BOOK REVIEW

"The Ukrainian Resurgence": essential reading about a critical period

"The Ukrainian Resurgence" by Bohdan Nahaylo. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1999. xix, 608 pp.

by David R. Marples

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Bohdan Nahaylo was a regular contributor to Radio Liberty's bulletins on Ukraine and eventually became the head of the RL Ukrainian Service in Munich. Along with co-worker Roman Solchanyk, he was in an excellent position to monitor the dramatic changes that occurred in the period after 1985. One of the results is this superb monograph, which constitutes essential reading for anyone interested in this critical period of Ukrainian history that has seen the re-emergence of the Ukrainian state. It is based primarily on reports from Ukrainian newspapers of the period and supplemented by the author's own interviews with many of the participants.

The book is a long and detailed one. Its title might at first glance raise questions. By what precise period is the term "resurgence" defined? The volume encompasses an entire decade, 1985-1995, but the events of the last four years have seen the country experience a number of crises. Taken overall, however, the title seems appropriate. For all its economic problems, Ukraine has not compromised on the question of independence. The latter is more solidly entrenched in 2000 than it was in 1992. Ukraine is now very much part of the international consciousness - even though its identity, as a specifically European state, remains to be defined.

Mr. Nahaylo divides his text into 18 chapters, and approximately four-fifths of the book is devoted to the period prior to the end of the Soviet Union, with the first two chapters examining the historical background (mainly the Soviet era). The emphasis is on political, cultural and religious events, rather than economic and social issues, though very little of significance has been omitted, including the repercussions of Chornobyl nuclear disaster and the miners' strikes and protests of 1989-1991.

There are several notable insights, among which one should cite Mr. Nahaylo's objective and careful reappraisal of many of the leading personalities of the period. Even former Communist Party of Ukraine leader Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, long seen as the archetypal hard-line Communist, emerges as a deeper and conflicting personality:

"It is ... surprising that Mr. Shcherbytsky's former colleagues speak very highly of him. They consider him to have been a very capable politician and administrator - a dedicated technocrat who understood the workings of the economy and who got on well with the directors of the republic's large enterprises... They also claim that, compared to many other high-ranking Soviet officials at that time, Mr. Shcherbytsky did not tolerate corruption within his inner circle and was relatively modest when it came to accruing decorations and privileges" (pp. 50-51).

Many of the initial steps toward democratization in Ukraine were prompted by the bold stance of another Communist, the writer Borys Oliinyk, whereas the initial founders of Rukh - particularly Ivan Drach - are depicted as cautious and essentially conservative figures, who advanced tentatively while trying to conciliate the CPU leadership. The same applies to Green World founder and future Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Yuri Shcherbak. This was a time of numerous contradictions, when reformers could be reactionaries on critical issues and vice-versa. This was particularly the case in the Communist camp, which was thrown into confusion by the initiatives emanating from the Gorbachev leadership in Moscow.

Of the portraits that are developed in the book from the latter, that of Leonid Kravchuk is outstanding. The transformation of the man who most adamantly openly opposed the formation of Rukh to the figure who became Ukraine's first president and symbol of independence appears truly remarkable, and yet Mr. Nahaylo demonstrates that the character of Kravchuk did not change substantially. Kravchuk was a clever political opportunist, and there is no better indication of this fact than the description of his actions during the abortive putsch in Moscow of August 19-21, 1991, (p. 374) when he declined to oppose the plotters in Moscow but was somehow able to justify his actions before harsh critics in Parliament in the aftermath of the putsch.

The achievement of independence in August 1991 should not be underestimated. It was not a chain reaction to the events in Moscow. Mr. Nahaylo chronicles the major events that brought Ukraine to this juncture: the formation of Rukh and other political groups; the opening of churches, particularly in western Ukraine; the "betrayal" of Mr. Shcherbytsky's successor and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Volodymyr Ivashko, who agreed to become Mikhail Gorbachev's deputy in Moscow in the summer of 1990; the debate over and declaration of sovereignty in July 1990; the debate over the new union treaty; and the students' hunger strike in Kyiv in October 1990, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Vitalii Masol and revitalized the campaign of the national democrats when it appeared to have passed its zenith.

At each stage of events, the reformers faced formidable obstacles. International leaders who today base their reputations primarily on their roles in helping the West win the Cold War hardly endeared themselves to residents of Ukraine during this critical period. Margaret Thatcher, for example, told Ukrainians in June 1990 that she had no wish to see the disintegration of the USSR. George Bush's notorious "Chicken Kiev" speech of August 1991, in which he warned Ukrainians of the dangers of "suicidal nationalism," is also well known. The CPU was one of the most monolithic and repressive of all republican Communist Parties and, as Mr. Nahaylo shows, opposed Rukh and democratization at every step.

According to the author, when independence was declared, it was on the initiative of figures such as Dmytro Pavlychko and Volodymyr Yavorivsky, and the Narodna Rada in general, but paradoxically, the declaration provided a way out of a seemingly impossible impasse for the more reform-minded Communist Party leaders after the collapse of the putsch in Moscow. Citing Mykola Shulha's remark that "We were like blind kittens who had found a way out," the author illustrates the "Great Compromise" of Ukrainian politics: the formation of an independent Ukrainian state. In this way, the liberal Communist faction could maintain its hold on power while satisfying all sides other than the hard-line Communists under Stanislav Hurenko.

While narrating this fascinating series of events, the author has been at pains to depict external events that influenced the directions being taken in Ukraine. Ukraine is never regarded in isolation from its neighbors, as indeed it could never have acted in isolation. Most frequently, it was the Baltic states which directed the tempo and relations with Russia that provided the impetus. By 1990, however, Ukrainians (like Russians) had become disillusioned with the Gorbachev regime and began to define their own course.

The final chapters of the book represent something of an anti-climax. They provide a condensed portrait of a nation struggling to survive - indeed one section (p. 465) is titled "On the Verge of Catastrophe" in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, such as the declaration of independence by the Crimean republic, hyperinflation, a financial-energy crisis in 1993 and a gradual but serious deterioration in relations with Russia.

The author provides two conclusions, in effect: one at the end of the regular text and one in a postscript. The former maintains that in spite of various problems, Ukraine has succeeded in achieving and maintaining independence. The latter indicates that with the approach of the 21st century, "Ukrainian resurgence in modern times hung in the balance."

One could argue that the two conclusions are not contradictory.

Independence has been preserved, but the resurgence has ended. Instead the observer perceives a state that has to deal firstly with questions of economic reform and standards of living, as opposed to discussions on borders, fleets or nuclear weapons. The key issues are no longer the right to free speech or assembly and the formation of a pluralistic system, but rather the elimination of debt, resolving the question of the shutdown of Chornobyl and convincing the European Union that Ukraine would be a reliable associate (if not a full) member. Ukraine is no longer the breadbasket of Europe or even a powerful industrial base noted for coal, chemicals and steel. Instead it must redefine its industrial development, its role in a technological age and its place in the European structures, while maintaining good relations with Russia.

In retrospect, the period 1985-1991 will likely be perceived as the most dramatic and most tempestuous of any period in Ukrainian history. It has elicited more discussion than any previous period, but hitherto there has not been a scholarly monograph that described that period in full and which chronicled practically all aspects of these turbulent times.

Thus, while future political scientists and historians may question isolated aspects of or statements in Mr. Nahaylo's book, they will nonetheless be forever indebted to him for his efforts, his objectivity and balance, and his meticulousness in compiling information, particularly for the years 1989-1991.

The book is available for $24.95 from the University of Toronto Press, (416) 667-7791.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 23, 2000, No. 4, Vol. LXVIII

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