Symbolism of Money: Finances and Historical Consciousness of Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus1
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Siarhei Kuzniatsou Symbolism of money: finances and historical consciousness of Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus1 Abstract Images on banknotes are one of the ways of visualizing and distributing knowledge about a certain historical period and fixing it in a nation’s consciousness, thus in- fluencing the national identity. The author analyses the images on the banknotes of the three neighboring countries: Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus, studying the common features and differences in their design. The author draws a conclusion about the closeness of the Lithuanian and Ukrainian approaches that influenced their national identities through the banknotes’ images, while Belarusian identity engineers ignored this approach. Key words: political symbols, symbolism of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine, histori- cal memory, identity construction, finances, money. While forming or strengthening a rials, museums and historical memory chosen variant of the national identity, places, monuments’ erection, designa- every nation tries to highlight some tion of streets in honor of great people historical facts and to avoid or “forget” or events, sometimes a State Coat of some other ones. Thus, the “recon- Arms, National Anthem and Flag. struction” of the national memory and This article analyses one more history chooses some periods from the method of spreading a chosen histori- nation’s history and intensifies them cal orientation, i.e. through the images (Snyder, 2003). Various methods are on banknotes. Bearing in mind the fact used in order to visualize and distribute that the majority of the population uses knowledge about certain historical pe- money, this method seems to be quite riods and to fix them in a nation’s con- justified. Prior to analyzing the Belaru- sciousness, such as creation of memo- sian banknotes’ semantic load, let’s first 1 The source for translation is: Сяргей Кузняцоў Сімволіка грошаў: фінансы і гістарычная свядомасць Украіны, Літвы і Беларусі // “Палiтычная сфера” №7, 2006 с.54-62. №11/2008 90 Political ideas and national identity take a close look at the images on the desire of the authorities to stabilize the banknotes of Ukraine and Lithuania. economy first, thus transferring the major blows of inflation to the coupons. Ukraine The name of the Ukrainian cur- rency, the hryvnia, dates back to the After the disintegration of the USSR times of the Old Rus (Ruthenia). At in 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme those times, a “hryvnia” (“grivna”) most Council (Rada) passed a decree con- likely meant something valuable worn cerning the introduction of a “kar- around the neck, usually made of silver bovanets” (a coupon) from the 10th of or gold. Later on the word was used to January 1992 on the territory of Ukraine describe silver or golden ingots of a cer- (Decree, 1991). In the beginning of tain weight. 1992, these coupons circulated together On 18 July 1917 the creation of with the old Soviet Rubles however as the Ukrainian People’s Republic was early as May the Rubles were withdrawn announced and started immediate and in November it became possible to emission of its own currency, the kar- carry out coupon non-cash transac- bovanets. The banknotes’ designer tions. At the same time the work on Heorhiy Narbut addressed to the Ru- the creation of the Ukrainian currency, thenian times and pictured the Fam- hryvnia, was ongoing. Regardless of the ily Coat of Arms of Prince Volodymyr fact that the new Ukrainian currency (Vladimir), which can be found on the was ready to be introduced already at old Ruthenian coins. This idea led to the the end of 1992, the currency reform new name of the Ukrainian currency. was implemented only in August 1996. On March 1st, 1918, the UPR Central During 15 days both coupons and hryv- Rada introduced its new currency, the nias were in circulation however start- hryvnia (Chernoivanenko, 2001). ing from September 16th, 1996, the Therefore the name of the pres- only currency accepted for payments ent Ukrainian currency emphasizes in the territory of Ukraine became the the connection between the history of hryvnia. This delay was caused by the Ruthenia with its center in Kyiv (Kiev) №11/2008 Siarhei Kuzniatsou. Symbolism of money... 91 where the hryvnias were used, and the Rahnieda (Rogneda) and killed her fa- contemporary Ukrainian state. In the ther Rahvalod (Rogvolod), the Prince light of this concept, the name of the of Polatsk (Polotsk), in Ukraine he is subunit, “kopiyka” (the Ukrainian vari- praised for the Baptizsng of Ruthenia ant of the Russian “kopeyka”) does not and being a wise commander and states- quite fit in. The word kopek, kopeck man. The son of Vladimir and Rogneda, or copeck (kopeyka) derives from the Kyivan Prince Yaroslav the Wise (about Russian word “kop’yo”, i.e. a spear. The 983–1054) is one of the most powerful first kopek coins, minted at Novgorod warriors of his time, in the course of his and Pskov since around 1535 onwards, ruling the state with its center in Kyiv contained an image of a horseman with reached its blossom. Yaroslav the Wise a spear. From the 1540’s onwards the is believed to be the founder of many horseman bears a crown and undoubt- cities, including those which are be- edly represented the intention was to yond the borders of Ukraine, e.g. Tartu refer to Ivan the Terrible. There is a in Estonia, Yaroslavl in Russia, and even theory that the word “ruble” has de- a former capital of the Grand Duchy of rived from the Russian verb “rubit”, i.e. Lithuania, Navahradak. to chop. Historically, “ruble” was a piece The banknotes with the images of of a certain weight chopped off a silver the hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky ingot (grivna), hence the name. and Ivan Mazepa refer to the period The images on banknotes are rather of the Ukrainian history when there detailed. The Ukrainian banknotes’ de- were attempts of reviving the state. The signers did not highlight a certain his- Ukrainian historiography considers B. torical period however put emphasis on Khmelnytsky (1595–1657) as a leader the concept of the common historical of the national liberation movement, past of Ruthenia and Ukraine and fill- when some Ukrainian lands were freed ing Ruthenia with a Ukrainian content. from Rzecz Pospolita (Kingdom of Po- Each of the value’s obverse has an im- land) and joined Muscovy, remaining age of Ukraine’s outstanding persons, its autonomy. I. Mazepa (1639–1709) e.g. Princes Volodymyr (Vladimir) the is known for his attempts of liberat- Great and Yaroslav the Wise (1 and 2 ing the Ukrainian lands from Muscovy UAH), hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky with the assistance of the Swedish King and Ivan Mazepa (5 and 10 UAH), Charles XII. Neither Russian, nor Sovi- Ivan Franko (20 UAH), Mykhailo Hru- et historiography forgave Mazepa, con- shevsky (50 UAH), Taras Shevchenko sidering him a betrayer. It is interest- (100 UAH) and Lesya Ukrainka – 200 ing that there are two hetmans on the UAH (National Bank of Ukraine). banknotes, who are thought to be an- The images of Vladimir the Great tagonists from the Soviet point of view and Yaroslav the Wise represent the pe- however this is the way the designers riod of Old Ruthenia as the first Ukrai- highlighted the independence of the nian state. Unlike in Belarus, where Ukrainian state interests. Prince Vladimir the Great (958? - 1015) The period of the Ukrainian People’s is remembered as the ruler who raped Republic is represented by the image of №11/2008 92 Political ideas and national identity Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1866–1934), the the political forces that controlled the first UPR President, Chairman of the National Bank at that time of presenting Central Rada, an outstanding scientist, their own attitute to the identity, based historian and academician. on the Soviet and Russian cultural and On the reverses of the Ukrainian historical stereotypes. banknotes there are images of archi- The new banknote has no Cher- tectural monuments connected to the sonese’s ruins, it was replaced with an persons on the obverses, i.e. ruins of image of Kyiv of Vladimir’s times in- Chersonese (1 UAH), the St. Sophia Ca- stead, which indeed does not have the thedral in Kyiv (2 UAH), the Church in semantic load the previous image had. Subotiv where B. Khmelnytsky is bur- According to Ukrainian historians, a re- ied (5 UAH), the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra view of the roles played by the persons (10 and 100 UAH), Opera Theater in pictured on the banknotes (i.e. changes Lviv (20 UAH), the building of the Su- in their appearance and adding of new preme Rada (50 UAH), a tower of Lutsk elements) blasted the concept (Star- Castle – 200 UAH (National Bank of odub). From artistic point of view, the Ukraine). new banknotes look more refined. Still, The image of Chersonese’s ruins is together with B. Khmelnytsky’s image, the most apposite. The authors meant now there is a quiver and arrows, which to reach several goals simultaneously. is probably supposed to stress that he Firstly, they emphasized the Ukraine was a soldier. The banknote dedicated connection with the Byzantine culture to the poet I. Franko has a facsimile and entire Roman civilization (Cher- with his verse written in accordance sonese was founded by the Greeks in with the orthography used in the West- the 7th century B.C., then it passed to ern Ukraine at his times, “Земле, моja both Roman and Byzantine Empires), всеплодьучаjа мати!..” (My Land, my secondly, a reminder of the Christian dear kind mother!..) One can only roots (Vladimir accepted Christianity imagine the effect such “not-tradition- in Chersonese, which he seized in 988) ally-Russian” orthography might have and, thirdly, underlined the fact that on the ‘Russified’ population of the East the Crimea belonged to Ukraine (Star- Ukraine.