The „Orange Revolution” in Ukraine in Historical and Cultural Context

Abstract

The results of the presidential elections in Ukraine in 2004 and the results of public opinion polls show clearly the immense role played by historical and cultural context during the “Orange Revolution”. Ukrainian society was divided almost equally into two camps: the „orange” – revolution supporters and the „blue” – supporters of the counterrevolution. This division was largely territorial. The west and center of the country voted in majority on Viktor Yushchenko and the east and south on Viktor Yanukovych. Social attitudes and behavior of supporters of the revolution, and their opponents, were determined by the following factors: national identity, language, religion, identification of fatherland, tradition and historical memory. In fact, Ukraine is divided, historically and culturally, into three regions: 1) West, which until 1939 was greatly influenced by Latin civilization; 2) Centre, which has been partially Russificated, but retained its national character; 3) East and South – an area inhabited only in the 19th century with a large proportion of Russians, without its own historical tradition. Based on survey data we can propose a thesis that the Ukrainian society, in cultural and political terms, is actually divided into three groups: 1) nationally conscious Ukrainians (about 40%), talking every day in Ukrainian, followers of the Kiev Patriarchate and Greek Catholics, supporting democratization and rapprochement with the European Union and NATO; 2) Russians and “Ukrainorussians” (about 40%), speaking Russian, atheists or followers of the Moscow Patriarchate, nostalgic for the Soviet Union, supporting close cooperation with Russia and Belarus; 3) “hesitating ones” (about 20%), mostly Russian-speaking, or bilingual Ukrainians, culturally torn between East and West.