"Ukrainian American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history (Chapter 4) (06/13/04)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

"Ukrainian American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history

Following is part of a series of excerpts from "Ukrainian-American Citadel: The First 100 Years of the Ukrainian National Association" by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, published in 1996 by East European Monographs of Boulder, Colo. The excerpts are reprinted with the permission of the author. (The book is available from the author for $25, plus $2.50 shipping, by writing to: Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115.)

Chapter 4

From Rusyn to Ukrainian

Having adopted, in 1900, a political posture which called for a Ukraine that was independent and democratic, Svoboda continued to popularize this ideal among its readers by appeals to Rusyn ethno-national ambition.

Learn from the Irish, wrote Svoboda, "who speak English but are Irish patriots in their hearts. ... Let the accomplishments of the Irish, attained through bloody sweat, be our example and our motivation in the fight for the freedom of the old country. Abominable conditions, oppression and slavery left their mark on the Rusyn peasant as much as they did on the Irish. Ignorance, an indifference toward education, inferiority, lack of character and a penchant for drunkenness are also characteristic of the Rusyn, but there is hope that Rusyns, like the Irish, will rid themselves of these ills once they reside on free soil."

The designation Rus'-Ukraine was used repeatedly and with increasing frequency in the years that followed, but it was not until 1902 that the concept was more fully explained. In a series of articles titled "Understand Rusyn, Which Road is Yours!" Father Mykola Strutynsky wrote: "Most people in the old country belong to the so-called Ukrainian-Rus' party. Almost all of the young priests, the majority of the older priests, almost all lawyers, professors, doctors and students, in short, all of the intelligentsia and enlightened masses call themselves Rusyn-Ukrainians."

Later he wrote: "The Rusyn-Ukrainian Party wants a free and perpetual Rus' in which all people will be equal, free and happy. ... They call themselves this name [Rusyn-Ukrainian] because they realize that even though they live in Galicia, their ancestors came from Ukraine. ... Galicia, our old country, is the child of Ukraine. Just as we came to America, Rusyn-Ukrainians came to Galicia."

"We must be revolutionaries and agitators on the caliber of George Washington ... who mobilized the American people to overthrow the English yoke," wrote Svoboda in 1903. In the same issue Svoboda rejected the thesis of some populists in Galicia who continued to urge cooperation with the Habsburgs as the only rational path to follow in order to gain ethno-national recognition: "That, too, is a lie, since it was precisely because Rusyns were loyal to the king that everyone considered us fools, while the Poles and Magyars who agitated against the dictates of the king today enjoy significance and strength. ... Those who lick the hands and feet of the aristocrats will be rewarded with spittle in their soup and a kick on the shins by the same aristocrats they venerate."

Nor was Svoboda prepared to accept the ideology of Russian-dominated pan-Slavism, declaring: "Chains, whether they be of gold or steel, still bind. It doesn't make much sense to rid ourselves of one set of chains and then to turn around and push our hands into another set. We don't want to change masters. We want to be our own masters. We want freedom, not another surrender. We want independence, not new protectors."

Commenting on the revolutionary activities in Russia and Ukraine in 1905, Svoboda wrote: "Now, when Russia is boiling, when ... freedom is fighting with slavery, ignorance with enlightenment, are we to remain silent and look upon all this indifferently? What kind of patriots are we? Are we not guilty of 'mere phrases' in our pronouncements of a deep love of Ukraine? ... Let us not forget that in helping our Ukrainian revolutionaries we will at the same time help free all other nations who are presently ensnared by the yoke of Russian bureaucracy and will contribute to strengthening the Ukrainian element in Austria and even in America."

"Our national question" wrote Svoboda a year later, "will not be resolved in Galicia but in Rus.' " Still later, Svoboda noted that Russia represented "national slavery, a hell for peasants and workers, darkness and decay, and the end of our people."

Calling attention to the upcoming 1910 census, Svoboda urged its readers to indicate they spoke the "Rusyn language" so that "we Rusyns will not be counted as Poles, Muscovites or Hungarians." One Rusyn urged his countrymen to identify themselves as "Ruthenians, not Russians or Little Russians." Later, Svoboda proclaimed that "There are no 'Russians' in Subcarpathia or Galicia," only Rusyns.

Despite a decided trend toward the acceptance of the Ukrainian name, however, at no time prior to 1914 did Svoboda force the use of this ethno-national nomenclature on its readers. Those who preferred to call themselves Rusyns continued to do so, while others - more and more each year - adopted the more nationalistic identity. Svoboda's nuanced approach can be discerned as early as 1912 from advertisements announcing local events that used either "Attention Rusyns" or "Attention Ukrainians" as a headline.

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