Turning the pages back...

January 22, 1993

Ten years ago, in 1993, we marked an important anniversary - the 75th - of the proclamation of an independent Ukrainian state on January 22, 1918. In The Weekly's editorial on that occasion, we noted that, though it is a significant anniversary of a significant historical event, there were questions within the Ukrainian community on just how we should commemorate this date.

The editorial went on to say: "The reason for the questions, of course, is the fact that Ukraine today has another, more recent, independence anniversary. ... There are those in the diaspora who would simply stop observing the January 22 independence anniversary, and choose instead the August 24 Independence Day as the focus of our community celebrations.

"Indeed, last year, it seemed most of our communities marked the first anniversary of the August 24 act. It remains to be seen how, or if, they will celebrate the January 22, 1918, date when the Ukrainian Central Rada (Council) issued the Fourth Universal that proclaimed a free and independent Ukrainian state. (If the number of advance news items received here at The Weekly is any indication, then the 75th anniversary will be a low-key commemoration.)

"We would urge our readers, however, not to forget the January 22 anniversary ... Consider this: If there had been no independent Ukrainian state in the earlier part of this century, Ukraine would have been completely stateless for 300 years. Its claim to independent statehood would be seriously undermined. ... The independence proclamation of January 22, 1918, has been the guiding principle of all our community life in the diaspora. It was the legacy of January 22 that compelled us to preserve our Ukrainian culture, our history - the Ukrainian essence. ...

"It is a truism that the past is prologue. ... Without the act of January 22, 1918, would there even have been an act of August 24, 1991?"

Source: "January 22" (Editorial), The Ukrainian Weekly, January 17, 1993, Vol. LXI, No. 3.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 19, 2003, No. 3, Vol. LXXI

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