Struggling for peace : understanding Polish-Ukrainian coexistence in southeast Poland (1943-2007)

The outbursts of massive ethnic violence in the Yugoslav successor states following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 surprised and worried many contemporary observers, as did other upsurges of ethnic nationalism and conflict in a number of post-communist countries. Whereas wartime conflicts and ancient rivalries took centre stage in Yugoslav politics in the 1990s, in Poland the painful and controversial events in Polish-Ukrainian history were tackled in an open public debate. This study starts from the question how and why in Poland in the 1990s revitalized ideas of a modern 'nation-state' found a peaceful articulation. It asks the negative question: Why did Poles and Ukrainians in Poland not behave like Serbs, Croats and Bosnians in former Yugoslavia? Why is it that after the regime change in 1990 massive violence between Poles and Ukrainians remained absent, despite a history of Polish-Ukrainian hostility and violence?