Issues of the evolution of the idea of Ukrainian national statehood фin the Hetmanate after the so-called "Mazepa's betrayals". It is emphasized that the idea of national statehood in the contemporary conditions of strengthening the incorporation of the Hetmanship by imperial Russia was promoted by the efforts of the educated layers of its nobility and nobility.
Monuments of Ukrainian political and legal thought of the 18th century were analyzed, in which the need to preserve the autonomy of the Hetmanship is argued. It is concluded that the main issue of the political life of the Hetmanate, especially from the second half of the 18th century, is the struggle between Russian imperial centralism and the Ukrainian desire for autonomy. It is emphasized that the codification of Cossack law in the 18th century was a hidden attempt to justify the need to preserve the autonomous system of the Hetmanship for the elders. Cossack chronicles are presented as a manifestation of a new type of Ukrainian national identity, based on the political formula of joint service to "our Cossack Little Russian fatherland", but already as a clearly defined territory inhabited by "Cossack people".
It is believed that the struggle for the preservation of the autonomous status of the Hetmanate was understood by its apologists as the preservation of Cossack freedoms, while the latter were identified with the protection of national rights.
As a conclusion, it is argued that the spread of ideas of the development of the Ukrainian state as an autonomous one resulted in the emergence of the Ukrainian intelligentsia - the bearer of national consciousness. However, it was noted that the Cossack-elderly class sought limited national autonomy within the framework of Tsarist Russia, and at the same time advocated the preservation of the foundations of the system of that time. Finally summarizing, the belief is expressed that the Cossacks of the Hetmanate of the XVIII century. it still could not (with the exception of certain individuals from its environment) realize itself as a full-fledged subject of social and political relations, the owner of its own land, an elite responsible for its people.
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