The Ukrainian “Nationalism” is the weapon of the western expansion against the Russian unity.

Well known Kiev historian and publicists Alexander Semenovich Karevin, the author of the “Non-Russian Russia” book, talks about the facts that went out-of-the-way or hidden about the history of the Ukrainian language development and “Ukrainian-Phillian” movement, for the “Peace and Us” internet portal.

- It is said in your book that the Ukrainian language as a project was initiated by some of the governments in XIX century. How did this project arise and who was the initiator of the one?

If we begin from the historian point of view, it must be said that all of the East Slavic tribes, that inhabited the Kievan Russia, used only the Russian language. For example, a Galician that arrived to Suzdal or Smolensk had no need in translator. Lingual split-off began from the XIV century, when, in South-West Russia, the Poland-Lithuanian stranglehold was formed. It led to gradual polonisation of the people. Local talks began to be filled with the Polish words. In such way the west-Russian dialects – Belarus and Russian, come into existence. However the local talks of the Little Russians, Great Russians and Byelorussians remained as variety of one language.
In that time the Little Russians, Great Russians and Byelorussians were as one Russian nation, same as, for example, Great Polanians, Little Polanians and Mazurs formed the Polish nation and the Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons – German nation.
The theory of “three nations sisterhood”, that is as if formed based on the “old Russian nation” after the breakup of Kievan Russia, come into general use later on. For some time this theory was dominated in the national historiography. Yet, as for today the most of the researchers tend to think of its inconsistence. One national does not mean the same nation. Of course there was a place for the difference between Little Russia, Great Russia and Byelorussian, in traditions and languages. But these differences were still less than those between the Great Polanians, Little Polanians and Mazurs in Poland or the Prussians, Bavarians, Saxons in Germany.

Back in XIX century, the Russian-Ukrainian bilingualism didn’t exist in Ukraine.
The literature parole and national talks got along peacefully, and they were only different in the development level of the same Russian language. In XIX century, in Ukraine the experienced tight strife of two cultures – Russian and Polish was. The aim of Polish gentry was the revival of the independent Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included right-Bank, and if everything would go well, also the left-Bank of Ukraine, and Belarus. It was unlikely to proceed with these plans without the support of locals. The leaders of the Polish movement decided to use the Russians for these purposes. In the beginning, they were wanted to polonize. To do that, they begun to establish the specialized schools for the villains in the Pan manors, where the children’s of the peasants were educated with usage of both polish language and polish spirit. The so called “Ukrainian school” came into the existence in the Polish literature, the representatives of which rendered Ukraine and its nation as special branch of polish nation. However, that polonization was unsuccessful, because the national memories about the past times when the Polish lordship caused lapsed harm to the indigenous people. From the other side, the Polish gentry didn’t wish to fraternize with the bondman.

All that forced the Polish leaders to change the tactics. Because they failed in making the Poles from the Ukrainians, there was the decision made, according to which they would seeing themselves as Russians. That task was formulated by the military leader of the polish movement general Miroslavsky, “We shall throw fire and bombs over the Dnepr and Don, in the heart of Russia. They will destroy it. We will simulate hatred and disputes between the Russian people. Russians will tear themselves with their own nails, and we will keep on with growing and getting stronger.”

New ideological stream got the name “Ukrainian-Phillian”. The special attention was dedicated to the Little Russians intelligentsia. The Little Russians were convinced that they are stand-alone nationality that is not related to the Russians and enslaved by them, they called to give up the Russian language and to develop their “own” language, independent culture. In fact that was the beginning of the “Ukrainian language project”. As we see the ideological program that was formulated already back in XIX century, repeated practically literally the rhetoric of the modern Ukrainian nationalists. Because of which it is easy to trace both historical sources of their activities and interests that they maintain.

But that propaganda had no success. The new ideas were to like by few. This movement that was called later on as “Ukrainian national-liberation movement”, at the first stages of its development was formed from the Poles, with support of few Little Russians. The further development of it was related to the support of it by Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

- What is the contribution of Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the development of Ukrainian national movement?

In the end of XIX century and in the beginning of XX one the locals of the west-Ukrainian lands (Galicia, Bukovina, Zakarpatye), which were in the scope of Austria-Hungary, in the national relation didn’t separate themselves from the Great Russians and they recognized the Russian language as mother tongue. This disturbed the Austrian government very much, which feared, that language closeness of the eastern provinces of Austrian empire with Russia can lead to their reunion. The Austrian government was preventing such juncture by all means. In 1822, even the import of books from Russia was forbidden. All Austrian policy was directed to force the inhabitants of Galicia, Bukovina, Ugorskaya Russia (Zakarpatye) to forget about their Russian origin.

Having developing this policy, the government officials came to the solution to use in their goals the Russian-Polish contradictions that became very evident in 1848, during the time of flushed revolution in Austrian empire. The head of Austrian administration in the Galicia, the count F.S. Stadion fon Vartgauzen called to himself the representatives of the Russian movement and announced that if the Galicians consider themselves as one nation with the Great Russians, then the authorities will be able to come to agreement with the Poles about the mutual struggle against the Russians. But if the Galician-Russian population announce themselves as independent nationality, they can count on the help of Vena.

At that time the Galicians had no choice. The statement “We are not Russian, we are the Ruthenians” come into the world. New nationality called “Ruthenian” was announced (it got the name “Ukrainians” later). In addition to the promises to remain faithful to Austria, the representatives of the Russian Galicians assumed the responsibility to develop independent language that would differ from the one accepted in Russia. In return the authorities were providing the needed support to the “Ruthenians”, using them against the Poles. During that time, Vena had two variants of moving towards: to create from the Galicians the independent nation or to recognize their national unity with the Russian Little Russians and to “create” Little Russian nation. They picked the second variant. According to Vena strategists, thinking that is allowed not only defending themselves from the Russian threat in Galicia but also with favorable conjunction, to attach the part of Russian Little Russia to Austria.


But in 1849, the existence of the Austrian empire happened to be under the threat because of the Hungarian revolution. After the loss in the fights with the rebels, the Austrians were forced to turn to Russia for help. Nicolas I moved the army against the revolutionaries. The paths of the Russian forces were through Galicia and Zakarpatye, where they were enthusiastically met by the population. Most inhabitants of the Galicia, Zakarpatye and Bukovina hoped that Russia would use the propitious moment and include these lands in its composition. But the emperor Nicolas I fulfilled his promises and he didn’t start with entrenching on the property of the Austrian monarch Franz Joseph. After they had crushed the revolution, the Russian forces left the territory of neighbor country. Nevertheless, it stimulated the new wave of the Russian renaissance in this region.

Vena had tolerated such circumstances for few years. But, right after Russia in 1854 found itself put under the united English-French-Turkish’ aggression, Austria changed its behavior dramatically. The Austrian army was headed toward the borders of Russia; Petersburg was issued with the ultimatum: to cede the demands of the invaders. The national policy also changed dramatically. The Russian-language newspapers began to shut. The Galician-Russian public figures were put under the pressure. They were forced to cop out from the unity with Russia, to change their language, by making it unfamiliar with Russian and gave hard times about the violation of promises of 1848. The governor-general of Franz Joseph in Galicia, A. Gluhovsky declared, “The Ruthenians unfortunately didn’t do anything that would make their language somehow differ from the Great Russian one that is why the government has to take the initiative in its own hands as to this matter”.

The authorities of Austria, taken the initiative in their hands, began to realize their plan. There were few ethically dirt subjects among the Galicians that were enticed from the path of virtue by the light of monetary sops and promises of fast career. With their help, the “Ruthenia” movement “Young Russia” began rapidly to form. As opposed to the old-Russian parties that supported national unity of the Little Russians, Great Russians and Byelorussians, the “young” recognized their relationship only with Russian Little Russians and they aimed to dissociate from other branches of the Russian nation. With this aim they declared about the formation of both independent Little Russian literature and language. The new movement received the powerful support of the government at once. During the time that “old Russians” were put under various kinds of harassments, the activity of the “youth” moved forward in the atmosphere of the most favored nation treatment. They were cared, financed very well, and that is the most important, they were incited on the local “Katsaps”, “Moskals”, and “Traitors” (in such way the supporters of the unity with the Russian were called by the government propaganda). “Send the Russian against the Russian so that they would eliminate themselves on their own”, so, in private the count Goluhovsky formulated this policy. But all of the attempts end up with failure made by “young Ruthenians” to get the influence between the local people, even with the help of the authorities. The Galicians remained the Russians with a very little exception and underlined it with every opportunity.

After being convinced in the disability of the “youth”, Vena turned for the help to the representatives of the Polish movement. It is necessary to say, that the Poles perceived the Ruthenian plan without enthusiasm. They wanted to see Galicia exclusively as Polish and if the Russian movement caused their hatred, the Ruthenian one (Ukrainian) caused mockery (“The Ruthenian nationality” was the fiction made up by the count Stadion for them and nothing more). Only the intruding of the Polish immigrants from Russia induced the Galician Poles to participate in the Austrian plans.
One of the Polish movement leader Genrikh Yablonsky (native of the Russian Little Russia) specially arrived to Galicia from Paris, explained to the local followers the gain that can be drawn from the forming of “Ruthenia nation”. According to his version, instead of jeering at “the Ruthenians”, it is necessary “to implant them the consciousness of the national individuality in comparison with the Great Russians for solidary action against the Russia”.

Already in XX century, after the revival of Poland independence, the other well-known polish activist V.Bonchovsky, the associate of U. Pilsudsky, will write about this fact. He stated that the Poles do not care, if separate Ukrainian nationality exists at all or if it’s just some ethnographic kind of the Russian nation: “If the Ukrainian people did not exist and only the ethnographic mass, then it would be in need of getting national consciousness. For what purpose and why it was done? In order not to deal with 90 million of the Great Russians plus 40 million of the Little Russians, not be separated among themselves and nationally united”. The Poles tackled the “construction” of the Little Russian (Ukrainian, Ruthenian) nation and more than all, for the forming of “own” Ukrainian language.


- Are the examples in the history, when the creation of “new” languages in the same manner was made in political purposes?

Yes, there are such examples. “Invention” of separate “Ukrainian language” was not off the charts. When the Germans proceeded towards the Germanization of Silesia that was occupied by them, they had started with persecution of the Polish literature language and with the creation of separate Silesian languages, based on local public dialects. In the same pattern, after the conquering of Bosnia by Austria-Hungary, the Austrian managerial groups had tried to separate the Bosnian Serbians from Serbians in the Serbia itself and stimulated the creation of “Bosnian language”, which was different from the Serbian. The Ukrainian language project was neither the first, nor the last, but only the most far gone.

- How well was the language promoted among the population which was given as native?

As the Russian minister of public education V.G. Glazov noted, “The artificial evolvement of the Ukrainian-Russian language under German-Polish international influence leads to the necessity to adopt from other languages, such as Polish or German, or make some writers to invent new words, resulting in language’s affectation or such diversity under which the language becomes less sesquipedalian sometimes”.

Minister had acknowledged that the evolved language in Galicia that “artificially created in the forms which tendentiously get far apart from the all-Russian language, is the enemy of the last” and that “its uprising and promotion is not caused by natural stimulus and necessities of the southern-Russian population”.

Under financial support of the Austrian government since 1906 in Kiev, Kharkov, Poltava and other cities of Little Russia, the Ukrainian-language newspapers and publishing offices had started to appear. In that direction the flow of the correspondent literature had rushed. The hundreds of the propagandists of the Ukrainian national idea flooded the cities and villages. But it appeared that the new language with a huge number of the Polish, German and just made up words, could somehow exist under the authorities support in Galicia, where the Little Russians were living for a long time with the Poles and Germans. In the Russian Ukraine the situation was different. People were looking at the made up abroad “mother language” as at some abracadabra. The books and newspapers that were published in it couldn’t be read by the locals.

The reason of incomprehensibility of the Ukrainian language is that it had been created avoiding natural ways, as well as according to a magnificent informed M.P. Dragomanov acknowledge, “In a cabinet”. According to Dragomanov confession, the creation of the “Ukrainian literature language” had been dictated not by the cultural needs of the people, but by the political goals. The mission was to create the language, which would be the most distant from the Russian one, so that nobody could have any doubt as to the independence of the new language. “For Ukrainian literature, the words, forms etc., the Polish, church-slavic, as well as Latin words were used, if only the original language was developed”. The emphasis was made on the originality of the language not for its incomprehensibility”. And the general language creative work was moved to Galicia, because this work could be carried out only by the Galician Ukrainians. “Concerning the Russian Ukrainians, historically they were shaken together with Russian literature and were run over with work in it, so they have small chances to develop the own literature besides Russian literature”

But what is the reason to create another language artificially? Such question had not arisen in nationally conscious head. And indeed the answer for it was necessary to look for beyond literature and linguistics – in big politics, in which the simple men, besotted by their leaders, followers of the “Ukrainian national idea” had not grasped.

Such was the history of both the Ukrainian-Phillian movements uprising, implementation of “independence” idea of one of the branches of the sole Russian people, which had been held in political goals of the Austrian -Hungarian empire.

Studying of this history is very important, in order to understand the origins of the modern, aggressive national trends in Ukraine. This movement that organized in 19 century and in the beginning of 20th one as a sort of information weapon against the Russian Empire, initially, preserves its Russian phobia and aggression, which was inherent from the Austrian authorities and holds reckless activity which contradicts the historical and objective grounds of the Russian unity and continuing to receive financial and ideological support from the western authorities.