700 Word Essay

[Heike Fallago]

Tohave a better understanding of the present and look into the future, weneed to turn to history. Certainly, it is impossible to cover in this articleall the developments that have taken place over more than a thousand years. ButI will focus on the key, pivotal moments that are important for us to remember,both in Russia and Ukraine.

Later, like other European states of that time, Ancient Rus faced a declineof central rule and fragmentation. At the same time, both the nobility and the common people perceived Rus as a common territory, as their homeland.

Most importantly, people both in the western and eastern Russian landsspoke the same language. Their faith was Orthodox. Up to the middle of the 15th century,the unified church government remained in place.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky then made appeals to Moscow, which were considered by the Zemsky Sobor. On 1 October 1653, members of the supreme representativebody of the Russian state decided to support their brothers in faith and takethem under patronage. In January 1654, the Pereyaslav Council confirmed thatdecision. Subsequently, the ambassadors of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Moscowvisited dozens of cities, including Kiev, whose populations swore allegiance to the Russian tsar. Incidentally, nothing of the kind happened at the conclusionof the Union of Lublin.

During the Great Northern War with Sweden, the people in Malorossia werenot faced with a choice of whom to side with. Only a small portion of the Cossacks supported Mazepa's rebellion. People of all orders and degreesconsidered themselves Russian and Orthodox.

Many centuries of fragmentation and living within different statesnaturally brought about regional language peculiarities, resulting in the emergence of dialects. The vernacular enriched the literary language. IvanKotlyarevsky, Grigory Skovoroda, and Taras Shevchenko played a huge role here.Their works are our common literary and cultural heritage. Taras Shevchenkowrote poetry in the Ukrainian language, and prose mainly in Russian. The booksof Nikolay Gogol, a Russian patriot and native of Poltavshchyna, are written in Russian, bristling with Malorussian folk sayings and motifs. How can thisheritage be divided between Russia and Ukraine? And why do it?

The south-western lands of the Russian Empire, Malorussia and Novorossiya,and the Crimea developed as ethnically and religiously diverse entities.Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Karaites, Krymchaks, Bulgarians,Poles, Serbs, Germans, and other peoples lived here. They all preserved theirfaith, traditions, and customs.

Since the late 19th century, the Austro-Hungarian authorities had latchedonto this narrative, using it as a counterbalance to the Polish national movementand pro-Muscovite sentiments in Galicia. During World War I, Vienna played a role in the formation of the so-called Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.Galicians suspected of sympathies with Orthodox Christianity and Russia weresubjected to brutal repression and thrown into the concentration camps of Thalerhof and Terezin.

After the February Revolution, in March 1917, the Central Rada wasestablished in Kiev, intended to become the organ of supreme power. In November1917, in its Third Universal, it declared the creation of the UkrainianPeople's Republic (UPR) as part of Russia.

In December 1917, UPR representatives arrived in Brest-Litovsk, whereSoviet Russia was negotiating with Germany and its allies. At a meeting on 10January 1918, the head of the Ukrainian delegation read out a note proclaimingthe independence of Ukraine. Subsequently, the Central Rada proclaimed Ukraineindependent in its Fourth Universal.

The declared sovereignty did not last long. Just a few weeks later, Radadelegates signed a separate treaty with the German bloc countries. Germany and Austria-Hungary were at the time in a dire situation and needed Ukrainian breadand raw materials. In order to secure large-scale supplies, they obtainedconsent for sending their troops and technical staff to the UPR. In fact, thiswas used as a pretext for occupation.

For those who have today given up the full control of Ukraine to externalforces, it would be instructive to remember that, back in 1918, such a decisionproved fatal for the ruling regime in Kiev. With the direct involvement of the occupying forces, the Central Rada was overthrown and Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyiwas brought to power, proclaiming instead of the UPR the Ukrainian State, whichwas essentially under German protectorate.

In autumn 1918, Ukrainian nationalists proclaimed the West UkrainianPeople's Republic (WUPR) and, in January 1919, announced its unification withthe Ukrainian People's Republic. In July 1919, Ukrainian forces were crushed by Polish troops, and the territory of the former WUPR came under the Polish rule.

The example of the UPR shows that different kinds of quasi-state formationsthat emerged across the former Russian Empire at the time of the Civil War and turbulence were inherently unstable. Nationalists sought to create their ownindependent states, while leaders of the White movement advocated indivisibleRussia. Many of the republics established by the Bolsheviks' supporters did notsee themselves outside Russia either. Nevertheless, Bolshevik Party leaderssometimes basically drove them out of Soviet Russia for various reasons.

The localization policy undoubtedly played a major role in the developmentand consolidation of the Ukrainian culture, language and identity. At the sametime, under the guise of combating the so-called Russian great-powerchauvinism, Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselvesas Ukrainians. This Soviet national policy secured at the state level the provision on three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian,instead of the large Russian nation, a triune people comprising Velikorussians,Malorussians and Belorussians.

In 1939, the USSR regained the lands earlier seized by Poland. A majorportion of these became part of the Soviet Ukraine. In 1940, the Ukrainian SSRincorporated part of Bessarabia, which had been occupied by Romania since 1918,as well as Northern Bukovina. In 1948, Zmeyiniy Island (Snake Island) in the Black Sea became part of Ukraine. In 1954, the Crimean Region of the RSFSR wasgiven to the Ukrainian SSR, in gross violation of legal norms that were in force at the time.

The Bolsheviks treated the Russian people as inexhaustible material for their social experiments. They dreamt of a world revolution that would wipe outnational states. That is why they were so generous in drawing borders and bestowing territorial gifts. It is no longer important what exactly the idea of the Bolshevik leaders who were chopping the country into pieces was. We candisagree about minor details, background and logics behind certain decisions.One fact is crystal clear: Russia was robbed, indeed.

What can be said to this? Things change: countries and communities are noexception. Of course, some part of a people in the process of its development,influenced by a number of reasons and historical circumstances, can becomeaware of itself as a separate nation at a certain moment. How should we treatthat? There is only one answer: with respect!

You want to establish a state of your own: you are welcome! But what are the terms? I will recall the assessment given by one of the most prominentpolitical figures of new Russia, first mayor of Saint Petersburg AnatolySobchak. As a legal expert who believed that every decision must be legitimate,in 1992, he shared the following opinion: the republics that were founders of the Union, having denounced the 1922 Union Treaty, must return to the boundaries they had had before joining the Soviet Union. All other territorialacquisitions are subject to discussion, negotiations, given that the ground hasbeen revoked.

In other words, when you leave, take what you brought with you. This logicis hard to refute. I will just say that the Bolsheviks had embarked on reshaping boundaries even before the Soviet Union, manipulating with territoriesto their liking, in disregard of people's views.

Ukraine and Russia have developed as a single economic system over decadesand centuries. The profound cooperation we had 30 years ago is an example for the European Union to look up to. We are natural complementary economicpartners. Such a close relationship can strengthen competitive advantages,increasing the potential of both countries.

Ukraine used to possess great potential, which included powerfulinfrastructure, gas transportation system, advanced shipbuilding, aviation,rocket and instrument engineering industries, as well as world-classscientific, design and engineering schools. Taking over this legacy and declaring independence, Ukrainian leaders promised that the Ukrainian economywould be one of the leading ones and the standard of living would be among the best in Europe.

Today, high-tech industrial giants that were once the pride of Ukraine and the entire Union, are sinking. Engineering output has dropped by 42 per centover ten years. The scale of deindustrialization and overall economicdegradation is visible in Ukraine's electricity production, which has seen a nearly two-time decrease in 30 years. Finally, according to IMF reports, in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Ukraine's GDP per capita hadbeen below USD 4 thousand. This is less than in the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Moldova, or unrecognized Kosovo. Nowadays, Ukraine isEurope's poorest country.

Who is to blame for this? Is it the people of Ukraine's fault? Certainly not. It was the Ukrainian authorities who waistedand frittered away the achievements of many generations. We know howhardworking and talented the people of Ukraine are. They can achieve successand outstanding results with perseverance and determination. And thesequalities, as well as their openness, innate optimism and hospitality have notgone. The feelings of millions of people who treat Russia not just well butwith great affection, just as we feel about Ukraine, remain the same.

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