The transition out of the Second World War shaped the legitimacy and national narratives of countries like Ukraine, Belarus, and Germany.
The war served as a turning point in Soviet and Russian power, leading to the elevation of Russian culture and the devaluation of Ukrainian culture.
The conflicts between Ukrainians and Poles during and after the Second World War have had lasting implications for the current relationship between Poland and Ukraine.
Deep dives
The Transition Out of the War and the Legitimation of the Soviet Union
The transition out of the Second World War is crucial for understanding the legitimation of the Soviet Union. The war not only had significant consequences in terms of territorial changes and population movements, but it also served as a new starting point for the Soviet Union's legitimacy. The importance of the war in shaping national narratives and identities is seen in various countries, including the United States, Israel, Germany, Ukraine, and Belarus. It is imperative to grasp the accurate historical details of the Second World War in order to understand political memory formation and contemporary events.
The Impact of the Second World War on Cultural Identity
The Second World War had a profound impact on cultural identity, particularly in relation to the understanding of collaboration and responsibility. The podcast discusses how the war served as a turning point in Soviet and Russian power, where they had the authority to define collaborators and distort historical narratives. The emergence of a cultural focus in the Soviet Union led to a shift from an economic to a cultural basis for legitimacy. This change emphasized cultural innocence and elevated Russian culture while downgrading Ukrainian culture, which was seen as contaminated by outside influences, particularly due to German occupation.
Ethnic Cleansing and the Polish-Ukrainian Conflict
The podcast explores the ethnic cleansing that occurred during and after the Second World War, particularly in Western Ukraine. It delves into the conflicts between Ukrainians and Poles, fueled by the actions of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The Soviet Union's policies also played a significant role in the ethnic cleansing of Poles. Additionally, it highlights the complexities of Polish-Ukrainian relations, which have had a long history of tension and persecution. These historical conflicts and their lasting impact have important implications for understanding the current relationship between Poland and Ukraine.
The Russian Ethnic Definition of the Soviet State
The podcast discusses the emergence of a quietly emerging Russian ethnic definition of the Soviet state. This shift towards cultural identity and ethnicity became a key aspect of Soviet power and legitimacy during the Cold War era. By defining the Soviet Union as a struggle between the good democratic nations (i.e., Soviet Union and its satellites) and the fascist capitalists (i.e., the West), the Soviets elevated Russian culture while downplaying the significance of other cultures within the Soviet Union, particularly Ukrainian culture. This trend towards a Russian-centric perspective would continue under leaders like Khrushchev and Brezhnev.
From Nostalgia to a Right-Wing View of the World
The podcast highlights the shift towards nostalgia and a focus on the past in the Soviet Union, particularly after the economic transformation has been completed. The cult of the Second World War begins to replace the revolution as the central focus of the Soviet Union. This shift towards nostalgia sets the stage for a right-wing view of the world. As the Soviet Union eventually falls apart, these historical dynamics contribute to the challenges and complexities faced in contemporary Ukraine and Russia.
The impact of colonization in Europe in the 1950s through the 1970s is examined in Class 17.
Timothy Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He speaks five and reads ten European languages.
Ukraine must have existed as a society and polity on 23 February 2022, else Ukrainians would not have collectively resisted Russian invasion the next day. What does it mean for a nation to exist? Is this a matter of structures, actions, or both? Why has the existence of Ukraine occasioned such controversy? In what ways are Polish, Russian, and Jewish self-understanding dependent upon experiences in Ukraine? Just how and when did a modern Ukrainian nation emerge? For that matter, how does any modern nation emerge? Why some and not others? Can nations be chosen, and can choices be decisive? If so, whose, and how? Ukraine was the country most touched by Soviet and Nazi terror: what can we learn about those systems, then, from Ukraine? Is the post-colonial, multilingual Ukrainian nation a holdover from the past, or does it hold some promise for the future?
Course reading list
Video version of this course available on YouTube.
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