Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis

The prosopographic portraits of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania, restored in 1990 and 1991, are revealed. The research is based on general scientific and special historical methods, among which the comparative method and the method of prosopograp...

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Main Author: Lesia Kotsur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University 2022-12-01
Series:Київські історичні студії
Subjects:
Online Access:https://istorstudio.kubg.edu.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/336
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author Lesia Kotsur
author_facet Lesia Kotsur
author_sort Lesia Kotsur
collection DOAJ
description The prosopographic portraits of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania, restored in 1990 and 1991, are revealed. The research is based on general scientific and special historical methods, among which the comparative method and the method of prosopography occupy a special place. The first part of the article is dedicated to the leaders of those sociopolitical organizations that formed the core of the opposition movement against the dictatorship of the Communist Party - Vytautas Landsbergis, Vyacheslav Chornovol and Levko Lukyanenko. Thanks to the appropriate methodological tools, it was possible to reveal the common and distinctive features of leaders in both countries: national-democratic bias, duration of dissident activity, belonging to one or another social stratum, participation in political activities, personal contribution to the development of the country's independence, etc. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the leader of the national-democratic forces of Lithuania V. Landsbergis was the highest political figure of the Restorative Seimas for almost three years (1990-1992), while the leaders of the Ukrainian democratic movement were given mediocre roles in the shadow of the communists. Which at that time dominated the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The second part of the study paints a prosopographic portrait of the first presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania. Ukraine is considered number one here because the institution of the presidency was founded on its territory in 1991, and in Lithuania in 1993. Despite the fact that the presidency of Leonid Kravchuk and Algirdas Brazauskas is considered taking into account the time factor, it depicts significant differences in the strategies of the state behavior of these two natives of the same communist system, who were almost the same age. In particular, this concerns the issue of distancing from the Russian Federation and the country's geopolitical choice of joining the European Union and NATO. Thus, in conclusion, we see that the path to independence in both countries was paved by national-democratic movements led by the intelligentsia. However, not everyone achieved the final result of the activity. We also notice that both in Ukraine and in Lithuania, former Communist Party members became the first presidents.
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spelling doaj.art-2416e2038c60473f86df61a2482f58f52023-03-05T21:28:13ZengBorys Grinchenko Kyiv UniversityКиївські історичні студії2524-07492524-07572022-12-0121510110910.28925/2524-0757.2022.211Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysisLesia Kotsur0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8996-1606Assoc. Prof. of Department of Political Sciences Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, PhD in History, Pereiaslav, UkraineThe prosopographic portraits of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania, restored in 1990 and 1991, are revealed. The research is based on general scientific and special historical methods, among which the comparative method and the method of prosopography occupy a special place. The first part of the article is dedicated to the leaders of those sociopolitical organizations that formed the core of the opposition movement against the dictatorship of the Communist Party - Vytautas Landsbergis, Vyacheslav Chornovol and Levko Lukyanenko. Thanks to the appropriate methodological tools, it was possible to reveal the common and distinctive features of leaders in both countries: national-democratic bias, duration of dissident activity, belonging to one or another social stratum, participation in political activities, personal contribution to the development of the country's independence, etc. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the leader of the national-democratic forces of Lithuania V. Landsbergis was the highest political figure of the Restorative Seimas for almost three years (1990-1992), while the leaders of the Ukrainian democratic movement were given mediocre roles in the shadow of the communists. Which at that time dominated the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The second part of the study paints a prosopographic portrait of the first presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania. Ukraine is considered number one here because the institution of the presidency was founded on its territory in 1991, and in Lithuania in 1993. Despite the fact that the presidency of Leonid Kravchuk and Algirdas Brazauskas is considered taking into account the time factor, it depicts significant differences in the strategies of the state behavior of these two natives of the same communist system, who were almost the same age. In particular, this concerns the issue of distancing from the Russian Federation and the country's geopolitical choice of joining the European Union and NATO. Thus, in conclusion, we see that the path to independence in both countries was paved by national-democratic movements led by the intelligentsia. However, not everyone achieved the final result of the activity. We also notice that both in Ukraine and in Lithuania, former Communist Party members became the first presidents.https://istorstudio.kubg.edu.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/336ukrainerepublic of lithuaniapresidentsayudisprosopographystate formation
spellingShingle Lesia Kotsur
Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
Київські історичні студії
ukraine
republic of lithuania
president
sayudis
prosopography
state formation
title Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
title_full Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
title_fullStr Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
title_full_unstemmed Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
title_short Prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian independent state and the Republic of Lithuania: a comparative analysis
title_sort prosopographic portrait of the founding fathers of the ukrainian independent state and the republic of lithuania a comparative analysis
topic ukraine
republic of lithuania
president
sayudis
prosopography
state formation
url https://istorstudio.kubg.edu.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/336
work_keys_str_mv AT lesiakotsur prosopographicportraitofthefoundingfathersoftheukrainianindependentstateandtherepublicoflithuaniaacomparativeanalysis