Little Russian identity

The Little Russian identity was a cultural, political, and ethnic self-identification of the elite population of Ukraine who aligned themselves as one of the constituent parts of the triune Russian nationality. The identity was not supported by the majority peasant population, instead preferring the ethnonym Ruthenians (Rusyny, русини) or Rus' people (Rus'kyi narod, руський народ). The Little Russian identity combined the cultures of imperial Russian and Cossack Hetmanate.

The beginning of the development of the Little Russian identity in the Cossack Hetmanate dates back to the late 18th century. A significant factor that promoted this process was the idea of equal national, social and religious rights for the elite of the Tsardom of Russia that had been denied in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In the second half of the 19th century, in order to counter the conception of an All-Russian unity, the Ukrainian national identity emerged. Its characteristic traits were the denial of cultural and ethnic ties with Russia as well as Western political orientation. This new ethnonym was promoted instead of the widespread name Ruthenian (Rusyny; русини). The struggle between the two projects of national identity lasted until the dissolution of the Russian Empire. The revolutionary events of 1917 led to a rapid strengthening of the Ukrainian national idea, which was backed by many Western Ukrainians in Galicia who joined the political life in Kiev. Because of their adjacency to the Russian White Movement, political activists with Little Russian, and Pan-Russian views were among the social groups who suffered the most during the Revolution, and the troubles of the Civil War; many of whom were killed during the war or forced to emigrate.

After the end of the Civil War, the process of Ukrainian nation-building was resumed in the territory of Ukrainian SSR by the Bolshevik party and the Soviet authorities, who introduced the policy of korenizatsiya, the implementation of which in the Ukrainian SSR was called Ukrainization. As a result, the term "Little Russian" was marginalized and remained in usage only among White emigres.

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Wikipedia