“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025), pages 221–228.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2025-36-221-228

Muzyka Iryna
Territorial factor in V. Lypynsky’s concept of Ukrainian statehood during the Ukrainian revolution (1917–1921)

Introduction. The study of the role and significance of the territorial factor in theoretical concepts of the formation of a Ukrainian independent sovereign state is of great importance, since there is a threat of losing part of the territory of the modern Ukrainian state.
Results. The ethnic criterion was formally (de jure) considered fundamental for determining the territory and borders of the Ukrainian state during the period of the Ukrainian revolution (1917–1921). At the same time, the role of territory — the main feature and integral component of the sovereignty of the state — was ignored or downplayed. Therefore, the theory of Ukrainian statehood of the political figure, historian, historiographer, sociologist, publicist, and theorist of Ukrainian conservatism Vyacheslav Lypynsky (1882–1931) does not lose its relevance, in which the territory occupied the same important place as the ethnic criterion, from the point of view of the state, primarily as a territorial entity.
Even before the First World War, V. Lypynsky began to create a powerful concept of Ukrainian state, in which territory was seen as an an integral part of state building.
In his theory of power creation, contributions from the fundamental process «Letters to the Brothers-Growers», V. Lipinsky spoke about the role of territory in the process of power creation and the need for the formation of territorial patriotism. V. Lipinsky noted that patriotism is awareness of one’s territory, and not the territory itself, lies at the heart of the existence and power of states.
This conclusion was based on criticism of the provisions of program documents and declarations of the Ukrainian political parties of that time, in which at the beginning of the revolutionary events of 1917–1921 the ideas of federalism or autonomism prevailed in the concepts of Ukrainian statehood. V. Lypynsky, outlin the composition of the Ukrainian territory within ethnographic borders.
A clear definition and legal registration of the territory of the state, according to V. Lypynsky, is the main principle of the formation of the Ukrainian political nation. V. Lypynsky also focuses on the main values of the Ukrainian political community of that time, in which the struggle for power replaced the main goal of survival — the preservation of the territory and sovereignty of the state.
Conclusions. V. Lypynsky, as one of the creators of the independence movement in
Ukrainian political thought and practice of state-building, defended the idea of creating an independent Ukrainian state within ethnographic borders. In the concept he created of building a sovereign independent Ukrainian state through the formation of a Ukrainian political nation, V. Lypynsky attached decisive and primary importance to the territorial factor (territorialism and «territorial patriotism») compared to other factors (ideology, language, culture, religion, etc.), necessary for its functioning and development.

Key words: Vyacheslav Lypynsky, territory of the state, territorialism, territorial patriotism, legal status of the territory of the Ukrainian state, Ukrainian state formation.

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