БОЛГАРСЬКЕ НАСЕЛЕННЯ ІЗМАЇЛЬСЬКОЇ ОБЛАСТІ В УМОВАХ РАДЯНИЗАЦІЇ (1944 – 1954 рр.)
BULGARIAN POPULATION OF IZMAIL REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF SOVIETISATION (1944 - 1945)

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the research is to reveal the situation of the Bulgarian population of the Izmail region of the Ukrainian SSR in the context of Sovietisation in 1944-1954. The relevance of the study is justified by the fact that the history of the Bulgarian diaspora of the post-war period has remained virtually unstudied by researchers, but its detailed study is of crucial importance for a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Bulgarian people of Ukraine. The the source and historiographical base of the study is archival materials that clearly discovers the overview of the life of the Bulgarian population in the conditions of the Sovietisation of the region The article examines the processes of transformational changes in the Bulgarian villages of Izmail region in the context of the Sovietisation of the newly annexed lands of Ukraine in 1944-1954. For the first time the Sovietisation of the Bulgarian villages of the region is analyzed discovering the process of creating the Soviet administrative and command system; it studies the repressions against the Bulgarian population as well. The article clarifies the dynamics of demographic changes in the rural population, in particular the impact of post-war famine and repression on its natural movement. The participation of Bulgarians in public life, in educational processes, political campaigns, in the reconstruction of the national economy, their relations with other nationalities and their attitude to the Soviet government are characterized. Relying on archival data, the author reports new aspects of the development of the Bulgarian diaspora in the postwar period (the second half of the 40s and 50s of the twentieth century). The research highlights that in 1944-1954 the Soviet administrative and command system was formed in the region and the monopoly power of the Communist Party was established. It is determined that a significant role in Sovietisation referred to people who worked in the Izmail region in 1940-1941 and knew its peculiarities. Further legitimisation of Soviet power took place through elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR and local councils. It is proved that in the postwar years, the Bulgarian population of the region, along with other nationalities, began to participate in the public activities of the Ukrainian SSR. Many Bulgarians became members of party, Komsomol and economic organisations. They began to nominate women to leadership positions, from village councils to republican structures. The involvement of the Bulgarian population in public life contributed to the gradual transition of Bulgarians to Soviet positions. It has been established that the main trend of ethnic changes in the post-war period was the gradual Russification of the population through the media, education and the activities of the governmental authorities. However, it should be noted that the existing educational system of the USSR at that time contributed to the formation of the intelligentsia from among the Bulgarian population, which, on the one hand, led to the emergence of a new mass social group in the original ethnic culture of Bulgarians - the Bulgarian intelligentsia; on the other hand, the Bulgarian intelligentsia struggled to preserve the culture of the Bulgarians of southern Ukraine. It is proved that the most common methods of Sovietisation were repressions that also affected the Bulgarian population: former wealthy owners, «family members of traitors to the motherland», and those dissatisfied with the Soviet regime. Thus, it was the deportation of 1948 that accelerated the end of collectivisation in the region. The study proves that it was the state policy of excessive grain procurement and insufficient assistance to the population in the face of drought that led to the spread of famine in 1946-1947. The article also investigatesss the peculiarities of anti-Soviet attitudes in the villages. It is noted that anti-Soviet moods were manifested in the form of rumours, anti-Soviet and anti-collective farm statements, and in correspondence, but even such expressions of discontent were persecuted by the authorities, and became the basis for criminal proceedings and charges of anti-Soviet agitation. Along with passive discontent, there were also attempts to organise and raise the national issue. The opposition to the mobilisations took the form of desertion and evasion. The research papers in the main that in the post-war period, the Sovietisation carried out in Bulgarian villages drastically changed the traditional way of life of the Bulgarian population of the Izmail region of the Ukrainian SSR. The most common methods of Sovietisation were repression, which accompanied every economic or political measure taken by the authorities. Within an extremely short period of time, individual farms in the Bulgarian villages of the Izmail region disappeared, and the traditional folk culture and education system underwent radical changes. Nevertheless, the Bulgarian population of the Izmail region managed to adapt to the new conditions. There were also positive developments in the national, cultural and educational development of the Bulgarian diaspora in the postwar period. Consequently, the article of Iryna Tatarko makes an important contribution to the study of the most pressing problems and issues of the historiography of Eastern Europe - the postwar period and the Soviet Union’s policy towards ethnic minorities.

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