EDITORIAL: Commitment to independence (03/14/99)

EDITORIAL

Commitment to independence

One of the most enduring characteristics of 20th century Ukrainian history is the repeated attempts to obtain independence. There was the Ukrainian National Republic's declaration in January 1918, followed by the Western Ukrainian National Republic's declaration that November, followed by a joint stand uniting the two republics in January 1919. In March 1939, Carpatho-Ukraine made the claim to independence, hoping to be the vanguard region for the rest of the country. And then there was the hurried attempt in Lviv in June 1941. July 1990 brought a declaration of sovereignty, August 1991 another declaration of independence. Unlike previous declarations, this one was powerfully affirmed by public referendum on December 1.

More than a half-dozen attempts at independence over the course of 70 years - all coming on the cusp of major disruptions in geo-political stability and taking advantage of the vulnerability of powerful states that controlled Ukraine's destiny.

Western historians have downplayed or ignored these efforts at independence which were not so insignificant in their time. In the late 1930s, not only Ukrainian émigré politicians, but Polish and Hungarian leaders also seriously considered the possibility that Carpatho-Ukraine could be a starting point for a general movement for Ukrainian independence that would spread eastward to Halychyna. Unlike the Ukrainians, they viewed this possibility with anger and trepidation. Though initially supported by the Germans, Carpatho-Ukraine's brief experiment with independence, which was officially declared 60 years ago on March 15, ended violently and disastrously with the Hungarian army's invasion of the territory.

Over the years, the motivations for these attempts at independence have been simplified to one: "Ukrainians wanted to be free." True, more or less, but the motivations were more varied and complex. Driving the declarations of independence were self-preservation, self-respect, fear, anger, religious and political beliefs, national aspirations, the ambitions of individuals and their quest for power. To understand Ukraine's history, it is necessary to understand these different motivations.

Whereas the push for independence in the early 20th century was driven by those who considered themselves to be proud Ukrainians, by those who considered independence to be unequivocal and absolute - the deciding votes for independence in Ukraine's Parliament in August 1991 came from frightened Communists who wanted to use Ukraine to shield themselves against feared reprisals from Moscow. This difference in motivation continues to inform political dynamics in Ukraine to this day.

We in the diaspora still wish to believe that national consciousness prevailed in 1991 - when unfortunately it is becoming ever more clear that independence was a cynical and expedient tactic used by Communists and fellow opportunist politicians, who cared little for Ukraine, to take care, first and foremost, of themselves. Now these people, the likes of Oleksander Tkachenko and Petro Symonenko, no longer see a strong and independent Ukraine as expedient, rather as an impediment. Now, when full-fledged independence is no longer of use to them, they are working just as opportunistically, most notably in the past year, to wear it down.

Whereas the Rev. Avhustyn Voloshyn, president of the Carpatho-Ukrainian Republic,who died in the Soviet gulag in 1945, and Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Pavlo Skoropadsky and Symon Petliura, heads of government between 1917 and 1920, held fast, until they died, in their conviction of an independent Ukraine, it is doubtful that many of Ukraine's Communists and opportunistic politicians who supported independence in 1991 were, or are, that firm in their conviction.

Numerous historians have written that one of the results of the push for independence in Ukraine in 1918-1919, as well as in 1939, was that, paradoxically, the greatest awareness of the need for independence and the greatest increase in national consciousness among the general population came only after that independence was lost. What a dreadful thought.

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