Though Ukraine’s football team didn’t qualify to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, the tournament still put Ukraine in the spotlight – with an unexpected help from Croatia.
In one of the biggest scandals of the championship, the Croatian national team’s defender Domagoj Vida and its assistant coach Ognjen Vukojevic released a celebratory video in which they said “Glory to Ukraine!” following a win over Russia in the World Cup quarterfinals. An outcry ensued, and, as punishment, Vukojevic was fired from the team, and Vida got a warning.
The reason for the hubbub was that FIFA considered the slogan to be a political message, violating its no-politics rule.
International press then covered the scandal and spread even more misinterpretations of this slogan, calling it ultra-nationalist, radical, and anti-Russian. But to most Ukrainians, “Glory to Ukraine” is neither of this things.
Origins of “Glory to Ukraine”
Unsurprisingly, “Glory to Ukraine” owes its bad reputation to Russian state propaganda.
Propagandists claim that Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian nationalist and independence movement in the 1930s-1950s, modeled the “Glory to Ukraine!” greeting and the response “Glory to the heroes!” after the Nazi salute “Heil Hitler!” – “Sieg Heil!” (“Glory to Hitler!” – “Glory to the Victory!”).
This assumption is wrong: In fact, “Glory to Ukraine” originated long before Bandera took the lead of Ukraine’s nationalist movement, or Hitler came to power in Germany.
Instead, this greeting came into use in the early 20th century, during the Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917-1921, as several self-proclaimed independent Ukrainian states swam briefly into existence.
In these tumultuous years, soldiers of various military formations came up with slightly different ways to express their respect and love for their motherland. They spread these slogans among soldiers and civilians alike all across Ukraine.
In his documentary novel “Kholodnyi Yar” (“The Cold Ravine”), Ukrainian author Yuri Horlis-Horsky recalls meeting Ukrainian rebels of Holodnoyarska Republic, a short-lived self-proclaimed state on the territory of today’s Cherkasy Oblast. He documents that they were greeting each other with the words “Glory to Ukraine!” – “Ukraine’s glory!” as early as 1918.
Modern historians believe that the popularity of Horlis-Horsky’s novel became an important factor in spreading the slogan.
At around the same time, “Glory to Ukraine” was in use in the Ukrainian State, also called the Hetmanate of Pavlo Skoropadsky, a self-proclaimed Ukrainian state that existed for eight months in 1918. Its army’s cavalry regiment, the Black Zaporizhians, greeted each other with “Glory to Ukraine!”
When Volodymyr Vynnychenko and Symon Petliura led an uprising against that state in late 1918, and proclaimed the Directorate of Ukraine, Black Zaporizhians modified this salutation to “Glory to Ukraine!” – “Glory of Cossacks!”
The full greeting that is used nowadays, “Glory to Ukraine!” – “Glory to the heroes!”, was introduced some years later, in 1925, when the Legion of Ukrainian Nationalists (LUN) made it its official slogan. The second part of the greeting was an expression of gratitude and a promise to remember those people who gave their lives during Ukraine’s struggle for independence.
Nationalists’ role
Considering these early examples of the slogan, it is important to note that the Ukrainian nationalist movement in the early 20th century didn’t propagandize nationalism in the same way as some do today. At that time, Ukrainian nationalism wasn’t marked by a feeling of superiority over other nations, but instead was a national liberation movement.
It was only in the 1930s that the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) borrowed this greeting from LUN, and only in 1941 Bandera approved it as an official slogan of the organization. The Soviet authorities banned the slogan for many years, fearing a mass anti-Soviet rebellion, but the government couldn’t control its spread in underground Ukrainian movements.
The usage of slogan expanded as far as to Kuban (region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea), where the Russian Cossacks adopted its variation, “Glory to Kuban!” – “Glory to the heroes!” These are in use even now.
“Glory to Ukraine” in today’s Ukraine
As independence again became a possibility in the early 1990s, Ukrainian patriots revived the slogan, using it during demonstrations for independence.
And after independence, it kept its power. Anti-government protesters used it during the Orange Revolution in 2004, demanding revocation of presidential election results which saw Viktor Yanukovych elected president over Viktor Yushchenko. The protesters succeeded, putting Yushchenko into power. (However, Yanukovych won the following election in 2009.)
Finally, the slogan got a new life and a deeper meaning during the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2013-2014, a popular movement which ousted Yanukovych and his regime but saw over 100 protesters killed. And it continued to be used as Russia made war in Ukraine’s Donbas, a conflict in which over 10,000 people have been killed since 2014.
In today’s Ukraine, “Glory to Ukraine” is an expression as common as “Vive la France” in France, “God bless America” in the U.S., and “Long live the Queen” in Britain.
It is widely used at official events. Top officials, including President Petro Poroshenko, end their speeches with “Glory to Ukraine.”
But it is also very common in the everyday life of Ukrainians. In Kyiv, one can see “Glory to Ukraine” on car stickers, shop signs, t-shirts, and even in tattoos.
Today, the slogan speaks to the nation’s revival of patriotism and feelings of pride.
Ukrainians still must defend their freedom, independence, and territorial integrity. “Glory to Ukraine” represents Ukrainians’ hope for a better future and gratitude to all the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for Ukraine.
