Schmid, Ulrich (2020), ISBN: 9780367199807, Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge.
Schmid explains the history of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and concentrates here on the importance of the different local cultures. Key Factor is the remembrance of the Soviet past. It presents different understandings of the Ukrainian nationhood based on different interpretations -Russian, Habsburg, Polish- and looks at the Ukrainian political and economical options for the future. It was written before the Russian War against Ukraine.
“Ukraine: Contested Nationhood in a European Context challenges the common view that Ukraine is a country split between a pro-European West and a pro-Russian East. The volume navigates the complicated cultural history of Ukraine and highlights the importance of regional traditions for an understanding of the current political situation. A key feature is the different politics of memory that prevail in each region, such as the Soviet past being presented as either a foreign occupation or a benign socialist project.“