Ukraine's Ancient Hatreds
06/29/14
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
History, Grand Strategy, Ukraine, Russia, Europe
Three hundred years of history explain why Putin can never see his neighbor as a fully legitimate sovereign nation.
IN
1708, Charles XII of Sweden invaded Ukraine. His aim was to use it as a
base for a final advance on Peter the Great’s Moscow. The Cossack
hetman, Ivan Mazeppa, decided to throw his lot in with the Swedes in a
bid to secure Ukraine’s complete independence. His decision split the
Cossacks; while some followed Mazeppa, others elected a new leader, Ivan
Skoropadsky, who reaffirmed his loyalty to the Cossack alliance with
Russia. The following year, Charles was defeated by Peter at the
climactic Battle of Poltava, Russia emerged as a player in European
affairs, Ukraine was brought under closer control by the imperial
government and Mazeppa fled into exile.
Was
he a traitor who received his just rewards for his perfidy? Or was he a
freedom fighter? The former is a more prevalent attitude in eastern
Ukraine as well as the dominant narrative in Russia itself. The Russian
Orthodox Church thus anathematized Mazeppa for breaking his oath of
loyalty to Peter, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which remains
affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, continues to refuse to lift
this sentence. Mazeppa is held up as an example of traitors who would
sunder the unity of the East Slavic peoples. For Ukrainians who seek to
join the Euro-Atlantic community, conversely, Mazeppa is a tragic hero
who failed to bring Ukraine out from under Russian domination through an
alliance with Western powers. His portrait graces the Ukrainian
ten-hryvnia note. (Keep in mind that neither Benedict Arnold nor Robert
E. Lee can be found on U.S. money.) However, a street named in his honor
in Kiev was changed after the government of Viktor Yanukovych came to
power in 2010.http://nationalinterest.org/feature/ukraines-ancient-hatreds-10736
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