Ukrainophilia

Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrainian sentiments, usually in politics and literature. Ukrainophilia was severely persecuted by the imperial Russian government, and Ukrainian-language books and theater were banned. Pro-Ukrainian sentiments have gained more popularity after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Chłopomania Ukrainophilia arose as a movement in Poland in the first half of the 19th century, among Polish writers of the so-called "Ukrainian school" and later among ethnic Poles in Ukraine, who wrote poems and songs in the Ukrainian language. The Ukrainophile movement also developed among ethnic Ukrainian intellectuals in the Russian Empire and Galicia in the second half of the 19th century. Ukrainophiles sought to preserve and develop the Ukrainian language, literature and culture. They called for the introduction of the Ukrainian language in Ukrainian schools and the autonomy from the Russian Empire, that would allow for national self-determination of Ukrainians and free development of Ukrainian culture. Ukrainophilia in the 19th century included various degrees of intensity, from the simple love of one's people all the way to passionate nationalism and independence. The Ukrainophile movement in Russian literature led to the publishing of books and textbooks in the Ukrainian language. Ukrainophile intellectuals published a number of journals: Osnova in St. Petersburg (1861–62), Chernigovskiy Listok, Samostaine Slovo, Hromadnytsia, Pomyinytsia. They also sought to popularize the Ukrainian language by publishing pamphlets in Ukrainian. Ukrainophiles of the Russian Empire also created a network of Ukrainophile organizations, the most important of which were in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Poltava and Odesa, which actively sought to organize Ukrainian-language instruction in schools.