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Russia's O n e Hundred Year W ar With the Ukrainian Language One hundred years ago, in 1863, Valuyev, th e R ussian m ini ste r of th e In terio r, m ade h is to ry by his notorious pronounce m ent th a t “th ere i s not, th e re h as not been, and th e re cannot be such a th in g as an U krainian language.” Th i s statement was accom panied by a special circu lar w hich prohibited th e publish ing of all U krainian books except belles-lettres. This m arked th e beginning of an all out w ar ag ain st th e U krainian language. D uring th e firs t 50 years th e re w ere m any fluctuations. The persecution reached its peak in 1876 th ro u g h th e E m ski U kas, proclaim ed by T sar A lexander II in 1876, w hen even th eatric al perform ances and lectures in U krainian w ere forbidden. W ith tim e tension w as released a little. A fte r th e revolution in 1905 even an U krainian p ress w as allowed, if one daily new spaper and several w eeklies could be so considered. The revolution of 1917 becam e a tu rn in g point. T he revival of U krainian national culture w as overw helm ing; and th e young U krainian sta te devoted consi derable e ffo rt to spread it in d iffe ren t directions. The U k rain i an A cadem y of Sciences and th e S ta te U niversity w ere establish ed in K iev; th e N ational M u seum , th e U krainian S tate T he a te r and th e S ta te School of D ram a w ere founded. In 1918 th e re w ere in U kraine 104 pub lishing hou ses; and in th is one y ea r alone 1,084 U krainian books w ere published. A lthough U krainian People’s Republic w as short-lived, and soon th e R ussian C om m unists em erged victorious, th e national re-aw akening in U kraine re m ained an elem ent of trem en dous power. Lenin him self re alized th a t “to ignore th e im portance of th e national question in U kraine would be to com m it a deep and dangerous e r r o r /’ In 1923 th e C om m unist p a rty issued th e historical decree of “Ukrainization,” the most im p o rta n t of Soviet R ussian con cessions to U krainian n atio n al ism. The U krainian language w as once m ore introduced in schools, courts, and new spapers and business. F o r fo rty years, from th e nam ed decree th ere w ere again m any fluctuations, b u t of a fa r g re a te r reach. The firs t decade b ro u g h t a vivid flow ering of U krainian culture and intellec tu al life w hich m anifested itself in lite ratu re , in fine a rts, in th e a te r and m usic, in scholastic m ethods and achievem ents. The cultural revival stirre d also po litical th o u g h ts. A se-cession of U kraine from th e Soviet Union w as considered. “A w ay from M oscow!” becam e th e U krainian intellectual’s fav o rite slogan. AI th is w as incom patible w ith th e aim s of th e Soviet em pire builders. The w ar w ith th e U krainian language cam e again into th e open. U krainian scholars and w riters w ere accused of n a tio n alist tendencies and p erse cuted accordingly. The U krainian language w as no longer used in th e official proceedings of th e K iev governm ent; and in 1938 R ussian w as officially in tro duced as th e com pulsory second ary language in all schools. The u nder-current of th e U krainian national conscious ness how ever, is stro n g and de m anding, and m u st be tak en in to account, even by th e enem y. A fte r th e death of S talin a slight tension-release w as once m ore considered. U krainian be gan to be used m ore freely. P er m ission w as g ran ted fo r th e pub lication of th e long over-due U krainian encyclopedia. The U krainian p ress began to publish articles and le tte rs from readers who defended th e rig h ts of th e U krainian language and dem and ed increased q u an tities of U krainian books, new spapers, te x t books, records. The relax a tion however, was b u t one of th e m any fluctuations in th e cen tury-old policy of R ussification. The R ussian language still p re dom inates in cities, factories, universities, adm inistration. M any m ore books are pub lished in U kraine in th e R ussian language th a n are in U krainian. The average circulation of U krainian books is k ep t consid erably lower th a n th a t of R us sian books; and m any of th e U krainian books are b u t tra n sla tions from R ussian. In 1958 a fa r-reach in g reform of public education w as pro posed; p aren ts w ere to be given a choice betw een R ussian and U krainian schools fo r th e ir chil dren. B u t p aren ts are under p ressu re of one-sided p ro p ag an da, and pupils of non-R ussian schools are victim s of discrim i nation. T hey m ay find th em selves b arred from h ig h er educa tion, m ilitary academ ies, and governm ental in stitu tio n s, w here R ussian is th e sole m eans of com m unication. The century-old R ussian w ar w ith th e U krainian language is still going on. It uses subtler weapons and m odern tactics now, b u t its aim s are th e sam e as those of a hundred y ears ago. The U krainian language, ju s t as th e U krainian national sp irit, has proved to be a form idable foe to both m ig h ty R ussian em pires. E ven a t th e beginning it w as too stro n g to be crushed. It survived all th e te rro r and p er secutions, and now th a t it grew ^ і НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — ЛЮТИЙ, 1963 13
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