Abstract
This chapter reviews how historical memory and historical policy are used as tools in the information war in the Donbas conflict. Historical memory is regarded as part of a complex set of collective representations and oral traditions, which form a national identity. Within the hybrid aggression on the territory of Ukraine, the use of narratives provides the background that enables the continuation of the conflict. While Ukraine is re-establishing a Ukraine-centric (nation-centric) policy, the leaders of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) and “Luhansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”) are trying to use historical memory and dominant narratives found among the population in Donbas to form a new identity. Therefore, the authors analyse what methods are being used by the Russian aggressors and what consequences are possible in the case of the formation of a new identity in Donbas. Methods of information propaganda, such as creating new holidays, new heroes and new approaches to schooling, are considered in detail. Furthermore, attempts to use the events and heroes of the Second World War are similarly analysed, while tangible narratives, such as Soviet symbols and “The Great Patriotic War”, are also considered. Lastly, the development of a new Ukrainian historical policy in response to the historical propaganda challenges of the de-communization law, renaming cities and streets and deconstructing monuments, are evidence of the implementation of a nation-centric paradigm of historical discourse within Ukrainian society. As such, it is believed that the Ukrainian nation-centric paradigm of historical discourse will contribute to the process of nation-building and the strengthening of state institutions and society.
Sergii Pakhomenko, Associate Professor of International Relations and Foreign Policy Chair of Mariupol State University; Associate Professor of Public Communications Chair of Mariupol State University, 180-16, Metalurgiv Avenue, Mariupol, Ukraine, +38 067 931 83 74, email: spplus@ukr.net.
Kateryna Tryma, Mariupol State University, Senior Lecturer of the Chair of Sociology and Philosophy, 16 Kalugska Street, Mariupol, Ukraine, +38 098 367 04 30, email: katet@ukr.net; katerynatryma@gmail.com.
J’moul A. Francis, Tallinn University of Technology, Graduate of the Department of Law, PO Box 3034, St. John’s, Antigua, +1268 720 8655, email: jmoulfrancis@icloud.com.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Nagorna 2012, p. 21.
- 2.
Iakovenko 2007, p. 34.
- 3.
Halbwachs 2007, p. 127.
- 4.
The term “historical policy” (Geschichtspolitik) emerged in the 1980s in Germany in the context of discussions about the country’s Nazi past. See Miller and Lipman 2012, The convolutions of historical politics. http://www.urokiistorii.ru/memory/conf/51482. Accessed 4 January 2017.
- 5.
Kulyk 2016.
- 6.
The OUN was a sociopolitical movement created in 1929 with the aim of restoring an independent Ukrainian nation state. The organization fought against the Polish administration in Western Ukraine, including with the use of terrorist methods. It hoped to exploit the Soviet-German conflict to achieve the goal of establishing an independent Ukraine and concluded an alliance with Germany. After the occupation of Lvov by the Germans on 30 June 1941, the OUN declared that an independent united Ukraine had been restored, which prompted Hitler’s indignation. OUN leader Stepan Bandera was arrested and deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The organization then went underground and began to fight the German occupation of Western Ukraine and later the Soviet regime in the region. The UPA comprised armed groups of the OUN and was active in the period 1942–54 within Western Ukraine.
- 7.
Kononov 1999.
- 8.
Pakhomenko and Tryma 2016, p. 50.
- 9.
Pakhomenko 2011, pp. 127–45.
- 10.
Vystuplenie Pytina: Novorossia i druhie iarkie tsytaty. http://news.bigmir.net/world/809994-Vystuplenie-Putina---Novorossija--i-drugie-jarkie-citaty. Accessed 6 December 2016.
- 11.
Boiko 2009, p. 217.
- 12.
Kabuzan 1976, p. 248.
- 13.
An contentious debunking of the “myth” about “Novorossiya” in the format of popular exposition, while at the same time referring to authoritative sources, can be found in an article by Odessa historian, Oleg Gava. See Gava, ‘Putin’s lies, or the history of “New Russia” and its ethnic composition in the XIX century’. http://argumentua.com/stati/lozh-putina-ili-istoriya-novorossii-i-ee-etnicheskii-sostav-v-xix-veke. Accessed 20 December 2016.
- 14.
Sokolova 2014.
- 15.
Pakhomenko 2015, p. 99.
- 16.
Lozovyi 2015.
- 17.
Litvinenko 2015.
- 18.
V DNR opredeleni prazdnicnije dni [The holidays are established by the DPR]. http://reporter.dn.ua/news/society/v_dnr_opredeleny_prazdnichnye_dni/. Accessed 20 December 2016.
- 19.
“Bessmertnyi polk” (official site) 2016. http://moypolk.ru/ustav-polka. Accessed 21 December 2016.
- 20.
Kak zhiteley DNR uchat naslazhdatsya bedoy 2016. http://www.dsnews.ua/politics/dnr-27012017220000. Accessed 21 December 2016.
- 21.
Hlavaria «DNR» sravnili s Kutuzovym y Zhukovym, v seti smeiutsia 2016. http://newsyou.info/glavarya-dnr-sravnili-s-kutuzovym-i-zhukovym-v-seti-smeyutsya. Accessed 22 December 2016.
- 22.
Izuchenye istoryy po novoi prohramme nachnetsia v DNR s sentiabria – Ministr obrazovania 2016. https://dan-news.info/culture-ru/izuchenie-istorii-po-novoj-programme-nachnetsya-v-dnr-s-sentyabrya-ministr-obrazovaniya.html. Accessed 25 December 2016.
- 23.
Analitychnyi zvit za rezultatamy sotsiolohichnoho doslidzhennia «Osoblyvosti svidomosti ta identychnosti zhyteliv pidkontrolnoi ta nepidkontrolnoi Ukraine terytorii Donetskoi oblasti»: vysnovky ta rekomendatsii 2016.
- 24.
Instytut natsionalnoi pamiati opryliudnyv rezultaty dekomunizatsii u 2016 rotsi 2016. http://gazeta.ua/articles/history/_institut-nacionalnoyi-pamyati-oprilyudniv-rezultati-dekomunizaciyi-u-2016-roci/743473. Accessed 24 December 2016.
- 25.
Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy pryiniala paket zakoniv pro dekomunizatsiiu 2016. http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/verkhovna-rada-ukraini-priinyala-paket-zakoniv-pro-dekomunizatsiyu. Accessed 26 December 2016.
References
Analytical center Donbas factory of thought, IFAK Institut Analitychnyi zvit za rezultatamy sotsiolohichnoho doslidzhennia «Osoblyvosti svidomosti ta identychnosti zhyteliv pidkontrolnoi ta nepidkontrolnoi Ukraine terytorii Donetskoi oblasti»: vysnovky ta rekomendatsii (2016) [Analytical report of survey “Features consciousness and identity of the inhabitants of controlled and uncontrolled territories of Ukraine Donetsk region”: conclusions and recommendations] ”Bessmertnyi polk” Official site (2016). http://moypolk.ru/ustav-polka. Accessed 21 Dec 2016
Boiko O (2009) The area, borders and administrative divisions of the Hetmanate of Hetman of Ukraine Pavlo Skoropadskyi (1918). Regional History of Ukraine, Institute of History of Ukraine, Kiev. – pp. 217–232
DSNews (2016) Narodnoe mozgopravstvo. Kak zhiteley DNR uchat naslazhdatsya bedoy. http://www.dsnews.ua/politics/dnr-27012017220000. Accessed 21 December 2016 [People’s shrink. As residents of the DNR are taught to enjoy trouble]
Gazeta (2016) Instytut natsionalnoi pamiati opryliudnyv rezultaty dekomunizatsii u 2016 rotsi. http://gazeta.ua/articles/history/_institut-nacionalnoyi-pamyati-oprilyudniv-rezultati-dekomunizaciyi-u-2016-roci/743473. Accessed 24 December 2016 [Institute of National Memory published the results of decommunization in 2016]
Halbwachs M (2007) Sotsialnye ramki pamyati. Novoe isdatelstvo, Moscow [Social frameworks of memory]
Iakovenko O (2007) Vstup do istorii. Kritika, Kiev [The introduction to History]
Izuchenye istoryy po novoi prohramme nachnetsia v DNR s sentiabria – ministr obrazovania (2016). https://dan-news.info/culture-ru/izuchenie-istorii-po-novoj-programme-nachnetsya-v-dnr-s-sentyabrya-ministr-obrazovaniya.html. Accessed 25 December 2016 [The study of history according to the new program will start in DPR from September – Minister of Education]
Kabuzan M (1976) Zaselenie Novorossii v kontse XVIII — per. pol. XIX v. (1719–1858 gg.). Nauka, Moscow [Settlement of Novorossia in the late XVIII – the early XIX century. (1719–1858)]
Kononov I (1999) Ukrainsko-russkaya dominiruyuschaya koalitsiya kak faktor razvitiya etnicheskoy strukturyi Ukrainyi. http://www.niurr.gov.ua/ukr/dialog_1999/Kononov.html. Accessed 9 January 2017 [The Ukrainian-Russian dominant coalition as a factor in the development of the ethnic structure of Ukraine]
Kulyk V (2016) Natsionalistychne proty radianskoho: istorychna pamiat u nezalezhnii Ukrainy. http://www.historians.in.ua/index.php/istoriya-i-pamyat-vazhki-pitannya/379-volodymyr-kulyk-natsionalistychne-proty-radianskoho-istorychna-pamiat-u-nezalezhnii-ukraini. Accessed 10 January 2017 [Nationalistical against Soviet: historical memory in Independent Ukraine]
Litvinenko O (2015) Vyklyky natsionalnii politytsi pamiati v chasy “hibrydnoi viiny. http://www.niss.gov.ua/articles/1818/. Accessed 10 December 2016 [The challenges to the national politics of memory during hybrid warfare]
Nagorna L (2012) Istorychna pamjat: teorii, discursy, refleksii. IPiEND im. I.F. Kurasa NAN Ukrajni, Kiev [Historical memory, theory, discussion, reflection]
Newsyou (2016) Hlavaria «DNR» sravnili s Kutuzovym y Zhukovym, v seti smeiutsia. http://newsyou.info/glavarya-dnr-sravnili-s-kutuzovym-i-zhukovym-v-seti-smeyutsya. Accessed 22 December 2016 [The leader of “DPR” was compared with Kutuzov and Zhukov, they are laughing on the Internet]
Pakhomenko S (2011) Ukrainska Povstanska Armiia v suchasnomu informatsiinomu prostori Donechchyny.National Library of the Czech Republic - Slavonic Library, Prague [Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the modern information space Donetsk]
Pakhomenko S (2015) Identity Factor in Terms of the Ukrainian Crisis (the Example of The Donbas Region). Bezpieczenstwo. Teoria i Praktyka. Kwartalnik Krakowskiej Akademii im. Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewsiego 3:95–105
Pakhomenko S, Tryma C (2016) Identity and propaganda in Russian-Ukrainian hybrid warfare. Sojatedlane. Estonian Journal of Military Studies. Cultural, peace and conflict studies series. The crisis in Ukraine and information operations of the Russian Federation 2:42–54
Sokolova M (2014) Ekspertyi: «Novorossiya imeet pravo na samoopredelenie». http://www.pnp.ru/news/detail/64849. Accessed 13 December 2016 [Experts: “New Russia has the right to self-determination]
V DNR opredeleni prazdnicnije dni. http://reporter.dn.ua/news/society/v_dnr_opredeleny_prazdnichnye_dni/. Accessed 20 December 2016 [The holidays are established by DPR 2016]
Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy pryiniala paket zakoniv pro dekomunizatsiiu (2016). http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/verkhovna-rada-ukraini-priinyala-paket-zakoniv-pro-dekomunizatsiyu. Accessed 26 Dec 2016 [Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law on decommunization]
Vystuplenie Putina: Novorossia i druhie iarkie tsytaty (2016). http://news.bigmir.net/world/809994-Vystuplenie-Putina—Novorossija–i-drugie-jarkie-citaty. Accessed 06 December 2016 [Putin’s speech: Novorossia and other notable quotations]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 T.M.C. Asser Press and the authors
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pakhomenko, S., Tryma, K., Francis, J.A. (2018). The Russian–Ukrainian War in Donbas: Historical Memory as an Instrument of Information Warfare. In: Sayapin, S., Tsybulenko, E. (eds) The Use of Force against Ukraine and International Law. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-222-4_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-222-4_14
Published:
Publisher Name: T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague
Print ISBN: 978-94-6265-221-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-6265-222-4
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)