History and Historians in the Context of the Time

13-30

Authors: Artyom Yu. Peretyatko

A number of emotional and potentially destructive terms are currently used in post-Soviet historiography and journalism. The most striking example of such a term is the term “genocide”. The issue of its interpretation by Russia is currently even being considered by the International Court of Justice. However, there are more specific terms that are used to refer to specific repressions, such as “holodomor” or “decossackization”. The term “decossackization” is often used without deciphering its specific meaning, even in scientific literature. Meanwhile, it is ambiguous, and there are cases of its use to refer exclusively to the “genocide of the Cossacks”. Given the existence of socio-political forces calling for retribution against the Russians for this genocide (real or mythical), the question of the appropriateness of using the scientific term “decossackization” is particularly acute. The article shows that the term “decossackization” is not authentic. The first cases of its use that we found date back to the turn of 1910–1920, and then it had a different meaning, denoting a relatively peaceful process of the Cossacks losing their privileges and identity. It began to be used regularly on the pages of the emigrant magazine “Vol'noe kazachestvo” by 1930. However, even then it first changed its meaning, starting to be used to refer to a variety of processes that are unfavorable for the Cossacks, according to the editors of the magazine. And only in the 1990s “Decossackization” enters the dictionaries of the Russian language as a designation for harsh Soviet repressions of the Cossacks. Modern historians use the term “decossackization” in all the above senses, adding their own to them. This makes it harder, not easier, to understand their articles. In addition, the term “decossackization” often hides non-obvious author's views on various processes in the history of the Cossacks. The author concludes that the use of the word “decossackization” as a scientific term should be avoided, replacing it with complex authentic terms (for example, «mass terror against the Cossacks»).

37-45

Authors: Anatolii L. Cherniavskyi

The article is devoted to studying the processes of origin and development of the institute of the honorary consul in the system of Ukraine's diplomatic and consular service. Until the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ukrainian consular service was born in the orbit of the European diplomatic relations system. Protecting fellow citizens abroad was mainly carried out by private individuals – merchants, ship owners, and wealthy citizens. In 1649, Bohdan Khmelnytsky signed the Treaty between the Sultan of Turkey and the Zaporizhzhya Army and the Russian people, which provided for the introduction of particular positions of residents of the Zaporizhzhya Army, called to protect the rights of Ukrainians and represent them before the authorities of the Ottoman Empire. The suppression of the seeds of the Ukrainian state by the Moscow regime led to the liquidation of the Ukrainian diplomatic and consular service. A short surge in the development of Ukrainian diplomacy in 1917−1921 was also suppressed by the Soviet authorities. After the declaration of Ukraine's independence in 1991, the revived Ukrainian diplomacy faced an acute shortage of personnel and material resources by deploying a vast network of diplomatic and consular services. One of the ways out of this situation is the active use of the honorary consul institute. An analysis of the activities of honorary consuls of Ukraine and foreign honorary consuls in Ukraine shows that representatives of big businesses or owners of large capital are often appointed to these positions, to whom the status of honorary consul provides additional authority, privileges, and immunities. In most cases, such honorary consuls avoid the direct performance of consular functions and do not provide the necessary consular protection to citizens. Not the least of these is the Ukrainian legislation, according to which honorary consuls of Ukraine directly perform consular functions provided for in Art. 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, which is possible only in exceptional cases. At the same time, the practice of European states has developed new approaches to the institution of the honorary consul. Qualified specialists (lawyers, notaries) capable of providing assistance and professional protection of citizens of the accrediting state before the authorities of the host state are appointed to such positions. The authors concluded that in the conditions of a sharp increase in the number of Ukraine citizens who are abroad due to the military invasion of Russia, the need to modernize approaches to understanding the functional purpose of honorary consuls and harmonize this institution with the European experience becomes urgent.