Una lunga resistenza sul confine. Visioni e progetti in Ucraina tra guerra e dopoguerra

Addressing the issue of resistance in Ukraine during World War II means venturing slippery territory due to the specific characteristics of the resistance experience in territories. The paper considers four factors: 1.  The borders of Soviet Ukraine shifted and expanded with World War II. The war place in “Ukrainian” territories that belonged to the USSR before the conflict, as well in territories that were part of Poland. Consequently, there was a diversification of stance movements corresponding to the different geopolitical, cultural, and locations of the territories involved. 2.  In Ukraine, there were not just one, but at least three resistance movements, opposed to each other and diverse within themselves. 3.  The nationalist resistance movements that acted during the conflict had different for Ukraine. In some cases, these plans looked to Europe, but only in a secondary compared to their main project of creating an independent Ukraine. 4.  The continuation of partisan warfare in western Ukraine after World War II is with no analogies in other European contexts except in the Baltic republics. In fact, resistance movement continued to fight against Soviet power in the forests of until the 1950s. In short, the partisan war in Ukraine was a prolonged border conflict in which visions and projects clashed, with Europe remaining in the background.