Getting Off the Sidelines
Andreas Kappeler: Ukraine as Subject in History
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Andreas Kappeler, a historian of Eastern Europe, looks back on his personal discovery of Ukraine as a nation at a time when the mere mention of the word “nation” was considered disreputable. He explains where the stereotype of Ukrainians as nationalists and anti-Semites comes from. In his view, however, the widespread Western disinterest in Ukraine has been overcome, and Ukraine is now recognized as an equal subject within the international community of nations. As a historian who thinks long-term, he refuses to believe that a megalomaniacal dictator in the Kremlin can chart a new course in the history and historiography of Europe in just a few years.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2022, pp. 69–78)