Russification of Ukraine
Encyclopedia
The Russification of Ukraine was a body of laws, decrees, and other actions undertaken by the Imperial Russian and later Soviet authorities to strengthen Russian national, political and linguistic positions in Ukraine
.
Peter I of Russia
issued a decree, in which he ordered expurgation of all Ukrainian linguistic elements in theological literature printed in Ukrainian typographical establishments . Later Empress Catherine II of Russia
issued a secret order to count Vyazemsky, the general-procuror of the Senate, in which she instructed him to institute a program of Russification for the provinces of Ukraine
, Livonia
and Finland
, "using light-handed methods" . In the opinion of Vladimir Vernadsky
, Muscovy had a long standing policy to absorb Ukraine, and liquidate all basis for the local cultural life already in the 17th century . In 1862 all Ukrainian Sunday schools were abolished and proscribed (at the time there were more than 100 of them in existence). In 1863 Petr Valuyev, the minister of internal affairs issued a so-called Valuev Circular in which he stated that the Ukrainian language never existed, doesn't exist, and cannot exist. In 1867, tsar Alexander II of Russia
issued the Ems Ukaz
, a secret decree banning the use of the Ukrainian language
in print, with the exception of reprinting of old documents.
, Ukrainian culture revived due to Bolshevik concessions in the early years of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (until early-1930s) known as the policy of Korenization ("indigenisation"). During this time, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
was tolerated as it suppressed the Russian Orthodox Church
.
The times of restructuring of farming and the introduction of industrialization brought about a wide campaign against "nationalist deviation" which in Ukraine translated into an assault on the national political and cultural elite. The first wave of purges between 1929 and 1934 targeted the revolutionary generation of the party that in Ukraine included many supporters of Ukrainization
. Whether the Soviet-inflicted famine known as the Holodomor
was part of this campaign, is uncertain. The next 1936–1938 wave of political purges
eliminated much of the new political generation that replaced those that perished in the first wave and halved the membership of the Ukrainian communist party. The purged Ukrainian political leadership was largely replaced by the cadre sent from Russia that was also largely "rotated" by Stalin's purges. As the policies of Ukrainisation were halted (1931) and replaced by massive Russification approximately four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite, intellectuals, writers, artists and clergy, had been "eliminated", executed or imprisoned, in the following decade. Mass arrests of the hierarchy and clergy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church culminated in the liquidation of the church in 1930.
During World War II
, Russification was briefly halted when Axis forces largely occupied Ukraine. However, this did not result in any revival of Ukrainian culture.
Eventually, perestroika
policies allowed the existence of a local independence movement called the Rukh
, that helped expedite the break-up of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s
.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
In the Russian Empire
In 1720 tsarTsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Peter I of Russia
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
issued a decree, in which he ordered expurgation of all Ukrainian linguistic elements in theological literature printed in Ukrainian typographical establishments . Later Empress Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
issued a secret order to count Vyazemsky, the general-procuror of the Senate, in which she instructed him to institute a program of Russification for the provinces of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Livonia
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, "using light-handed methods" . In the opinion of Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
, Muscovy had a long standing policy to absorb Ukraine, and liquidate all basis for the local cultural life already in the 17th century . In 1862 all Ukrainian Sunday schools were abolished and proscribed (at the time there were more than 100 of them in existence). In 1863 Petr Valuyev, the minister of internal affairs issued a so-called Valuev Circular in which he stated that the Ukrainian language never existed, doesn't exist, and cannot exist. In 1867, tsar Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
issued the Ems Ukaz
Ems Ukaz
The Ems Ukaz, or Ems Ukase , was a secret decree of Tsar Alexander II of Russia issued in 1876, banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print, with the exception of reprinting of old documents. The ukaz also forbade the import of Ukrainian publications and the staging of plays or lectures in...
, a secret decree banning the use of the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
in print, with the exception of reprinting of old documents.
Soviet period
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Ukrainian culture revived due to Bolshevik concessions in the early years of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (until early-1930s) known as the policy of Korenization ("indigenisation"). During this time, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is one of the three major Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. Close to ten percent of the Christian population claim to be members of the UAOC. The other Churches are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Russophile Orthodox...
was tolerated as it suppressed the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
.
The times of restructuring of farming and the introduction of industrialization brought about a wide campaign against "nationalist deviation" which in Ukraine translated into an assault on the national political and cultural elite. The first wave of purges between 1929 and 1934 targeted the revolutionary generation of the party that in Ukraine included many supporters of Ukrainization
Ukrainization
Ukrainization is a policy of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture, in various spheres of public life such as education, publishing, government and religion.The term is used, most prominently, for the...
. Whether the Soviet-inflicted famine known as the Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
was part of this campaign, is uncertain. The next 1936–1938 wave of political purges
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
eliminated much of the new political generation that replaced those that perished in the first wave and halved the membership of the Ukrainian communist party. The purged Ukrainian political leadership was largely replaced by the cadre sent from Russia that was also largely "rotated" by Stalin's purges. As the policies of Ukrainisation were halted (1931) and replaced by massive Russification approximately four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite, intellectuals, writers, artists and clergy, had been "eliminated", executed or imprisoned, in the following decade. Mass arrests of the hierarchy and clergy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church culminated in the liquidation of the church in 1930.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Russification was briefly halted when Axis forces largely occupied Ukraine. However, this did not result in any revival of Ukrainian culture.
Eventually, perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
policies allowed the existence of a local independence movement called the Rukh
People's Movement of Ukraine
The People's Movement of Ukraine is a Ukrainian center-right political party...
, that helped expedite the break-up of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
.
In modern times
In Ukraine, the current (as of 2009) government is opposed to making Russian a state language. However, despite official government policies, the Russian language is widely used on television and the circulation of Russian language newspapers and magazines is high all over the country (particularly in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine where Russian is the prevalent language). In Ukraine (and, to a lesser extent, Kazakhstan) there have been attempts to make the titular languages the main languages for the media and the press (this is referred to as derussification in those countries), but these have had limited success.See also
- RussificationRussificationRussification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
- History of UkraineHistory of UkraineThe territory of Ukraine was a key center of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers. However, the history of Ukraine dates back many thousands of years. The territory has been settled continuously since at least 5000 BC, and is also a candidate site...
- UkrainizationUkrainizationUkrainization is a policy of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture, in various spheres of public life such as education, publishing, government and religion.The term is used, most prominently, for the...
- Russification of Poland
External links
- ПІВТОРАК Г. П. Походження українців, росіян, білорусів та їхніх мов
- Как проходила насильственная русификация Украины
- Вассерман А. Язык до Львова доведёт
- Машкевич C. Язык до Киева доведет. А в Киеве?
- Романцов В. Как население Украины пользовалось родным языком
- Рябчук М. Яка двомовність нам потрібна?
- Рябчук М. Західний досвід і українська специфіка
- ОБМОСКОВЛЕННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЦЕРКВИ