Memory of the Decembrists in independent Ukraine: textbooks and «places of memory»

Abstract

The historical policy of former Soviet republics needs to overcome “centripetal” Soviet approach to history according to which the “accession” of the “younger brothers” was beneficial and, in some cases, even life-saving. The historical right to independence is justified by the scheme: “We had a glorious past, whose origins are lost in the Paleolithic. Our progressive development was interrupted by dark ages of foreign yoke. Today we return to old values on the base of which we are going to return to our former glory”.  In the light of that “three-step-model” all “separatists” are declared national heroes from Moscow's point of view. The revolutionaries of the common imperial past are also to be included in the pantheon of national memory on the principle: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Actually, the attitude to Russian revolutionaries in post-Soviet states is mixed which is verified by the example of the memory of the Decembrists in independent Ukraine. The content of academic programs proves that the memory of the Decembrists remains in the shadow of the opportunistic topics presented in Ukrainian history. There are two Decembrists myths in the textbooks: the Soviet revolutionary concept and the attempts to present the Decembrists as founding fathers of the Ukrainian national movement. Significant number of streets named after Decembrists in Ukrainian cities proves that the “first generation” of fighters against the tsarist regime does not annoy Ukrainian authorities or national intelligentsia. But poor state of the museums makes one think that ethnically oriented program of post-Soviet Ukrainian elite does not imply preservation of memory of Russian fighters for freedom.