Exploring alternatives in East European history. The battle that took place near Konotop in late June 1659 was a continuation of the Muscovite-Cossack war, which began in the fall of 1658, soon after the signing of the Union of Hadiach. Cossack and Tatar detachments trapped a significant portion of the Muscovite army, leading to enormous Russian losses.
This account of historical politics in Ukraine, framed in a broader European context, shows how social, political, and cultural groups have used and misused the past from the final years of the Soviet Union to 2020. Georgiy Kasianov details practices relating to history and memory by a variety of actors, including state institutions, non-governmental organizations, political parties, historians, and local governments. He identifies the main political purposes of these practices in the construction of nation and identity, struggles for power, warfare, and international relations. Kasianov considers the Ukrainian case in the context of a global increase in the politics of history and memory, with particular emphasis on a distinctive East-European variety. He pays special attention to the use and abuse of history in relations between Ukraine, Russia, and Poland.
The Turkic Peoples in World History is a thorough and rare introduction to the Turkic world and its role in world history, providing a concise history of the Turkic peoples as well as a critical discussion of their identities and origins. The "Turks" stepped on to the stage of history by establishing the Türk Qaghanate, the first trans-Eurasian empire in history, in 552 CE. In the following millennium, they went on to create empires that had a profound impact on world history such as the Uyghur, Khazar, and Ottoman empires. They also participated in building the Mongol empire, and these Turko-Mongol empires are credited with shaping the destinies of pre-modern China, the Middle East, and Europe. By treating the history of the Turkic peoples as a process of amalgamation and integration, rather than simply categorizing the Turkic peoples chronologically or geographically, this book offers new insights into Turkic history. This volume is a comprehensive guide for students and scholars in the fields of world history, Central Asian history, and Middle Eastern studies who are seeking to understand the historical roles of Turkic peoples and their origins.
Thirteen essays by scholars from seven countries discuss the political use and abuse of history in the recent decades with particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia as case studies), but also includes articles on Germany, Japan and Turkey, which provide a much needed comparative dimension. The main focus is on new conditions of political utilization of history in post-communist context, which is characterized by lack of censorship and political pluralism. The phenomenon of history politics became extremely visible in Central and Eastern Europe in the past decade, and remains central for political agenda in many countries of the regions. Each essay is a case study contributing to the knowledge about collective memory and political use of history, offering a new theoretical twist. The studies look at actors (from political parties to individual historians), institutions (museums, Institutes of National remembrance, special political commissions), methods, political rationale and motivations behind this phenomenon.
In studies of a common European past, there is a significant lack of scholarship on the former Eastern Bloc countries. While understanding the importance of shifting the focus of European memory eastward, contributors to this volume avoid the trap of Eastern European exceptionalism, an assumption that this region’s experiences are too unique to render them comparable to the rest of Europe. They offer a reflection on memory from an Eastern European historical perspective, one that can be measured against, or applied to, historical experience in other parts of Europe. In this way, the authors situate studies on memory in Eastern Europe within the broader debate on European memory.
With implications for the war in Ukraine, a surprising history of the Crimean Tatars from the fifteenth century to the present day. The Crimean Tatars were the Turkic-speaking native peoples of Crimea who established a powerful khanate in the 1440s, which remained in power until 1783. In this, the first history in English of this khanate for over one hundred years, eminent scholar Donald Rayfield shows that this misunderstood and much-feared nation was, in fact, a flourishing state with a vibrant literary culture, religious tolerance, a sophisticated constitution, and a prosperous economy. Rayfield’s book describes the establishment of the khanate, its reign, and its eventual fall, concluding with a vivid portrayal of the ruthless suppression of the Tatars—first by Russia and then the Soviet Union—and the final, effectively genocidal, invasion under Vladimir Putin. This vibrant and ultimately tragic chronicle is essential reading for anyone interested in the background of the current war in Ukraine.
The history of Ukraine resembles a half-uncharted map. This is not a mere coincidence, but the result of the deliberate public policy. Hundreds of various people serving their mother countries have been working hard on those blank spots for centuries. Those myth and fake news makers have done their best to make our history, as well as Ukraine itself, look in descendants’ eyes the way preferred by those who tried to assimilate the heritage of Kyivan Rus. However, time always puts everything in its place. So this book is an attempt to collect the events that have shaped the Ukraine we know today and will promote its further development. We sought to focus on positive events in Ukrainian history, in other words, on victories. The image of our country as a helpless continuously suffering victim that always sings sad songs and is incapable of confronting external pressure has been exploited for a long time. In fact, an insight into the actual history of Ukraine proves this image to be false. The voice of the past provides us with dozens of chronicles, documents, and historical studies. Courageous heroes, strong warriors, talented artists, prominent statesmen, unrivalled philosophers and scholars — those have been the people creating our history. And, naturally, they and their achievements must be revealed and popularized. This work is an effort to unite in a single volume the highlights of our historic heritage and show that, against all odds, Ukraine remembers its past and intends to build its own bright future, considering the extensive rich experience that has been gained.
The book in two volumes describes the evolution of Judeo Christianity and Islam and 1,300 years of warfare between them. Islam and Christianity follow gods with different characteristics and differing doctrinesfree will vs. determinism. They were engaged in bloody conflict from 632 AD until 1856 (Crimean War) when the Ottoman Empire became the sick man of Europe. It reignited with Egyptian encouragement backed by Soviet money, the arming of Fedayeen terrorists in 1956, and the Six-Day War following Egypts seizure of the Suez Canal, and has become progressively more serious ever since.