 Chauvinistic Smoke A Few Words on Russia By Volodymyr SENCHENKO |
During my life, which has spanned two-thirds of the last century, I have seen nations repeatedly make painful mistakes. And like individuals, nations can fail to recognize, much less learn from, their errors.
There are numerous examples. Poland still has a strong conviction that Ukraine (or at least some of its territory) is part of Poland and that Ukrainians are subordinate creatures - inferior cattle. It is true that historically Ukrainian lands were once part of the Polish-Lithuanian-Russian state that Poland dominated, having headed the union known as Rich Pospolyta. However, cruel Polish oppression and enslavement caused fierce resistance, which led to a number of anti-Polish rebellions and to the national war of liberation headed by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky. Poland was defeated. If it had changed its attitude toward Ukraine and Ukrainians, if it had considered them to be equal Slavic brothers, its own history would not have been so tragic. There would most probably not have been four divisions of Poland. Despite these facts, for centuries the governments of the country and average Poles have obstinately dreamed of their superior state.
Happily, the current generation of Poles has realized their fault and is striving to overcome the century-long hostility and sporadic armed clashes. They treat Ukraine and Ukrainians as natural neighbors and strategic partners who enjoy equal rights.
It would be fantastic if the common sense of the younger Polish generation overcame the national haughtiness - especially today when Poland and its people feel themselves secure under the umbrella of NATO and the EU. Frankly, many people in Ukraine do not believe that Poles will be able to control themselves without trying to stress their superciliousness towards Ukrainians. This can already be seen in the Czech Republic. Potentially, these tendencies are dangerous and undesirable for Ukraine and can lead to new tragedies for Poland and Poles.
One more example of a nation's collective mistake is Germany's embrace of Adolph Hitler. The population supported and idolized Hitler. This is the mistake committed by the civilized nation of Goethe, Hegel and Marx. Today, Germans admit that they erred.
However, the nation learned its lesson. They understood that another war launched by a Germany craving revenge would never be forgiven. They chose another way to world leadership by developing their social and economic potential.
The new Germany is worth respect and imitation.
The Russian Federation is at a crucial point in its historical development. It is not defeated, as many believe. It is being re-organized and renewed to make a new giant leap. Historically, it is a young nation, and it has great potential for further development. At this stage, Russians can make one mistake that might slow down its ascent: It should not underestimate Ukraine's status as an equal and sovereign state. There is no threat of an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine; that would be impossible for Ukraine and would be political suicide for Russia. The threat is that Russia will stop treating Ukraine as an equal among nations.
Most of the brightest minds of Russia admit that they cannot imagine their country's prosperity without Ukraine. This is true not because of Ukraine's natural resources - Russia is much richer. What is important is the centuries-old integrity of culture, science, economy and family relationships. The mutual isolation of the two nations can influence the civilization of both Russia and Ukraine, with tragic consequences.
President Leonid Kuchma said that he does not see the "future of Ukraine without warm relations with Russia."
For the third time in the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations, Ukraine is an independent state and the Ukrainian people and their culture are independent factors. The "tribe of Southern Slavs" or the "little Russians" no longer exists. There is an officially recognized nation called Ukraine.
The rulers of Russia and the Soviet Union ignored Ukrainians and Ukraine twice, regarding them as a "branch" of the Empire. They tried to eradicate the Ukrainian language and customs. They dared to take away the old name of the nation "Rus," and replaced it with the tag "little Russia." During the 1930s, Ukraine saw a genocidal famine that eliminated up to 9 million people, and Stalin's terror, which left another 4.5 million Ukrainians dead. Before this period, there had been more ethnic Ukrainians than Russians in Ukraine. From the 1930s until the time of the last Soviet census, the number of Russians increased by 390 percent, while the number of Ukrainians increased by just 30 percent.
Ukrainians were not even allowed to translate the Bible into their own language, because the officials believed that there "was not, is not and will never be such a language." Since we could not write Ukrainian lyrics for songs, a new genre of wordless songs was created. In the Soviet era, in Donetsk region, there was not a single Ukrainian school, though the majority of the population was Ukrainian.
It would be understandable if the constant and all encompassing Soviet campaign to wipe out the Ukrainian national identity had succeeded. But it did not, and the moment Ukraine had the chance to separate from Russia and became a poor, but large and independent European country, it did so.
Still, "independent Ukraine" sounds too much like "jumbo shrimp" or "dry ice" to Russians who view their neighbor as an oxymoron. Ukraine had been independent for three years when Russian President Boris Yeltsin asked his ministers, "So, what are we going to do with Ukraine?" He did not ask how they were going to cooperate with Ukraine, but wanted to know what to do with the country, as if it were a Russian region like Chechnya.
An independent Ukraine is a sore point with many average Russians as well. Russians have seen the expansion of their land for centuries, and expansion is part of their imperialist ideology. The chauvinistic Russian believes what the Russian media says about Ukraine, a land of greedy, crafty villains who cannot live without their elder Russian brothers. They believe in the efficiency of the political pressure achieved by blocking oil and gas pipelines, and the necessity of making territorial claims on Crimea, land "deceitfully" presented to Ukraine by the khokhol (derogatory nickname given to Ukrainians) Nikita Khruschev. And they use Ukrainian political crises like the Gongadze case and the Kolchuga incident to offer sincere advice about how to return the prodigal young sister Ukraine to the big Russian family.
Naturally, the mass media are bothering Ukrainians and Russians who live in Ukraine with their haughtiness, peremptory intonation and outrageous lies.
If the chauvinistic smoke does not clear, it will bring estrangement between the peoples and the countries. The new generation of Ukrainians has grown up. They know what dignity is. They speak two or three languages fluently. They are used to communicating with foreigners without shame and complexes. They cannot understand how Russia can be an elder brother simply by saying it is so. They consider the nickname "little Russian" to be as insulting as katsap or moskal is to Russians. This generation is already proud of the people who refused to serve Russia. Ukrainians firmly know that their remote ancestors lived on this land almost seven thousand years ago. They know their great grandfathers were Ruses who came from the Kyivan Rus and that Ukrainians developed science and culture, and made great contribution to political and military affairs. It is no longer possible to make young Ukrainians forget these facts unless you deprive them of their memory.
The big Slavic nation has to learn to have a relationship based on equality and mutual respect. Speaking to journalists in Moscow, President Leonid Kuchma noted: "We are just learning to co-exist as two independent states." I would add that we are learning to live as two independent nations.
If only both students benefited from that learning! Otherwise, two nations will suffer. It would affect all spheres of life in Russia and Ukraine, including science, economy, culture, politics, military affairs and family relations.
After the meeting of the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, during which they ratified an agreement creating the Common Economic Space, some media indicated that the CES signaled a reunion of the two countries. However, such a reunion is impossible.
Ukraine has 350 years of experience with free-will unions and it is sensitive to a brotherly embrace, even if it is sincere. If the Russian government and public can learn to cut through the imperial smoke and learn to respect its neighbors, opportunities for equal integration into Europe will appear. Unfortunately, though, the imperial smoke is still thick, as evidenced by a Russian computer game that simulates a war between the Russian Black Sea fleet and the Ukrainian fleet. Ukraine remains a target for Russian paternalism at best, and a potential foe to be subdued at worst.
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Read also previous issue' articles:
The Herodotus of Ukrainian History
Ukrainians Want A Country That Respects Them
Ukraine's Brain Drain
A walk on the underside
Re-inventing Production: Military Giants Discover Consumer Goods
From Cossack to Sumo
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