Representations of the First World War in the Politics of Memory in Russia and Ukraine

This paper examines the re-emergence of the memory of the First World War in Russia and Ukraine during the post-Soviet period. It shows what kind of interpretations of the war the governments of these countries have put forward in order to establish new commemorative traditions. It examines the role of non-state actors in the revival of the memory of the war. The article demonstrates that despite sharp differences in attitudes towards the imperial heritage, both countries have structural similarities in their commemoration strategies and they are commensurable to those that developed in Western European countries right after the Great War.