Title: The near abroad : socialist Eastern Europe and Soviet patriotism in Ukraine 1956-1985 /
Authors: Wojnowski, Zbigniew,
Year: 2017
Subjects: Patriotism Ukraine History; Patriotism Soviet Union History; Ukrainians Ethnic identity History; Socialism Europe, Eastern History; Patriotism; Socialism; Ukrainians Ethnic identity; Ukraine History; Soviet Union History; Europe, Eastern History; Eastern Europe; Soviet Union; Ukraine
Abstract: "From the Soviet perspective, Eastern Europe was the near abroad--more accessible than the capitalist West, yet also unambiguously foreign. Observing their western neighbours, citizens of the USSR developed new ideas about the role of states, borders, and national identities in the Soviet empire. In The Near Abroad, Zbigniew Wojnowski traces how Soviet Ukrainian identities developed in dialogue and confrontation with the USSR's neighbours in Eastern Europe. The author aptly challenges the dominant chronologies of late Soviet history by arguing that patriotism framed heated debates about the future of the Soviet state even amongst the rising tide of cynicism and disengagement from public life. Wojnowski's insightful analysis illuminates the mental geographies that continue to shape relations and conflicts between Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe to this very day. Unlike most other histories of Ukraine, The Near Abroad does not reduce Ukrainian nationalism to anti-Soviet views and behaviours."--
Contents: De-Stalinisation and Soviet patriotism : Ukrainian reactions to East European unrest in 1956 -- Friendship in the Soviet empire : salvaging international socialism in Eastern Europe after 1956 -- The limits of de-Stalinisation : the Prague spring and the end of the thaw in 1968 -- Making enemies : historical memory and the ethnic foundations of Soviet Patriotism in Ukraine, 1968-1980 -- A prelude to Perestroika : solidarity and Soviet patriotism, 1980-1985.