LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE OF SLAVS: HISTORICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL STUDIES ON RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN RIVALRY AND STRUGGLE FOR UKRAINE’S INDEPENDENCE

Abstract

The Ukrainians are Slavic people different from the Russian and an ethnic formation of Southern Russia with a mixture of locals. The Ukrainians are also called Russian Cossacks, being a nation of warriors, left Poland and formed an autonomous political structure with the support of the Russians in 1648. But for a long time Poland was the scene where the Ottoman-Russian rivalry took place. This rivalry on Poland not only weakened the Ottoman Empire but also strengthened the position of Russia in this region. Russia established dominance on a large part of Ukraine as a result of this revalry. This paper discusses the impacts of the history and philology studies on the Ukraine independence and and its contribution to the Ukraine struggle against Russia. Grushevskyi and Venelin’s contributions on their studies on the Ukrainian nationalism development are examined comparatively.