PERSPECTIVES: The end of one era - the beginning of another (09/23/01)

PERSPECTIVES

by Andrew Fedynsky

The end of one era - the beginning of another

For most living Americans, no event has been more horrific than the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Much like Pearl Harbor, this assault on America will surely define whatever follows. By the time this goes to print (I'm writing this the day after) we'll know better how the world changed when the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center came down.

As for this column, it was supposed to be a happy reflection about the long view of history and the miraculous way centuries of conflict came to a symbolic close at the 10th anniversary celebration of Ukraine's independence in Kyiv on August 24, of how the presence there of Ukraine's, Russia's and Poland's leaders marked the end of a wretched era and the hopeful beginning of another.

Now, instead of basking in the afterglow of Ukraine's decade of independence, I find myself pondering how the attacks on New York and Washington mark the end of an innocent era for America and the beginning of an uncertain struggle with shadowy forces who have no scruples or conscience.

Tragically, Ukrainian history has been one driven by those who mercilessly pursued their agendas, heedless of morality. Mere words evoke boundless horror: panschyna (serfdom), slavery at the market in Kafa, Bolsheviks, Nazis, KGB, Gestapo, Collectivization, Holocaust.

That's why this year's Independence Day celebration in Kyiv was so joyous and triumphant. It could be fully appreciated only in the context of Ukraine's history of slavery and mass murder. Those who were there or, like me, viewed photos on the Internet, saw thousands of children, dancers, gymnasts, soldiers and others march past a reviewing stand where the presidents of Poland, the Russian Federation and Ukraine together celebrated Ukraine's independence. Just for good measure, there were tanks, rocket launchers and missile carriers. Acres of blue-and-yellow flags flapped on both sides of the Khreschatyk, while overhead blue-and-yellow warplanes etched the sky with brightly colored contrails.

As part of my own private Ukrainian Independence Day celebration, I turned to an essay, "Czech and Slav," by Karel Havlicek that I had read a long time ago. Writing in 1846, he analyzed the relationship among Russians, Ukrainians and Poles, observing how "each in turn tried to establish its primacy over the two others. First Kyiv and the Ukrainians ruled - but the great empire of Volodymyr (Monomakh) fell and with it the prospects of independence for the Ukrainians."

Leaping over the centuries (as those who take the long view are able to do), Mr. Havlicek described Poland and Russia as predators ("wolves," he calls them; Ukraine he depicts as "the lamb"). Then, in a remarkable geopolitical image, he sums up centuries of conflict: "Ukraine is the apple of discord which fate threw between these two nations. Thus the suppression of Ukrainian liberty revenges itself on Poland and Russia." Those two countries, he writes, "buried the national spirit of Ukraine and began to divide the great body and, as generally happens in such cases, they began to fight and have not yet ceased. Thus we have seen three great Eastern Slav nations, each one of which hates the other two and also has a just reason for it."

That was in 1846. If only Mr. Havlicek could have seen the conflicts that would come in the next century and a half: popular uprisings, two world wars, arrests, massacres, deportations, famines, the Iron Curtain, the Cold War. Ukraine was at the crux of nearly all those atrocities and, invariably, Russia and Poland were key players as well, with disastrous results for all three nations. That's why the image of the three presidents jointly celebrating Ukraine's independence is so momentous, so propitious. Ukraine's independence removes that "apple of discord" that Mr. Havlicek wrote about 155 years ago.

Still, not everyone familiar with the histories of Ukraine, Russia and Poland is prepared to accept the smiles and good wishes at face value. Rightly or wrongly, many saw Russian President Vladimir Putin's presence at the celebration as his way of showing that Moscow still plays a major role in Ukraine. Given his KGB background and the hard feelings Ukrainians have toward that institution and the country he leads, it's not hard to understand why many viewed Mr. Putin's presence in Kyiv in more sinister terms.

As for Poland, many of her people look back on the uprising of 1863 against the rule of Tsar Alexander II, the "Miracle on the Vistula" in 1920, the Katyn Forest massacre in 1940 or the Poznan workers' demonstrations of 1956 as if they had happened yesterday. In each of these events, Poles faced off against Russian rule. Clearly, many Poles have no love for Russia and little trust for its leaders. That's why Poland was so adamant about joining NATO in 1996 and no doubt that's why President, Aleksander Kwasniewski was in Kyiv on Independence Day: to lend moral support to President Kuchma and keep an eye on President Putin. Mr. Kwasniewski knows that Poland's future depends on Ukraine's continued independence.

As for President Kuchma, the Independence Day celebration was a triumph. At his inauguration in 1999, he had waved a bulava - the mace that Ukraine's leaders carried as a symbol of their office from around 1550 to 1750 implicitly associating himself with the long line of hetmans who had fought either Poland or Russia or both, invariably suffering defeat or humiliating accommodation. I can't tell whether President Kuchma, flanked by the presidents of Poland and the Russian Federation, saw himself as a latter-day Hetman, triumphant where earlier ones had failed, but I know that's how I saw him.

Regardless of what might have been in the hearts of each of the three leaders or what their true motives are, it's fair to see their joint presence at Ukraine's day of triumph as a symbolic end to an age-old era of enmity among their nations. That can only be good. Together, these three Slavic neighbors have nearly 240 million people, and for the first time in half a millenium or more they are independent and on the surface, at least, on good terms with each other.

Just in time for them to join other civilized nations in supporting the United States in this new era of global struggle against conscienceless terrorism. God help us in that struggle.

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