When was Ukraine formed as a separate state? Ukraine: history of origin. Lands of Ukraine: history

How the Ukrainian language was created - artificially and for political reasons. “The truth is never sweet,” Irina Farion recently noted, presenting her next book about the Ukrainian language on the First Channel of the National Radio of Ukraine. And in some ways, it’s hard to disagree with the now widely known deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. The truth will always be bitter for Ukrainian “nationally conscious” figures. They are too far apart from her. However, it is necessary to know the truth. Including the truth about the Ukrainian language. This is especially important for Galicia. After all, Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky admitted this.

“Work on the language, as in general work on the cultural development of Ukrainians, was carried out primarily on Galician soil,” he wrote.

It is worth dwelling on this work, which began in the second half of the 19th century, in more detail. Galicia was then part of the Austrian Empire. Accordingly, Russia was a foreign country for Galicians. But, despite this circumstance, the Russian literary language was not considered alien in the region. Galician Rusyns perceived it as an all-Russian, common cultural language for all parts of historical Rus', and therefore for Galician Rus'.

When at the congress of Galician-Russian scientists, held in 1848 in Lvov, it was decided that it was necessary to cleanse folk speech from Polonisms, this was seen as a gradual approach of Galician dialects to the norms of the Russian literary language. “Let the Russians start from the head, and we start from the feet, then sooner or later we will meet each other and converge in the heart,” said the prominent Galician historian Antoniy Petrushevich at the congress. Scientists and writers worked in the Russian literary language in Galicia, newspapers and magazines were published, and books were published.

The Austrian authorities did not like all this very much. Not without reason, they feared that cultural rapprochement with the neighboring state would entail political rapprochement and, in the end, the Russian provinces of the empire (Galicia, Bukovina, Transcarpathia) would openly declare their desire to reunite with Russia.

And then they came up with the roots of “mova”

From Vienna, Galician-Russian cultural ties were obstructed in every possible way. They tried to influence the Galicians with persuasion, threats, and bribery. When this did not work, they moved on to more vigorous measures. “The Rutens (as the official authorities in Austria called the Galician Rusyns - Author) did not, unfortunately, do anything to properly separate their language from the Great Russian, so the government has to take the initiative in this regard,” said the governor of France. Joseph in Galicia Agenor Golukhovsky.

At first, the authorities simply wanted to ban the use of the Cyrillic alphabet in the region and introduce the Latin alphabet into the Galician-Russian writing system. But the indignation of the Rusyns over this intention turned out to be so great that the government backed down.

The fight against the Russian language was carried out in a more sophisticated manner. Vienna was concerned with creating a movement of “young Ruthenians”. They were called young not because of their age, but because they rejected the “old” views. If the “old” Ruthenians (Rutens) considered the Great Russians and Little Russians to be a single nation, then the “young” insisted on the existence of an independent Ruthenian nation (or Little Russian - the term “Ukrainian” was used later). Well, an independent nation must, of course, have an independent literary language. The task of composing such a language was set before the “young Rutenes”.

Ukrainians began to be raised together with the language

They succeeded, however, with difficulty. Although the authorities provided all possible support to the movement, it had no influence among the people. The “young Ruthenians” were looked upon as traitors, unprincipled servants of the government. Moreover, the movement consisted of people who, as a rule, were intellectually insignificant. There could be no question that such figures would be able to create and disseminate a new literary language in society.

The Poles came to the rescue, whose influence in Galicia was dominant at that time. Being ardent Russophobes, representatives of the Polish movement saw direct benefit for themselves in the split of the Russian nation. Therefore, they took an active part in the “linguistic” efforts of the “young Rutenes”. “All Polish officials, professors, teachers, even priests began to study primarily philology, not Masurian or Polish, no, but exclusively ours, Russian, in order to create a new Russian-Polish language with the assistance of Russian traitors,” recalled a major public figure in Galicia and Transcarpathia Adolf Dobryansky.

Thanks to the Poles, things went faster. The Cyrillic alphabet was retained, but “reformed” to make it different from the one adopted in the Russian language. They took as a basis the so-called “Kulishivka”, once invented by the Russian Ukrainophile Panteleimon Kulish with the same goal - to dissociate the Little Russians from the Great Russians. The letters “ы”, “е”, “ъ” were removed from the alphabet, but “є” and “ї”, which were absent in Russian grammar, were included.

In order for the Rusyn population to accept the changes, the “reformed” alphabet was introduced into schools by order. The need for innovation was motivated by the fact that for the subjects of the Austrian emperor “it is both better and safer not to use the same spelling that is customary in Russia.”

It is interesting that the inventor of the “kulishivka” himself, who by that time had moved away from the Ukrainophile movement, opposed such innovations. “I swear,” he wrote to the “young Ruten” Omelyan Partitsky, “that if the Poles print in my spelling to commemorate our discord with Great Russia, if our phonetic spelling is presented not as helping the people to enlightenment, but as a banner of our Russian discord, then I, writing in my own way, in Ukrainian, will print in etymological old-world orthography. That is, we don’t live at home, talk and sing songs in the same way, and if it comes down to it, we won’t allow anyone to divide us. A dashing fate separated us for a long time, and we moved towards Russian unity along a bloody road, and now the devil’s attempts to separate us are useless.”

But the Poles allowed themselves to ignore Kulish’s opinion. They just needed Russian discord. After spelling, it's time for vocabulary. They tried to expel as many words used in the Russian literary language from literature and dictionaries. The resulting voids were filled with borrowings from Polish, German, other languages, or simply made-up words.

“Most of the words, phrases and forms from the previous Austro-Ruthenian period turned out to be “Moscow” and had to give way to new words, supposedly less harmful,” one of the “transformers”, who later repented, said about the language “reform”. - “Direction” - this is a Moscow word that cannot be used any longer - they said to “young people”, and they now put the word “directly”. “Modern” is also a Moscow word and gives way to the word “current”, “exclusively” is replaced by the word “inclusive”, “educational” - by the word “enlightenment”, “society” - by the word “companionship” or “suspense”.

The zeal with which the Rusyn speech was “reformed” surprised philologists. And not only locals. “The Galician Ukrainians do not want to take into account that none of the Little Russians have the right to the ancient verbal heritage, to which Kiev and Moscow equally have a claim, to frivolously abandon and replace with Polonisms or simply fictitious words,” wrote Alexander Brickner, a professor of Slavic studies at the University of Berlin ( Pole by nationality). - I cannot understand why in Galicia several years ago the word “master” was anathematized and the word “kind” was used instead. “Dobrodiy” is a remnant of patriarchal-slave relations, and we cannot stand it even in politeness.”

However, the reasons for “innovation” had, of course, to be sought not in philology, but in politics. They began to rewrite school textbooks in a “new way.” It was in vain that the conferences of national teachers, held in August and September 1896 in Peremyshlyany and Glinany, noted that now the teaching aids had become incomprehensible. And they are incomprehensible not only for students, but also for teachers. In vain did teachers complain that under the current conditions “it is necessary to publish an explanatory dictionary for teachers.”

The authorities remained adamant. Dissatisfied teachers were fired from schools. Rusyn officials who pointed out the absurdity of the changes were removed from their positions. Writers and journalists who stubbornly adhered to the “pre-reform” spelling and vocabulary were declared “Muscovites” and persecuted. “Our language goes into the Polish sieve,” noted the outstanding Galician writer and public figure, priest John Naumovich. “Healthy grain is separated like Muscovy, and the seedings are left to us by grace.”

In this regard, it is interesting to compare various editions of Ivan Franko’s works. Many words from the writer’s works published in 1870-1880, for example - “look”, “air”, “army”, “yesterday” and others, were replaced in later reprints with “look”, “povitrya”, “viysko”, “yesterday”, etc. Changes were made both by Franco himself, who joined the Ukrainian movement, and by his “assistants” from among the “nationally conscious” editors.

In total, in 43 works that were published in two or more editions during the author’s lifetime, experts counted more than 10 thousand (!) changes. Moreover, after the death of the writer, “edits” of the texts continued. The same, however, as “corrections” of the texts of works by other authors. This is how independent literature was created in an independent language, later called Ukrainian.

But this language was not accepted by the people. Works published in Ukrainian experienced an acute shortage of readers. “Ten to fifteen years pass until the book of Franko, Kotsyubynsky, Kobylyanskaya sells one thousand to one and a half thousand copies,” complained Mikhail Grushevsky, who then lived in Galicia, in 1911. Meanwhile, books by Russian writers (especially Gogol’s “Taras Bulba”) quickly spread throughout the Galician villages in huge circulations for that era.

And one more wonderful moment. When World War I broke out, an Austrian military publishing house published a special phrase book in Vienna. It was intended for soldiers mobilized into the army from various parts of Austria-Hungary, so that military personnel of different nationalities could communicate with each other. The phrasebook was compiled in six languages: German, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Croatian and Russian. “They missed the Ukrainian language. This is wrong,” the “nationally conscious” newspaper “Dilo” lamented about this. Meanwhile, everything was logical. The Austrian authorities knew very well that the Ukrainian language was created artificially and was not widespread among the people.

It was possible to implant this language on the territory of Western Ukraine (and even then not immediately) only after the massacre of the indigenous population committed in Galicia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia by the Austro-Hungarians in 1914-1917. That massacre changed a lot in the region. In Central and Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian language spread even later, but in a different period of history...

Alexander Karevin

UKRAINE. STORY
In the 1st millennium BC. The steppes of Ukraine were inhabited, successively, by Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths and other nomadic peoples. Ancient Greek colonists lived in several city-states on the Black Sea coast in the 7th-3rd centuries. BC. In the 6th century. AD The northern part of the territory of modern Ukraine was populated by Slavic tribes displaced by nomads from the Danube. Kyiv was founded in the 6th century. glades and captured in 882 by the Slovenian prince Oleg from Novgorod. Thanks to its convenient location on important trade routes “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” Kyiv turned into the center of a powerful state. During the period of its greatest prosperity during the reign of the Grand Dukes Vladimir I (980-1015) and Yaroslav I the Wise (1019-1054), Kievan Rus was one of the largest states in Europe. In 988-989, Vladimir I renounced paganism and adopted Orthodox Christianity. Yaroslav the Wise put the laws of the state in order; his daughters married the kings of France, Hungary and Norway. Due to the blocking of the trade route along the Dnieper by nomads and internal intrigues, Kievan Rus by the middle of the 12th century. fell into disrepair. In 1169, Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky moved the capital of Rus' to Vladimir. In 1240, Kyiv was destroyed to the ground by the Mongol-Tatars under the leadership of Khan Batu, and then captured by Lithuania. The Vladimir-Suzdal principality between the Oka and Volga rivers in the mid-13th century. was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars. The Carpathian Galicia-Volyn principality continued to exist independently until its annexation by Poland and Lithuania in the 14th century. National, social and religious oppression in Catholic Poland caused a mass exodus of peasants to southern Ukraine in the 15th and 16th centuries. and contributed to the emergence of the Cossacks. The Zaporozhye Sich, an independent community located beyond the rapids of the lower Dnieper, became a stronghold for the Cossacks. Poland's attempts to suppress the Cossacks led to mass uprisings, especially during the liberation war of 1648-1654. The uprising was led by the Cossack hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1595-1657). Khmelnitsky's victorious war against the Poles led to the creation of the Ukrainian Cossack state. In 1654, Khmelnitsky signed the Pereyaslav Treaty on the creation of a military and political union with Russia. As Russia's influence grew, the Cossacks began to lose autonomy and repeatedly initiated new uprisings and rebellions. In 1709, Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1687-1709) sided with Sweden against Russia in the Northern War (1700-1721), but the Cossacks and Swedes were defeated in the Battle of Poltava (1709). The Hetmanate and the Zaporozhye Sich were abolished - the first in 1764, and the second in 1775 - after Russia ousted the Turks from the Black Sea region. During the partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795, the Ukrainian lands west of the Dnieper were divided between Russia and Austria. In the first half of the 19th century. Ukrainian lands remained the agricultural outskirts of Russia and Austria. The development of the Black Sea region and Donbass, the opening of universities in Kharkov (1805), Kyiv (1834) and Odessa (1865) stimulated the growth of national self-awareness of the Ukrainian intelligentsia. The national poet Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) and the political publicist Mikhailo Drahomanov (1841-1895) gave impetus to the growth of national self-awareness. At the end of the 19th century. Nationalist and socialist parties emerged in Ukraine. The Russian state responded to nationalism with persecution and restrictions on the use of the Ukrainian language. Austrian Galicia, which had much greater political freedom, became the center of national culture. The First World War and the Russian Revolution destroyed the Habsburg and Romanov empires. Ukrainians got the opportunity to create their own state; On November 20, 1917, the Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed in Kyiv, on December 12, 1917 in Kharkov - the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, and on November 1, 1918 in Lviv - the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. On January 22, 1919, the people's republics united. However, the military situation of the new state became hopeless under the attacks of Polish troops from the west and the Red Army from the east (1920). The southeastern part of Ukraine was controlled for some time by anarchist peasants led by Nestor Makhno. The war in Ukraine continued until 1921. As a result, Galicia and Volhynia were incorporated into Poland, and eastern Ukraine became a Soviet republic. During the period between the First and Second World Wars, there was a powerful Ukrainian nationalist movement in Poland. It was led by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Military Organization. Legal Ukrainian parties, the Greek Catholic Church, the Ukrainian press and entrepreneurship found opportunities for their development in Poland. In the 1920s, in Soviet Ukraine, thanks to the policy of Ukrainization, there was a national revival in literature and art, carried out by the republican communist leadership. When the leadership of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) changed the general political course in the late 1920s, the Ukrainian Communist Party was purged for its “nationalist deviation.” As a result of the terror of the 1930s, many Ukrainian writers, artists, and intellectuals were killed; The peasantry was crushed by collectivization and the massive famine of 1932-1933. After Germany and the USSR divided Poland in August-September 1939, Galicia and Volyn were annexed to Soviet Ukraine. Northern Bukovina, which after 1917 ended up in Romania, was included in Ukraine in 1940, and the Transcarpathian region, previously part of Czechoslovakia, in 1945. The German attack on the USSR in 1941 was welcomed by many Western Ukrainians; The OUN even tried to create a Ukrainian state under the auspices of Germany. However, Nazi policies alienated most Ukrainians. The OUN created nationalist partisan units - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA); many eastern Ukrainians joined the Soviet partisans or fought in the Red Army against the Germans. After World War II, the OUN and UPA continued the partisan struggle against Soviet power in Western Ukraine until 1953. The war devastated the country. Its entire territory was occupied. 714 cities and 28 thousand villages were destroyed, which were restored in the late 1940s - early 1950s. At the same time, political repression intensified in Western Ukraine. With the death of I.V. Stalin in 1953 the situation changed. Under N.S. Khrushchev (who headed the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1938-1949), a whole galaxy of writers, artists, intellectuals, the so-called. "generation of the sixties". After Khrushchev's removal in 1964, the Soviet regime began persecuting dissidents such as Vyacheslav Chornovil (1938-1999), editor of the underground "Ukrainian Bulletin", Valentin Moroz (b. 1936), critic of Soviet policy towards Ukraine, etc. Coming to power in the Kremlin M. S. Gorbachev in 1985 led to political changes in Ukraine. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 caused radioactive contamination of vast areas and undermined confidence in the party leadership, which tried to cover up the accident. Glasnost made it possible to fill in the “blank spots” in the history of Ukraine, and increasing political freedom made it possible to rehabilitate dissident groups and create cultural organizations with a national orientation. The turning point in public life was the formation of Rukh at the end of 1989 and the removal of V.V. Shcherbitsky from power. In 1990, the former secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine L.M. Kravchuk was appointed chairman of the presidium of the cosmetically updated Supreme Council, which included 25% of deputies from national and democratic movements elected in semi-free elections in 1990. On July 16, 1990, Ukraine declared its sovereignty. This term meant independence for nationalists, and autonomy for communists. On November 21, 1990, Ukraine and the RSFSR signed an agreement on sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. While the Union government continued to disintegrate, Ukraine, the Russian SFSR and other republics engaged in negotiations with Gorbachev on the form of a future union. After the failed coup on August 24, 1991, Ukraine declared independence. A few days later, the Ukrainian Communist Party was banned and its property confiscated. A popular referendum on independence took place on December 1; About 90% of voters supported the Declaration of Independence. Most countries in the world recognized Ukraine within the next few months. The Ukrainian Republic became a member of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Monetary Fund, the NATO Advisory Council and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On December 8, 1991, Ukraine created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with the Russian Federation and Belarus. However, immediately after this, tensions arose between Ukraine and Russia. The Russian Federation took possession of virtually all the property of the Soviet state; at the same time, some Russian politicians demanded the annexation of Donbass and Crimea to Russia (the latter was conquered by Russia from Turkey in 1783 and transferred to Ukraine by N.S. Khrushchev in 1954). The Ukrainian government responded to these demands by taking steps to create its own army and navy. Despite the signing of a number of agreements, relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine remained very tense, especially after the election of Yuri Meshkov, a supporter of the separation of Crimea from Ukraine, as president of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 1994. After the signing of a trilateral agreement between the presidents of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the United States (1994), Ukraine began to transfer nuclear weapons to Russia. As a result, Ukraine's relations with the United States and Western European countries have improved. Ukraine established closer economic and political ties with Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. On December 1, 1991, L.M. Kravchuk was elected President of Ukraine (60% of the votes were cast for him). When presidential re-elections took place in June 1994, they were won by former Prime Minister L.D. Kuchma, who proposed a moderate political program (52% of the vote). Kuchma began his tenure as president with promises to introduce economic and political reforms, create a market economy and strengthen democratic institutions. Although the start of reforms was announced in the fall of 1994, progress in their implementation was insignificant due to the lack of a legislative framework and corruption at all levels of government. Elections to the new parliament in March 1998 did little to change the political situation. Of the 450 parliamentary seats, the radical left and center-left (122 communists, socialists, the Peasant Party, the Union bloc) occupied more than 200 seats, the center and center-right - about 130 (including the presidential People's Democratic Party and Rukh), the right - 6 and independent - more than 110 seats. On April 19, 1999, the composition of deputies from the main parties was as follows (indicating the number of those who left): CPU - 122 (1), NDP - 53 (39), "Rukh" (Kostenko) - 30 (18), "Rukh" (Chornovil) - 16 (0), SDPU - 27 (5), Revival of Regions - 27 (1), SPU - 24 (13), "Hromada" - 28 (17). In July 1997, Ukraine signed a charter defining a “special” relationship between Ukraine and NATO. Relations with Russia improved in 1997 thanks to new economic agreements and the achievement of an acceptable solution to the division of the Black Sea Fleet. In November 1999, L.D. Kuchma was re-elected President of Ukraine.

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

See what "UKRAINE. HISTORY" is in other dictionaries:

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History of relations between Russia and Ukraine- The history of Ukraine is closely connected with the history of Russia. In the IX - XII centuries. Most of the territories of Kievan Rus were part of the early feudal Old Russian state. In the 12th century. on the territory of South-Western Rus', Kiev, Chernigov ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

Ukraine is the largest state in Europe. Although some historians claim that the country is the cradle of European culture and has existed for many centuries, this is not true. The formation of Ukraine as a state actually happened 23 years ago. This is a young country that is just learning to live independently, without anyone’s support. Of course, Ukraine has its own centuries-old history, but still there is no mention of the country as a full-fledged state. This territory was once inhabited by Scythians, Sarmatians, Turkic peoples, Russians, and Cossacks. All of them influenced the development of the country in one way or another.

Ancient history

We need to start with the fact that the word “Ukraine” translated from Old Russian means “outskirts”, that is, no man’s land, borderland. These territories were also called “wild fields”. The first mentions of the Black Sea steppes date back to the 7th century BC, when the Scythians settled there. In the Old Testament they are described as an unmerciful and cruel nomadic people. In 339 BC. e. The Scythians were defeated in battle with Philip of Macedon, the beginning of their end.

For four centuries the Black Sea region was under the rule of the Sarmatians. These were related nomadic tribes who migrated from the Lower Volga region. In the 2nd century AD e. the Sarmatians were supplanted by the Turkic peoples. In the 7th century, the Slavs, who in those days were called Rusichs, began to settle on the banks of the Dnieper. That is why the lands they occupied were called Kievan Rus. Some researchers argue that the formation of Ukraine as a state occurred in 1187. This is not entirely true. At that time, only the term “Ukraine” appeared; it meant nothing more than the outskirts of Kievan Rus.

Tatar raids

At one time, the lands of modern Ukraine were subject to raids. The Russians tried to develop the rich, fertile lands of the Great Steppe, but constant robberies and murders did not allow them to complete their plans. For many centuries, the Tatars posed a great threat to the Slavs. Vast territories remained uninhabited only because they were adjacent to Crimea. The Tatars carried out raids because they needed to somehow support their own economy. They were engaged in cattle breeding, but it did not provide much profit. The Tatars robbed their Slavic neighbors, captured young and healthy people, and then exchanged slaves for finished Turkish products. Volyn, Kiev region and Galicia suffered the most from Tatar raids.

Settlement of fertile lands

Grain growers and landowners were well aware of the benefits that could be derived from fertile, free territories. Despite the fact that there was a threat of attack by the Tatars, rich people appropriated the steppes and built settlements, thus luring peasants to themselves. Landowners had their own army, thanks to which they maintained order and discipline in the territories they controlled. They provided the peasants with land for use, and in return they demanded payment of quitrents. The grain trade brought untold wealth to Polish magnates. The most famous were the Koretskys, Pototskys, Vishnevetskys, and Konetspolskys. While the Slavs worked as laborers in the fields, the Poles lived in luxurious palaces, swimming in wealth.

Cossack period

The freedom-loving Cossacks, who began to populate the free steppes at the end of the 15th century, sometimes thought about creating a state. Ukraine could be a haven for robbers and vagabonds, because they were the ones who originally inhabited this territory. People who wanted to be free came to the deserted outskirts, so the bulk of the Cossacks were farm laborers escaping from the master's slavery. Also, townspeople and priests came here in search of a better life. Among the Cossacks there were people of noble origin; they were mainly looking for adventure and, of course, wealth.

The gangs consisted of Russians, Poles, Belarusians and even Tatars, they accepted absolutely everyone. Initially, these were the most ordinary bandits of robbers who robbed the Tatars and Turks and lived on the stolen goods. Over time, they began to build sichs - fortified camps, in which a military garrison was always on duty. They returned there from campaigns.

Some historians believe that 1552 is the year of the formation of Ukraine as a state. In fact, at this time a famous one arose that Ukrainians are so proud of. But it was not the prototype of the modern state. In 1552, the Cossack bands were united, and their fort was built on the island of Malaya Khortytsia. Vishnevetsky did all this.

Although initially the Cossacks were ordinary robbers who robbed the Turks for their own benefit, over time they began to protect the settlements of the Slavs from Tatar raids and freed their fellow countrymen from captivity. To Turkey, these freedom-loving brethren seemed like heavenly punishment. The Cossacks on their seagulls (long, narrow boats) silently sailed to the shores of the enemy country and suddenly attacked the strongest fortifications.

The state of Ukraine wanted to create one of the most famous hetmans - Bogdan Khmelnytsky. This chieftain led a grueling struggle with the Polish army, dreaming of independence and freedom for all his fellow countrymen. Khmelnitsky understood that he alone could not cope with the Western enemy, so he found a patron in the person of the Moscow Tsar. Of course, after this the bloodshed in Ukraine ended, but it never became independent.

Fall of Tsarism

The emergence of Ukraine as a state would have been possible immediately after the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty. Unfortunately, local politicians did not have enough strength, intelligence, and most importantly, solidarity to complete their plans and make their country independent. Kyiv learned about the fall of tsarism on March 13, 1917. In just a few days, Ukrainian politicians created the Central Rada, but ideological limitations and inexperience in such matters prevented them from retaining power in their hands.

According to some sources, the formation of Ukraine as a state took place on November 22, 1917. It was on this day that the Central Rada promulgated the Third Universal, proclaiming itself the supreme authority. True, at that time she had not yet decided to sever all ties with Russia, so Ukraine temporarily became an autonomous republic. Perhaps such caution among politicians was unnecessary. Two months later, the Central Rada decided to form a state. Ukraine was declared an independent country completely independent from Russia.

Interaction with the Austrians and Germans

The period when Ukraine emerged as a state was not easy. For this reason, the Central Rada was forced to ask for support and protection from European countries. On February 18, 1918, the Brest-Litovsk Treaty was signed, according to which Ukraine was supposed to carry out massive supplies of food to Europe, and in return received recognition of independence and military support.

The Austrians and Germans sent troops into the territory of the state in a short period of time. Unfortunately, Ukraine could not fulfill its part of the terms of the agreement, so at the end of April 1918 the Central Rada was dissolved. On April 29, Pavel Skoropadsky began governing the country. The formation of Ukraine as a state was given to the people with great difficulty. The trouble is that the country did not have good rulers who could defend the independence of the controlled territories. Skoropadsky did not last even a year in power. Already on December 14, 1918, he fled in disgrace along with the allied German forces. Ukraine was thrown to the wolves; European countries never recognized its independence and did not provide support.

The Bolsheviks came to power

The beginning of the 20s of the twentieth century brought a lot of grief to Ukrainian homes. The Bolsheviks created a system of tough economic measures in order to somehow stop the collapse of the economy and save the newly formed state. Ukraine suffered the most from the so-called “war communism”, because its territories were a source of agricultural products. Accompanied by armed detachments, officials walked through the villages and forcibly took grain from the peasants. It got to the point that freshly baked bread was taken from houses. Naturally, such an atmosphere did not contribute to an increase in agricultural production; the peasants simply refused to work.

Adding to all the misfortunes was drought. The famine of 1921-1922 claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. The government understood perfectly well that it was no longer advisable to use the whip method. Therefore, the NEP (New Economic Policy) law was passed. Thanks to him, by 1927 the area of ​​cultivated land increased by 10%. This period marks the true formation of the state. Ukraine is slowly forgetting about the horrors of civil war, famine, and dispossession. Prosperity returns to the homes of Ukrainians, so they begin to treat the Bolsheviks more leniently.

Voluntary-forced entry into the USSR

At the end of 1922, Moscow began to think about uniting Russia, Belarus and the Transcaucasian republics to create more stable ties. Some seven decades remained until the time when Ukraine was formed as a state. On December 30, 1922, representatives of all Soviet republics approved the unification plan, thus the USSR was created.

Theoretically, any of the republics had the right to leave the union, but for this it had to obtain the consent of the Communist Party. In practice, gaining independence was very difficult. The party was centralized and controlled from Moscow. Ukraine ranked second among all republics in terms of area. The city of Kharkov was chosen as the capital. Answering the question about when Ukraine was formed as a state, we should note the 20s of the twentieth century, because it was then that the country acquired territorial and administrative borders.

Renewal and development of the country

Breathed life into Ukraine. During this time, 400 new enterprises appeared, and the country accounted for about 20% of all capital investments. In 1932, the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric power station was built, which at that time became the largest in Europe. Thanks to the labor of the workers, the Kharkov Tractor Plant, the Zaporozhye Metallurgical Plant, and many Donbass factories appeared. A huge number of economic transformations were carried out in a short time. In order to improve discipline and increase efficiency, competitions were introduced to complete the plan ahead of schedule. The government singled out the best workers and awarded them the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

Ukraine during World War II

In the period 1941-1945. Millions of people died in the country. Most Ukrainians fought on the side of the Soviet Union, but this does not apply to Western Ukraine. In this territory, different sentiments prevailed. According to the OUN militants, the SS Galicia divisions, Ukraine was supposed to become independent from Moscow. The history of the formation of the state could have been completely different if the Nazis had nevertheless won. It’s hard to believe that the Germans would give Ukraine independence, but with promises they managed to win over about 220,000 Ukrainians to their side. Even after the end of the war, these armed groups continued to exist.

Life after Stalin

The death of the Soviet leader brought with it new life for millions of people living in the USSR. The new ruler was Nikita Khrushchev, who was closely connected with Ukraine and, of course, patronized it. During his reign, it reached a new level of development. It was thanks to Khrushchev that Ukraine received the Crimean peninsula. How the state arose is another matter, but it formed its administrative-territorial boundaries precisely in the Soviet Union.

Then Leonid Brezhnev, also a native of Ukraine, came to power. After the short reign of Andropov and Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev took the helm. It was he who decided to radically change the stagnant economy and the Soviet system as a whole. Gorbachev had to overcome the conservatism of society and the party. Mikhail Sergeevich always called for openness and tried to be closer to the people. People began to feel freer, but still, even under Gorbachev, the communists completely controlled the army, police, agriculture, industry, the KGB, and monitored the media.

Gaining independence

The date of formation of Ukraine as a state is known to everyone - it is August 24, 1991. But what preceded this significant event? On March 17, 1991, a survey was held, thanks to which it became clear: Ukrainians are not at all against sovereignty, the main thing is that it does not subsequently worsen their living conditions. The communists tried in every possible way to keep power in their hands, but it inevitably eluded them.

On August 19, 1991, the reactionaries isolated Mikhail Gorbachev in Crimea, and in Moscow they themselves tried to seize the initiative by declaring a state of emergency and forming the State Emergency Committee. But the communists did not succeed. On August 24, 1991, when Ukraine emerged as a state, the Verkhovna Rada declared the country's independence. And after 5 days the activities of the Communist Party were banned by parliament. On December 1 of the same year, Ukrainians supported the Act of Independence in a referendum and elected their first president, Leonid Kravchuk.

Over the course of many years, the formation of Ukraine as a state took place. The map of the country changed frequently. Many territories were annexed in the Soviet Union, this applies to Western Ukraine, part of the Odessa region and Crimea. The main task of Ukrainians is to preserve modern administrative-territorial borders. True, this is difficult to achieve. Thus, the third president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, gave part A to Romania in 2009. In 2014, Ukraine also lost its pearl - the Crimean peninsula, which passed to Russia. Whether the country will be able to keep its territories intact and remain independent, only time will tell.

Let's first understand the origin of the term Ukraine. At the same time, let’s consider his attitude to the terms Little Rus', Little Russia. As is easy to understand, the word “Ukraine”. (“ukraina” in the spelling of that time) our ancestors called outlying, border lands. The word “ukraine” first appeared in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1187. Moreover, the chronicler used it not as a toponym, but precisely in the meaning of borderland. To be more precise, the borderland of the Pereyaslav Principality.

The terms Little and Great Rus' began to be widely used only after the Mongol invasion. The first meant the Galicia-Volyn land, the second meant the Vladimir-Suzdal land. As we remember, the Kiev region (and the Dnieper region in general) was completely devastated by nomads and lay deserted. Some historians believe that these names were introduced into circulation by Greek church hierarchs to designate those two fragments of Rus' that, after Batu, continued contacts with Constantinople. Moreover, the Greeks were guided by a rule that came from antiquity, according to which the ancestral lands of the people were called the Small Country, and the Great Country - the lands colonized by people from the Small Country. Subsequently, the names Great/Little Rus' were used mainly by clergy or people who were educated in a church environment (and these were the majority at that time). These names began to appear especially often after the Union of Brest in 1596 in the texts of Orthodox publicists.

The term "Ukraine" at this time continued to be used by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Muscovite kingdom in the sense of border lands. So in the 15th century Serpukhov, Kashira and Kolomna were called Moscow Ukrainian cities. Ukraine (with emphasis on A) was even on the Kola Peninsula. South of Karelia was Kayan Ukraine. In the Pskov Chronicle in 1481, “Ukraine beyond the Okoya” is mentioned, and the lands around Tula are called “Tula Ukraine”. You can give a lot of similar examples if you want, but I think even these are enough to understand that there were a lot of “Ukrainians” in Rus'. Over time, in Russia, due to changes in territorial division, this term fell out of use, giving way to volosts and provinces. But in the lands of Rus' captured by the Poles, this term remained, however, the occupying power distorted the word “ukrAi-ia” in its own way, calling it “ukraIna” in its transcription.

By the way, I think it would be useful to explain that in the Middle Ages Rus' was divided into White, Black, Red and Small. Here we need to remember the origin of the name “Black Rus'”. In the XI V - XVI centuries. “Black Russia” was the name given to the lands that paid a universal tribute to the Golden Horde - “black forest”. These were mainly northeastern principalities. To understand why Rus' “turned black,” let us remember that “black” in Ancient Rus' was the name given to people subject to various duties or taxes. For example, the tax-paying class was called “black people”, hence the name “Black Hundred”.

Political structure of Muscovite Rus' in the 15th-16th centuries

However, in the fifteenth century, Moscow threw off the Horde yoke, and with it the name “Black” Rus' sank into oblivion. From now on, Great Rus' appears on the maps, whose autocrats, who received the informal title of the White Tsar, began to gather around themselves the lands of all Rus'. As of the first half of the 16th century, the Moscow state included Black Rus' and part of White Russia, i.e. Smolensk and Pskov; in Poland - Chervonnaya Rus, i.e. Galicia; in Lithuania - White and Little Rus'.

Therefore, the Poles needed to contrast the Russian lands belonging to them with the Russian lands of the Moscow state. Then the term Ukraine came in handy and was given a new meaning. However, at first the pamphleteers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth tried to declare the subjects of the Moscow Tsar not to be Russian people at all. The Poles declared only Little and Chervonnaya (red) Rus' to be Russia, and the city of Lvov was called the capital of Rus'. However, the absurdity of such a statement was obvious, because everyone understood that both the Muscovites and the Orthodox of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were a single people, divided between two empires. Even the Polish geographer of the early 17th century. Simon Starovolsky wrote the following about “Russia” in his work “Polonia”: “It is divided into White Russia, which is part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Red Russia, most closely called Roxolania and belonging to Poland. The third part of it, lying beyond the Don and the sources of the Dnieper, was called Black Russia by the ancients, but in modern times it began to be called Muscovy everywhere, because this entire state, no matter how extensive it is, is called Muscovy from the city and the river Moscow.”

However, this state of affairs threatened Polish power in Russian lands. Moreover, with the increasing pressure of the royal administration and Catholics on the Orthodox Church, the Russian people increasingly turned their gaze to the east, to the Moscow tsars of the same blood and same faith.

Under these conditions, the concept of “Ukraine” instead of “Rus” is increasingly being used in the Polish written tradition. As we have already mentioned, initially this name in Poland was applied to the border Russian Voivodeship, consisting of the lands of Red Ruthenia (Galicia). After the Union of Lublin, the crown (i.e., Polish) lands included the voivodeships of Kiev and Bratslav, which from now on became the new Polish borderland. The merger of the old and new Ukrainians of the Polish state gave rise to the generalized name of all these voivodeships as “Ukraine”. This name did not immediately become official, but, having become firmly established in the everyday use of the Polish gentry, it gradually began to penetrate into office work.

Map of Ukraine in the 17th century

In its development, this Polish concept of replacing Rus' with “Ukraine” reaches the 19th century. to its logical end - i.e. theories of Count Tadeusz Czatsky (1822) and Catholic priest F. Duchinsky (mid-19th century). For the first, Ukraine is a name derived from the ancient tribe “Ukrov” that never existed in real history, and for the second, the Slavic origin of the Great Russians is completely denied and their “Finno-Mongol” origin is affirmed. Today, these Polish nonsense (they say that it is not Slavs who live in the Russian Federation, but Mongolian-Ugric “hybrids”) are selflessly repeated by Ukrainian nationalists who defend the “Ukraine project” with foam at the mouth.

Why did this Polish name take root in our lands?

Firstly, it was well known to all Russian people and did not cause rejection. Secondly, along with the introduction of the name “Ukraine” instead of “Rus” among the Poles, this concept is also accepted by the Cossack foreman who received a Polish education. (After all, as we know, the Cossack elite worshiped everything noble!) At the same time, initially the Cossacks used the term “Ukraine” when communicating with the Poles, but when communicating with Orthodox people, the clergy and state institutions of the Russian state, the words “Rus” were still used " and "Little Rus'". But over time, the Cossack elders, who largely looked up to the customs and education of the Polish gentry, began to use the name “Ukraine” on a par with “Rus” and “Little Russia”. After the final entry of Little Russia into the Russian Empire, the appearance of the word “Ukraine” in documentation and literary works was sporadic, and in the eighteenth century this term almost completely fell out of use.

However, there remained a reserve where anti-Russian ideas developed freely. As we remember, after the Pereyaslav Rada, not all ancient Russian lands at that time were liberated from foreign rule. It was on these lands that the idea of ​​the existence of a separate non-Russian people of Ukrainians received state support and over time took hold of the minds. The Right Bank remained under Polish rule until the end of the eighteenth century and was reunited with Russia under the second (1793) and third (1795) partitions of Poland. Let us emphasize that although in our history these events are called “partitions of Poland,” the empire here did not encroach on the original Polish territories, but only returned the ancient lands of Rus' previously captured by Poland. However, Red Rus' (Galicia) was not returned then - by that time it no longer belonged to the Polish crown, since under the first partition of Poland (1772) it came into the possession of Austria.

As we see from the above, from the 14th century. The main name of the people and country on the territory of modern Ukraine was Rus (Black, Chervonnaya or Malaya), and this name was used until the middle of the 17th century. all ethnic, class-professional and religious groups living in Little Russia. And only with the process of penetration of Polish culture into the upper strata of the Russian population, the newfangled Polish name “Ukraine” began to spread. The entry of the Hetmanate into the Russian state stopped this process, which was revived only at the beginning of the 19th century, when the Right Bank entered the Russian Empire, having lost its entire national Russian elite in more than 100 years, whose place was taken by the Polish gentry. All this points to the external and artificial introduction of the name “Ukraine” instead of natural and historical concepts: Rus' and Little Rus'.

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When did Ukraine emerge as a state itself? With clear borders, its own capital and other attributes of independence. Look at the pictures and see the inexorability of history.

Maybe Ukraine arose in ancient times? 3-2 century BC:

Oops. Some kind of Roksolans. Sarmatia. Or is it them?)))

Or maybe at the very end of that era?

Oh, Scythians. It is Ukraine? Yes, probably. There is one common letter in the name - it’s I))) No, not that...

Maybe in the 600s AD?

Bulgars, go away you disgusting people. This is Ukraine! It can’t be, there must be Ukrainians somewhere here.

But, probably... Formation of the state of Rus'. Come on, Ukraine should be inside...

Not again. This mess. I will complain..

And this is about 1054-1132. When the route from the Varangians to the Greeks arose, there was a great transit and the rapid creation of a powerful state. But no, not Ukraine again) Why so unlucky...

1237 I’ll take a magnifying glass, there’s definitely Ukraine somewhere here. Where are you, the very country?

There is Kyiv, Chernigov. And the state of Ukraine - nope... Oh, what do I see here - the Principality of Galicia-Volyn? So maybe Ukraine is not Ukraine, but Galicia?

By 1252, this is how there was no Ukraine either:

And here is Galitsynskoe! state. Oh, well then yes.

Let's continue to look for Ukraine as a state, but already from 1200 to 1920, when it was formed as a republic of the USSR.

1. In the 12th century, a terrible fragmentation of Russian lands began. The infighting led to the weakening of defenses against the horde. Of course, there is no Ukraine. And even the land of Kiev, as we see on the map, IS NOT A STATE!:

2. The territory of the Horde, or the Tatar-Mongol invasion or simply enslavement of 1243-1438. Highlighted in yellow:

3. And this is the Principality of Lithuania at the beginning of the 13th century. Then it will be seen how, thanks to the fact that Rus' held back the Horde, it will crawl to the Black Sea. This is what infighting leads to. That is, what can await current Ukraine.

4. This is the entire Principality of Lithuania in the 13-15 centuries. Maybe Ukraine is Lithuania? European Union)))

5. This is in 1387 Lithuania together with Poland:

6. And in 1600 Poland already occupied Lithuania. Ay yay) But from sea to sea it didn’t work out. I couldn't:

7. Territory!, not the country of Ukraine, which passed to Rus' under the Andrusovo truce with Poland in 1667.

8. The Polish map even shows lands like Ukraine. Also 1667. By the way, part of it is in Poland, part of it is in Rus'. But the Zaporozhye Cossacks are also on it:

9. Map of 1695. There are no significant changes. I mean the lands of Ukraine:

10. It’s already more interesting here. In the years 1772-1795, Russia, Prussia and Austria tore Poland apart in three stages. Under the root. In the red circle, according to the years that Russia lost:

11. And in 1807 Napoleon recreated Poland in order to pinch Prussia, the future Germany. She's having no luck. But Russia - Ukraine again returned to Kyiv, division along the Dnieper:

12. It didn't last long. In 1815 everything returned. Like children, by God. Just to kill people.

It’s hard to see on the map, look along the Dnieper River.