Summary
Highlights
The video begins by examining the origins of the Kievan Rus' in 864, founded by Vikings. This powerful entity, which flourished for five centuries, was a significant state in Europe, with Kiev being a developed center while Moscow was still a village. Russian historiography later reinterpreted the Kievan Rus' to establish a historical continuity for the growing Russian Empire.
After the implosion of the Kievan Rus', the region fell under various empires. In 1648, the Cossacks, semi-nomadic warriors from central Ukraine, resisted Polish rule and formed their own state, the Cossack Hetmanate. To survive amidst powerful neighbors, they formed a military alliance with the Russian Empire via the Treaty of Pereyaslav, a decision that would lead to Ukraine's absorption into the Russian Empire a century later.
Despite absorption into the Russian Empire, Ukrainian culture persisted. Ukrainian writers like Nicolas Gogol contributed to this cultural identity. However, as Ukrainian literature became more politically engaged in the mid-19th century, Russia, under Emperor Alexander II, banned the Ukrainian language in schools and restricted its use in media and literature to suppress nationalistic sentiments.
Following the 1917 Russian Revolutions, Ukraine declared independence. Between 1917 and 1921, various Ukrainian political forces battled for control before being unified under the Soviet flag by Lenin in 1922. Initially, the USSR valued national identities, but under Stalin, this changed. His policies, including the collectivization of land, led to significant peasant resistance and the Holodomor (famine) of 1932-1933, which killed four million people and was seen as a deliberate act to crush Ukrainian peasant rebellion.
After the devastation of World War II, Ukraine gained some recognition within the USSR, securing a seat at the UN. In 1954, Crimea was transferred to Ukraine to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Treaty. However, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 exposed the Soviet regime's shortcomings and further fueled Ukrainian disillusionment.
In 1991, with the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine overwhelmingly voted for independence. Despite a friendship treaty with Russia in 1997, the Maidan, Kiev's Independence Square, became a symbol of Ukrainian political self-assertion. The 2014 Maidan Revolution, triggered by the pro-Russian president's refusal to sign an association agreement with the European Union, led to his flight and marked a turning point. Putin responded by annexing Crimea and supporting pro-Russian separatists, cementing the rupture between Moscow and Kyiv.