THE ORIGINS OF UKRAINIAN HISTORY:

Ukraine and Russia have historically been portrayed as one and the same. Not only due to the little-brother identity, which bloomed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through Russian imperialism but also due to the shared history, which stems from Varangian-Rus’. While both Ukraine and Russia share this trunk of Varangian-Rus’, there are two distinct branches on this ancient tree that signify a distinct Ukrainian identity. Specifically, the Great Cossack Revolt led by Bodhan Khmelnytskyi, which set the stage for early Ukrainian statehood roughly two centuries before the advent of nationalism, and the upshot creation of the Uniate Church, which is symbolic of the cultural diversity of Europe’s crossroad. These events not only comprise the backbone of the modern Ukrainian identity, but they are emblematic of a distinct separation from the shared trunk of Varangian-Rus’.

The Cossacks are essential to Ukraine’s cultural identity and represent the first example of Ukraine’s history branching off from the shared trunk of Varangian Rus’. In many ways, the Cossacks can be seen as a response to the exploitation and empire-building that took place between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The Crimean Tatars used to run the steppe under the Golden Horde, and while they brought massive wealth to the region with the silk road trade route access, their violence was remembered well into the time of the Cossacks. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania sought to assert dominance over the borderlands by using registered Cossacks to defend their land holdings and later for the Commonwealth under the Polish crown. They also relied on the Cossacks to defend their land from Crimean Tatars and the Ottoman Empire. Muscovy would exploit the Cossacks, and later the Russian Empire would assimilate their history into Ukraine’s in an attempt to diminish the cultural autonomy of the region. What set the Cossacks apart from these empires was their desire for autonomy. Empires seek land, influence, and absolute control over their subjects in order to stay competitive on the global stage. Despite the challenges of the steppe, the Cossacks had firmly established themselves in the Ukrainian borderlands of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. As the Commonwealth pacified the region and expanded its land holdings, serfs found themselves moving farther south toward the Black Sea, which put them in direct contact with Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian Cossacks. For many peasants, “the Cossack life was the available alternative to magnate serfdom or Tatar slavery.”1 The Cossacks provided a route to social mobility, and it was recognized by the Commonwealth and deliberately limited in an attempt to repress the peasantry and keep them bound to the land.

The Cossacks Great Revolt is essential to pinpointing the moment where Ukrainian history branches off from the shared trunk of Varangian Rus’. Modern Ukrainians view the period between 1648 and 1667 as some of the most crucial eras in their history, as it encompassed the great Cossack revolt under Hetman Bodhan Khmelnytskyi.2 What marks this period in time as significant to the formation of Ukrainian history is the revolution against Polish exploitation. Most modern nations have experienced a revolution that radically changed the social and political landscape, leading to national autonomy that is recognized globally. What also sets the Great Revolt apart from earlier revolts was that “the Cossack hetman was taking on the leadership of the whole nation, no longer fighting for the rights of the Cossacks alone.”3 This suggests that Khmelnytskyi was thinking of something more than just the assertion of their rights. Like previous revolts, this was about the liberation of the Cossacks and the land known as Ukraine from the oppression of the Commonwealth. The result of this revolution led to the annexation of Kyiv, Bratslav, and Chernihiv, which became an autonomous state within the Commonwealth. Furthermore, the hetman’s lucrative alliances with the Crimean Tatars and Ottoman Sultan provided the Cossacks with the military and political backing necessary for them to establish and defend Ukraine as an independent nation within the Commonwealth. Finally, the Pereiaslav Agreement between the Hetman Khmelnytskyi and Tsar Peter of Russia was a revolution for individual liberties. While the Commonwealth reluctantly acknowledged Cossack autonomy, the Tsar acknowledged full Cossack statehood. This deal was a one-sided arrangement for the Cossacks, with the Tsar only upholding his end of the bargain towards a Cossack state. However, the Cossacks, under Hetman Khmelnytskyi, who successfully elevated the Ukrainian peasantry from the yoke of the Commonwealth, were granted the rights of nobility and carved out an autonomous nation for these liberated individuals to reside in. This is one of the most significant developments toward modern nation-building in Europe, and the Cossackdom is indicative of Ukrainian history branching out from the shared history of Varangian Rus’.

The creation of the Uniate Church is the second example of a distinctly Ukrainian history that is separate from the shared trunk of Varangian Rus’. The Uniate Church was a response to the Protestant Reformation and a compromise between the traditions of the Orthodox Church and the acknowledgment of Roman Catholic Papal authority. Historically, Kyiv has seen itself as a child of Byzantium, and because of that, Ukraine has been essential to the larger world of Christendom. Orthodoxy was spread to Ukraine by St. Andronicus under St. Paul.4 Together, they translated the Bible from Greek into Slavic, which led to the adoption and preservation of Church Slavonic as the official language of the Orthodox Church. The Protestant Reformation called the Orthodox faith into question, and the resulting religious conflict helped shape the national identity of Ukraine. The Commonwealth was working in tandem with the Jesuits to undermine the authority of the Orthodox Church, which was being criticized for its lack of reform. The Ukrainian peasantry was largely Orthodox due to the language and political barriers between them and the Commonwealth nobility. The Reformation and church union pushed by the Jesuits destroyed the clerical traditions of the Orthodox Church and forced assimilation into the larger world of Christendom.

The Orthodox Church sought to compromise with the Roman Catholics, and Orthodox Bishop Gedeon Balaban reached out to the pope to try and defend the Orthodox faith’s traditions from the proposed reforms. These traditions include the acknowledgment of the Julian calendar, the use of Church Slavonic, optional clerical celibacy, and autonomy from Byzantine authorities. This is significant because it shows the Orthodox church was more concerned with its traditions and autonomy than with the actual faith of Orthodoxy. This foreshadowed the creation of the Uniate Church and a new sense of national consciousness. Just as the Cossacks can be seen as a response to sixteenth-century imperialism by the Commonwealth, the Uniate Church can be seen as the response to the strife caused by the Union of Brecht. The Uniate Church was the proposed concession that would allow for the preservation of the Orthodox Church traditions while acknowledging the Papal supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church. The Uniate Church had provided a way for the historical cultural practices of the Orthodox faith to remain intact while bringing Ukraine back into the larger fold of Christendom. These cultural practices reflect the importance of the Orthodox faith amongst the Ukrainian peasantry; and, subsequently, the Cossacks, whom I credit with being synonymous with the national identity of Ukraine.

The Uniate Church had a lasting impact on Ukraine and radically reshaped the way it viewed itself and its history. The Uniate Church was the avenue through which the traditions of the Orthodox Church could be preserved. It ushered in a new wave of “confessionalization,” which not only increased the power and efficiency of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, but the Mohyla Academy, established by the Lviv Brotherhood, helped expedite reforms and brought Ukraine’s institution up to a level enjoyed by other European countries through education and institutional reform.5 However, The Uniate Church’s most significant impact on the national identity of Ukraine was the historical awakening that occurred as a result of the Union of Brecht. The Union of Brest was a decision made in 1595 by Eastern Orthodox hierarchs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to transfer their ecclesiastical jurisdiciton from the ecumentical patriarachate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of the Apolistic see. The strife over the fate of the Union of Brecht “left that society much more conscious of its commonalities, including history, culture, and religious tradition.”6 The Uniate Church allowed Ukraine to embrace the idea of cultural diversity while also preserving the traditions which are significant to Ukraine’s national identity. In a way, this allowed Ukraine to understand that hardline Orthodoxy had blinded itself from the importance of its traditions rooted in Orthodoxy.

In summary, the Cossacks were the first example of a distinct Ukrainian people who managed to survive and thrive off the harsh but bountiful steppe. The Cossack uprising represents one of the most pivotal moments in early state building as the revolution encompassed many of the same social and political goals reflected in the revolutions of the twentieth century, such as the peasantry gaining nobility rights and governance under the principle of equality. Orthodoxy in Ukraine is the second example of a distinct Ukrainian identity that is separate from the shared trunk of Varangian Rus’. The Orthodox Christian faith is a traditional identity rather than a binding religious contract between Ukraine and its people. The defense of Orthodoxy during the protestant reformation was due to the desire to protect the cultural practices and traditions afforded by Eastern Orthodoxy, their ancient language of Church Slavonic, and the acceptance of religious reform, so long as these traditions can be upheld. The Uniate Church was the compromise from the Union of Brecht and allowed Ukraine to recognize the cultural practices and traditions rooted in Orthodoxy are more important than the faith itself. This is significant because Orthodoxy is just as central to the historical identity of Ukraine as the Cossacks since both encapsulate the region's cultural heritage.

Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus: 1569-1999, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 114.
Snyder, Reconstruction, 116.
Serhii Plohki, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine: Revised Edition, (New York, NY: Hachette Book Group, 2015), 101.
Horace G. Lunt, “What the Rus’ Primary Chronicle Tells Us about the Origins of the Slavs and of Slavic Writing” Harvard Ukrainian Studies, vol. 19, (1995), 351.
Plokhi, The Gates of Europe, 94.
Ibid, 95.