does influence their sense of legitimacy over the ruling order. And in that sense, the rewriting of history, whether you want to call that revanchism or nationalist propaganda, does serve an important function insofar as it provides a legitimizing narrative for the aggressor state that's looking to change the status quo by making itself the true victim of a historical process that goes back much further than any immediate conflict. And the power of these sorts of narratives is also important for the defenders who are encouraged to fight for their country, which obviously has been an important part of what's motivated the Ukrainians and helped them form their sense of nationhood, which I'm sure we'll have a chance to get into. But I have another question here because what you're referring to is this tripartite view of a greater Russia. And you said, quote, big Russians are the people that we call today Russians, little Russians are Ukrainians and white Russians are Belarusians. What I (21/40)
You are viewing a single comment's thread from: