The secret project of Ivan Mazepa

Ivan Mazepa's life abounded in thrilling adventures, but he was usually able to find a way out of the most intricate situations. Once, heading for the Crimea and Turkey on an important diplomatic mission from Right- Bank Ukraine Hetman Petro Doroshenko, he was captured by some Zaporizhian Cossacks and sentenced to death. His plight seemed hopeless, but the future Hetman of Left-Bank Ukraine pleaded for a last word before the execution, and his eloquence literally stunned the Cossacks. The glorious kosh ataman (Cossack camp chief — Ed. ) Ivan Sirko said after a long reflection: «Don't kill him... He may some time be of use to the Motherland.» This became a turning point in the destiny of not only Ivan Mazepa but also the whole of long-suffering Ukraine. In his struggle for power and the assertion of his Hetmanship, he often acted by the principle of Machiavelli: «Secrecy is the heart of any affair.» This is why Mazepa would harbor his plans in secrecy from all others. It is he who nurtured the idea of an independent Ukrainian state and elevated it to the level of a historic national objective.

A well-known Ukrainian poet Leonid Horlach has been dealing with historical subjects for many years and has the reputation of being an unbiased and independent person. He has written five poetic novels devoted to various periods of Ukrainian history, which is a unique fact not only in Ukrainian but also in world literature. His latest poetic novel The Ruin is dedicated to Hetman Ivan Mazepa and his epoch.

«Mr. Horlach, before starting to speak about the protagonist of your novel, I would like to ask why you write your novels in poetry rather than in prose.»

«The point is even in olden times any national literature was considered inferior if it did not have a poetic epic of its own. It is in creating epic works reflecting Ukraine's dramatic destiny that I see my central destiny. «

«Why did you choose to apply the title Ruin to a novel about Mazepa?»

«Since Ukrainian historiography had always been hounded down, and foreign historians had been writing our history instead of us, often distorting and falsifying it, I decided to study those blank spots in Ukrainian history which fall on the years of the rebellious Hetman Ivan Mazepa's rule. That was a very complicated time which has gone down in history as The Ruin. As you know, it began after the death of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and was caused not so much by the external expansion of some stronger neighboring states (the Muskovy Realm, Poland, Turkey) as by internal contradictions in Ukraine. That time partially resembles the current situation in Ukraine, when, to put it figuratively, there is a morbid struggle going on for the ‘Hetman's mace,' ‘horse-tail standard,' and other symbols of power. But you can always find answers to the pressing questions of today in history, and you can avoid lots of mistakes if you take a sane advantage of past experience. I do not idealize Ivan Mazepa, but I give him credit for his extraordinary and outstanding abilities, relying on historical facts and setting myself a task to be as unbiased as possible.»

«Is Ukraine even now historically doomed to dependence on other, stronger, states and unable to find, at last, power and national dignity?»

«I do not think so. Ukraine has gained its ‘star chance,' and history teaches. Writers today face a very sensitive challenge: to tell their people and the whole world about Ukraine as a state with a great historic past which, unfortunately, contained many tragic things. The tragedy lies, above all, in the loss of a national idea, in the fierce struggle for powe r, and contradictory political attitudes. Internecine fighting brought horrible sufferings to the Ukrainian people, when one Hetman took on another Hetman, a colonel on another colonel, and a brother on brother. For example, Ivan Vyhovsky oriented himself toward Poland. Petro Doroshenko, in his quest for the Hetman's mace, applied for help to the Turkish army which massacred a huge number of people in Right-Bank Ukraine. Bohdan Khmelnytsky's son Yury also speculated on the interests of the Ukrainian people.

The figure of Ivan Mazepa looks more attractive against this unholy background. A descendent of small-scale Ukrainian gentry, he passed the school of European upbringing, which allowed him to take a broader view of the world and understand many subtleties of political struggle. Ivan Mazepa knew several foreign languages and military arts, was a good bandura-player, collector of art memorabilia, and a poet whose works were pervaded with patriotic motives. He had the talent of a diplomat... He saw immediately that Ukraine could not be saved by the sword alone. One had to think about the nation's spirituality. Suffice it to remember his rational activities to restore churches, develop public education, etc. »

«In other words, Ivan Mazepa favored the unity of the Ukrainian nation on a spiritual basis?»

«Quite so. He cared, in particular, about national personnel. While, before him, power was handed down from fathers to sons, and from sons to grandsons, he put an emphasis on descendants from different strata of the population since the very first days of his rule. He encouraged the promotion of naturally intelligent and talented young people.»

«But Hetman Ivan Mazepa's historical portrait can hardly be genuine without the contradictory features of his character?»

«It is hard for people living at the end of the second millennium to understand all the nuances of that life. I mean rather straightforward interstate relations unregulated with relevant documents and agreements, the supremacy of brute physical force over the intellect, and bloody battles all over Europe. So we have no right to pass too categorical a judgment on Ivan Mazepa's various actions. I want to stress that he had been possessed by the idea of statehood long before he got the Hetman's mace. This is an undoubted fact. This is why he had to show cunning, feeling heavy political pressure on the part of the neighboring, more powerful states. This circumstance must have forced him to follow the Machiavellian rule: ‘... to be able to substitute the skin of a lion for that of a fox, which makes wolves tremble.'

«Ivan Mazepa ruled quite long, from 1687 till 1709, so he could see through the ever-growing expansion of Muskovy onto Ukraine. The Tsarist government actively interfered in all spheres of Ukrainian life: it would build fortresses meant to be good military bases, hold in its hands the main communications, collect and appropriate taxes, and commit all kinds of outrage.

«Many sections of the Kolomaka Treaty signed July 25, 1687, when Ivan Mazepa was being elected Hetman on the Kolomaka river, laid down various prohibitions which limited and even partially eliminated the economic, social, and foreign policies of Ukraine. For instance, it was forbidden to trade with the Crimea. Ukrainian merchants had no right to deal directly with the Muskovy state. Ukraine was deprived of the possibility to enter in international relations. Letters and documents from the neighboring states were sealed and forwarded to Moscow. The Hetman's authority in fact boiled down to police functions: to oversee and promote the execution of numerous Tsarist bans. After signing the ‘Kolomaka articles,' Moscow would tear apart Ukraine's living body. E.g., it allowed sending a few garrisons of troopers into Left- Bank Ukraine and in fact cut off all supplies to them, which triggered robberies of and violence on the common people. Naturally, when Mazepa was signing the ‘Articles,' he did not intend to scrupulously follow them. This procedure was only a step in climbing to the highest power in Ukraine.

«Being well aware of the then current system of denunciations, Mazepa was afraid throughout his lifetime that his secret plans might be uncovered. Very unfortunately, he outwitted himself, for he underrated the might of Peter the Great who had managed to form a powerful army after a few defeats at the hands of the Swedes. Later on, this led to a Ukrainian tragedy near Poltava.»

(For more see next issue)