Political Passport Of Ukraine in SixVolumes
The ancient Greeks, including Plato and Aristotle, considered politics an art, rather than a coldblooded game of ambitious calculations. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was clearly defined [when Otto von Bismarck said August 11, 1867, that politics is the art of the possible]. It is most interesting, however, to note how the passage of time (time being the lasting president of the tribunal of history, also acting as its executioner) affects the assessment of what some political figures or other have accomplished — and the same, of course, applies to Ukraine. Some leaders (rulers), political parties, governments, and parliaments become forgotten, permanently or temporarily. Others suddenly spring from oblivion. As the decades pass, deafening cheers are replaced by general condemnation lasting for decades... Only time dots the i’s and crosses the t’s. With time history presents a panoramic view in all its grandeur, simplicity, and truth, wrote Leo Tolstoy.
Ukrainian history (Vynnychenko said one could not read it without bromide) should also be regarded from the summits of experience accumulated by mankind in general and the Ukrainian nation in particular. This is especially true of the twentieth century with its terrifying totalitarian and nuclear experience (which, nevertheless, reaffirmed the undying principles of freedom). The Ukrainian nation, particularly its elite, are in the process of searching for its true identity. Therefore, perceiving our political history (e.g., history of the state, political leaders, and political parties) is an indispensable prerequisite.
To this end, the appearance in print of the six-volume Politychna istoriya Ukrayiny XX stolittia (Political History of Ukraine in the Twentieth Century; Geneza Publishers, Kyiv) is not only an important public event, but also a significant phenomenon. The unique work was presented on February 20, at the National Academy’s Institute for Political and Ethnonational Studies. The editor in chief, Academician Ivan Kuras, Institute director and people’s deputy, noted in his opening address several most important lessons that had to be learned by all conscious citizens (and perhaps in the first place by currently active politicians) from among all that great many facts and events creatively represented on the pages of the Political History.
The first lesson (the academician said it was both negative and positive) is that all of Ukraine’s political, social, economic, and cultural misfortunes were caused by internal discord, squabbling, and strife. On the converse (the second lesson), political forces truly championing the national interests, national unity, would emerge triumphant. Ivan Kuras stressed that a new breakthrough is not the ultimate truth, but a synthesis of sorts, an invitation to take part in a creative quest. With this in mind, suppose we try to formulate the third lesson (this one not for politicians, but for the ordinary citizenry). Many tragedies occurring in Ukraine in the last century are explained by the fact that the people trusted political figures and their nicely put verbiage; they were unable to see concealed behind it all those cynical aggressive deeds and mercenary egotistical interests...
Borys Paton, President of the National Academy of Sciences, noted the Political History’s high scholarly standard. He stated that there was no other such unique work (i.e., such a combination of the historical and political sciences) anywhere in the CIS. It was the result of combined efforts by a number of academic institutions (Institute of History of Ukraine), researchers from Kyiv University, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, as well as universities in Kharkiv, Lutsk, and other regions. It was a vivid example of the intellectual maturity and potential of Ukrainian humanitarian thought.
There is often a very thin, imaginary line drawn between scholars specializing in history and politics. Those present paid special attention to what Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn had to say (being an expert on modern Ukrainian history). He said that copies of the multivolume work should be made available above all to those who take up politics. Moreover, candidates for the highest political posts should take Ukrainian history exams, instead of, say, medical certificates and those attesting their property status (this author would like to point out that The Day has on more than occasion expressed similar ideas). The new work, Speaker Lytvyn went on to say, was of tremendous moral importance for the Ukrainian political community, as now every politician would realize that his deeds would be critically assessed even during his lifetime. Hopefully, this will serve the main purpose of making politics more humane.
The unconventional ideas accumulated in the six volumes prompted far from ordinary responses from the audience. Borys Oliynyk, a prominent Ukrainian poet and lawmaker, said, “Now and then we hear whispers behind our back that we Ukrainians form a nation without a state. The Political History convincingly refutes all such whispers. We have a tremendous state-building potential in our very genetic code, even if this potential was only vaguely outlined in the past.” Remarkably, this statement came from a most conspicuous and far from ordinary figure in the Verkhovna Rada’s Communist faction.
Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, perhaps in an attempt to make his address more human, said that his 14-year-old son kept the copies of the new edition on his desk, reading from them now and then. “I don’t know what conclusions he and others his age will make,” he added. The main thing is for boys and girls aged between fifteen and eighteen to understand that we have only one Ukraine, and that such books are written for its sake.
