Ukrainian National Identity in Donetsk Region: Problems and Development Trends from the End of the XIX - to the Beginning of the XXI Century

  • Julia Sytnyk Department of History of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya National University, Ukraine
  • Olexander Sytnyk Department of History and archeology Bogdan Khmelnytskyi Melitopol state pedagogical University, Ukraine
Keywords: national identity, Donetsk region, national consciousness, Russian World

Abstract

In the context of the modern military-political conflict in Donbass, the national identity of the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region attracts considerable attention. After all, it is thanks to the self-determination and self-identification of the individual that an adequate national and political identity is formed. But as a result of the post-totalitarian syndrome, Ukrainian society was unable to achieve this. The national identity of the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region during the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century underwent a rather complex transformation (first of all, a significant Russification). As a result, there was a deformation of cultural and national identity and a leveling of consciousness. Subsequently, this led to a crisis in the socio-political position of the individual and the population of this region. During the existence of the totalitarian regime in the Ukrainian SSR, a process of total Russification was observed. At the same time, the main blow was directed at the national identity of the inhabitants of the industrial regions of Ukraine, in particular - Donbass. During the 1920s - 1930s, the Ukrainian nation in general and the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region in particular experienced the formation of a Bolshevik totalitarian regime. At the same time, the latter set himself the goal of destroying the national consciousness and identity of Ukrainians. During the 1940s - the first half of the 1980s, a process of total Russification was observed in the Ukrainian SSR. As a result, the national identity of the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region was significantly damaged. The period of the second half of the 1980s - early 1990s marked a gradual departure from the denationalized self-consciousness of the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region. However, it was not easy to get rid of the Soviet stereotypes imposed on citizens for decades. It was at this time that the process of national revival began in the Donetsk region. As a result of the formation of the Donetsk Regional Society of the Ukrainian Language named after Taras Shevchenko, a new perspective for the active development of the national identity of the Ukrainians of the Donetsk region appeared. The population of the region was able to make a choice in the direction of independent national and cultural development. However, at the beginning of the ХХІst century, the doctrine of the "Russian World" began to spread actively on the territory of the Donetsk region. This resulted in the Russian occupation and the emergence of the quasi-formation of the “DPR” in April 2014.

References

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Published
2021-08-17
Section
Articles