Primer History of Ukraine

The origins of Ukraine stem from the Kievan Rus (a loose federation of East Slavs, Baltic and Finnic), and the ‘Rus’ nationality which would splinter off into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarussians. All three of their languages descend from ancient Slavs’ and all three inherited Orthodoxy as their religion.

The geography of the Kievan  Rus included Russia in the north, with Ukraine and Belarus in the south. North Rus was ultimately seized long term by the Golden Horde after it was invaded by the Mongols, whereas South Rus was ultimately taken over by the Lithuanians.

In order to keep their grip on South Rus, the Lithuanians decided they needed an ally; in 1385 they married off the Grand Duke Iogaila to 11yr old Polish Queen Jadwiga. The Lithuanian Iogaila then became King of Poland. Ukraine’s history with Poland is complicated; for 5 centuries they shared a common history, under Polish monarchy, then under Russian tsars.

In the early 16th century, just as Europe was abandoning serfdom, the Polish introduced it for both Poland and Ukraine, much to the peasants in the latter’s frustration. By the end of the 16th century, following Poland’s wars against the Swedes and Turks, Catholicism began to replace Orthodoxy due to the Act of Union which created the Greek-Catholic (Uniate Church) which now dominates Western Ukraine.

This period also saw the rise of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, a Ukrainian equivalent to American cowboys; the Cossacks would lead fearsome raids deep into Poland in rejection of their rule. The Poles tried to redirect the Cossack aggression east toward the Muscovites and Turks; this worked in the case of the latter, and between 1600 and 1620, the Cossacks raided much of Turkey under the Ottoman Empire, so much that the price of Tatar (Turkish) slaves became astonishingly cheap. Nevertheless, the Cossacks continued to attack Poland in a series of uprisings, the final and bloodiest rebellion occurring under Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. The Cossacks message was clear; Ukrainians did not want to be ruled by Poland.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky is a figure of utmost importance in Eastern European history. For Ukrainians he was the leader of their first war of independence; for the Polish he was a misguided peasant rebel who split the Commonwealth; for Jews he was the first to commit pogrom against them; for Russia he was the founder of the Great Slav Brotherhood which freed Ukraine from Polish rule and delivered it to Muscovy (Moscow). After the Cossacks were deserted by their Crimean Tatar allies during the Battle of Berestechko, Khmelnytsky signed The Treaty of Pereiaslav in 1654 with representatives of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of Russia. This Treaty saw the transfer of Ukraine’s loyalty from Krakow to Moscow, along with it's ownership.

Up to the mid-17th century, the old nobility of Ruthenians (Ukrainians and Belarussians) had converted to Catholicism and adopted the language and manners of the ruling Polish. This was a disaster for Ruthenians who were now left leaderless, with the term “Ruthenian” becoming interchangeable with “peasant” in Polish letters. Polish rule had robbed Ukraine of its nobility, the descendants of old Rus princes. Over the next three decades, Ukraine would be constantly at war (The Deluge/The Ruin) with Russians, Polish, Cossacks and Tatars vying for control; then in 1686, Poland and Russia signed a so-called “eternal peace” whereby Moscow would rule Kiev and everything east of the Dneiper.

Following their loss of control of Ukraine, Poland would follow in the footsteps of Kievan Rus, weakened by war and peasant uprisings, it collapsed for good in 1795. Ownership of East Poland was taken by Russia, whereas the rest was taken by Prussia and Austria. Such was the hate between Poland and Ukraine, during the uprising in 1863, the Ukrainian peasants turned over Polish insurgents to the Russian authorities.

Through the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, the Allies ended WW1 and also restored Poland's independence and national identity. Unfortunately the same could not be said for Ukraine. The Treaty of Versailles split the territory into four regions; the West was given to Poland once more, the Central and East was given again to Russia, and now Romania and Czechoslovakia also took a share.

Between WW1 and WW2, Ukrainian nationalists in Polish-ruled Western Ukraine mounted an assassination campaign against Polish government officials; the two armies fought again at the end of WW2 when the Germans retreated west as Russia’s Red Army swept in. Confrontations occurred right up to the Polish population transfers of 1944–1946. The reason for conflict was simple; Ukrainians regarded Ukraine as Ukrainian, whereas the Polish regarded it as immutably Polish.

Poland was the first country to give Ukraine diplomatic recognition, the day after the independence referendum of 1st December 1991.