About Ukraine
Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia and is the true birthplace of eastern slavic culture. It is an ancient land with history stretching all the way back to the Greeks. Its ancient capital Kyiv is one of the oldest cities in Europe and is approximately 1500 years old.
Brief history
The origin of Ukrainian state dates back to the establishment of Kievan Rus in the 9th century AD. Kievan Rus was a conglomerate of principalities with each Prince being somewhat subordinate to Grand Prince of Kyiv. During its golden age, Kievan Rus was one of the richest and most powerful states in Europe and in its zenith was the largest European state. Kievan riches were due to important trade routes connecting Europe and Asia that passed through its territory. Unfortunately by thirteenth century strife between Princes prevented them from organizing truly cohesive defence against Mongol invasion and in 1223 Russian forces where defeated in the battle on the river Kalka. Mongol invaders devastated Kievan Rus, beginning the long period of foreign domination of Russian lands. In 1240 Kyiv was captured and rased to the ground by the Mongols. This was essentially the end of Kyiv as the power center of Rus and power shifted to Lviv in the west, Novgorod in the north and Vladimir in the northeast. Lviv and the western part of Rus came under domination of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, Novgorod retained its independence by paying off Mongols, Vladimir maintained its power by becoming tax collector for the Mongols, while southeastern part of Rus, including Kyiv, essentially became wasteland. As time went on, Poland retained its control over southwest, Lithuania came to influence northwest, and power of Vladimir went to Moscow, which by the middle fifteenth century was becoming formidable power, pushing back Mongolian domination. This division of Rus was precursor of three eastern slavic states: Byelorussia, Russia and Ukraine.
In fifteenth century a new entity called Zaporozhian Sich, which was to play a key role in Ukrainian history, began to form in the southeastern part of Rus. It was made up of Cossacks, free militia who fled feudal oppression in the north and settled in the free and turbulent south. At that time south of Rus was constantly raided by Tartars who controlled the Crimean peninsula and northern shores of Black sea. The life on the frontier under the constant threat of war made Cossacks fearsome and resilient people. Known for their horsemanship, they formed superior light cavalry. The early history of Cossacks is that of constant warfare. They made repeated assaults on the Tartars and the Poles, often making alliance with one side to attack another. This strategy reached its climax, when in 1648 Cossack forces led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky, allied with Crimean Tartars, led a major offensive against Poland. Despite initial success, during which Cossack forces gained control of most of the Ukraine, they suffered defeat in the battle of Berestetsk, after Tartar forces fled the battlefield. This led to a union treaty between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Cossack Ukraine. Joint Russo-Ukrainian forces defeated Poland and Cossacks took control of the eastern part of Ukraine. The Cossack republics was to remain independent from Moscow for another half a century, until in 1709. That was a year of the famous battle of Poltava, in which Cossacks fought against Russia on the side of Sweden. Sweden was defeated and Ukraine was integrated into Russian empire.
The topic of Ukraine as a part of Russian Empire and later of Soviet Union is somewhat controversial in modern Ukraine. Different opinions can be divided in more or less two camps. One camp considers Ukraine to be an integral part of Russia and sees incorporation of Ukraine into Russian Empire as unification between basically the same people. The other camp sees Russia as a colonial power, which occupied Ukraine. The first camp consist of people living in the east of Ukraine, the second camp is mostly represented by population of the western most part of Ukraine, namely area around Lviv, while the rest of population is largely split in their opinions. The difference in opinions is largely historic. The area around Lviv, despite being part of ancient Rus, in fact did not become part of Greater Russia until right before the Second World War. For centuries Galicia, that is what the area around Lviv is called, has been part of Poland and Austria. Even though most people in Galicia are ethnically Ukrainian, many of them are Catholic as opposed to Easter Ukrainians and Russians, which are Orthodox. Also being part of the German speaking empire slavic Ukrainians developed a strong sense of distinct national and ethnic identity. To many of them Russian forces entering their cities in 1940's must have seen as yet another occupation by foreign forces. In contrast, as was mentioned before, the part which laid south-east of Kiev was depopulated after Mongol invasion and essentially became nomadic lands. These land began to be settled only after Ukraine became part of Russia. By that time not only Russians, but also Ukrainians settled the land, thus essentially creating a more or less uniform mix. They saw their new land as a part of a greater whole.
In fact the truth about Ukrainian incorporation has little to do with national considerations. Ukrainian population at the time did not have a truly Ukrainian identity, nor did they consider themselves as one people, rather they felt to be distinct from Polish Catholic authorities. This is not to say that most Ukrainians at that time felt strong connection with the Russian, which themselves doubtfully had any sense of nationalism. Russians, however, being Orthodox and sharing common Rus heritage, presented a viable alternative for Orthodox Ukrainian elite to Polish Catholic rule. Thus "unification" was more a matter of interest of Ukrainian aristocracy rather than any grandiose unification of brotherly nations. Although, this "unification" was perhaps easily promoted to a largely Orthodox population.
Regardless of how Ukraine came to be a part of Russian Empire, the role of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the history of Russian Empire and later Soviet Union cannot be underestimated. From reforms of Orthodox church to battles of World War II, Ukrainian were an integral part of Russian history from sixteen hundreds onward.