Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO seems invincible and has expanded aggressively in Europe. By 2020, NATO's membership has reached 30, including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and other former Soviet union countries, as well as Poland, Hungary and other countries in the former Warsaw Pact camp. But NATO does not seem satisfied and continues to push eastward, intending to include Ukraine and others in the camp. The move sparked Russian military action against Ukraine. Looking back at history, there is a similar scene, which is the famous "Eastern Front".
First, Poland and Soviet Russia divided Ukraine
It all started in 1917. In 1917, the "October Revolution" broke out in Russia, becoming the world's first socialist country. It was also during World War I, and Russia and Germany were belligerents. In order to ease the internal contradictions and free up his hands to deal with the White Army forces in the country, Lenin decided to unilaterally negotiate peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
In March 1918, Russia signed the Treaty of Brest with Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In the treaty, Russia promised to renounce the independence of Ukraine and Finland against Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livland and Estran (which belonged to Finland), and to compensate Germany with a huge amount of 6 billion marks. Through this treaty, Russia's land area was reduced by 3.23 million square kilometers.
The Soviet Union had no idea that the First World War would end in a few months, and the treaty signed would make it impossible for it to regret it. Russia not only lost more than 3 million square kilometers of land, but also lost the opportunity to distribute the fruits of its victory as a victorious power at the Paris Peace Conference. The Allies, believing that Russia had reneged on its promise, also supported the White Army's counterattack after the Paris Peace Conference, and in this way, Russia sided with all Europe.
In November 1918, Germany was defeated, and Poland, which had been under German control, immediately became independent and established the Second Polish Republic. But Poland was dissatisfied with the existing territory and demanded the restoration of the territory of "Greater Poland", which was the peak of Poland in the past, including Ukraine and Belarus.
Map of Europe after World War I
Lenin, seeing Germany's defeat, immediately repented and declared the abrogation of the Treaty of Brest. In this way, Poland and Russia simultaneously made claims to Ukraine and Belarus. After that, war broke out between the two countries, known in history as the "Soviet-Polish War". The war finally ended in 1921, and both sides chose to compromise and signed the Treaty of Riga, dividing Ukraine equally, with eastern Ukraine under Soviet Russia and western Ukraine under Poland. In 1822, The Soviet Union merged with Ukraine and other countries to form the Soviet Union. Ukraine became a republic of the Soviet Union, in effect an administrative region of the Soviet Union.
As a result of the Soviet-Polish War, Russia failed to annex all the lands in Belarus and Ukraine, which laid the hidden danger for the later Partition of Poland between the Soviet Union and Germany.
If we continue to go back in history, we will find that in the time of Tsarist Russia, Catherine II divided Ukraine with Poland, dividing eastern Ukraine into Russia, while western Ukraine belonged to Poland. Looking at the current map of the distribution of Ukrainian nationalities, we find that east Ukraine is mostly Ethnic Russian and speaks Russian, while west Ukraine is mostly Ukrainian, and some Poles, and its historical origin lies in the division of the two countries.
Second, the establishment of the Eastern Front
After the Paris Peace Conference, Europe formed the Versailles system dominated by Britain and France. The system created an element of instability due to the excessive weakening of the defeated countries. In 1929, an economic crisis of unprecedented scale broke out in the Western world, and Germany was even more mired in crisis. After that, Germany embarked on the fascist road and began to expand abroad, annexing the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and other regions. In 1938, Germany falsely signed the Munich Agreement with Britain, France and Italy.
While the West was in crisis, the Soviet Union grew rapidly. In 1922, Russia, Ukraine, etc. formed the Soviet Union. In 1932, the Soviet Union completed the first five-year plan, transforming itself from an agrarian country into an industrial country. In 1937, the Soviet Union completed the Second Five-Year Plan and became the strongest industrial country in Europe. In 1938, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact.
Both Hitler and Stalin saw the treaty as a delay, and both began to prepare for a new war. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the official outbreak of World War II. The Soviet Union was not idle, and immediately attacked Poland from the east, taking western Ukraine and Belarus. In this way, Poland was once again divided.
The Soviet Union divided Poland
Stalin, who had obtained Ukraine and Belarus, was not yet satisfied and was not safe enough. Soon, the Soviet Union launched wars against Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania, restoring the Soviet union's borders to the level of the Tsarist era. Through this expansion, the area of the Soviet Union expanded by more than 460,000 square kilometers.
In order to defend against german invasion, Stalin built a defensive line on these lands, known in history as the "Eastern Front". With the "Eastern Front", the strategic space of the USSR extended 300 kilometers to the west, gaining more room for maneuver. But the "Eastern Front," like the French "Maginot Line," eventually became a decoration that Stalin did not expect.
In 1941, Germany mobilized 5.5 million troops to launch a blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union from three directions, and the Soviet-German war broke out in full swing. The Soviet Union's "Eastern Front" was on the verge of collapse. Germany broke through 600 kilometers in 18 days, and the Soviets suffered heavy losses. In October 1941, the Germans annihilated 660,000 Soviet troops in Kiev, thus occupying the Ukrainian region. Interestingly, the Ukrainians welcomed the Germans because they were very unhappy with Stalin's collectivization of agriculture. The Ukrainian boycott sparked the Great Famine of the 30s, which is said to have killed millions of people.
Third, the Soviet Union after World War II moved westward
The story of the German invasion of the Soviet Union is known to everyone. After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Jedi counterattacked, knocking the Germans back step by step. In 1944, Germany was forced to retreat to Ukraine. Before retreating, the Germans pursued a scorched-earth policy, destroying the land known as the "granary of Eastern Europe" and not wanting to leave a single grain of grain to the Soviets.
However, the scorched-earth policy could not prevent the Soviet army from counterattacking. In 1945, the Soviets broke through Berlin and Germany announced its unconditional surrender. With the advance of the Soviet army, a series of socialist states were established in Eastern Europe, all the way to the Berlin Wall. As a result, the world began to enter a bipolar era, and Eastern Europe became the focus of the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Stalin repeated the same tactic and once again pushed the territory westward. In June 1945, the Soviet Union assigned the Transcarpathian Ukraine region of the Czech Republic to Ukraine, and in February 1945, through the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union acquired Western Ukraine and The Region of West Belarus from Poland. To compensate for Poland, the Soviet Union assigned Germany's Silesia and East Pomerania regions to Poland. In the land. In 1947, the Soviet Union assigned parts of Romania to Ukraine.
Through a series of operations, the area of the USSR increased by 540,000 square kilometers. Don't forget, the Soviet Union also demanded Mongolian independence at the Yalta Conference, which directly led to the loss of 1.7 million square kilometers of land in China. If it were not for the idea of keeping a buffer zone, Mongolia might have become a Soviet republic.
For the Soviet Union, such a wolfing was only to move the defensive line out and expand its strategic buffer space to achieve absolute security on the mainland. But for other countries, this kind of behavior is barbaric and unreasonable expansion.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the situation reversed, NATO took the opportunity to move the defensive line to the east, constantly eroding Russia's strategic buffer space, all the way to the gates of Belarus and Ukraine, which has reached Russia's bottom line. Why is Ukraine and Belarus the bottom line for Russia? The first dynasty in Russian history was the Rurik dynasty, which was called "Kievan Rus' because its capital was located in Kiev".
In the era of great division, the Rus' nation gradually split into three major ethnic groups: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In the Russian psyche, Ukraine and Belarus are not just neighbors, they think that the three major ethnic groups are one family. If anyone wants to rob Ukraine, it is to rob their own family, can they bear it?
Today's Russian Jedi counterattack is very similar to Stalin's construction of the "Eastern Front". However, time has passed, and the strength of the two sides has changed dramatically, and nato has now become the party that actively provokes and attacks, and Russia has become the one forced to attack. While Russia can gain the upper hand militarily, it is unclear in the long run who wins and who loses. Regardless of victory or defeat, the biggest losses are the small countries in the middle of Eastern Europe, which have been ravaged by war a thousand times, and whose fate has not yet changed. This is the sadness of small countries.