Historical memory about Second world war in the context of threats of government in Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of the research – the character of the Second World war historical memory formation in Ukrainian society and its influence on the process of the state building in Ukraine was determined. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, the objectivity of systematic, scientific, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, scientific abstraction) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-system) methods and methods of political science (behavioral, cultural, anthropological). The scientific novelty is that for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, on the basis of analysis of the content of scientific and individual journalistic publications, the means of forming historical memory of the Second World War in Ukrainian society are determined, the influence of formation of such historical memory on the process of modern Ukrainian state formation is determined. Conclusions. On the eve of and during the Second World War, the attainment of the goals by the belligerent parties involved massive manipulation of ethnic values, historical memory. Founded on the basis of mobilization of people in the war, such manipulations inevitably influenced the nature of the organization of propaganda campaigns, and eventually and coverage of the researchers of the events of the war. Formed predominantly in the winner’s camp, the results of manipulations by the consciousness of citizens for a long time «traveled» with scientific works in the form of dies. Their generation was most often driven by ideas about civil obligations, the assessment of the goals and nature of the fighting and the role of individual countries in its rebellion, as well as the allied relations between the countries participating in the war. In view of this, the assessments of the Ukrainian population’s participation in the Second World War were largely conditioned by the inclusion of its lands in different states (and, consequently, the difference in the assessment of civil obligations), the change in the alliance's priorities of the USSR and Germany during the war and the specifics of the views of senior management It is these states about the goals and objectives of ethnopolitics. The policy of memory of the Second World War until recently was used by the Russian Federation as an obstacle to the development of Ukrainian statehood, as well as a means of mobilizing part of Russian citizens to conduct hostilities in Ukraine. In addition, in Ukraine, the memory of the war as a tragedy of mankind, which must be avoided in the future, is being formed.

Reforming the policy of memory in relation to the Second World War in Ukraine is taking place in the framework of European integration and integration into the world community. Instead, in Russia, the policy of memory is increasingly associated with the sacrifice of Victory, with the simultaneous rejection of any alternative assessments of events of the time that was characteristic of the Soviet Union. Ukraine gradually departs from the Soviet modeling of historical memory of the Second World War. Instead, the RF is actively using manipulations with historical memory to strengthen its position in the informational confrontation with Ukraine and to unite its own people around the idea of «Russian peace».