Europe

Ukraine

Last reviewed: 21 August 2009

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History

The Ukrainian people belong to the southern branch of the Eastern Slavs. Their ancestors came from Scandinavia in the 800s. The name 'Ukraina', which originated in the twelfth century, denotes borderland: the area lacks natural frontiers and has a troubled history. The territory which is now Ukraine had only brief periods of independence prior to 1991 – under the Cossacks from the fifteenth century until union with Russia in 1654, and very briefly after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The principality of Kievan Rus was established on the River Dnieper and its tributaries in the ninth century and Orthodox Christianity was established in the tenth. Kievan Rus became the centre of a great civilisation but fell in 1240 to the Mongols. They in turn were driven out by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1362. In 1569 the Grand Duchy merged with the Kingdom of Poland to form the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Following an uprising led by the Cossack leader, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, in 1654, Eastern Ukraine accepted Russian protection. A striking equestrian statue of Khmelnitsky pointing in the direction of Moscow stands in the centre of modern day Kyiv. Ukrainian autonomy in the east finally disappeared under the reign of Catherine the Great of Russia. When the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth collapsed in 1795, Western Ukraine became part of the Habsburg Empire.

Nineteenth century Ukrainian writers and intellectuals, inspired by the nationalistic spirit stirring elsewhere in Europe, were determined to revive Ukrainian linguistic and cultural traditions in both Western Ukraine, which was controlled by the Habsburg Empire, and Eastern Ukraine, which was controlled by the Russian Empire. Russia in particular imposed strict limits on attempts to elevate the Ukrainian language and culture, even banning its use and study.

The chaotic events following the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in 1918 prompted Ukrainian nationalists to try and create an independent Ukraine. Between 1917 and 1918, three separate Ukrainian republics declared independence. None survived. By 1921 the western part of Ukraine had been incorporated into Poland while the larger, central and eastern part became part of the Soviet Union.

The Ukrainian national idea persevered during the interwar years. Soviet reactions were severe, particularly under Stalin, who imposed terror campaigns that ravaged the intellectual class. He also created artificial famines as part of his forced collectivisation of agriculture, killing millions of previously independent peasants and others throughout the country. Estimates of deaths from the 1932-33 famine alone range from 3 million to 7 million.

In 1939, under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Galacia (now western Ukraine) was occupied by the Soviet Union. During the Second World War Ukraine was under Nazi occupation from 1941 until 1943-4, and suffered grievously. Kyiv was awarded the Soviet title of Hero City for its resistance and suffering. So to was Sevastapol and Kerch. Millions of Ukrainians fought in the Red Army against the Germans. Others fought with the Nazi invaders, some under duress, others hoping to establish an independent Ukraine. Resistance by the rebel bands continued up to the 1950s. At the end of the Second World War, Western Ukraine was re-annexed to Ukraine. Khrushchev ceded Crimea (until then part of the Russian Republic) to Ukraine in 1954 as a gift to mark the three hundredth anniversary of Khmelnitsky's union with Russia. During periods of relative liberalisation, as under Khrushchev from 1955-1964, the leadership of the Ukrainian section of the Soviet Communist Party pursued policies which allowed more scope for the republic's 'national' characteristics (although manifestations of Ukrainian nationalism, proper, continued to be viewed as a threat to Communist rule and were systematically oppressed). In the years of perestroika, under Gorbachev, Ukrainian officials again advanced national goals. On 26 April 1986 the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded; public perception of the authorities' failure to prevent the disaster or adequately deal with its consequences did much to undermine faith in the Soviet government.

Following the attempted coup against the Soviet leader Gorbachev, the Ukrainian parliament (the Supreme Rada) declared Ukraine's independence on 24 August 1991. This was confirmed by referendum on 1 December 1991, with 90% approving the decision. Ukraine's formal independence was recognised by the international community on 30 December 1991.

BBC News Country Timeline: Ukraine