Recently, Putin delivered a speech lasting more than an hour on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. In this speech, Putin mentioned that "the history of Ukraine was created by Russia!" This statement immediately shocked the world, on the one hand, it seems to indicate what Putin wants to do next. On the other hand, this sentence has aroused great interest, what is the feud between Russia and Ukraine, is Ukraine really created by Russia?
Friends who know the history of the world will have a feeling that before the collapse of the Soviet Union, there did not seem to be a country called "Ukraine" in Europe. There have been many wars in this part of Ukraine, and it has been fought over and occupied by many countries, and has changed hands repeatedly. A closer look reveals that ukrainians emerged in the 14th century AD, but we rarely hear of the ancient Ukrainian state.
Let's take a look at the past and present lives of the ukrainian country, and why it has been a place of right and wrong from ancient times to the present.
Ukraine, which declared its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was geographically advantageous, although this was limited to peacetime. Because the better the place, the more important the place, it is often the so-called "place where soldiers must fight", which means endless war.
Located in the east of Europe, Ukraine is also the second largest country in Europe after Russia, bordering Russia and Belarus to the north. It is bordered to the west by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and to the south by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The central and western regions of Ukraine are vast plains, covered with thick black soil, and like the northeast of the continent, it has naturally become an important food production base. Therefore, Ukraine is an important grain production base in the world, and it is the most important grain supply base during the Soviet period, with the reputation of "The Granary of Europe".
In its eastern region, the "Donbass region" where today's crisis is erupting, it is rich in coal and iron ore deposits. It is said that the current proven reserves are as high as more than 200 billion tons, which is the world's top five important coal producing areas.
It was precisely because of the abundant mineral resources that the Soviet Union invested heavily in building the most important industrial center here.
A Dnieper River from north to south divides Ukraine into east and west, which not only have different terrain and specialties, but also have very different folk customs.
In eastern Ukraine, ethnic Russian is the majority, and Russian is the main language here, and they are mostly Orthodox Christians. The Donbass region is The most important mineral and industrial center of Ukraine. With this, Ukraine is a country with very developed industry and agriculture, but once it is lost, Ukraine will immediately be beaten back to the stage of an agricultural country.
The western part of Ukraine is predominantly Ethnic Ukrainian, and the language is Ukrainian, and the two ethnic groups are of the same origin, and the two languages are also of the same roots, but they cannot understand each other what they are saying.
There are Orthodox Christians in the west, who are also more influenced by Europe, the Catholic church is more powerful, and the political tendencies of the people have also shown an anti-Russian and pro-European trend. It has been a developed agricultural area since ancient times, and after Ukraine's independence, it has not been able to balance the east and west, so the level of urbanization and industrialization in this area is still not high.
In this part of Ukraine, there have been footprints of human activity for a long time, and from the current archaeological findings, it can be seen that humans have lived and multiplied here in the Paleolithic Age.
In the ninth century, the East Slavs established the first larger regime here, Kievan Rus' . The political center is kiev, the current capital of Ukraine, and it is indeed a treasure trove of feng shui.
From the ninth to the thirteenth century, Kievan Rus' was the hegemon of this land, not only establishing political power, but also creating a splendid culture, through continuous conquest, and establishing great merit. After that, they continued to expand to the east and north, and gradually came to Russia and Belarus.
Thus, today's Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians are the ancestors of Kievan Rus' and Women. But why would Putin say today that Ukraine's history was created by Russia? That's a long story!
In the tenth century, Orthodoxy was introduced to Kievan Rus' from the Byzantine Empire, and the Orthodox Church soon gained a foothold here.
In 988 AD, the ruler of Kievan Rus', Archduke Vladimir, formally established the Orthodox Church as the state religion, and since then the East Slavs have regarded Orthodoxy as an orthodox belief, and to this day Russia still believes in Orthodoxy.
Orthodoxy is a branch of Christianity, the other two being Catholic and Protestant. Western Europe is dominated by Catholicism, which means that Russia and Western European countries have great differences in faith.
In fact, during that particular period of history, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism and Islam all expanded to the northeast, that is, in Kievan Rus' and Torso.
Islam was soon eliminated for the reasons that were also unspoken. Ukraine is located in a high latitude region, the winter is cold and long, so the Slavs need to use alcohol to protect themselves, but Islamic teachings strictly prohibit drinking alcohol. Not allowing the Slavs to drink was tantamount to asking for their lives.
Perhaps it was the long winter and the vast land that created the character, the Slavs had a bold personality and liked to engage in various activities. The Catholic doctrine is very monotonous and promotes abstinence, and obviously they don't like it, while the Orthodox Church likes to engage in all kinds of grand ceremonies and activities, which are very suitable for the Slavs.
By 1240, Battus had led an invincible Mongol army to conquer Kiev and establish the Mongol Golden Horde. Kievan Rus' has since moved towards division, and under Mongol rule, the Slavs did not have many good days, especially around Kiev.
Moscow, far from Kiev, was slowly accumulating strength, and by the end of Mongol rule, the Muscovite principality had become stronger. In the end, with their fierce fighting strength, they defeated the Mongolian Iron Horse of the Western Mountains and established an independent country. This is the prototype of Today's Russia.
During ivan IV's reign, he renamed the Muscovite principality what we know as "Tsarist Russia." The name was given because their monarch called himself Tsar and put his position above the name of the country, which shows ivan IV's arrogance, but the name continued.
After the Mongols were driven out, the original Kievan Rus' did not have a chance to revive, because the West had another powerful ruler, and there was more than one.
During that time, Poland and Lithuania in the west became stronger, and they continued to expand eastward, occupying Kiev. So during this period there were no Ukrainian names in the land, but Poland, Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
So in the strict sense, there was no Ukrainian state at this time, only the Ukrainian nation.
When Poland ruled the land, Catholicism was imposed on Ukrainians, and by this time Orthodoxy had been deeply implanted in the hearts of Ukrainians, so it caused a fierce resistance among Ukrainians.
Among them, the most fierce resistance was the famous cavalry people, the Cossacks. The Cossacks were good at riding and shooting and fighting bravely, and they held several uprisings against the rulers.
In the middle of the 17th century, the famous Cossack leader Bogdan Khmelnytsky believed that it would be difficult for the Cossacks alone to drive out the invaders completely, so he needed strong allies.
So he found a "brother" of the same origin as himself, Tsarist Russia. An agreement was signed in 1654 and a military alliance began to form a joint battle against Poland.
Tsarist Russia is a real fighting nation, the combat effectiveness is very strong, life and death are indifferent to disobedience, capture Poland and begin to rush and fight. Poland was not a vegetarian either, so two hard bones fought a thirteen-year-long "Russo-Polish War" on this land. In the end, it was Tsarist Russia that won the victory, and Poland was forced to sign an unequal treaty and make peace. Since then, the Poles and the Russians have not dealt with each other and have not been accustomed to each other, and this is still the case today.
Through this treaty, Tsarist Russia acquired vast tracts of land on the east bank of the Kiev and Dnieper rivers, while the western region remained under Polish rule. This is the root cause of why there are so many differences in language and beliefs between the people in western and eastern Ukraine. Poles continued to promote Catholicism and made great progress, but there were still some who adhered to the Orthodox Church, where the two branches of Christianity coexisted for more than four hundred years.
In the 18th century, Russia welcomed an ambitious monarch, Peter I. Peter inherited the genes of the Russians who were belligerent and expanding their territory, and he launched the Northern War with Sweden, pushing the borders of Tsarist Russia to the Baltic Sea coast in one fell swoop.
This meant that the northern border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was completely surrounded by Tsarist Russia. It was precisely at this time that Poland was in a period of decline, with corrupt and incompetent rulers, empty national power, and lax armaments.
Peter I seized the opportunity to unite prussia and Austria in the west to launch a pinch attack on Poland, which easily destroyed Poland. Yes, it was the annihilation of the country, and the country of Poland had been wiped out more than once.
Eventually, Poland's territory was divided among three countries, and Tsarist Russia divided 60% of Poland's land, which included most of the territory of present-day Ukraine.
In the eyes of the Russians, Kievan Rus' is their ancestor, this land is their own property, later seized by outsiders, and today it is rightful to take it back. As for the Ukrainians, the family property left by their ancestors was not well guarded, and they did not have the ability to take it back, and they had no qualifications to speak.
The Russians do not deny their distant relatives, but in their hearts they are indeed a little dismissive, and the Ukrainians are very angry at this contempt of the Russians, but there is no way, who makes themselves incompetent, can not beat it? The same seems to be the case today.
However, Galicia, the westernmost part of Ukraine, was divided into Austria, which had long been outside the Tsarist Russia region, and Catholicism was strengthened, and its ties with Western Europe were gradually closer. Objectively speaking, the religious and cultural divisions between the eastern and western parts of Ukraine have become more serious.
It was also in this small area that the ukrainian national identity began to swell, and they were eager to establish their own state of the Ukrainians and regain the land they had once been. Today this sentiment is called "Ukrainian nationalism," and the biggest enemy in their eyes is Tsarist Russia.
Fast forward to the beginning of the 20th century, the outbreak of the First World War, galicia became the most brutal region of war, and the Ukrainians paid a heavy price.
During World War I, Galicia was occupied by Tsarist Russia and subsequently involved in the Russian Revolutionary War, and Galicia fell into a situation of great chaos. At this time, a group of nationalists in the name of Ukraine announced the establishment of the Ukrainian state, which of course was only a formal and temporary existence.
But in the eyes of the Ukrainians, they have established an independent sovereign state at this time, whether others believe it or not, they believe it themselves.
In the 1920s, some territories in western Ukraine were divided between Poland (Poland successfully restored after World War I), Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Most of the rest of the region was incorporated into the Soviet Union, and in order to quickly consolidate its rule, the Soviet Union agreed to the Ukrainians' demand to establish a republic first and then join the Soviet Union.
During the Soviet period, in order to vigorously develop the minerals of the Donbass region and develop heavy industry, the Soviet Union relocated a large number of Russians here. The Donbass region was already the territory of Tsarist Russia, and they did not have any sense of discord when they came here.
Soon it became the most important mineral and heavy industry center of the Soviet Union, and its position was very important.
Then the question arises, the founder of the Soviet Union, the great proletarian revolutionary Lenin, personally laid a huge mine for today's Russian-Ukrainian crisis. He gave the rich Donbass region to Ukraine.
Lenin also did this out of frustration, and the feud between the Ukrainians and the Russians was not a day or two, which was extremely unfavorable to the newly born Soviet Union, and he urgently needed to unite internally.
Lenin himself was a very selfless man, he regarded the Soviet Union as a unified country, so the transfer of The Donbass to Ukraine was in fact an adjustment of the administrative regions of the country. But it did play a role in alleviating contradictions and consolidating unity, and since then Donbass has become Ukrainian land.
In 1954, in order to gain the support of the Ukrainians, Khrushchev included Crimea, a military town that originally belonged to Russia, into the territory of Ukraine, which planted a mine for the future.
On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union officially declared its dissolution, and Ukraine and Russia gained independence, respectively. The difference is that after several years of downturn, Russia has embarked on a strong rise under Putin.
And Ukraine is just a word, "chaos." A word "chaos" speaks to more than three decades of Ukraine's national history. Perhaps their country was too divided, or perhaps they never really established and governed an independent sovereign state. In short, the administrators of the Ukrainian state, too naïve and dim-witted, played the best deck of cards in just thirty years.
Judging from today's situation, whether this country can continue to exist is a question, and Russia's territory continues to expand!
I am the Phantom of Shi Hai, and I am following me to praise history.