Following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in February, the House of European History (HEH) commissioned a research to provide insights into the crisis and help HEH audiences better understand what is at stake in Ukraine. The research, carried out by Kristina Zmejauskaitė, a history PhD student at the Dublin City University, has been concluded recently with the collection of about 20 articles and lectures.
The project’s aim was to provide HEH audiences insights into the war through an understanding of the history and memory issues at stake.
The collected items had to be multi-perspective and academically sound, yet accessible to a general audience. They also had to address a specific set of questions such as: How is history mobilised in the current context, by which actors, for which purposes and with what results?
Further parameters were set for the research. Articles and lectures had to have a clear focus on memory and history, preferably setting the debate in a European-wide context. They also had to come from people based in a variety of countries and could, therefore, be written or produced in different languages and they had to be analytical rather than opinionated.
Furthermore, they had to be published or uploaded within the past five years, had to come from clearly identified and reliable sources and had include contributions from established historians and academics.
Here are the results of the research:
- Presentation ‘The History of Ukraine is Different from the History of Russia’ by Carl Bildt - June 7, 2018.
- Lilia Shevtsova, “Russia’s Ukraine Obsession,” Journal of Democracy 31, no. 1 (2020): 138–47 - January 2020.
- Ivan Kurilla, ‘Nationalizing Russian (War) Memory Since 2014’, PONARS Eurasia - July 6, 2020.
- Anna Chebotarova, ‘Memory and Military Conflict: Politics of History and its Societal Perception in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine’, Euxeinos, Vol. 10, No. 29 / 2020.
- Jade McGlynn, “Moscow Is Using Memory Diplomacy to Export Its Narrative to the World,” Foreign Policy - June 25, 2021.
- Marylia Hushcha, International Institute for Peace, ‘Thirty years on – is there still ‘post-soviet’ space?’ - December 13, 2021.
- PBS News Hour ‘How Russia is trying to control history in bid for geo-political strength’ - December 28, 2021.
- Today Explained, ‘The Real and Imagined History of Ukraine’ with Timothy Snyder - February 25, 2022.
- Marlene Laruelle and Ivan Grek, ‘Decoding Putin’s Speeches: The Three Ideological Lines of Russia’s Military Intervention in Ukraine’ - February 25, 2022.
- Leo Goretti, ‘Putin’s Use and Abuse of History: Back to the 19th Century?’, IAI Istituto Affari Internazionali - March 1, 2022.
- Podcast series ‘Then & Now’ by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. Special two-part episode ‘Ghosts of the Past in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine’ with Benjamin Nathans and Arch Getty - March 2, 2022.
- IARCEE Russian invasion of Ukraine Roundtable (Speakers: Tanya Lokot, Maciej Curpyś, Róisín Healy, Aneta Stępień, Maria Falina. Panel chaired by John Paul Newman) - March 9, 2022.
- The War in Ukraine and Universal Values.’ Public conversation with Serhii Plokhii and Timothy Snyder - March 11, 2022.
- Vladimir Putin and the Weaponization of History.’ Wilson Center NOW, online webinar with Izabella Tabarovsky and Katie Stallard - March 16, 2022.
- Podcast series ‘Then & Now’ episode ‘Understanding Ukraine Past and Present: A Conversation with Jared McBride’ - March 17, 2022.
- Ukrainian Voices: The War Against a ‘non-existent’ language.’ Lecture by Natalya Kobchenko. Part of a series of lectures organized by the HEPP research group and the Aleksanteri Institute, at the University of Helsinki - April 5, 2022.
- Körber-Stiftung News article ‘War and Memory in the Post-Soviet Space: Weaponization without Limits?’ by Tatiana Zhurzhenko - April 14, 2022.
- Timothy Snyder, ‘The War in Ukraine Is a Colonial War’, The New Yorker - April 28, 2022. Additional: ‘Historian Timothy Snyder: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Is a Colonial War.’ In Democracy Now - May 5, 2022.
- Weaponizing the Past: the Role of Memory Politics in the Russian War in Ukraine.’ Lecture by Alina Mozolevska. Part of a series of lectures organized by the HEPP research group and the Aleksanteri Institute, at the University of Helsinki - April 21, 2022.
Image credit: Valentin Kundeus via Adobe Stock "Monument of Independence of Ukraine in front of the Ukrainian flag"
