Why
exactly don’t Ukrainians Trust Moscow? Conclusion
As I wrote in a previous post, it’s historical.
Any illusion of commonality between Ukrainians and Russians that
is habitually spewed by the Kremlin simply means favoring Russian national
achievements and the harvest of ill-gotten
gains of Russia’s bloody aggression and imperialism.
One hundred years ago, during the euphoric days leading up to
Ukraine’s first declaration of independence, all segments of the nation and its
leadership emphatically avowed that everything from Moscow regardless of royalty,
political color, slant or “ism” will never be beneficial for Ukraine. Ukraine
rejected all efforts at reconciliation, coexistence and cohabitation with
Moscow.
The Ukrainian nation professed its aspiration for independence
from foreign subjugation and statehood in numerous literary accounts that
buoyed the people’s supreme hopes for centuries. There were also historic
attempts throughout the centuries to promote this idea on battlefields. But
then in the span of 12 months centuries of hopes and wars coalesced into a
resounding assertion that the Ukrainian nation will finally become ruler of its
land and destiny. It will bow to no one. Taking advantage of the bloody chaos of
the anti-Tsarist revolution in Russia
and disavowing all Russian assurances, promises and subversions, the leadership
of the Ukrainian national revolution backed by the peasants, workers and
soldiers arose in unison in support of independence and statehood.
A Russian-language
newspaper in Kyiv of the day summarized the mood of the nation: “Here and there
a Ukrainian volunteer spoke harshly: ‘The Russian democracy is against us;
it is against Ukraine.’”
Ukrainians weren’t caught up in the events that John Reed said
shook the world. They were creating their own destiny that was built on
national freedom, justice and democracy. They were building an inclusive nation-state
that included all classes of its society as well as ethnic or national groups
living in Ukraine. While Russia was ripping itself apart and killing one or another
group of opponents as it oscillated between tsarist, whites, liberal democrats
and reds, Ukrainians were solidly focused on their independence and sovereignty.
In his article titled “National Revolution in Ukraine, 1917-1919,” Nicholas D. Czubatyj (1889-1975), the first editor of The
Ukrainian Quarterly, who I cited in a previous post, wrote that
Ukraine was an oasis of peace, stability, discipline, dedication and commitment
to a serious discussion of the vital ideas regarding its independence and
sovereignty. While at the same time Russia was a den of intrigue, deceit and
murder.
A series of meetings, conventions, congresses and four declarations
honed Ukraine’s vision of its self-determination. Despite Russia’s devious
attempts to penetrate the conclaves and highjack the deliberations, the
Ukrainian side prevailed and circumvented Moscow’s heinous plans. The founding
fathers of the soon-to-be independent Ukraine rejected all overt and covert efforts
by Moscow to restrain Ukrainians’ march to freedom and re-subjugate the nation.
As Czubatyj wrote, Ukraine wisely took advantage of the murderous anarchy
in Russia. “On
November 20, 1917, the Central Rada issued the Third Universal, which
emphasized definitely the international position of Ukraine. With this Ukraine
formally proclaimed herself a Ukrainian National Republic. She severed herself
from Soviet Russia, that is she ceased to recognize any form of power wielded
by the Soviet of People’s Commissars, which made her a de facto independent
nation. The Third Universal envisioned the formation of a federation of equal
nations in Russia, and it proposed a radical agrarian reform for the peasants
and an eight-hour workday for the workers. Likewise it assured cultural
autonomy for all the national minorities in the country.
“Simultaneously, the
Central Rada set the elections for the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly for
January 9, 1918, and appointed the first meeting of it for the following
January 22.
“Ukrainian people and
all minority nations in Ukraine,” the Third Universal proclaimed. “A serious
and dangerous hours has fallen upon the lands of the Russian Republic. In the
cities of the north a bloody civil war is being waged. There is no central
government; anarchy, disorder and ruin are spreading over the entire country.
Out land also is in danger. Without a powerful, unified, national government,
Ukraine can also fall into the abyss of civil revolution, bloodshed, and
decadence … From today, Ukraine becomes the Ukrainian National Republic.”
The Ukrainian National
Republic – or Ukrayinska Narodna
Respublika.
Czubatyj pointed out that the Ukrainian conservatives read into that appellation
Ukrainian National Republic, while Ukrainian independence-minded socialists saw
it as meaning “people’s.” Nonetheless, it was going to be an independent
republic of the Ukrainian people.
“The meaning of the
word ‘narod’ includes the two meanings. The supporters of all groups agreed
upon the word, which had become a slogan wherever the Russian revolutionary
movement penetrated,” Czubatyj opined.
The Russians kept
themselves busy at this time, plotting to subvert the pro-Ukraine movement and
convening its All-Ukrainian Convention of Councils, which the legitimate
blue-and-yellow Ukrainian government naively did not forbid but fortunately saw
to it that there were Ukrainian patriots present.
Czubatyj’s analysis showed that Ukrainians regarded with disdain everything
from Moscow and that Bolshevism itself was
a solely Russian gambit to subjugate Ukraine.
“The meeting proved
clearly that Bolshevism in Ukraine was an external intrigue of the Russian
government against the independence of Ukraine. Of the 2,000 delegates, only
150 delegates (and the majority of these were non-Ukrainian) took a stand
against the Central Rada. The overwhelming majority announced full loyalty to
the Central Rada. The meeting therefore became an enthusiastic demonstration
for the independent government of Ukraine.
“This historic
conference of the Ukrainian Councils at which the Bolsheviks suffered such an
inglorious defeat, adopted the following resolution: ‘The meeting of the
Ukrainian Councils emphasizes its definite decision that the Central Rada in
its further work stand solidly on guard over the achievement of the revolution,
spreading and deepening without halt the revolutionary activity to safeguard
the class interests of a laboring democracy and call together without delay the
Ukrainian Constituent Assembly, which alone can reveal the true will of all
democratic Ukraine. The meeting of the Councils of Peasants, Workers and
Soldiers’ Delegates of Ukraine in this manner expresses to the Ukrainian
Central Rada its full confidence and promises it its absolute support … ‘On
paper,’ continues the resolution, the Soviet of People’s Commissars seemingly
recognizes the right of a motion to self-determination and even to separation
but only in words. In fact the government of Commissars brutally attempts to
interfere in the activities of the Ukrainian government which executes the will
of the legislative organ of the Ukrainian Central Rada. What sort of
self-determination is this? It is certain that Commissars will permit
self-determination only to their own part; all other groups and peoples
(nations) they, like the Tsarist regime, desire to keep under their domination
by force of arms. But the Ukrainian people did not cast off the Tsarist yoke
only to take upon themselves the yoke of the Commissars.”
The salient reference
here is that the Ukrainian leadership understood that freedom, independence,
sovereignty and statehood for Ukraine can only exist outside the Russian prison
of nations. The Kremlin in any of its manifestations is the nemesis of Ukraine.
The existing foreign powers of the day, the tsars, and other Russian groups,
notably the Bolsheviks, whose successors today still rule with an iron fist in
the Kremlin, are and will be enemies of the Ukrainian nation.
In other words the
Ukrainians and their leadership rejected all notions and solutions from deceitful
Moscow. Kyiv was committed to its own independent future. However, as is its
legacy, despite its own internecine bloodbath, Russia has been persistent in
its mission to deny Ukrainians of their just claim to self-determination.
On January 22, 1918, the Ukrainian nation severed all
shackles to Russia with the Fourth
Universal. On January 22, 1919, the Ukrainian National Republic with Kyiv
as its capital and the Western Ukrainian National Republic with its capital in
Lviv united into a single, indivisible state. The words of the unification
decree should be carved into the hearts, minds and souls of all Ukrainians
today: “From today, until the end of time, there will be One, Undivided,
Independent Ukrainian People’s Republic.” And nothing and no one, Russia included,
will ever tear it asunder.
Expressions of national
independence continued throughout the 20th century. On March 15,
1939, Ukrainians declared the establishment of an independent Carpatho-Ukrainian
Republic. Then in the throes of World War II, when the Ukrainian nation was
fighting for its life against Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, the Ukrainian
nation, under the leadership of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists,
again declared its national independence with a suitable declaration on June
30, 1941. Decades later, on August 24, 1991, independence was reaffirmed with a
resounding greater than 90% of the people’s support.
Throughout the modern era, the Ukrainian nation has
persistently underscored that its safest
course of action is national independence, sovereignty as well as disassociation
from Russia. As Czubatyj wrote: “Just as dew disappears in the sunlight, so the
old conception of autonomy in a federation has disappeared among the European
Ukrainians. The idea of an independent and united Ukraine remains unchallenged
today.”
There are no
righteous among Russian democrats, liberals or humanitarians. They don’t
deserve Ukraine’s trust. Ukrainian negotiators in the peace talks to end the
latest war with Russia would do well to remember that.
For information about The
Ukrainian Quarterly, contact the UCCA office at 203 Second Ave., New
York, NY 10003 or www.ucca.org.
