Chapter I: The Ukrainian Journalism Culture in Times of Conflict 12
2.1 Mapping Ukraine 31
2.1.1 Historical and geopolitical conditions 32
As with many other nations, Ukraine's current political disputes and identity struggles can largely be attributed to an ongoing conflict between two ideological camps which claim to have the correct interpretation of history: On the one side are those who “assert that the country is an autochthonous cultural and political unity in its own right”123 and on the other side stand those who believe “that they are part of the same cultural, and by implication, political community”124. The key part of history which has been dividing Ukrainians for centuries and still so doing until today is the time of the Kievan Rus. The were a
“loose federation of East Slavic tribes from the ninth to the thirteenth century ruled by the Rurik dynasty”125 and are today often seen as the 'mother tribe of all Slavs'. The long struggle over the right interpretation of their heritage is sparked continuously by the blurred lines between ethical, linguistic and religious origin and identity. Those who believe in the common ancestry in Kievan Rus emphasize the same ethical Slavic background and the same religious beliefs which arose when in AD 988 the conversion to Orthodoxy by the Kievan Prince Vladimir the Great took place – and act which “endowed the modern Russian,
123 Sakwa, R. (2015). Op. Cit. P. 8 124 Ibid.
125 Ibid.
Ukrainian and Belarusian nations with a shared religion”126. However those who are convinced that Ukraine has “long ago set out on its own developmental path”127 highlight that “the early Slav state was already fragmenting when the Mongol invasion of 1240 destroyed Kiev and separated the various people”128. From this short excursion into history it becomes clear that “Ukraine (…) is a cleft country with two distinct cultures”129. These two models of Ukrainian statehood which can be labeled as 'monist' and 'pluralist'130 have been separated by a what Huntington calls a “civilizational fault line between the West and Orthodoxy”131. This line run through “the heart”132 of the Ukrainian nation as done so “for centuries”133. What unites both parts of Ukraine is the long history of dependence: Wheres as “western Ukraine was part of Poland, Lithuania, and the Austro-Hungarian empire”134, eastern Ukraine and later all of the Ukrainian territory belonged to Russia. The “decisive event”135 which led to this development occurred in 1654: A Cossack leader named Bohdan Khmelnytsyk who led an uprising against Polish rule agreed to “swear allegiance to the tsar in return for help against the Poles”136.
It is this special tension between Ukraine and its neighboring power Russia which has marked the state's history for as long as it has existed. The main two camps correspond with the respective idea of Ukrainian statehood: On the one side there is the view that “Russia and Ukraine are just two aspects of a single civilization”137 - a position which is widespread in Russia138. In this regard,
126 Sakwa, R. (2015). Op. Cit. P. 8 127 Ibid.
128 Ibid.
129 Huntington, S. (1996). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. New York: Simon &
Schuster., P. 165
130 Sakwa, R. (2015). Op. Cit. P. 8 131 Huntington, S. (1996). Op. Cit. P. 165 132 Ibid.
133 Ibid.
134 Ibid.
135 Ibid.
136 Ibid.
137 Sakwa, R. (2015). Op. Cit. P. 8 138 Ibid.
“Ukraine was often described as 'Malorossiya'”139, a pejorative term which emphasized the alleged inferior character of Ukrainians. On the other side
“Ukrainian nationalists argue that their country long ago set out on its own development path”140, cultivate a “long tradition of Ukrainism”141 and argue that
“the Ukrainian version of the East Slavic language represents the emergence of a wholly distinct ethnic identity”142. This tension between these two sides “has played out in manifold struggles and conflicts over the centuries”143 and so the EuroMaidan events and their ideological underpinnings came as no surprise to attentive observers of the Ukrainian nation and its history.
“Contemporary Ukraine is a product of many changes”144 and a complex ethnic regional distribution. There is the Donbass region in the East which “despite the extensive links with Russia and ethnic intermingling”145 has had “an identifiable sense of belonging to the Ukrainian community”146. Then there is the Western region of Ukraine known as Galicia which was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire until 1918 and where Russians are seen as “invaders and occupiers”147 - strong ressentiments which are still present to this day148. Then there is/was the Crimeans peninsula which is considered to be “the heartland of Russian nationhood”149 and the center which evolves around the predominantly Russian- speaking capital Kyiv. This mentioned cultural-historical line and the different historically shaped identities in the various regions also influence the religious affiliations in Ukraine which are “equally complex”150 as the ethnic, linguistic and ideological composition. On the one hand a major portion of the Western
139 Sakwa, R. (2015). Op. Cit. P. 8 140 Ibid.
141 Ibid.
142 Ibid.
143 Ibid.
144 Ibid., P. 11 145 Ibid.
146 Ibid.
147 Ibid., P. 12 148 Ibid.
149 Ibid.
150 Ibid., P. 13
Ukrainian population has been supporters of the Uniate Church “which practices Orthodox rites but acknowledges the authority of the Pope”151 and historically
“western Ukrainians have spoken Ukrainian”152 and have been “strongly nationalist in their outlook”153. On the other hand, the people of Eastern Ukraine
“have been overwhelmingly Orthodox and have in large part spoken Russian”154.