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Article: The emergence of Ukraine: part one.
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- March 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Many Western leaders, academics and journalists did not welcome the collapse of the former USSR and the emergence of independent Ukraine, perceiving it in many ways through russocentric eyes. Whereas the Balts, Caucasians and Central Asians could all be visibly recognised as culturally distinct from the Russians, the Ukrainians and Belarusians were all Eastern Slavs and many were, after all, Russian speaking.
Ukrainian historians are today rewriting and rediscovering their history which was for the most part banned in the former USSR. Today's heroes, such as Hetman Ivan Mazepa, leader of the Ukrainian Cossacks who signed an alliance with the Swedes against the ...