History of Ukraine
Early Pre-history
The first identifiable groups to populate what is now Ukraine were the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, and Goths, among other nomadic peoples who arrived throughout the first millennium BC. These people were known to colonists and traders in the ancient world, including the Greeks and the Romans, who established trading outposts, and which eventually became city states. Of particular interest, the Antes civilization, during the common era, left its mark upon the territory of Ukraine. Around this time, many Trypillian artifacts were deposited. The Antes were thought to be an early Slavic or pre-Slavic civilization in the area. Slavic tribes occupied central and eastern Ukraine as early as the sixth century A.D. and played an important role in the establishment of Kyiv.
In the 9th century, Kyiv was conquered from the Khazars by the Varangian (Swedish Viking) Oleg. Situated on lucrative trade routes, Kyiv quickly prospered as the center of the powerful Slavic/Scandinavian state of Kievan Rus. In the 11th century, Kyivan Rus' was, geographically, the largest state in Europe. A Christian missionary, Cyril, converted the Kyivan nobility (mostly Varangians) and most of the population in 988. Conflict among the various principalities of Rus' led to decline in the 12th century. Kyiv was sacked by Russians, Polovtzians and Mongol raiders in the 12th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, all principalities of Ukraine acknowledged the sovereignty of Mongols. The Mongol rule was very cruel and people often fled to other countries. Ukrainian settlements appeared in Poland and Hungary.
The local successor state to Kyivan Rus' on the territory of both Kyiv and today's Ukraine was the principality of Halych-Volynia. During this period (around 1200-1400) each principality was independent of the other for a period of time. The state of Halych Volynia eventually became a vassal to the Mongolian Empire, but efforts to gain European support for opposition to the Mongols continued. This period marked marked the first "King of Rus'--earlier, rulers of Rus' were termed, "Grand Dukes" or "Princes."
During the 14th century, Poland and Lithuania fought wars against the Mongol invaders, and eventually most of Ukraine passed to the rule of Poland and Lithuania.
Most of Ukraine bordered parts of Lithuania, and some say that the name, "Ukraine" comes from the local word for "border," although the name "Ukraine" was also used centuries earlier. Lithuania took control of the state of Volynia in northern/northwestern Ukraine, including the region around Kyiv (Rus'), and the rulers of Lithuania then adopted the title of ruler of Rus'. Poland took control of the region of Halychchyna. Following the union between Poland and Lithuania, Poles, Germans, Armenians and Jews immigrated to the country.
After the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the gentry of Ukraine voted for membership in the Polish part of the Commonwealth 1569. The period immediately following the creation of the Commmonwealth, saw a huge revitalization in colonisation efforts. Many new cities and villages were founded. New schools spread the ideas of the Renaissance; Polish peasants which arrived in great numbers where quickly Ruthenised; during this time, many Ukrainian nobles became Polonized. Social tensions also grew. Ruthenian/Ukrainian peasants (and some from other nations) who fled efforts to force them into servitude came to be known as Cossacks and earned a reputation for their fierce martial spirit.
The 1648 Ukrainian Kozak (Cossack) rebellion and war of independence, also known as The Deluge, undermined the foundations and stability of the Commonwealth. The reconstituted Ukrainian state sought a treaty of protection with the state of Moscow (Muscovy, soon to be re-named, "Rossiya") in 1654. This agreement was known as the Treaty of Pereyaslav. Polish authorities then sought compromise with the Ukrainian Cossack state by signing the Union of Hadyach in 1658, but the agreement was later superseded by 1667 Polish-Muscovite Treaty of Andrusiv, which divided Ukraine between Poland and Russia.
See also: Partitions of Poland
Tsarist rule over central Ukraine gradually replaced 'protection' over the subsequent decades. Through the Partitions of Poland Ukraine fell under the control of the Austrians in the extreme west (see: Galicia) and of the Russians elsewhere. Turkish control receded from south-central Ukraine, while the rule of Hungary over the Trans-Carpathian region continued. Ukrainian writers and intellectuals were inspired by the nationalistic spirit stirring other European peoples existing under other imperial governments and became determined to revive the Ukrainian linguistic and cultural traditions and re-establish a Ukrainian nation-state. The Russians in particular imposed strict limits on attempts to elevate Ukrainian language and culture, even banning its use and study. The fate of the Ukrainians was much more positive under the Austrians. During this time, the people of Ukraine began to accept a change of their name from Rus'/Rusyny (Ruthenia/Ruthenians) to Ukraine/Ukrainians.
When World War I and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia shattered the Hapsburg and Russian empires, Ukrainians declared independent statehood. Between 1917 and 1918, three separate Ukrainian republics manifested independence, including the Rada, the Directorate, the Hetmanate, and the Ukrainian Peoples Republic of Symon Petlura. However, by 1921, the western part of the traditional territory had been incorporated into Poland, and the larger, central and eastern part became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian SSR.
The Ukrainian national idea persevered during the inter-war years, and Ukrainian culture even enjoyed a revival due to Bolshevik concessions in the early Soviet years. By the late 1920s, however, the Soviet reaction was severe, particularly under Stalin, who imposed terror campaigns, which ravaged the intellectual class. He also created artificial famines (Holodomor) as part of his forced collectivization policies, which killed millions of previously independent peasants and others throughout the country. Estimates of deaths from the 1932-1933 famine alone range from 3 million to 10 million.
After German and Soviet troops invaded Poland in 1939, (see: Polish September Campaign) the western Ukrainian regions were incorporated into the Soviet Union. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941(see: Operation Barbarossa), many Ukrainians, particularly in the west, welcomed them, but this did not last. In the encirclement battle of Kiev, acclaimed by the Soviets as a Hero City, more than 660,000 Soviet troops were taken captive.
The Nazi's brutality was directed principally against Ukraine's Jews (of whom 1 million were killed) but also against many other Ukrainians. Kyiv and other parts of the country were heavily damaged. Some Ukrainians began to resist Nazi Germany as well as the Soviet Union. Resistance against Soviet Government forces continued as late as the 1950s.
Total civilian losses during the War and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated at 7 million, including over a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen. The great majority fell victim to atrocities, forced labor, and even massacres of whole villages in reprisal for attacks against Nazi forces. Of the estimated 11 million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis, about a fourth (2.7 million) were ethnic Ukranians. Thus, the Ukrainian nation is distinguished as the first nation to fight the Axis powers during WW II in Carpatho-Ukraine and one that saw one of the greatest bloodsheds during the War.
Little changed for Ukraine over the next few decades. During periods of relative liberalization--as under Nikita Khrushchev from 1955 to 1964--Ukrainian communists pursued national objectives. In the years of perestroika, under U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev, national goals were again advanced by Ukrainian officials.
The town of Pripyat, Ukraine was the site of the Chernobyl accident, which occured in April 26, 1986 when a nuclear plant exploded. The fallout contaminated large areas of northern Ukraine and even parts of Belarus. This spurred on a local independence movement called the Rukh that plagued the Soviet Union during the late 1980s.
Ukraine declared itself an independent state on August 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 1, 1991 Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum formalizing independence from the Soviet Union.Kyivan Rus'
Halych-Volynia
Loss of Independence
The Commonwealth
The Kozak Era
Partitions/Transition to Russian/Austrian Rule
The 20th Century
Independence