Propagana competition between “Prosvita” and The A. Dukhnovych Society for the Rusinian audience of Subcarpathian Rus during the interwar period

This article analyzes the informational activity of two societies – “Prosvita” (Eng. Enlightenment) and The A. Dukhnovych Society among Rusinian population of Subcarpathian Rus using modern approaches to the propaganda analysis, which implies answering the questions of who, whom on, what methods and forms are used. In particular, it has been found out that both societies had similar structures, with their members being representatives of intelligentsia with Ukrainophile and Russophile views respectively. They were also joined by the representatives of emigration and local population. The Rusinian audience had a relatively low educational level, and many residents of Subcarpathian Rus could not make up their minds whether they were of Rusinian ethnicity and what religion they practiced. The main forms of informing were printed press, oral transmission and radio broadcasting. Most often, the societies used polygraphic means of propaganda, since they were the easiest to produce. Oral transmission also proved quite productive, since it did not require significant expenditures. Radio was of limited application due to lack of receiving equipment. The author’s perspective of the propaganda methods has been formed through the analysis of individual episodes, informational and visual materials about the social and political life of Carpathian Rus and the activities of “Prosvita” and The A. Dukhnovich Society. Among the most popular methods were persuasion, suggestion, manipulation, and disinformation. However, it is possible to speak about their application only conditionally, since there was no propaganda technique in its modern understanding. The representatives of the societies under analsysis acted out of their personal understanding of campaigning methods and responding to the information needs of the Rusin community.

Carpatho-Ukraine’s defeat as a precursor of WWII

The paper analyzes the course of events and the international context of Сarpatho- Ukrainian state’s rise and defeat in terms of role and impact of the leading European actors at the end of the 1930’s. Based on an in-depth study of the wide range of literature, documents and relevant archives, the author highlights the role of Carpatho-Ukraine, which for a short period happened to be at the epicenter of the geopolitical interests of the states whose actions or inaction fueled the warmongers. The revival and strengthening of a number of European countries at that historical period deteriorized international relations. The erosion of the Versailles-Washington bases intensified the contradictions in the foreign policy between the victorious and vanquished states. The defeated countries reinforced their positions, since the victors, who were expanding their military might at the expense of Czechoslovak Republic, including Transcarpathia, were becoming more submissive in accommodating territorial claims. This situation largely updated the approaches to the Ukrainian question. The variability of the ways to solve it largely depended on the situational decisions of the Third Reich political leadership.

The consequences of the Romanian occupation of 1941–1944 for the Orthodox Church of Moldova

The article presents the facts of material damage caused by the German-Romanian invaders to the institutions of the Orthodox Church of Moldova. The analysis of the archives of the Republic of Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and the works of researchers revealed three stages of damage inflicted by the invaders on religious organizations. The total amount of damage amounted to 91.5 million rubles, including church buildings – 22,580,000 rubles (including the churches of Pridnestrovie – 4,192,423 rubles). The invaders destroyed the buildings of 44 churches and 2 chapels, partially damaged 22 churches. Dozens of valuable religious shrines were removed from Moldovan churches and monasteries. The most valuable loss is a copy of the Gerbovetsky Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God (worth 120 mln rubles). The invaders also stole church utensils and priestly vestments. The motive for these actions was the alleged desire to “save” the shrines from destruction by the Bolsheviks. The leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly raised the question of returning the valuables taken by the occupiers to the Romanian side. However, the problem has not been solved, though a small part of the property stolen by the invaders returned to the Moldovan churches.

Methodology of the research of the Transcarpathia Sovietization in 1944–1950

The article analyzes the modern methodology of the Transcarpathia Sovietization research in 1944–1950. Though there are individual (N. Makara, V. Mishchanyn) and collective monogrpahs (N. Makara, R. Ofitsinsky), it is too early to speak about a serious methodological base to present the causal links of this process. A better understanding of Sovietization in Transcarpathia requires studying the historical and geographical space. A contemporary researcher should go beyond the narrowed framework of the regional approach in the study of the Sovietization in Transcarpathia and compare its post-war transformations with those in Western Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic Republics, Central and Eastern Europe (A. Applebaum) using the methodology of comparative analysis. The epistemological approach employed by P.R. Magocsi can be used to study the historical specificity of the region with its multi-ethnicity, multiculturalism, multiconfessionality (S. Makarchuk). The Ukrainian emigration was rather critical of the post-war policy of the Soviet regime. In particular, V. Markus defines the entry of Transcarpathia into Soviet Ukraine as annexation. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine published in the 1950s and 1980s in Canada analyzes many aspects of Sovietization in the Ukrainian SSR. A contemporary researcher should clearly understand such concepts as “totalitarianism” (H. Arendt), “Sovietization”, “socialist version of modernization” (S. Gavrov), “transit”, “transformation”, etc. The article also points out some errors of scholars studying the problems of Sovietization in the region. Thus, the problem of Sovietization of Transcarpathia is still under development. Its multifaceted nature requires interdisciplinary approaches using the tools of history, economics, law, statistics, political science, social science, ethnology, and cultural studies.

Dilemmas of Ethnic Identification and Socio- Political Representation of the Rusins in the Slovak Republic and Ukraine (on the Results of an Expert Survey)

The article highlights the problem of ethnic identification and socio-political representation of Rusins in Slovakia and Ukraine. The author bases his presentation on the results of an survey among Slovak and Ukrainian experts. The object of research is the Rusin ethnic group of northwestern area in Slovakia (Prešov and Kosice self-governing regions) and Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. According to the survey among Slovak experts, 44% consider Rusins “a separate ethnic group, different from Ukrainians”; the same number of respondents defines Rusins “a sub-ethnic (ethnographic) group of Ukrainians”; 12 % cannot decide on this issue. Most of the respondents in Ukraine (44 %) define Rusins “a sub-ethnic (ethnographic) group of Ukrainian people”; 28 % are convinced that Rusins are representatives of a separate ethnic group, different from Ukrainians; 28 % stated their own options regarding the nature of ethnic identification of Rusins. The vast majority of Slovak experts (52 %) define “rather active” public and political participation of Rusins; 16 % state “active” participation; 16 % define it “rather passive”; 8% – “passive”, 8% were undecided about the answer. The Ukrainian respondent opinions were divided as follows: 48 % consider the public and political participation of Rusins “rather passive”; 28 % – “passive”; 16 % – “rather active”; 4% indicated the “active” role of Rusin national cultural associations with the remark that only older generations are involved; 4 % public and political participation of Rusins was defined as ”ineffective”. Slovak experts emphasized the active work of public and political leaders of Rusin origin Peter Krajnak, Miroslav Lajcak and Peter Medvid’. The respondents from Ukraine named Rusin leaders Yevhen Zhupan and Yuriy Prodan in Transcarpathian regional public and political environment.

The Lemko Wedding Song (Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak): Peculiarity and Usage

The article analyzes Lemko’s wedding and post-wedding songs in comparison with Polish and Slovak ones. As an integral part of all-Ukrainian ceremonial song fund, Lemky wedding song ritualism is distinguished by some specificity due to Polish and Slovak close proximity. Naturally, Lemko song specificity are best revealed when compared with the similar song traditions of the Western Slavs. The similarity of certain elements is better traced in the wedding song ritualism of the East Slovakian, Ukrainians and Slovaks sons, as compared to the Lemky-Polish neighbourhood. While preserving a lot of archaic forms and elements, the Lemko version of the Ukrainian wedding is characterized by some differences, which reflect Lemko’s continuous ethnocultural contacts with neighbouring nations. The wedding song repertory of the three neighbouring nations has been found to impressively reflect its origin from the Proto-Slavic marriage ritualism, based on the monogamous marriage, husbandry lifestyle, close worldview (similar meaning of fire, water, bread, Eden tree, sun-worship, etc.), as well as on the similarity of ritual acts (garlanding, blessing, roundabout the table and dough trough, breaking wedding loaf, etc.). All mentioned above together with the similar dramatization of the wedding ceremony make ethnonational versions of traditional family ritualism – a so-called “Carpathian cycle”. The Lemko wedding song content has been found to preserve archaic motives and images of relict Ukrainian repertory with its typical ample song/choral expression of the content of wedding rituals, young couple’s and their families’ moral and mental state, varied poetic symbolism and stylistics. Long-term endosmosis of cultural, economic, and sociopolitical contacts between neighbouring ethnoses has conditioned the interchange of the elements of wedding song and ritual dramatization with marked Lemko dominant regarding Slovakian wedding song repertory, as well as with regard to the repertory of Polish Gorals, long-standing song strata in particular.

Rusins in Czech Newspapers and Magazines from the Revolutionary 1848 to the Outbreak of WWI

Using the Czech press from the revolutionary 1848 to the period before WWI as the source of information, the authors revise the established view of the Rusin question in the Habsburg Empire in the mid 19th – early 20th century. The analysis suggests that the Slavic population in Galicia and Subcarpathian Rus retained their ethnic identity and distanced themselves from the mainstream population. If in 1848 all Slavic residents of Galicia, whose political leaders opposed the Poles, were referred to as Rusins in the Czech press, by the end of the 19th century the Czech press had already regarded this people as an independent nation.

The Veneration of Holy Great Martyr John the New of Suceava as the Patron of the Moldavian Land

The article focuses on critical historiography and hagiography of the veneration of Holy Great Martyr John the New of Suceava as the patron saint of the area for the population with hagiographic coordinates – the cities of Akkerman (Bilhorod- Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine) and Suceava (Romania). The church veneration of the Saint John the New of Suceava helps to overcome prejudices and other negative ethnic phenomena and contributes to the economic development of a multinational society. A similar study of the veneration (in the ethnology of the cult) of the Saint John The New of Suceava in both hagiology and history of the Church, studies of medieval Slavic writing of Moldavian origin in connection with the world processes of social optimization would help pastors as well as all Orthodox people in everyday church-practical activities.

Rusins in the Works by P.D. Draganov

Pyotr Danilovich Draganov (February 1 (13), 1857 – February 7, 1928), a native of Bessarabia, Russian philologist, historian, ethnographer, bibliographer, and teacher. Born into a family of Bulgarian colonists in the village Comrat of Bessarabian region, he graduated from the Bulgarian Central School in Comrat (1875), then studied at the Chișinău progymnasium, the provincial gymnasium (1875–1877) and the Kharkov gymnasium (1877–1880). After graduating from the gymnasium, he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of the Imperial Kharkov University (1880–1882), then continued his studies at the Imperial St. Petersburg University, graduating in 1885 with a candidate’s degree. In 1885–1887, he taught general history and Church Slavonic language at the St. Cyril and Methodius Male Gymnasium (Thessaloniki, Macedonia). In 1888, he was appointed teacher of the Russian language and literature of the Comrat real school. Since 1893, he taught Russian at the Chișinău Women’s Gymnasium. In 1896, he became a junior assistant librarian at the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg, in charge of the category of Slavs and Galician-Russian books of the Manuscript Department of the library. Due to the difficult financial situation, he had to resign from the library and return to teach Russian at the Comrat real school. In 1906–1912, P.D. Draganov worked as an inspector of a real school in Astrakhan, director of a teacher’s seminary in the village Rovnoe of the Samara province. In 1913, he returned to Bessarabia and was appointed director of the male gymnasium in Cahul. When Bessarabia was occupied by Romania, the Romanian authorities issued a decree on the preservation of the gymnasium and proposed to P.D. Draganov to remain its director. However, he decided to return to his native Comrat, where he taught Bulgarian at the Comrat real school until retirement. P.D. Draganov is the author of over 100 historical, literary, ethnographic, philological, bibliographic and critical works. His articles were published in the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, “Historical Bulletin”, “Izvestia of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the Department of Russian Language and Literature”, “Russian Philological Bulletin” and others. Some of his works have remained unpublished. Most of P.D. Draganov’s studies focus on Bessarabian and Balkan themes. He wrote many works about A.S. Pushkin. Draganov was the founder of Macedonian studies in Russia. One ofhis most important works is “The Macedonian-Slavic Collection” (Issue 1. St. Petersburg, 1894), which received many reviews. Another well-known work of his is the compilation “A.S. Pushkin in Fifty Languages, i.e. Translations from A.S. Pushkin into 50 languages and dialects of the world. A Bibliographic Wreath on the Monument to A.S. Pushkin, Woven for the Centenary of His Birth, May 26, 1799 – May 26, 1899 with a Portrait of the Poet” (St. Petersburg, 1899). Draganov also participated in the compilation of the Bulgarian-Russian Dictionary, published the first universal index Bessarabiana, where he listed the sources and literature published over 100 years since the annexation of Bessarabia to Russia. Among the numerous works by P.D. Draganov, there are studies about Rusins.