundamental impact on humanitarian policy
(although this is only the starting point from
which Christianity only began to spread rapidly
among the common population). For a long time,
religion and the church had a significant
influence on all spheres of cultural life,
education, and medicine.
Christianity in Kievan Rus had an impact on all
spheres of social relations and worldview;
precisely from 988 with the official
establishment of the Christian religion and
church, the Rus joined the Christian Western
civilization. Besides, social relations had
changed; the State and the church began to take
care of those category of persons, who is now
called socially vulnerable. In the worldview of
people, including empowered ones, a Christian
concept of help is beginning to form, that comes
from the basics of the Christian morality of
helping one’s fellow man (Furman & Pidhurska,
2014, p. 29).
During the reign of Volodymyr the Great, such
an institution as a State school appeared, but only
children from noble families studied there (since,
for the most part, the highest positions in the
State required precisely educated people, and
only the representatives of the nobility were
appointed to such offices). At the same time,
there were schools attached to churches and
monasteries, which became the centers of
education in places (Pyrih, 2015, p. 485).
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If we talk about the legal instruments of that time,
then it is worth highlighting the Statute by
Volodymyr the Great in 996, when, besides the
fact that the church had to pay a tithe, the church
became an institution that in the State policy of
social security. Namely, it was entrusted with the
tasks of supervising hospitals (which, in fact, also
functioned at churches and monasteries), baths,
shelters for lonely people, taking care of socially
disabled people (in the modern interpretation of
such categories). The medieval feudal code of
laws “Ruska Pravda” also included some articles,
whose rules were related to social security
(Yushkov, 1935; Tkachenko, Yu. 2018, p. 128).
The principality of Galicia-Volyn became the
legal successor of the Ukrainian State tradition
after Kyivan Rus. After the liquidation of the
principality, the Ukrainian lands eventually came
under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
and later – the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. The Lithuanian Statutes can be
called an important legal landmark of those
times. The Lithuanian Statute of 1588 provided
for assistance to persons with certain physical
disabilities (deafness, muteness, blindness,
missing limbs, etc.) (Pankov, Muzychenko &
Kivalov, 2004). If we characterize the period of
the Middle Ages in general, then the medieval
statehoods were almost not interested in the
issues of social security, development of
hospitals, etc. The church made a significant
contribution to this problem.
The Ukrainian Cossacks, who, after the
formation of the proto-state of Zaporozhian Sich
created their own Ukrainian statehood – the
Hetmanship gave a powerful impetus for the
Ukrainian state-building process, development
of schools, higher education institutions, cultural
sphere, etc. The researchers note that the birth of
the Ukrainian Cossacks influenced the
development of book printing, schooling, the
creation of so-called brotherhoods, colleges, and
the activities of the Ostrozka and Kyiv-Mohyla
Academies, which became the centers of the
scientific and cultural and educational life of
Ukrainians. The Lviv, Lutsk, and Kyiv
brotherhoods, printers, and scientists contributed
to the growth of the general culture of the
Ukrainian people, and the Cossack State also
created institutions that provided assistance to
crippled war veterans. It is worth highlighting the
State mission of such hetmans as I. Vyhovskyi,
P. Doroshenko, I. Mazepa, and in combination
with the ideas of freedom, defiance of the
Ukrainians and the power of the Cossacks
contributed to the formation of Ukrainian
spiritual culture (Kalakura, Rafalskyi & Yurii
2015, pp. 59–60).
At that time, the concepts of democracy,
freedom, dignity, etc. were actively introduced
among Ukrainians, and even after being under
the oppression and cultural influence of the
absolute monarchy of the times of the Russian
Empire and the totalitarian Soviet Union for
hundreds of years, Ukrainians preserved their
traditions, and unlike Russia and Belarus
followed the path of development of the State
model of liberal democracies (it is worth noting
that the development of the ideas of freedom,
democracy, civil society, the rule of law,
rejection of tyranny is, from the standpoint of
national security and defense, an extremely
important aspect of the State's policy in the
humanitarian sphere).
During the 18th century Moscoviia, and later – the
Russian Empire was methodically engaged in the
process of absorbing Ukrainian Hetman
Statehood; at the end of the century, all
democratic State institutions were liquidated, the
regimental system was abolished, the
gubernatorial-regent system of the empire was
introduced, part of the population was enslaved
and lost its freedom. Besides, part of the
Ukrainian lands became part of the Austrian
(later – Austro-Hungarian) empire. Thus, until
1917–1918, Ukrainian lands were part of two
empires and could not create their own
humanitarian policy at the State level. However,
the Ukrainian national movement in
humanitarian and political forms became quite
active; all this led to the Ukrainian national
revival in the 19th century – at the beginning of
the 20th century. Ukrainian non-state, often
clandestine and prohibited organizations,
associations spread the ideas of European
humanism, the views of the German thinker
Herder, who attributed the main role in the
national consciousness to language
(Troshchynskyi, Sytnyk & Kupriichuk, 2016,
p. 110).
We will focus on those acts that were already
adopted by the Ukrainian State during the
Ukrainian national revival of 1917–1920s, and
which concern the State policy in the
humanitarian sphere, since, firstly, at this time,
Ukrainians restored their own national statehood
and, secondly, the legal instruments adopted at
that time were of fundamental importance in the
sense that for the first time on the territory of
Ukrainian lands the ideas of equality before the
law, as well as the ideas of the development of
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Ukrainian culture, education, etc. were
proclaimed at the legislative level.
After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917,
Ukrainians got a chance to create their own
statehood, and they did not neglect it. At that
time, Ukrainians created the Ukrainian People's
Republic of the era of the Central Rada, the
Western Ukrainian People's Republic. Bright
from the point of view of State formation,
however, unfortunately, short was the period of
the Ukrainian State or the Skoropadskyi
Hetmanate, the Directory of the Ukrainian
People’s Republic. All these State entities chose
the access of the broad masses of the population
to the institutions of the humanitarian sphere,
promoting the spiritual and cultural realization of
Ukrainians, their involvement in management of
humanitarian processes at the State level, in the
processes of improving the mechanisms of
management of the humanitarian sphere,
providing equal opportunities for the spiritual
development of a person and a citizen, providing
citizens with cultural services from the State as
the main principles of ensuring the protection of
human and citizen rights and freedoms (even
when it came to gender equality) in the
development of the humanitarian sphere
(Troshchynskyi, Sytnyk & Kupriichuk, 2016,
p. 111).
The direction of State poli cy in the
humanitarian sphere in the time of the Ukrainian
Central Rada was already determined in its
appeal to the Ukrainian people on March 22,
1917 – the Ukrainian people should determine
their own destiny. In such a way, the new
government clearly outlined the direction of the
introduction of the Ukrainian language into State
life and education (which during the Russian
Empire was actively); it was a fundamental step
and decision taking into account previous two
hundred years of oppression. That is, the
document that laid the foundations for the future
policy of the Ukrainian government contained
important rules regarding the introduction of the
Ukrainian language; nowadays, the issue of the
development of Ukrainian language is also
relevant against the background of Russian
aggression.
Another important act was the resolution of the
All-Ukrainian National Congress (this is a
representative forum of the Ukrainian
movement, which legalized the Central Rada not
as a purely Kyiv organization, but as an
institution representing the interests of
Ukrainians from the entire territory of Ukrainian
lands that were part of the destroyed empire) in
April 1917, where the revival of the Ukrainian
language, culture, education, the creation of
higher education institutions, cultural and
educational institutions, and the need to
introduce Ukrainian periodicals were among the
tasks. For similar purposes, the General
Secretariat was formed after the 1st Universal of
the Central Rada as an executive authority, which
was involved in the implementation of State
policy and in the humanitarian sphere (there was
a general secretary for humanitarian affairs), and
this government actively created Ukrainian
gymnasiums, secondary schools, etc.
(Kupriichuk, 2015, p. 15). After the 4th
Universal and the Declaration of the Independent
State, a number of ministries dealing with issues
of State policy in the humanitarian sphere were
formed instead of the General Secretariat of the
Council of People's Ministers.
Legislative activity in humanitarian policy issues
of the Ukrainian People's Republic was based on
the principles of a legal welfare State, the
principles of the rule of law and the equality of
all citizens. The constitutional acts affirmed the
sovereignty of the Ukrainian State and people to
create their own independent policy including
humanitarian one. The Constitution of the
Ukrainian People's Republic (Statute on the State
System, Rights and Freedoms of the Ukrainian
People's Republic) dated of April 29, 2018
defined the foundations of the main directions of
State policy, the principles of such policy.
Clauses 11 and 17 of the Constitution defined the
equality of rights of men and women, the right to
freedom of conscience, and, accordingly, equal
rights to education, social services, etc. (Law of
Ukrainian People’s Republic No. 0002300-18,
1918).
The Law "On the Abolition of School Districts"
is also, among the acts related to the policy in the
humanitarian sphere. It granted a wide range of
rights to local self-government in the field of
education, the involvement of the representatives
of national minorities in the management of
education (Vestriuk, 1997, p. 76).
The legislative efforts of the Central Rada
became fundamental ones in matters of State
policy in the humanitarian sphere; each
nationality received the right to national
autonomy within the limits of the Ukrainian
People's Republic, the right to independent
organization of the national and cultural life of
the population. Such autonomy was
automatically granted to Russians, Poles, and
Jews; other peoples were able to obtain such a
status if at least 10,000 citizens submitted an
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application. Such a policy in the humanitarian
sphere regarding national and cultural
autonomies confirmed the civilized democratic
approach of the Ukrainian authorities to take into
account the national interests of minorities
(Vestriuk, 1997, p. 100).
The Central Rada paid considerable attention to
the policy regarding the development and
functioning of the Ukrainian language in the
public space. The Circular of the Council of
People's Ministers to the provincial and district
commissioners “On the use of the Ukrainian
language” ordered to remove all acts of the
Provisional Government of Russia, and to
translate those that were not canceled into
Ukrainian. All inscriptions and verses should
have been immediately made in the Ukrainian
language as well. This Circular should be widely
brought to the attention of the population through
all government and public institutions, county,
city and parish councils" (Vestriuk, 1997,
p. 182).
According to the Law "On the Introduction of the
Ukrainian Language in the Banking and Trade
Sphere" all inscriptions, signs, documents, etc. in
trade and industrial, banking and other
institutions were to be written in the State
language, but duplication in other languages was
not prohibited. The rules of the law also applied
to any products manufactured in Ukraine (if there
are labels or inscriptions on them), the language
of record keeping should have been Ukrainian. In
case of violation of norms, the law provided for
a fine (Vestriuk, 1997, p. 229).
Thus, during the short period of existence of
Ukrainian statehood in the form of the National
People's Republic of Ukraine of the Central
Rada, the Ukrainian authorities actively
introduced the Ukrainian language into State
institutions, as well as into the economic and
social sphere. At the legislative level, Ukrainian
was supposed to become the only official
language in public State institutions and in the
private sector. Compared to modern realities, the
Law “On Supporting the Functioning of the
Ukrainian Language as the State Language"
(Law of Ukraine No. 2704-VIII, 2019), which
introduces Ukrainian language into all spheres of
public communication, was adopted only on
April 25, 2019; modern Ukraine, unlike the
Central Rada, needed decades to adopt such a
Law.
The Memorandum of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs to the Government of the Ukrainian
People's Republic of April 25, 1918, entitled "On
the liquidation of monuments of the times of the
autocracy", can also be indicative one. The
Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to liquidate
the mentioned monuments. The Ukrainian
authorities immediately set a course for the
elimination of the monuments glorifying the
royal past. However, in modern Ukraine under
conditions of full-scale aggression, there are still
monuments to Russian emperors and generals
with an unequivocally negative publicity.
P. Skoropadsky significantly changed the
approaches to State management in Ukraine; his
regime can be called authoritarian-monarchical,
not democratic one, but in matters of policy in the
humanitarian sphere he continued the
development of the foundations by the Central
Rada. He also maintained laws and by-laws of
the times Central Rada in the humanitarian
sphere. The foundations of the State policy in this
area were defined in two fundamental documents
– the "Charter to the All Ukrainian People" and
the Law "On the Temporary State Structure of
Ukraine". In the "Charter" the Hetman stressed
the need for social security by the State, the rights
of all workers. In the Law "On the Temporary
State Structure of Ukraine" he proclaimed
freedom of religion. It is worth noting that the
Law defined the basic progressive civil rights of
people (inviolability of housing, presumption of
innocence, etc.), which was definitely a positive
aspect of getting the best western practices
(Pyrih, 2015, pp. 38–42). The Minister of
National Education and the corresponding
ministry (later – the Ministry of National
Education and Arts), as well as the Ministry of
Labor and Public Health were to deal with
humanitarian policy.
In the government notice "On the state system
and policy of the Ukrainian State" dated May 10,
1918, of the Main Directorate "On the
establishment of 350 scholarships at secondary
comprehensive schools and the allocation of
77,500 rubles" dated August 6, 1918).
Scholarships were also allocated to teachers of
Ukrainian (Decree "On the appointment of
twenty scholarships for the training of teachers of
a higher school with the Ukrainian language of
instruction" dated September 16, 1918.
The Government established scholarships at
secondary general education schools, including
for Ukrainian teachers; enshrined the right to
defend dissertations in Ukrainian; Departments
of Ukrainian Studies were to be opened at
universities. On November 26, 1918, The Charter
of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was
adopted, preceded by the Law "On the
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Establishment of the Ukrainian Academy of
Sciences in Kyiv".
These acts, adopted during the time of P.
Skoropadsky, testify to the priority in the
development of the humanitarian sphere;
functioning of the Ukrainian language in public
space; promotion of the development of
Ukrainian science and higher education.
Legislative initiatives also provided for
substantial funding for the specified purposes.
During the time of the Directory, as a result of
the complex military and political situation, the
legal instruments of the previous Ukrainian State,
the legislation of the Russian Empire, the
Provisional Government, the Ukrainian Central
Council, and the Soviet government were in
force on its territory. The main line of the
Directory became the policy of ukrainianization
of school. The following Laws were the most
important ones: "On the State language in the
Ukrainian People's Republic" (mandatory use of
Ukrainian in the army, navy, in State and public
institutions), "On the State management of
education in the territory of the Ukrainian
People's Republic", "On the maintenance of arts
and crafts schools, workshops and the temporary
staff of these schools", "On the formation of a
commission for the reorganization of secondary
art education", as well as a number of other
resolutions (Kupriichuk, 2015, p. 18).
Conclusion
Thus, if we consider the main periods of the
history of the State and law on the territory of
Ukraine, we can highlight a number of features
regarding the historical aspects of the formation
of Ukraine’s humanitarian policy. Firstly,
unfortunately, for a long time, namely hundreds
of years after the disappearance of Kyivan Rus
and the Galicia-Volyn Principality, except for the
Cossack State and the short period of
reconstruction of Ukrainian statehood during the
years 1917 – 1920s, Ukrainian lands were part of
other States and, respectively, humanitarian
policy was formed not by Ukrainians, but by
those States that had established their power. At
the same time, locally, non-state organizations,
which were often outside the law, were engaged
in various spheres of humanitarian policy
regarding the development of Ukrainian
language, culture, education, etc.
Secondly, the situation was complicated by the
fact that the Ukrainian lands could
simultaneously be in different state-legal systems
(Russian and Austrian, then Austro-Hungarian
Empire). The States belonging to different
civilizational systems had exerted their own
influence on Ukrainian lands For a long time (for
example, the influence of Western civilization
during the time of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, the Austrian (Austro-
Hungarian) Empire, or being the part of the
totalitarian Soviet Union, which opposed itself to
Western civilization or in the absolutist Russian
Empire).
Therefore, after the restoration of independence
in 1991, Ukraine had to rebuild, including its
own humanitarian policy, based on the standards
of the Western civilization of liberal democratic
legal States, where there are no ruling ideologies,
but the pluralism of thoughts and ideas prevails.
This is also why Ukraine faced in 1991 a lot of
problems of domination of the Russian language
and culture, Soviet communist ideology in the
worldview of ordinary citizens, in education,
approaches to social security, and health care
(inhibition of the transition to western-style
insurance medicine and the spending an
enormous amount of money on obsolete Soviet-
type medicine).
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