The International Movement of Donbass (Russian: Интернациональное движение Донбасса, romanized: Internatsional'noye dvizheniye Donbassa, IDD; Ukrainian: Інтернаціональний рух Донбасу, romanized: Internatsionalʹnyy rukh Donbasu, IRD), or just Intermovement (Russian: Интердвижение; Ukrainian: Інтеррух), also called the Interfront of the Donbass (Russian: Интерфронт Донбасса; Ukrainian: Інтерфронт Донбасу) was a political movement in the late Ukrainian SSR and the first decade of independent Ukraine. It was founded in 1990 by the members of the intelligentsia in the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine. It was founded in opposition to the People's Movement of Ukraine, which favored Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union.[1] Similar Interfront pro-Soviet movements existed in the Latvian SSR, Moldovan SSR and other republics.
International Movement of Donbass Интернациональное движение Донбасса Інтернаціональний рух Донбасу | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Abbreviation | IDD or IRD |
| Leader | Sergey Chepik (last) |
| Founders | Dmitry Kornilov, Vladimir Kornilov |
| Founded | 18 November 1990 |
| Dissolved | 2003 |
| Succeeded by | Donetsk Republic |
| Headquarters | Donetsk, Ukraine |
| Youth wing | Youth League of Intermovement of Donbass |
| Ideology | Anti-Ukrainization Soviet nationalism Russophilia Federalism Donbass regionalism Donbass separatism |
| Colours | Red Azure Black |
In 1992, it grew stronger as miners and local elites opposed the perceived economic mismanagement of the central government in Kyiv and alleged Ukrainization.[2] In 1993, the Interfront participated in a rally in Donetsk against the economic policy of Leonid Kravchuk. The rally was co-sponsored by the Socialist Party of Ukraine.[3]
In a publication from 1993, the Interfront emphasized the multinational character of the Donbas.
(The) Donbass has since the old times served as home to dozens of peoples. The territory of what is now the Donbass has been part of the Khazar Khanate, Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, the Russian Empire, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic and (finally) the Ukrainian State... the Donbass is the centre [of] a unique multinational culture.
— Programm of the Intermovement of the Donbass (Projekt), in: Nash Donbass, No. 1 (January 1993), p. 4.[4]
In 1993 and 1994, the chairman of the Intermovement was Dmitriy Kornilov.[5][6]
In 1993, members of the Interfront participated in the foundation of the Civil Congress of Ukraine. Kornilov became the ideological leader of the Civic Congress.[7] The Congress turned into the Slavic Party in 1998.
In 1997, Kornilov said that Donetsk is "beyond doubt" Russian.[8] Two years later, he repeated that the Donetsk region "orients itself towards Moscow".[9]
Dmitriy Kornilov died in 2002. His brother, Vladimir Kornilov continued his work and later became a citizen of the Donetsk People's Republic. Some observers see the small Donetsk Republic political party as the successor movement to the Interfront of the Donbas.[10]
The flag of the Donetsk People's Republic is claimed by the separatist authorities to be based on the flag of the Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, whom they consider the "People's Republic's" predecessor.[11] However, there is no evidence of any such flag in 1918, and it is most likely based on the flag of the Interfront.[12][13]
See also
editLiterature
editReferences
edit- ^ James Ivan Clem: The Life of the Parties: Party Activism in Lʹviv and Donetsk, Ukraine, Ann Arbor (MA): University of Michigan Press 1995, p. 52.
- ^ p. 71., Lewis H. Siegelbaum/Daniel J. Walkowitz: Workers of the Donbass Speak: Survival and Identity in the New Ukraine, 1989–1992, Albany (NY): SUNY Press 1995,
- ^ Paul J. D'Anieri: Economic interdependence in Ukrainian-Russian relations, Albany (NY): SUNY Press 1999, p. 111 (footnote: p. 250).
- ^ Andrew Wilson: The Donbas between Ukraine and Russia: The Use of History in Political Disputes, in: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 30 (1995), No. 2, pp. 265–289 (here: pp. 278/279).
- ^ FBIS Report: Central Eurasia, 1993, p. 10.
- ^ Pal Kolsto: Political Construction Sites: Nation Building in Russia and the Post-soviet States, London: Taylor & Francis 2018, p. 382.
- ^ Tor Bukkvoll: Ukraine and European Security, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs Corporation 1997, p. 31.
- ^ Tor Bukkvoll: Ukraine and European Security, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs Corporation 1997, p. 31.
- ^ Justin Burke: Ukraine: State Building and Stability, New York (NY): Open Society Institute 1999, p. 51.
- ^ Tim Judah: In Wartime – Stories from Ukraine, London: Penguin Books 2015, p. 173.
- ^ "The DPR became a legal successor of the Donetsk-Krivoy-Rog Republic". novorossia.today. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ James Ivan Clem: The Life of the Parties: Party Activism in Lʹviv and Donetsk, Ukraine, Ann Arbor (MA): University of Michigan Press 1995, p. 52.
- ^ Edwards, Maxim (9 June 2014). "Symbolism of the Donetsk People's Republic". openDemocracy. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
But Vladimir Kornilov, the world's leading – and only – specialist on the short-lived state (and author of The Assassinated Dream, a book on its history), does not agree. The myths that grew around the Republic, [Kornilov] added, led to distorted views of its history, and 'pictures of some flag which was never actually used.' In fact, the flag used by the Donetsk People's Republic is, with alterations, that of the International Movement for Donbas or the Interdvizheniye Donbasa, an organisation whose roots started only in August 1989, in a lecture theatre of Donetsk University.