Abstract
The purpose of the article is to cover the events of military-political, social, economic life in Podillya during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921 and to represent his view on the significance of events, ideas, people and institutions based on the analysis of scientific research, creative heritage of Professor Mykola Kravets. in the process of creating the Ukrainian state. The research methodology is based on the study and critical analysis of scientific and historical-journalistic works of Mykola Kravets. The application of universal research principles of historicism, scientific objectivity and systematics allowed, based on the representation of the regional situation in the Podolsk region, to analyze the main milestones of the process of Ukrainian state formation of this period. The scientific novelty of the study is that the works of Professor Mykola Kravets, who was among the first Ukrainian scholars at the beginning 1990s to study the history of the Ukrainian Revolution, demonstrate the conceptual integrity of understanding the events of the revolution and show that it was based on democratic values and the idea of Ukrainian statehood. It was found that in the first years of Ukraine's independence he managed to accumulate significant, previously inaccessible for study factual material, including materials of local newspapers of 1917 – 1921s, and to prepare a number of studies on military and political events of this historical period in Podolia. Also presenting large-scale military battles in Vinnytsia, the author proves that they are evidence of the struggle of the Ukrainian People's Republic against non-Ukrainian armies and considers the Ukrainian anti-Bolshevik uprisings as a war against a foreign alien conqueror. Mykola Kravets's works are distinguished by balanced historical assessments of the actions of individuals of the revolutionary era, analysis of the causes of the defeat of the Ukrainian revolution and its impact on the future of the Ukrainian people. Conclusions. The creative heritage of Professor Kravets MM provides an understanding of the events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921s, in which the author proceeded from the state approach, sought to demonstrate the ability of people to organize on the ground. development and protection of the Ukrainian state. The Ukrainian revolution was defeated, did not achieve its ultimate goal, but it internally reborn Ukrainian society and became a source of spiritual strength in the further struggle for Ukrainian statehood and independence.