Stepan Tomaszewski occupies a special place in the Ukrainian intellectual tradition of the early twentieth century. As a historian, political thinker, and public figure, he formed an original concept of Ukrainian conservatism, which differed sharply from both revolutionary socialism and romantic nationalism. His views were an attempt to provide the Ukrainian national movement with a sober, state-like basis.
Tomaszewski’s conservatism grew out of a deep historical analysis. He believed that politics could not be based on emotions, utopias, or abstract slogans. For him, history was not a set of heroic legends, but a source of sober lessons. The Ukrainian nation, he believed, had repeatedly suffered defeats precisely because of its disregard for institutions, law and order, and state discipline.
A key element of his conservative worldview was the idea of statehood. Tomaszewski criticized the notion that the Ukrainian nation could exist only as a cultural or ethnographic community. He insisted that without a state of its own, with a clear system of authority, responsibility, and hierarchy, the nation was doomed to depend on its stronger neighbors. That is why he was suspicious of massive democratic experiments in a society that did not yet have a stable political tradition.
An important feature of Tomaszewski’s conservatism was his respect for the elite. He believed that history was not created by the masses, but by a responsible leading stratum. This elite was to be formed not on the basis of loud slogans, but through education, moral authority, and service to the state.
At the same time, Tomaszewski did not identify the elite with a narrow social class. For him, it was a function and responsibility rather than a privilege.
A special place in his views was occupied by the role of the Church. As a conservative, Tomaszewski viewed the Christian tradition, particularly the Greek Catholic Church, as one of the foundations of social stability. He believed that the Church fulfills not only a spiritual but also a moral and educational function, without which the formation of a mature nation is impossible. At the same time, he warned against turning religion into an instrument of political demagoguery.
Tomaszewski was critical of the revolutionary ideas of his time. He considered socialism and radicalism to be dangerous temptations that promised quick liberation but in practice led to chaos and destruction. In his opinion, Ukrainian society needed not abrupt changes but a gradual evolution based on historical heritage, legal norms, and responsible government.
At the same time, his conservatism was not reactionary or directed to the past. Tomaszewski did not deny the need for reform and modernization. He only emphasized that these changes should be rooted in their own tradition and correspond to the real capabilities of society. Blindly copying other people’s models, in his opinion, was one of the greatest threats to Ukrainian state-building.
The conservative views of Stepan Tomaszewski became an important alternative to the dominant ideologies of his era. They offered Ukrainians a path not of quick revolutions, but of long and difficult work on themselves, their institutions, and political culture. In this sense, his ideas remain relevant today, when the issues of elite responsibility, the role of tradition, and the limits of radical change are once again at the center of public debate.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk
