Memory and Monuments: Imperial Policy and Ukrainian Society in Early 20th Century

Abstract

The study focuses on the issues of the imperial policy of memory and the transformations in the collective consciousness that took place in Ukrainian society under its influence in the early twentieth century. Scientific research is based on the publication of Ukrainian periodicals of the early twentieth century, in particular, the journal «Rada» and sources of personal origin. The focus is on places of remembrance that were to broadcast and consolidate the ideologies and mythologies produced by the Russian tsar in order to keep the peoples of the national suburbs included in the state as a result of the wars of aggression. In particular, such places of remembrance were the monuments to Emperor Alexander II, government official Petro Stolypin, and others. At the same time, attempts are being made to oppose such measures by the Ukrainian intelligentsia and to form its own “pantheon”. It is established that the state machine, creating in the minds of Ukrainians a kind of parallel dimension to the historical past and its interpretation, used not only significant personalities for Muscovia, but also national heroes such as Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, Taras Shevchenko and others. The imperial policy of memory caused deep distortions in the collective consciousness of Ukrainians and the objective perception and understanding of the historical process, as well as led to the loss of identity. In the early twentieth century, the Ukrainian intelligentsia, overcoming the resistance of state structures and the indifference of society, began the struggle to build a national “pantheon” that would show the roots and historical path of the people, remind of the past and form a sense of national pride of the Ukrainian people.