Borderland of Poland and Russia and the independence of Ukraine and Belarus – reflections on political rivalry

Abstract

Central Europe is part of the continent with its historical and cultural identity and a unique geopolitical role (geopolitical wedge between Germany and Russia). Central Europe includes the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands, which for centuries have been the subject of rivalry between Poland and Russia and the area of influence of powers neighboring this region. Depending on the results of this rivalry, the status of Ukrainian-Belarusian territories varied between the “great borderland” and the periphery of various powers, most often the Republic of Poland or the Russian Empire. However, their role was different for both countries. For the Commonwealth, they constituted a necessary resource for maintaining its subjectivity, sovereignty and, consequently, independence. However, for Russia they were a route to master Central Europe and to influence Western Europe. In the history of the Ukrainian-Belarusian lands, three alternative variants of concentration and political rivalry were possible. The first – the formation in this subregion of Central Europe of the countries with high political subjectivity, based on significant demographic, geopolitical and economic resources. The second – the occupation of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border entirely by one of the neighboring powers as a result of military actions or EU agreements, which made them a “great borderland”, strengthening the potential of the country of its belonging. The third – the division of Ukrainian-Belarusian lands between state organisms with high subjectivity (the loss of the status of “great borderland” in favor of being peripheries), actually preventing internal political consolidation, but deepening the diversity of the subregion in terms of religion, religion, ethnicity, culture and language, mental, and consequently also socio-economic. In the historical process, all three scenarios were implemented, which contributed to giving the Ukrainian-Belarusian lands as a constitutive feature of the “Central European syndrome”, however questioned in the international environment, primarily by Russia recognizing this area as part of its own civilization and cultural circle.