The Ukraine is a historically new construction. Until the late 19th century, the Ukraine was merely a region, and 100% of its inhabitants, the Ukrainians, or Rusyns (Ruthenians) as they were called in areas under Austria at that time, considered that their language, or whatever regional dialect they spoke, was Russian (“Russka mova”), and they had zero political awareness or identity separate from Russia (with the exception of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were Cossacks, not as presently described, “Ukrainian Cossacks”, LOL.)
The concept of a “Ukrainian language” and the associated identity was constructed in areas under Austrian rule (parts of Galicia and Volhynia), with Austrian support and state financing, immediately after the local iteration of the 1848 revolutions, as a way to quell pro-Russian irredentism among landowners and the Russian Orthodox church in the region. From here on, the Galician literary dialect was also set as the “one and only” Ukrainian language, similar to how the dialect of Florence became “standard Italian.”
Due to Russia’s backwardness, the Russian Empire was unable to standardize its linguistic landscape in the same manner as the Germans and French had largely done by prior to World War 1, or World War 2 at the latest. That process requires compulsory schooling and mass literacy, which Russia did not have until Soviet days. Hence, by the time of the Russian Revolution, the Galician Ukrainist movement had been able to gain some marginal but elite following throughout all territories that spoke Ukrainian dialects rather than “Great Russian.”
This was subsequently channeled, with the Russian collapse of 1917-1918, into the formation of the Ukrainian breakaway state. After this was put down by the Bolsheviks (first and foremost, Ukrainian urban Bolsheviks from Kharkov and what’s today called Donetsk), it again came to life under German rule with the Galician-based Banderist movement.
Most Ukrainians did not vote for independence from the USSR in 1991, but the republic was abandoned by Yeltsin, and thus, had independence thrust upon it. There was a general lack of enthusiasm for the state, a lack of understanding as to its purpose, especially as by this time, almost all Ukrainian citizens spoke Russian as their language of work, at least, and among well over half of the population, of the home as well. In short, there was a near-total ideological vacuum.
The only people who had an ideology… were, well, guess who.
Today, excepting the far northwest, with its dominant Greek Catholic church, the Ukraine is still so similar to Russia (culturally there is ZERO difference)…..
…..that the ONLY way any Ukrainian leadership can aim to make its state distinct, to justify its own rule, is to invent a completely fictitious, phony history of some coherent, historical “Ukraine” that never existed (their school history textbooks are a RIOT)…..
…..and to adopt a “supremacist”, Russian-exclusionist approach and ideology. Like, “We’re not Russian goddamn it, we were never Russian, we will cut the Russian out of us, perhaps slowly, perhaps quickly if we can, but we’ll get rid of it, because the Ukraine isn’t big enough for minorities or two nationalities, so, someone needs to get steamrolled.”
In short, fascism.
The Ukrainian state (under German protection) of 1918, and then again with the Banderist movement (again under German protection, or benign neglect at least) during WW2 and then in exile… were explicitly fascistic. The former, even before the term existed.
I wrote last summer or so, that any independent Ukrainian entity will ALWAYS arrive at fascism as its governing ideology. It just took much longer this time (since 1991), in part because of the dominance of Russian cultural and professional media (and the difficulty in re-Ukrainizing in the absence of a sufficient written base and professional need) and the enormous cross-border family bonds left over from Soviet days.
But, it happened.
Obviously, Uncle Sam has taken advantage of this to establish his 51st state on the territory of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Obviously, the majority of Ukrainian officials, educators, etc., are just there to get paid. Like people everywhere, they go along and are not driving the ideology.
Well, this took my opinion of Eliot down a notch.
Oh my gosh! More public-spirited pigs! How delightful!!!!!!
Test four five six
test ... substack test ... one two three .. me and thee
rare that a rejection letter rises to such eloquence and makes one see a book like AF in a new light.
Thanks!
I feel much better now:)
Thanks again and -- something else (about 51st US state ;-)) ):
Jacob Dreizin – March 16 -- https://thedreizinreport.com/2023/03/15/silicon-valley-bank-and-donetsk/
As for the Nazism, they can’t avoid it.
A Short History of Ukraine State
The Ukraine is a historically new construction. Until the late 19th century, the Ukraine was merely a region, and 100% of its inhabitants, the Ukrainians, or Rusyns (Ruthenians) as they were called in areas under Austria at that time, considered that their language, or whatever regional dialect they spoke, was Russian (“Russka mova”), and they had zero political awareness or identity separate from Russia (with the exception of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were Cossacks, not as presently described, “Ukrainian Cossacks”, LOL.)
The concept of a “Ukrainian language” and the associated identity was constructed in areas under Austrian rule (parts of Galicia and Volhynia), with Austrian support and state financing, immediately after the local iteration of the 1848 revolutions, as a way to quell pro-Russian irredentism among landowners and the Russian Orthodox church in the region. From here on, the Galician literary dialect was also set as the “one and only” Ukrainian language, similar to how the dialect of Florence became “standard Italian.”
Due to Russia’s backwardness, the Russian Empire was unable to standardize its linguistic landscape in the same manner as the Germans and French had largely done by prior to World War 1, or World War 2 at the latest. That process requires compulsory schooling and mass literacy, which Russia did not have until Soviet days. Hence, by the time of the Russian Revolution, the Galician Ukrainist movement had been able to gain some marginal but elite following throughout all territories that spoke Ukrainian dialects rather than “Great Russian.”
This was subsequently channeled, with the Russian collapse of 1917-1918, into the formation of the Ukrainian breakaway state. After this was put down by the Bolsheviks (first and foremost, Ukrainian urban Bolsheviks from Kharkov and what’s today called Donetsk), it again came to life under German rule with the Galician-based Banderist movement.
Most Ukrainians did not vote for independence from the USSR in 1991, but the republic was abandoned by Yeltsin, and thus, had independence thrust upon it. There was a general lack of enthusiasm for the state, a lack of understanding as to its purpose, especially as by this time, almost all Ukrainian citizens spoke Russian as their language of work, at least, and among well over half of the population, of the home as well. In short, there was a near-total ideological vacuum.
The only people who had an ideology… were, well, guess who.
Today, excepting the far northwest, with its dominant Greek Catholic church, the Ukraine is still so similar to Russia (culturally there is ZERO difference)…..
…..that the ONLY way any Ukrainian leadership can aim to make its state distinct, to justify its own rule, is to invent a completely fictitious, phony history of some coherent, historical “Ukraine” that never existed (their school history textbooks are a RIOT)…..
…..and to adopt a “supremacist”, Russian-exclusionist approach and ideology. Like, “We’re not Russian goddamn it, we were never Russian, we will cut the Russian out of us, perhaps slowly, perhaps quickly if we can, but we’ll get rid of it, because the Ukraine isn’t big enough for minorities or two nationalities, so, someone needs to get steamrolled.”
In short, fascism.
The Ukrainian state (under German protection) of 1918, and then again with the Banderist movement (again under German protection, or benign neglect at least) during WW2 and then in exile… were explicitly fascistic. The former, even before the term existed.
I wrote last summer or so, that any independent Ukrainian entity will ALWAYS arrive at fascism as its governing ideology. It just took much longer this time (since 1991), in part because of the dominance of Russian cultural and professional media (and the difficulty in re-Ukrainizing in the absence of a sufficient written base and professional need) and the enormous cross-border family bonds left over from Soviet days.
But, it happened.
Obviously, Uncle Sam has taken advantage of this to establish his 51st state on the territory of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Obviously, the majority of Ukrainian officials, educators, etc., are just there to get paid. Like people everywhere, they go along and are not driving the ideology.
Well, at least he gave his reasoning !
Yes - we need more public-spirited pigs ;-))
NATO show is over -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6De_nPqZxXI