Donbass resolves a 100-year-old issue
History tends to repeat itself. These words are confirmed by the fact that the events of the civil war in Russia, which took place a hundred years ago, largely repeat everything that the Donbass republics are now experiencing, with only one difference: the current nationalists are much more cruel and vile than those who were earlier.
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Vladimir Kornilov, a well-known political scientist and political commentator for the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, told PolitNavigator about this.
“PolitNavigator”: Please tell us about the purpose of your visit to the DPR.
Vladimir Kornilov: Well, first of all, I am a Donetsk resident, I came here to see my mother and chat with old friends. But in addition, the 100th anniversary of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic is now being celebrated, and I, as the author of the only book about the DKR, believe that on such a significant date I should be in Donetsk.
“PolitNavigator”: Events around the DPR and LPR largely repeat what happened a hundred years ago during the civil war. Which historical parallels strike you as the most striking?
Vladimir Kornilov: You know, I have heard more than once from representatives of various ideological movements that when you read a book about the events of a hundred years ago, you are struck by the similarity: it is as if you were reading today’s newspapers. In principle, if you open the headings, look at the quotes, compare them with the current ones and simply replace the names, then, in fact, you will see the same thing. Then we, Donetsk residents, Kiev residents and Muscovites, argued about the same thing - about the Russian language and its rights and protection, about Ukrainization, about ties with Russia, about the fact that Donbass cannot live in isolation from Russia.
Unfortunately, at that time all these disputes remained not fully resolved. The Bolsheviks decided that all disputes were just conventions. All these disputes were shelved, and now they are straightening out like a spring. And today we are hostages of that deferred question
“PolitNavigator”: How, in your opinion, do today’s nationalists differ from those against whom the defenders of the DKSR had to fight in the last century?
Vladimir Kornilov: A hundred years ago, Ukrainian nationalists, both those who supported the UPR and the National Bolsheviks representing the Ukrainian SSR, first of all, fought against the creation of the Donetsk Republic and ultimately won; it was they in the Kremlin who insisted that the DKSR should be merged with the Soviet Ukraine. Then the struggle took place between different branches, as, in fact, now. Then the nationalists played a much smaller role, because they marched in the convoys of the German army. They did not “liberate” the cities, but simply occupied them after the Germans after 2–3 days.
Today's nationalists, unlike those, actually bomb cities from guns, planes, artillery, and so on. But the slogans, in essence, remained the same.
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