Competition, Conflict, Repression

Abstract

Putin’s talk about the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians serves to justify the war ideologically. This thinking is not new. It goes back to the 17th century. It is based on the idea of the “all-Russian nation”, to which “Great Russians”, “Little Russians”, and “Belarusians” belonged. The tsarist government and the bulk of Russian society congregated around this idea in the late 19th century. Even members of the liberal intelligentsia denied Ukrainians the right to form their own nation. Russia suppressed every flicker of Ukrainian linguistic and cultural autonomy. These repressions and the suppression of the Ukrainian national movement are part of today’s Ukrainian collective memory.