NEWS RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA

January 31, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HISTORIAN TO GIVE LECTURE ABOUT THE UKRAINIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AT THE EAST BANK REGIONAL LIBRARY

JEFFERSON, LA – Cyril Lagvanec, PhD, the curator of the American-Italian Research Library located on the second floor of the East Bank Regional Library, will give a lecture on the Ukrainian War of Independence, at 7 p.m., on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at the West Bank Regional Library (2751 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey, LA 70058).

This event is free of charge and open to the public. There is no registration.

The Ukrainian War of Independence, also referred to as the Ukrainian-Soviet War in Ukraine, occurred from March 1917 to November 1921. It resulted in the establishment of an independent Ukrainian Republic, though most was absorbed into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1922-1991.

The war was fought between different governmental, political and military forces. Combatants included Ukrainian nationalists, Ukrainian anarchists, the forces of Germany and Austria-Hungry, the White Russian Volunteer Army, and Second Polish Republic forces.

The war resulted in the absorption of Ukrainian populations into the newly created Soviet Union and the Second Polish Republic. Soviet historical tradition viewed the Bolshevik victory as the liberation of Ukraine from occupation by the armies of Western and Central Europe, including that of Poland. Modern Ukrainian historians consider it a failed war of independence by the Ukrainian People's Republic against the Bolsheviks. The conflict can be viewed within the framework of the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922, as well as the closing stage of the Eastern Front of World War I.

Lagvanec will also discuss more recent events including the following.

• Dec. 1, 1991 – Ukraine votes for independence
• Jan. 14, 1994 – De-activating nuclear warheads
• July 9, 1997 – NATO, Ukraine deepen cooperation
• August 2008 – Russia invades Georgia
• Feb. 2014 – Russia seizes Crimea
• April 21, 2019 – Volodymyr Zelensky elected president

He will also discuss Ukraine within the Soviet Union, with a specific focus on Stalinism, WWII, and the disaster at Chernobyl. 

Cyril Lagvanec earned his undergraduate degree in history from Baylor University, his master’s degree in British and European History from Tulane University, and his doctoral degree in American History from Texas A&M University. Through his career, Dr. Lagvanec has taught at Jesuit High School, Tulane, Loyola, Delgado, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, East Carolina University, and Texas A&M.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jplibrary.net.

The Jefferson Parish Library system consists of 16 locations that stretch from the Lakeshore Branch on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain to the Grand Isle Branch just steps away from the Gulf of Mexico. The library system consists of two large regional libraries and seven branches on each side of the Mississippi River. The East Bank Regional Library (4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie, LA 70001) serves as library headquarters. For more information, contact the library at (504) 838-1100 or www.jefferson.lib.la.us.

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Jefferson Parish Public Information Office 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002 Jefferson, LA 70123

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