Nineteenth-century Czech history in the light of Ukrainian historiography of the past three decades (1991–2020)

The article is an attempt to describe the achievements of contemporary Ukrainian historiography on the 19th century history of the Czechs and Czechia. The author analyzed syntheses, monographs and journal articles published in Ukraine in 1991–2020. In particular, three directions of research conducted in Ukraine were noticed: the Czech-Ukrainian intellectual, educational and cultural contacts in the Habsburg Monarchy, the Czech minority and its elites in the Ukrainian lands in the Russian Empire, and the history of the Czech lands in general.

The main priorities of President Andrzej Duda’s foreign policy

In the present state of the political system, the powers of the Polish president to conduct an independent foreign policy are quite limited. But, in the case of the Andrzej Duda presidency, there are certain areas in which his activities between 2015–2021 were dominant, however. It mainly concerned the Three Seas Initiative, the aim of which is to integrate the economy and infrastructure of Central European countries. The Polish president was and still is the main architect of this project. Moreover, he plays an important role in shaping Poland’s relations with Ukraine, and above all with the United States. It should be noted that in the latter cases, they were closely related to another scope partly within the remit of the Polish president – security policy.

The aim of this article is to define the role of the organisations established by the parliamentary opposition during the Euromaidan. The political opposition created the National Resistance Headquarters and the All-Ukrainian Union “Maidan” at that time. In the long term, they were supposed to become a tool for the opposition in the upcoming presidential elections. In the short term, in turn, they were to coordinate the actions of protesters during the Euromaidan throughout Ukraine. In order to achieve the research objective, the historical, systemic, and case study methods were used.

Polish journalism towards the independence transformations in Ukraine in 1988 – 1994

Ukraine, as a prominent republic of the Soviet Union, and – after disintegration of the USSR – a sovereign country playing a significant role in the geopolitics of the Central Eastern Europe, has been an important object of Polish journalists’ interest. The analysis of the texts and comments in the Polish press between 1988 and 1994 about emancipation transformations in Ukraine and social, political and economic issues of this country in the first period of its independence leads to conclusion that the public discussion participants have had positive and corroborative attitude towards the emancipation of the Ukrainians. Providing opportunities and threats in achieving the actual and solid independence of that republic the commentators express their opinions carefully. As the main obstacles they stress the imperialist ambitions of Russia, the problem of maintaining the territorial integrity of the state, the economic crisis related to the collapse of the Soviet economy and the consequences of exercising power by the post Soviet party apparatus representatives. The publicists claim, the first period of Ukrainian’s independence closed the conversion of Ukraine to the integration with Russia.

Not only a discussion. About participatory forms and methods of youth organizations operating in the territory of Ukraine

The subject of the text concerns various forms and methods of the participation of selected Ukrainian youth organizations, which were particularly active in 2018. The author discusses the basic theoretical assumptions by analyzing the issue of participation in relation to Polish and foreign literature of the subject. Then, she describes the research material and methods of analysis of the collected empirical data. In the last part of the article, the author presents the most important conclusions regarding the „soft” and „hard” forms and methods of the participation of six youth organizations operating in Ukraine.

Turkey’s reaction to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine

The aim of the publication is to analyze Turkey’s reaction to Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine. The research will first identify the following independent variables which determine Turkey’s response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine: the geostrategic importance of the Black Sea, the multidimensional cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine, the interdependence of Turkey and Russia, and the economic crisis in Turkey. Secondly, the strategy of the analyzed reaction will be discussed together with the justification for its choice. Third, the diplomatic, political, military, and humanitarian actions undertaken by Turkey in response to the war in Ukraine will be analyzed. A methodological assumption has been made, with which Turkey’s reaction to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (the dependent variable) is conditioned by independent variables functioning simultaneously on two levels: the international system and the domestic system. Four research hypotheses will be verified in the article.

About subdivisions in contemporary Ukraine

The aim of the article is to broaden the discussion on the multi-faceted divisions in Ukraine. Experts of Ukrainian problems are asking, what means „east” and „west” of Ukraine? Author refers to the division of ethnic, linguistic and cultural, in the end is about political divisions in Ukraine. It also indicates that the divisions in Ukrainian society deal with the mutual perception of the Ukrainian and Russian nations. In the final passages concludes that some of the other divisions deepen, making the polarization of Ukraine a serious problem. Analyzing multi-faceted divisions, it concludes that without de-Sovietizing, state „no strikes” with the authoritarian ways of development and make effective modernization.

The Council of Europe plays a special role in promoting democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights. The events of recent years, and especially Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, have significantly changed the conditions for the implementation of the Council of Europe’s mission. The author analyzed, based on the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 2473 (2022) “Strengthening the role of the Council of Europe as a cornestone of the European political architecture”, the activities of the Council of Europe aimed at seeking its role in the emerging new political architecture of Europe. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine may create conditions for a new look at the opportunities offered by the Council of Europe for European development and create a climate for intensifying forms of cooperation between European international organizations in the event of new threats to European development.

Contemporary Russian propaganda and the war in Ukraine

The article is an attempt to analyze contemporary Russian propaganda through the prism of the war in Ukraine. The purpose of the research is to assess the effectiveness of contemporary Russian propaganda in this area. The research was based on a qualitative methodology with the use of a source analysis strategy. Research showed the contemporary Russian propaganda has a significant impact on the perception of the war in Ukraine among Russians – although its effectiveness is showing a decrease.

The main aim of the paper is to set up the level of media bias influence on the agenda of news programs in TV channels: 1+1, Ukraine, ICTV, Inter, Kanal 5, and UA: Pershyi. Two issues were taken into consideration: Joint Forces Operation in Donbas, and Ukraine and Russian Federation’s relations. Those stand for the socio-political division of the society in Ukraine before February 24, 2022. It was found that the agenda does not differ in terms of content, but in terms of gradation not dictated by political inclinations. Political partiality in displaying or refraining from publishing journalistic materials, in relation to the main axis of the socio-political division in Ukraine, did not occur in the analyzed period. It means that the agenda considered to be pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian based on the provenance of their owners, is neither characterized by tonality bias (the evaluation of political actors), visibility bias (the salience of political actors), nor agenda bias (the extent to which parties address preferred issues in media coverage).

Tasks of intercultural education in the context of the war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine initiated by the Russians makes one aware every day of the destruction of ideas and principles of peaceful problem solving developed over the years, and of the paradigm of cultural coexistence created in intercultural education. The aim of the article is to point out the need to undertake new tasks through intercultural education in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Shaping a culture of peace, “making peace” has now become the leading task of intercultural education. The text points to the task of building on “good memory” as an opportunity and possibility of dealing with “bad memory”, the emancipation of national memories, the revitalization of heterology – the science of the Other, intercultural competences, the elimination of stereotypes and prejudices, one-sided negative and aggressive propaganda, etc. The article emphasizes the responsibility of intercultural education for creating the principles of democracy, revitalizing values symbolizing the common history with Ukraine, cooperation and collaboration in the process of functioning in European culture.

Mobility of young adults from Central and Eastern European countries – a Polish-Czech-Slovak-Ukrainian comparative study

The young generation is treated as the future of society. This generation’s size, skills and knowledge, as well as economic activity, socio-cultural involvement, marital intentions and family (procreation) plans determine the quality of society. Thus, an important issue is the outflow of young people who decide to migrate abroad. It is therefore important to recognize both the current experiences and the life plans of the young generation in this field. In post-communist countries, the fall of the communist system had a major impact on the increase in mobility. Political, sociocultural and economic changes have contributed to the emergence of new migration-related phenomena and the so-called fluid migration, characterized by free movement of labour, massiveness, diversity and plasticity. The surveyed youth from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have experiences related to functioning within open borders, unlike the youth from Ukraine, where the borders are closed. Wioletta Danilewicz notices the existence of the so-called migration culture, i.e. the acceptance (by the participants of migration processes) that these are phenomena constituting an inherent element of their lives, despite their awareness of the unfavourable co-occurring elements. The research results presented in the text indicate that the surveyed young adults do not fully follow this trend.

“Through a green border to paradise”, or a few remarks on the book “Refugees. Illegal crossing of the Polish-Soviet border in 1918–1939” by Serhiy Humenny

This review article is a critical approach to Serhiy Humennes monograph published in the IPN Publishing House (Warszawa 2022, „Monografie” series, vol, 179, p. 166) concerning illegal migrations across the Polish-Soviet border in the Interwar period. In the course of reading, I have come across many errors of both substantive and technical and linguistic nature. I have also revealed a rather peculiar phenomenon of using an almost unchanged text four times for various purposes. On its basis, a masters thesis has been written, defended at the then Jan Długosz Academy in Częstochowa, published in the form of a subject monograph. In the meantime, however, the author slightly modified the content of the typescript and used it as the basis for conferring the degree of doctor of history at the Faculty of History of the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kiev. Once the dissertation has been successfully defended, a book published in Ukrainian has also seen the light of day

Cinematic images of the Donbas space after 2014 in selected war-themed films

The paper aims to analyse the spatial representation in contemporary Ukrainian films created after 2014, set in the Donbas region and revolving around the ongoing war. As I reference the specific spatial context, my analysis is grounded in the framework of spatial turn. It also is crucial for me to delve into the history of Donbas and the portrayals of this place in Ukrainian cinematography. Film ecocriticism constitutes a significant context, particularly concerning representations of natural and postindustrial landscapes, often ravaged by human actions, especially in the context of warfare. Referring to the concept of landscape, I rely on Arnold Berleant’s perspective, noting that culturally transformed landscapes hold the same value as natural ones, and every landscape contributes to shaping cultural traditions. In my study, I employ textual film analysis derived from general structural analysis. My considerations encompass productions, such as Klondike (2022) directed by Maryna Er Gorbach, Reflection (2021) and Atlantis (2019), both directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych, as well as Bad Roads (2020) directed by Natalia Vorozhbyt.

Language policy in the program documents of Ukrainian political parties

This article presents the position of Ukrainian political parties on the issue of language policy during the period of independence. In particular, it was important to show the position taken by individual political parties towards the status of the Russian language, as well as the need to ensure the functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life and in the territory of the entire state. A number of program documents were analyzed, in particular, the programs of political parties and the electoral programs of parties and electoral coalitions with which they competed in subsequent elections to the Verkhovna Rada. The focus was on those political parties that individually managed to overcome the electoral threshold at least once during the parliamentary elections held at the time of independence, or played a leading role in the electoral coalitions formed, as was the case, for example, with the People’s Union “Our Ukraine” which was the key political force in the pro-presidential electoral coalitions formed for the 2006 and 2007 elections. The position of the various political forces on the language issue was discussed after first dividing them into left-wing, centrist and center-left parties, as well as right-wing and center-right parties.

To green Ukraine and to those green meadows... The Eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic as an object of sightseeing interest for Poles – an attempt at a summary

This article is an attempt to look at selected factors accounting for the popularity among Polish tourists a few years ago of the area known as the Eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic (Pol.: Kresy). Methodologically, the autoethnographic study involves an analysis of desk research (the 2019 CBOS survey and the observations made by other researchers). Starting from the CBOS quantitative data recording the scale of Poles’ trips in this direction, the author looks at selected qualitative circumstances which may, to some extent, be behind the preferences diagnosed in the survey, but also behind the broader interest in these sites. The considerations include the (geo)political reality, specific (Eastern borderland-like) experiences, Polish traces, literature, film and Galician and migration myths – assigned to three main thematic areas (Europeanization versus a good national self-sense, Polish traces, and literature, films and myths). Although the essence of the considerations seems to favour Ukraine, the “question of priority” was left – as it is the case in quantitative research – open, focusing on broadening the context of the whole issue.

Survival strategies of Ukrainian student-refugees (in the perception of general secondary school teachers)

The aim of the article was to identify and characterize survival strategies adopted by Ukrainian refugee students in general secondary schools. The study was grounded in qualitative research within the interactionist perspective, with the use of thematic analysis. The empirical material was collected through in-depth narrative interviews with twelve teachers from six schools located in cities of various sizes. The research revealed and described three main strategies employed by refugee students: distancing strategy (from teachers, education, and peer groups), engagement avoidance strategy (in classwork and homework), and non-learning of the Polish language strategy. The primary function of these strategies was to simulate the performance of school duties and assume the role of a learner. The strategies were students’ responses to the imposed situation of sudden and compulsory functioning in school in a foreign country, without knowledge of the teaching language and without preparation for participation in advanced secondary education. The strategies constituted a response to the lack of systemic, flexible, and functional solutions stimulating the adaptive processes of refugee students. The article concludes with practical implications regarding the necessity of developing a coherent concept of education for refugee students, as well as migrants who do not present sufficient competence in the Polish language at the secondary level.

The article outlines the central tenets of Lithuania’s new foreign policy, which is anchored in its ambition to play a pivotal role within the NATOfocused Eastern Partnership, particularly with regard to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The aim is to foster democratization in these regions and facilitate their prospective integration into NATO. The authors present two key arguments. First, Lithuania’s capacity to influence NATO decisions is limited in at least four domains: economic, political, organizational, and military. Second, Lithuania’s efforts to assert its stance, as exemplified during the Vilnius summit, did not consistently align with the interests of major NATO members, specifically the United States and Germany.

The war in Ukraine in historical and political dimensions

When starting operations in Ukraine, the Russian Federation set itself specific strategic goals. To determine the degree to which these goals have been achieved, they should be correlated with the course of Russian activities to date. The first phase of the Russian military operation ended in failure, and the implementation of the set strategic goals should be considered very difficult or even impossible. The initial answer may be that the war was planned and started by the Kremlin and its security services, not professional military officials. This is where the Russians ignored certain basic principles of the art of war and the concept of new generation war itself. The Russians have not designated a commander-in-chief in the Ukrainian theater of war.

Changes in Ukrainians’ sense of security during the war 2014 – 2023

Today’s world, with the ongoing war in Ukraine, shows that conflicts, both armed and low-intensity, are directed not only at killing and conquering territory, but also at destabilising state functions and exacerbating social disputes. The aim is to weaken the morale of enemy populations and to lower their sense of security. Combat and everyday traumatic situations negatively affect soldiers and civilians, their attitudes or behaviour. This article attempts to present the changes in the feeling of security of Ukrainians in the years 2014 – 2023 during the war with the Russian Federation. The author presents the views of renowned experts and research on the phenomenon. He identifies the factors influencing the lowering or strengthening of the sense of security during the ongoing conflict. He emphasises that the sense of security translates into the will not only to fight and win, but also to survive and thrive.