Though Solzhenitsyn feared the consequences of an independent Ukraine, he respected the right of the Ukrainian people to secede, a right which they duly exercised as the former Soviet Union unraveled. Reiterating his subsidiarist principles he insisted once again that “only the local population can decide the fate of their locality, of their region.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn was many things. A fearless champion of freedom in an age of totalitarianism. A fearless critic of Communism. A fearless critic of the modern hedonistic West. A great historian. A great novelist. A Nobel Prize winner. A prophet.
Regarding the last of these, Solzhenitsyn prophesied, at the height of the Soviet Union’s power, that he would outlive the USSR and would return to his native Russia after the Soviet Union’s demise. As is the fate of prophets, he was not taken seriously. It was assumed by all the “experts” that the Soviet Empire was here to stay and would be part of the global geo-political landscape for the foreseeable future. As history has attested, the prophet was right and the experts wrong.
Clearly Solzhenitsyn is worth taking seriously. Nowhere is this more evident than in his remarkable prescience about the present crisis in the Ukraine.
As far back as 1968, during his writing of what would later be published as The Gulag Archipelago, he wrote of his fears of future conflict between Russia and the Ukraine: “It pains me to write this as Ukraine and Russia are merged in my blood, in my heart, and in my thoughts. But extensive experience of friendly contacts with Ukrainians in the camps has shown me how much of a painful grudge they hold. Our generation will not escape from paying for the mistakes of our fathers.”
Foreseeing the rise of nationalism and its territorial claims, Solzhenitsyn lamented that it was much easier “to stamp one’s foot and shout This is mine!” than to seek reconciliation and co-existence:
Surprising as it may be, the Marxist teaching prediction that nationalism is fading has not come true. On the contrary, in an age of nuclear research and cybernetics, it has for some reason flourished. And time is coming for us, whether we like it or not, to repay all the promissory notes of self-determination and independence; do it ourselves rather than wait to be burnt at the stake, drowned in a river or beheaded. We must prove whether we are a great nation not with the vastness of our territory or the number of peoples in our care but with the greatness of our deeds.
Russia should be content with “ploughing what we shall have left after those lands that will not want to stay with us secede”. In the case of the Ukraine, Solzhenitsyn predicted that “things will get extremely painful”. It was necessary, however, for Russians “to understand the degree of tension” that the Ukrainians feel.
With his customary grasp of history, he lamented that it had proved impossible over the centuries to resolve the differences between the Russian and the Ukrainian people, making it necessary for the Russians “to show good sense”: “We must hand over the decision-making to them: federalists of separatists, whichever of them wins. Not to give in would be mad and cruel. The more lenient, patient, coherent we now are, the more hope there will be to restore unity in future.”
The greatest difficulty arose from the ethnic mix in the Ukraine itself in which, in different regions of the country, there were different proportions of those who consider themselves Ukrainians, those who consider themselves Russians and those who consider themselves neither. “Maybe it will be necessary to have a referendum in each region and then ensure preferential and delicate treatment of those who would want to leave.” For this to happen, the Ukraine would need to show the same restraint and good sense towards the regions in which Russians predominated as Russia needed to show to the Ukraine as a whole. This was especially necessary because of the arbitrary nature of the area designated as belonging to the Ukraine: “Not the whole of Ukraine in its current formal Soviet borders is indeed Ukraine. Some regions … clearly lean more towards Russia. As for Crimea, Khrushchev’s decision to hand it over to Ukraine was totally arbitrary.” The way in which ethnic Ukrainians treated the ethnic Russians within these largely arbitrary borders would “serve as a test”: “while demanding justice for themselves, how just will the Ukrainians be to Carpathian Russians?”
Several years later, in April 1981, Solzhenitsyn wrote a letter to the Toronto conference on Russian-Ukrainian relations in which he wrote that “the Russian-Ukrainian problem is one of the major current issues and, certainly, of crucial importance to our peoples”. The problem was, however, exacerbated by “the red-hot passion and the resultant sizzling temperatures” which were “pernicious”: “I have repeatedly stated and am reiterating here and now that no one can be retained by force, none of the antagonists should resort to coercion towards the other side or towards its own side, the people on the whole or any small minority it embraces, for each minority contains, in turn, its own minority.”
Following the principles of subsidiarity which had always animated his political thought, Solzhenitsyn insisted on the rights of localities to determine their own destinies, free from the coercive force of alien and alienating central government, whether that government was in Moscow or Kiev: “In all cases local opinion must be identified and implemented. Therefore, all issues can be truly resolved only by the local population ….” Meanwhile, the “fierce intolerance” that animated extremists on both sides of the ethnic divide would be “fatal to both nations and beneficial only for their enemies”.
In 1990, in his seminal and groundbreaking book, Rebuilding Russia, Solzhenitsyn prophesied the danger inherent in the ethnic composition of the Ukraine:
To separate Ukraine today means to cut through millions of families and people: just consider how mixed the population is; there are whole regions with a predominantly Russian population; how many people there are who find it difficult to choose which of the two nationalities they belong to; how many people are of mixed origin; how many mixed marriages there are (by the way, nobody has until now thought of them as mixed).
Although Solzhenitsyn feared the consequences of an independent Ukraine, he respected the right of the Ukrainian people to secede, a right which they duly exercised as the former Soviet Union unraveled. Reiterating his subsidiarist principles he insisted once again that “only the local population … can decide the fate of their locality, of their region, while each newly formed ethnic minority in that locality should be treated with the same non-violence”.
Today, almost six years after his death, Solzhenitsyn’s position is still the only sane and safe solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Those regions of eastern Ukraine which desire to secede from the Ukrainian-dominated west of the country should be allowed to do so. There are already two nations in the de facto sense. It makes sense, therefore, that this de facto reality should be honoured with de jure status. Any other suggested solution is not only unjust but will lead to even greater injustice in the form of war, terrorism and hatred. In this, as in so much else, the voice of the prophet should be heeded.
This essay first appeared here in June 2014.
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We, that is, my wife and I, have a personal friend who is from Ukraine. She has a son who is still there. He is not permitted to leave due to age and military service requirements. Her anxiety over the situation is understandable. The real problem, however, is that the Ukrainian resentment is based upon the deaths of 2,000,000 citizens at the hands of their Soviet masters, generally speaking, the Russians. The present Russian government seems to be under the influences of the same international directors as were the Communists. It appears that these folks think the world has too many people – like 6,5 billion too many. With the way in which personal differences are being exacerbated and with the importation of vast multitudes into the US who have neither any understanding of how this system works nor sympathy for its founding principles, the likelihood of a deadly civil war could be a possibility here.
It is incorrect to equate the Soviet communist government to the Russian people; “..Soviet masters, generally speaking, the Russians.”
Ironic given Solzhenitsyn’s admiration of Putin.
Wouldn’t it be more accurate at the time of the Holodomor to say that the Soviet masters were, generally speaking, Georgians? The identification of the USSR with imperial Russia is a very questionable one, even if a natural one for people who see themselves as having been ground under the same heel for hundreds of years.
Wonderful article. Contributing…
Thank you for the article!!! This is very encouraging to know that people are still thinking and not relying only on the emotions. PostSoviet people are extremely mixed. Almost all of us have Ukrainian relatives. I have 8 nationalities in me(Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, German, Osetian, Latvian, Turkish and French) Mist if my friends have two or more. But Ukraine has always been the closest to Russia . As I have already said, almost all of us have close relatives living in Ukrainian and we -Russian people love them and want peace. Every thing that is happening with this conflict has nothing to do with people, but with the Forces of Evil, with Greed, Money and desire to have Power.
Please find a way to enter this insight into the national and international debate on this topic.
I could not agree more strongly with the article’s conclusion, that the Donbass regions should be allowed to secede from Ukraine. I believe this is what Putin is currently defending, in addition to destroying NATO weapons caches and more in the two regions.
There are particularly sinister interests in the West which are exploiting the resources of the Ukranian people and are profiting from corruption at home and abroad. The chance of our participating in a war in the interests of that sinister cabal depends on how many of us have been awakened over the years to the lies and corruption emanating from our own domestic oligarchy. Those who want to understand will understand.
Wayne Allyn Root, writing for Townhall, has another insightful point regarding this conflict. Archbishop Vigano is also courageously speaking out on this important topic as he has in the past on other issues which are too often ignored.
Be Not Afraid. Evil is on the run. The wicked are at their loudest just before they are cast into the swine and sent over the cliff.
Such foresight is simply amazing! He is a true prophet and sage. I just admire him! If Russians and Ukrainians would read Solzhenitsyn’s articles and follow his advice, then we would not have war and bloodshed now.
Sorry, I made I few typos…
First, ask people from Eastern territories in Ukraine whether they want to live in Russia. Groups of terrorists formed DNR and LNR. They did not ask other people whether they want to live in LNR or DNR. So it is pointless to talk about letting people from Eastern Ukraine join Russia. Solzhenitsyn never lived in free Ukraine. He did not experience freedom in Ukraine. Ukraine is Ukraine, not Russia!
As to this statement, “To separate Ukraine today means to cut through millions of families and people…” Solzhenitsyn was Ukrainophob. Separation with Russia happened in 1991 and he could not admit it. The separation became even deeper now, during the war. And not many people in Ukraine regret that they had to cut ties with their relatives in Russia who cannot understand that Russia is a terrorist and kills civilians in Ukraine.
There exists no evil, from which God cannot draw forth an even greater good, so comfort ye. War is literally God’s punishment for our sins.
It is simply foolish, to risk human lifes, for ideas. Probably, this war ends, as it began, in a draw. Let them bury their deads, and sign the treaty. False ideas, on both sides, must crash anyway. True, good, beautiful ideas, to pray, forgive, love. Our dark century sees that five hundred years, of western european modernism, and of anglo-american imperialism, and even of real existant international socialism, must crash, under tears, and give way, to the third millenium, of wonder. To bury our deads, sign the treaty, and rejoice, in the living God, everybody, we must all do it. Because public religion begets peace on Earth, between God and everybody who has sinned. And these lessons, let both sides take them, not from me, but from God who will convert us all.