Ukrainian Nation: Balance of the 20th Century and Overcoming of the “Deadlocks” of History

Abstract

The author considers in the article the basic characteristics of modern Ukraine as a post-colonial, post-totalitarianand post-genocidal country. Ukrainian reality of the twentieth century requires for its description of the involvement of the conceptualapparatus of Colonial Studies. The specific of Ukraine (as well as a number of other countries) is to belong to the "colonies ofEuropean type" based not on racial factors, while complex to other factors. A short stage of independence and then half-protectorateUkraine as a part of the USSR in the early 1930s changed to outright colonial status of the territory, controlled directly from theKremlin. The author argues that Ideocratic Empire, which was USSR before the Second World War from the late 1940s, turned intothe state of "Soviet Russian-centrism". After the USSR break Moscow began attempts to restore the empire under new slogans andbanners. One of the leaders of Russian liberals Anatoly Chubais at the beginning of Putin proposed a "liberal empire", which wouldenter the current Russian Federation and other post-Soviet states. Modern Kremlin ideology and practice of building "Russian World"became the logical conclusion of the process of transformation of the concept of Ideocratic empire to Ethnopolitical Empire that cannot exist without colonies.Author believes that the problem of Russian-Soviet imperialism and specificity of colonial and postcolonial status of Ukrainestudied insufficient whereby there is a practical and ideological disorientation of some Ukrainian political and intellectual elite.Soviet totalitarianism and the Holodomor-genocide studied better, but they need to be considered in conjunction with thecolonial policy of the Kremlin.Author notes that the main practical equivalent of theoretical research in the above areas will be fully overcoming of "nationaltrauma" and Ukrainians assertion itself as a full-fledged European nation.

Keywords: colonialism, totalitarianism, genocide, empire, "colony of European type", "Russian World", national trauma.