Why Not?

By Volodymyr Kish

Several weeks ago, I participated in a weekend long symposium on the current challenges facing credit unions in Ontario, in the course of which I had the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with representatives of other credit unions.  Aside from being an excellent forum for the practical exchange of business ideas of common interest, in the social time outside of the formal sessions, I was able to touch base with what is happening in other ethnic communities that are also involved in the credit union movement.

Amongst others, I had a number of interesting conversations with a couple of representatives from the Polish community, and inevitably, we got into discussing the sometimes turbulent common history between our respective ancestors.  Polish-Ukrainian relations have been difficult and antagonistic for most of the past millennium, and have led to a lot of ethnic enmity. In the post-Soviet era, efforts at rapprochement have been made by both sides, and some progress has been made, though at the ground level of ordinary society, suspicions and raw memories of past injustices, whether real or imagined, continue to make this a slow and difficult process.  Within the leadership and intellectual ranks though, there are encouraging signs that history is being re-assessed on a less emotional and more rational basis.  

During my conversations with my Polish credit union confreres, they freely admitted that the Poles had made a serious mistake back in the Sixteenth Century and in the years subsequent until modern times, in focusing on putting down Ukrainian nationalistic aspirations and in maintaining an imperialistic iron fisted rule over their Ukrainian estates.  Had they entered into a more co-operative and even-handed alliance with their Slavic Ukrainian brothers, it is highly likely that the Russian Empire, whether in Tsarist or Communist form, would never have been able to dominate Eastern Europe as it did, to the detriment of both the Poles and Ukrainians.

Although I wholeheartedly agree with the thesis, there is a broader dimension to this unfortunate lack of cooperation between our two respective ethnicities.  This type of missed opportunity is a common factor amongst all Slavic peoples, not only Ukrainians, Poles and Russians.  When one looks at the whole broad spectrum of Slavic nationalities, i.e. the Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croatians, Bosnians, Slovenes, Bulgarians, Macedonians, and others, their history too has also been one endless stream of fratricidal conflicts.  Despite common ancestries, similarities in language, culture and historical influences, Slavic nations have typically been each other’s worst enemies. Even in recent decades, the breakup of Yugoslavia graphically demonstrated how deep-seated and violent these historical antipathies can be.

To the rational student of history, this behaviour is as mind-boggling as it is tragic.  Imagine for a moment if the Slavic world had managed to find common ground for enlightened co-operation over the past several centuries instead of perpetual internecine conflict, and extrapolate the political and economic potential of a commonwealth of some 350 million people blessed with some of the best natural resources on this planet.

During the mid-1800s, there were people in Eastern Europe who dared to propound this very idea.  They created what is known as the Pan Slavism movement.  Although it had its origins in the Balkans, it soon spread through Central Europe and eventually into Poland, Ukraine and Russia.  Within Ukraine, the prominent Saints Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood was significantly influenced by Pan-Slavism ideology.

Regrettably, the Russians saw in Pan-Slavism a grand opportunity to extend their imperialistic ambitions and soon subverted the original ideology to their purposes.  They too wanted a union of all Slavic people, but only under the domination of Russia.  Of course, most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe suffered no delusions as to Russia’s ambitions and the movement eventually petered out.

Although many would say that the original idea was totally unrealistic and impractical, I am not necessarily so inclined.  Just look at which ethnic group is dominant in the world today.  I don’t think most folks would argue that the English or countries of original Anglo-Saxon origin play a dominant role in the world’s political and economic affairs.  The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and several other British Commonwealth countries play a leading role in world affairs as well as being amongst the wealthiest and most developed countries in the world.  They do at various points in history have engaged in conflict with each other, but in recent centuries through enlightened cooperation, alliances and mutual respect, they have achieved unparalleled growth, relative stability and success on the world stage.

Now imagine if all the Slavic countries had been able to develop the same kind of mutually beneficial relationships with each other over the past several centuries.  We should look within our ethnic “souls” and ask ourselves – “Why not?