Common Origins and Independant Evolution of Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine has a unique history that predates Tsarist Russia. Both nations are conglomerations of European and Asian peoples.

Scythian warrior (reconstruction). Attribution: [1]

Antiquity

The region now known as Ukraine, lying North of the Back Sea, is part of the terrain feature known as the Pontic Steppe falling in between Asia and Europe. In classical antiquity, it was part of the kingdom of the Scythians, a nomadic Iranian people who, starting in the 7th century BC, emigrated westward out of the Central Asian Caucasian steppe. The Greeks, who were establishing colonies along the Black Sea coast in this time, first encountered and named these skilled horsemen. The Scythian Kingdom, which displaced the earlier Cimmerian Kingdom, existed from about 700 to 200 BC. After this time the Romans arrived and displaced the Greeks, and the Goths arrived and displaced the Scythians. Over the centuries, other peoples would migrate from Central Asia and displace and assimilate the inhabitants. These included, after the Goths, the Huns, Khazars, Mongols and Ottomans. The primary ancestors of modern Ukrainians were the (Eastern) Slavs who emigrated into the territory of Ukraine in the 6th century AD and settled. After this the territory became part of various empires including Kieven Rus’, the Empire of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Mongol/Tatar empire (Golden Horde), the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate, the Russian Empire, and the Hapsburg Empire.

Kievan Rus’ and the origins of Russia and Ukraine

Pre-modern Ukraine reached its zenith during the Kievan Rus’ (Ruthenian) empire (882–1240 AD). Starting in the 7th century, Viking traders from the area of modern Sweden entered Eastern Europe, setting up trading posts and eventually towns. They controlled trading routes, becoming wealthy and powerful. By the 9th century, they had penetrated all the territory of the eastern Slavs, intermingling with the local people and setting up many small principalities ruled by a clan. They were known by the Slavs as Rus or Varangians. The Baltic Sea was known as the Varangian Sea.

The 11th century fortified Golden Gate of Kiev, capital of Kievan Rus’. Reconstruction of original. Attribution: [2]

Kievan Rus’ was founded by a Varangian named Oleg who moved from Novgorod to Kiev in 880 AD to expel the Khazars. Over 35 years he united the Eastern Slavs across a large territory extending from Finland to the Black Sea, including much of what is now Ukraine and Western Russia. Kievan Rus’ had considerable autonomy between North and South and was more a confederation of kingdoms than an empire. Kievan Rus’ adopted Christianity from Byzantium in 988 AD, combining Slavic and Byzantine culture. Kievan Rus’ was the wealthiest and most powerful Christian kingdom during the 11th and 12th centuries.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, is an 11th century architectural monument of Kievan Rus’ . Attribution: [3]

The decline of Constantinople and failure to hold back the Mongols weakened Kievan Rus’ and it fell to Mongol incursions between 1237–1240 AD. By the 1300s it had split into multiple kingdoms. These Kingdoms began to diverge in language and customs especially between the north and south Kingdoms. One of the principalities that emerged was the Northern one called Vladmir-Suzdal, which included the city of Muscovy (Moscow), ruled by descendants of Varangians. During the 13th-15th centuries Muscovy grew in power and dominion as a series of powerful rulers conquered and united the petty principalities near and eventually further from the city to form the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Moscow survived multiple sackings during these wars of expansion. In 1547, Ivan (III) the Terrible transformed the Grand Duchy into the Tsardom of Russia. During all this period, Russia was focused inward and Eastward as it conquered Siberia and dealt with occasional internal revolts.

In 1721, Peter the Great renamed it the Russian Empire and finally began introducing Western European culture. The practice was continued under Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796).

Ukrainian identity emerges in early Modern Ukraine

Early modern Ukraine begins around 1569 AD when the territory of Ukraine of the Southern Slavs came under the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Many Poles moved into (colonized) Ukraine in this period and Ukraine was exposed to and adopted European cultural and political influences. The Cossacks emerged as the Commonwealth elite unwisely refused autonomy to the peasants, and they resisted reintroduction into serfdom. In 1630, the Cossacks declare war on the Poles which ends in stalemate. The Cossacks again rebel in 1648 and form a separate state called the Cossack Hetmanate — the proto-modern Ukraine state (1649–1764 AD). This weakens the Commonwealth.

Russian Annexation of Ukraine

In 1648, the Hetmanate sought aid in its challenge to the Common wealth. Russia was willing to aid the Cossacks and signed a treaty in 1654. Note that by this time differences in the language interfered with mutual understanding the terms of the agreement. Initially the treaty worked well as they separately made war on the Polish Lithuanian hegemony and Cossack rights were protected. Soon however, Russia decided further weakening of the Polish-Lithuanian Empire was counterproductive because a regional power balance to Sweden was needed. They signed a peace treaty with Poland, enraging the Hetmanate. Although the treaty was understood as more of a mutual (and temporary) aid pact by the Cossacks, Russia considered it a permanent treaty of subservience similar to ones they had signed across Russia. In fact Russia did not swear to uphold anything on their side in the treaty.

In 1764 Catherine the Great of Russia annexed central Ukraine and abolishes the Hetmanate. In 1783 Crimea is also annexed and opened to settlement by Russians. Russification is imposed — suppression of Ukrainian culture and use of the Ukrainian language. In 1795 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth fell and Western Ukraine is split between Russia and the (European) Austro-Hungarian (Hapsburg) Empire. During the 19th century a national identity emerges as Ukrainians observe other European countries whom, influenced by the ideas of the Rennaissance, pursue freedom from Monarchal rule and a unique national identity. The Ukranian nationalism movement was led by poet Taras Shevchenko and political theorist Mykhailo Drahomanov.

Regions of Ukraine. Attribution: [4]

Treatment of Ukraine under the USSR

After the Russian revolution of 1917 and the dissolution of the Hapsburg empire, briefly independent Ukraine fought a civil war between the national government and the Ukraine Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks won and Ukraine became part of the USSR. Initially during the 1920s, the Ukraine language and culture was allowed to flourish. Starting in 1929 however, as Stalin sought to industrialize and integrate the huge Soviet Empire, the Soviet government began a campaign of forceable Russification or assimilation of the Republics. In 1929–1930, Ukraine was subject to collectivization where all land and facilities were turned over to the state and farmers became tenants only (essentially a reintroduction of serfdom). Harvests were collected by the Soviets and in turn rations were doled out to the populace. This was resisted but was mostly in place by 1932. In that year low yields from the wheat harvest caused Stalin to cut rations to Ukraine. The result was starvation during the winter 1932–33. The state had grain reserves but held them back as Stalin weaponized the famine to punish the populace for resisting collectivization and crush their independence. 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainians died of hunger in those two years, an event termed the Holodomor genocide. In addition, tens of thousands of Ukrainians were accused of trumped-up crimes and executed, imprisoned or exiled, including 30,000 intellectuals. After this period, Ukraine was assimilated into the USSR.

Figures

[1] Janmad, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] By George Chernilevsky — Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69296851

[3] Rbrechko, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

[4] Peter Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons