Ancient Sumy Land

5-22

Authors: Ramach Janko Dr. (History), Professor, University Novi Sad (Serbia)

The article gives a review of the history of the Ruthenians in Yugoslavia since its proclamation in 1918 up to its disintegration at the end of the XXth century. Between the two world wars there were 20-25 000 Ruthenians in Yugoslavia who predominantly lived in the villages in Backa, Srim and Eastern Slavonia and were engaged in agriculture. Poor peasants made the biggest part of the Ruthenian village inhabitants. According to religious denomination, more than 90 % of the Ruthenians were Greek Catholics and they were under the jurisdiction of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Krizevci. The Ruthenian National Educational Society (RNES), founded in 1919 as a cultural, educational and national organization, was very active in organizing the peasants, founding the cooperatives of producers and credit and cash savings and in uplifting the general economic and social level of everyday life of their compatriots. With its cultural, educational and nationalactivities, the RNES gave the basic framework in education, development of the Ruthenian language and literature and the whole cultural and national life. It published the weekly newspaper “Ruski novini“ (Ruthenian Newspaper), „Ruski kalendar“ (The Ruthenian Calendar), school textbooks and other publications. As a counterbalance to the activities of RNES, in 1933 was founded the Cultural and Educational Union of the Yugoslav Ruthenians. In national terms, the Union took the pro-Russian side and pleaded for the conversion of the Greek Catholic Ruthenians to Orthodox religion. After the end of the World War II, the Ruthenians in the Socialist Yugoslavia kept the national rights they had had in the pre-war period, and with the institutionalization of other forms of the educational and cultural life, the realization of these rights was raised to a higher level. Elementary schools in the Ruthenian language were founded wherever possible. The state secured the publication of textbooks in the native language. After the liberation was founded the company „Ruske slovo“ (The Ruthenian Word). It started publishing the weekly newspaper „Ruske slovo“ (The Ruthenian Word), „Narodni kalendar“ (The National Calendar) and other magazines and publications. The radio and TV programs in the Ruthenian language were broadcast. In the intellectual circles of the Yugoslav Ruthenians, there existed two parallel opposed viewpoints on the national identity of the Ruthenians - a pro-Ukrainian one, according to which the Ruthenias make part of the Ukrainian nation, and an autochtonous one, according to which the Ruthenians are a separate Slavic nation.

43-49

Authors: Lobko N. V. PhD (History), Assosiate Professor (Ukraine), Sumy State University

In this article, the author analyses several archive materials that still remain little known to a wide scientific audience. These documents concern the question of a women’s legal status in the Russian Empire and their struggle for civil rights and liberties and voting right in particular, equally to men. Study of women’s history as a whole is one of the important directions of the modern science of history. One of the urgent questions in studying of women’s history in the Ukrainian historiography is the legal status of a woman and her obtaining of civil rights and liberties equally to men. In the article, the author pays her attention to the fact that Ukrainian researchers created groundwork and theoretical base for solving such problems as formation and development of women’s movement in Ukraine and participation of Ukrainian women in the struggle for the voting right. The author examines the main stages which the European women went through in their struggle for empowerment. Certainly, women’s movements in every country had their own specifics, but the common thing in their programmes was that that they were struggling for the right to vote and to be elected. As exemplified by the archive materials, containing information about elections to the State Duma as of 1905, the author examines how women’s struggle for the right to participate in the elections took place in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, State Archives of Sumy Region contains women’s applications to take part in the elections with the statement of persons to whom they granted the right to use their property qualification, as well as the report “On the Women’s Equality” discussed on the 27th of November, 1905 on the regular Sumy Povit Land Assembly. This report contains information that gives an idea of the women’s position in the Russian Empire and their legal status. The author concludes that suggestions made in the resolution were not executed. Subscription of this document did not change the situation with the women’s rights in society, and they were considered unworthy to rule the country as before.

59-70

Authors: Gоncharenko A. V. PhD (History), Associate Professor (Ukraine), Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A. S. Makarenko

The article investigates the UK’s role in international information anti-Iraq campaign of the USA in 2002-2006. It is described the reasons for the support by London of military actionsin Iraq. It is revealed the foreign policy consequences for the UK in cooperation with the US anti-Iraq information activities. It is clarified the role of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in promotion of the military invasion of the international coalition forces in Iraq. It is outlined the impact of the anti-Iraq campaign on the international relations. British Prime Minister Tony Blair in April 2002 agreed to the participation of his country in a future war. In September, he released data showing that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes, and stated that Iraq has a growing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons and intends to use them, and also develops nuclear weapons. In January 2003 the British government announced new intelligence information that Iraq continued to manufacture chemical and biological weapons, has developed plans for its use, was trying to purchase in Africa uranium, and worked for developing missiles capable of reaching the territory of Greece, Turkey, Israel and other states. By the events of 2002-2003 policy of Great Britain led to the weakening of important international structures on which was based her foreign status. Washington’s actions in reducing the values of the United Nations has hit not only by the organization as a whole, but also on the positions of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, one of which is Great Britain. During the preparation and conduct of the United Kingdom and the United States military action against Iraq one of the key roles played its careful and timely information and psychological support. One of the main goals of the operation was the implementation of the concept of information warfare and psychological operations at the strategic and tactical levels. These events were comprehensively involved in formal advocacy structures, the media in the UK and the USA. The main objects of information and psychological influence was global public opinion, own, also military-political leadership, the armed forces and population of Iraq. In early 2003 Tony Blair during a trip the European countries campaigned for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, claiming that Iraqi regime is likely in possession of weapons of mass destruction. In March, Tony Blair, George Bush and the Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar urged the international community to support military action against Iraq. March 19, 2003 the UK sent to participate in the USA-led coalition, assembled for the invasion to Iraq, 45 thousand soldiers. The formal reason for the war was the information the CIA about the presence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, is not subsequently found confirmation, but some analysts believe that the purpose of military operations was to establish US control over the oil fields of Iraq. April 1, 2003: Tony Blair ordered the launch of a campaign to counter the negative coverage of the war in Iraq in the Arab media. In an interview with the Arab newspaper he was trying to convey that the purpose of military action is to liberate, not conquer Iraq. In March 2005 the British Prime Minister spoke to reporters with the reasoning of its decision about participation in the Iraq campaign. In his opinion, fighting the terrorism requires a war of “values and ideas” and the development of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq is the best argument against anti-American and anti-Western propaganda of the terrorists. In 2006 the subject of Iraq remained one of the most acute in the UK. T. Blair strongly defended his Iraq policy and stressed the importance of partnership with the United States. In March, he argued that if the circumstances were the same as in 2003, he again would have taken the decision to start the war.

83-91

Authors: Olitskyy V. O. post-graduate, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

A circle of the press is established. This press was distributed on the territory of Sumy region before and during the period of the campaign confiscation of church property: 1921 -1922. This press can be classified according to the place of publication: print media of the capital, periodicals of nationwide scale, local newspapers. Long before the proclamation of the decree of confiscation of church property Bolshevik regime starts ideological propaganda campaign with people preparation to these events. September 7, 1921 agitation propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine publishes thesis for agitators and the press, where the exploiting nature of the Orthodox Church was accentuated. Newspapers of that time completely subordinated to the requirements. On the basis of the extensive source of material and historiography was found that one of the first newspaper publications in this area were articles of the printed organ of Ukrainian Central Executive Committee of peasant Workers’ radas and Red Army Deputies.Those were such newspapers as «Visty» (September-October 1921), «Kurkulyacha cerkva», «Za Isusa chy‘ za hliba kusa», etc. These materials are primarily directed against the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The effect of the central press organs is valued. The first of February 1922 the newspaper «Izvestia» included a paragraph that was called «On the wealth of the Church» under the heading «A struggle with hunger». Since then, this rubric had become constant. Shortly the same rubric appears in republican and then in local newspapers. The information, that was given in the notes of this rubric was virtually identical. The charges of Orthodox church in the incredible wealth and their unwillingness to sacrifice to help the starving begin. The church is highlighted as one of the enemies of the new government, social and politicalsystem and all the people in general. Then printing of various letters signed by «believers» or without signature at all began. The authors appealed to the government to confiscate church valuables in favor of starving people. Since then there were always too provocative articles with headlines such as «Counterrevolution under the church pretext», «Vbyvnyky v ryasax», «Thieves in cassocks» etc. From the beginning of 1922 similar articles appeared in the local press. Although they appear later, the influence of central organs and central press is shown. In addition, in order to attract the believers to the campaign’s realization, appeals of the clergy are spread on the territory of Sumy region. Believers are asked to pay part of the church property to help the starving. From the start of this campaign in central and local press appears information about valuables’ confiscation in different areas. Local newspapers give detailed information about the temples and how much property was confiscated. Thus, organ of Romny district Party Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the district executive committee - the newspaper «Izvestia» since May 24, 1922 constantly has a rubric «Confiscation of the valuables in Romny region». After confiscation of church property the church baiting did not stop, in both, central and local press. Further it was accused of excessive mythical wealth and exploiting of Orthodox believers and disruption in grain procurement campaign. The influence of articles in the press, which extends to Sumy region in 1921-1922s to the mood of people and their embranchment of the confiscation of church property campaign is evaluated. It was found that just the press played one of the leading roles in a wide propaganda campaign in support of the expropriation of church property. Through publications and articles government managed to form the thought of need to sacrifice the idea of church property to help the starving among the majority of modern Sumy region population. Most people had compassion upon it or did not care. Despite the fact that in some places there were performances by believers against confiscation of church property, the majority of them did not join. This has led to the fact that the Soviet authorities recognized the confiscation of church property in some parts of the region, as one of the most productive in Ukraine.