Formation of Modern Ukrainian Tradition in the Honorary Names of Military Units

Abstract

The goal is to explore the formation process of the modern Ukrainian tradition in honorary names of military formations and their classification.

The methodology is based on the combination of methods of analyzing quantitative and qualitative features of historical facts, me thods of historical memory studies, and the so-called spatial turn in modern humanities.

The scientific novelty. For the first time, the formation process of the honorary names of military units is analyzed as a component of the general national military-historical tradition and one of the markers of the birth of a new historical culture in Ukrainian society.

The main results. After many years of preserving the Soviet naming system of the military formations, independent Ukraine made a fundamental turn to its national military and historical tradition. The catalyst for this process was the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of Russia’s direct armed aggression. Total rebranding of the military was made as part of the overall defense reform. Ideology-driven Soviet components were removed from the names of military formations. Instead, Ukrainian honorific names are being introduced quite consistently. It is proposed to distinguish their two types: nominal/personal and territorial names. Among nominal names 13% represent personalities of the Middle Ages (Rus, Principality of Halychyna-Volyn, Grand Duchy of Lithuania), 30% — personalities of the early modern period (mainly Cossack era and Hetmanshchyna), 29% — iconic representatives of the national liberation struggle of the twentieth century (mainly the period of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917—1921), 18% — heroes of the modern Russo-Ukrainian war. For all periods, the absolute majority are military figures. Territorial names, unlike the Soviet tradition, contain the names of the settlements where the relevant units are deployed or were formed. In some cases, personal and territorial names are combined. Since the naming process is dynamic, the formation of the Ukrainian military and historical tradition continues.