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To: A. Pole
"My take is that Ukraine, Russia and Byelorus are in process od divergence (which maybe can be reversed to some degree) from the origial ethno/cultural unit called Rus."

Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian people are eastern Slavs, just like Poles, Czechs and Slovaks are western Slavs and the fact that hundreds years ago the first group was a part of one territorial unit doesn't prove that there is some special connection between them.
Didn't you and other fans of Putin claim a while ago that Ukrainian language is a mix of Polish & Russian and that Ukrainian nation doesn't really exist, but was invented by Germans ?
155 posted on 01/16/2005 11:21:00 AM PST by Grzegorz 246
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To: Grzegorz 246
Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian people are eastern Slavs, just like Poles, Czechs and Slovaks are western Slavs and the fact that hundreds years ago the first group was a part of one territorial unit doesn't prove that there is some special connection between them.

By itself not. But is clear for nonbiased eyes, just read the history of Kievan Rus written by the third parties. Even in Polish language we have preserved word - Ruski, Rusin. In Russian language there is a distinction - Ruski chelovyek (Rus man) and Rosiyanin (Russian, Greater Russian) and so is Rossiya versus Rus. The title of Tsar was Tsar Sieya Rusi (tsar of all Russias) and Russian Imperator what was a different thing.

Didn't you and other fans of Putin claim a while ago that Ukrainian language is a mix of Polish & Russian and that Ukrainian nation doesn't really exist, but was invented by Germans ?

It is more complicated than that. The orginal Rus did not speak Russian or Ukrainian. They spoke the the local Rus[ian] dialects and the language of the court/church was more archaic than todays modern Rus[sian] languages. Literary Russian developed quite late and still locally you can find older dialects.

Ukrainian literary language was developed intentionally in westernmost Ukraine of XIX and includes elements of local Ukrainian/West Rus dialects plus Polish. The effort was to make Ukrainian as different from Russian as possible.

This effort was aided by Austrians who wanted to catalise the diveregence of Western Rus as a separate nation for obvious reasons. The final creation of a separate Ukrainian statehood was done by the Soviets who created Ukrainian republic in her present borders.

The prevalence of Russian language in eastern Ukraine is not caused by the Russification. It is rather reverse - the process of UKRAINIZATION initiated by Austria in Lvov region did not advance far enough to the east.

163 posted on 01/16/2005 3:31:13 PM PST by A. Pole (Hash Bimbo: "Low wage is good for you!")
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