ABSTRACT
Modernization and religion remains a largely untouched problem in the scholarly literature on the post-1917 Ukraine. In a manner characteristic of other dissident religious movements, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church based its initial claims to legitimacy on appeals to historical right, Apostolic teachings, and practices of early Christianity. The revival of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church during World War II in the German-occupied Ukraine further underlines the tenacity of the ideals espoused by the UAPTs. Soviet attitudes towards the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church underwent radical changes during the decade 1920-1930, changes which in part paralleled the shifts in the party's religious and nationalities policies. The Ukrainian church movement failed to realize its objectives during the shortlived Ukrainian state-hood. The russification, centralization, and bureaucratization of the Orthodox Church—claimed the All Ukrainian Rada—had alienated the Ukrainian people, denying them the full satisfaction of their religious needs.
