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National Identity and History Writing in Ukraine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Extract

Think Ukrainian. You are a successor to Princess Olha, Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise, who are Equal to the Apostles. History requires from you confidence and trust in Ukraine. Think Ukrainian. Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine. Presidential political advertisement, Channel 5 Television, 28 January 2006

The writing of history has a direct influence upon national identities. This is especially the case when historical writing and interpretation are contested, as they are among the three Eastern Slavic peoples (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians). Where contestation is high, as in the Ukrainian- Russian relationship since the disintegration of the USSR, the writing and interpretation of history also impact upon their domestic and foreign policies and, most notably, their inter-state relations. Russian elites and the majority of Russians do not look upon Ukraine and Belarus as “foreign” countries.

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Copyright © 2006 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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References

Notes

1. Russian involvement in Ukrainian domestic politics, as, for example, during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections, is therefore not understood by Russia as “interference” in the domestic affairs of a foreign country. During the 2004 Ukrainian elections and Orange Revolution, Russia strongly protested against Western “interference” because it did not perceive its own activities in support of the pro-regime candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, in the same way. Tor Bukkvoll succinctly argues that, in not recognising Ukraine as a “foreign” country, Russia has failed to formulate a coherent policy towards Ukraine. See Bukkvoll, Tor, “Off the Cuff Politics—Explaining Russia's Lack of a Ukraine Strategy,” Europe–Asia Studies, Vol. 53, No. 8, 2001, pp. 11411157. On Russian intervention see T. Kuzio, “Russian Policy towards Ukraine during Elections,” Demokratizatsiya, Vol. 13, No. 4, 2005, pp. 491517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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