Conservatism in the Ukrainian National Liberation Struggles, 1917–1921: Pavlo Skoropadsky’s Hetmanate and Viacheslav Lypynskyi’s Statehood Concept

The article analyses key aspects of the formation of Ukrainian conservatism on the eve of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky’s rule and in the aftermath of the defeat of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921. Its principal ideologist was the eminent Ukrainian historian, diplomat, and public and political figure Viacheslav Lypynskyi. The enduring vitality of the Hetmanate tradition in Ukraine provided a foundation for Lypynskyi and other representatives of organised conservatism to seek an alternative to the ideological doctrine of the populist-democratic movement. The article examines Lypynskyi’s development of a theory of hereditary classocratic monarchy in Ukraine, aimed at achieving national consolidation and affirming national-historical traditions within state and political institutions. His concepts of the national elite, territorial patriotism, religious tolerance, and the classocratic structuring of society—together with the project of personifying Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky and his lineage—formed the cornerstones of the modern Ukrainian conservative movement.