Suchergebnisse

In this article, the author understands Ukraine and its history as integral components of Europe and European history. Thematically, the article consists of three parts. In the first part the author comprehends the concepts of Western, Central and Eastern Europe. The scholar believes that the concept of 'Central Europe' is artificial, so he considers only Western and Eastern Europe as primarily a cultural rather than a geographical phenomenon. By 'Eastern Europe' the author means the countries of the Byzantine-Turkic heritage. Thus, in the postwar period, the heart of Eastern Europe was the USSR, and the concept itself covered the countries of the Soviet bloc. However, with regard to Ukraine, the author attributes it politically and geographically to Eastern Europe, but culturally – to Western Europe. In the second part the author analyzes the concepts of 'Europeanism' and 'Europeanization' and in the third part the author comprehends Ukraine as a country of the Western European cultural space. Thus, Ukraine is not a Europeanized, but a historically European country. Factors that determine the Europeanness of Ukraine are: the adoption of Christianity; close economic, political, cultural and dynastic ties with the West; Ukraine's assimilation of the Western European system of law, in particular Magdeburg law, the Latin language of science and education. Ukraine experienced the same cultural currents and trends as Western Europe – the Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment and rationalism, romanticism, as well as European socio-political theories and teachings spread in Ukraine. In the end, Ukraine's Europeanness is determined by its long-term membership in the countries of the Western European cultural area – Poland and Lithuania. Thus, Ukraine does not need Europeanization, it is part of Europe, its eastern bastion. We only need to support and develop the European spirit of Ukraine.

In this article, the author analyzes the causes of the defeat of European states in the wars against Russia. In particular, he analyzed the Northern War of the early 18th century, Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 and Nazi Germany in 1941. The author believes that the main problem faced by the attackers was the issue of overcoming the space of Russia. In the problem of space, the author identifies two factors: the actual space and space as a political phenomenon. Space forced enemy armies to stretch communications, disperse forces, taking control of bases. Space as a political factor includes the population on whose support and loyalty victory depended. Thus, the main reason for the defeat of Karl XII, Napoleon and Hitler is their inability to assess the potential of the population of the western regions of the Russian Empire, to enlist his support.