History of Ukrainian Nationality - Kievan Rus Between Poland and Russia

Kievan Rus Between Poland and Russia

After the fall of Kievan Rus, there were several independent Ukrainian states, notably the Kingdom of Halych, the Cossack Hetmanate and the Ukrainian National Republic after the First World War. Overall, though, there has been no modern Ukrainian tradition of statehood, making it even more difficult to place the Ukrainian identity firmly in the European or Asian camps. For that matter, in the 14th to 18th centuries, scholars could not agree as to whether Ruthenians (medieval Latin term for Ukrainians and Belorusians) should be grouped with Poland or Muscovy (proto-Russia).

Even at such an early time, the Ukrainian question mystified scholars. Ruthenians were Orthodox and spoke dialects that would evolve into middle-Ukrainian and Belorusian. During this era, Poland and Muscovy are playing a game of tug-of-war to control and influence the territory of Ukraine, which meant increased European influences during critical stages of the Reformation, Renaissance, and Enlightenment, while historically conservative forces such as Orthodoxy and mythical-lore and literature were also prominent in shaping Ukrainian identity. The links between Ukraine, its neighbours, the East and West have been anything but equidistant.

There have been periods of increased cultural influence from countries like Poland, Muscovy, and Austria. This pressure has never been geographically equal. For example, Galicia had been under Polish and Austrian rule until the end of Second World War, while Right-bank Ukraine had been under nominal Tsarist rule since the Treaty of Pereyaslav.

What can be deduced is that Ukrainian lands had ties to the West for a longer period of time and at crucial moments in the formation of the Ukrainian identity that made it distinct from Russian culture, which did not materialise until the last years of Tsarist rule. As far back as Kievan Rus, Rurikid dynasty members were married to Western and Central European royalty, such as the ruling houses of England and France. During the period of Polish dominance, many artistic and literary movements that originated in Europe made their way to Ukraine and Poland but not the Tsarist lands, as the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forcefully isolated them.

During the period of increased European cultural influence, the Ruthenian identity appears among ethnic Belarusians and Ukrainians, whose lands had been transferred to the administration of Lithuania and Poland, respectively. Ruthenian and Polish nobles often spoke Polish, Latin, and Church Slavonic in court, which added to the feeling that the Ruthenian language was the lingua franca of the peasants. The defining mark of a Ruthenian under Poland was therefore religion, as Poles are traditionally Catholic. The Rus or Rusyn identity was left to Muscovy and the Tsars as the divide between Rus and Ruthenia widened in correlation to greater Polish influence.

The final straw in severing the link of association between Rusyn and Ruthenian was the Orthodox split between the Metropolitans of Moscow and Kiev. By the 17th century, Ruthenian identity and culture have grown independent of their previous associations, and is called the Ruthenian Revival. Although many aspects of modern Ukrainian society are still being formed or would be greatly influenced by the forthcoming Cossack Revolts, Ukrainian identity had distinctly defined itself a niche in the society of the day. Vernacular Ukrainian was being used in Church services and the founding of the Rezszpospolita by the Union of Lublin created a divergence in the Ruthenian identity between ethnic Belarusian and Ukrainians.

Petro Mohyla, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and founder of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy started a reform movement with the goal of reviving the traditions of the local Orthodox Church for Ukrainians. This meant restored teachings of traditional Greek and Latin, which many saw as a reinforcement of the cultural continuum that links Rus to Ruthenia. In conjunction with the formation of distinct Cossack society, Ukrainian identity would forever take a path of its own choosing.