CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE IMPERIAL MEMORY POLICY TOWARDS THE DNIEPER UKRAINE AND THE CRIMEA IN THE 19TH — EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

The research is devoted to the implementation of the imperial memory policy towards the Dnieper Ukraine and the Crimea in the 19th — early 20th century. Ukraine had been ruled by foreign states for centuries. Therefore, Ukrainian history has often been interpreted as dependent territory, ruled by the bigger neighbouring states. Russian and Polish historians of the 19th century included in their national historical narratives all lands, which were part of Russia or Poland respectively. The dynastic approach was proper for the historiography of the 19th century. “History of the Russian State” by Nikolay Karamzin is considered as an example of the dynastic approach in the 19th century Russian history where the idea of autocracy was proclaimed as a common good of the Russian Empire. Similar theses, in general, were typical for the 19th century and ended with the glorification of the monarchy and the proper ancestry. The purpose of the study is to identify and characterize the main tools and methods of conducting the Russian imperial memory policy on the creation of the geopolitical project of the Russian Orthodox World. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of historicism, systematic, scientific and interdisciplinary approach. The following general historical methods are used: historiographic analysis, historical-genetic, terminological analysis, comparative and typological methods. The author is adhered to the civilizational approach. The creation of a geopolitical project of the Russian Orthodox World is defined as strategic purpose of the policy which is implemented by means of forming a common identity on the imperial frontiers. The imperial memory policy has caused deep deformations in the collective consciousness of the Ukrainians.

Keywords

• historical memory
• memory policy
• memory sites
• museums
• russian empire
• dnieper ukraine