Ukraine
Country in eastern central Europe, bounded to the east by Russia,
north by Belarus, south by Moldova, Romania, and the Black Sea,
and west by Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Hungary.
Government
Under the 1978 constitution, which was substantially amended during
the early 1990s, there is a 450-member legislature, the Supreme
Council (Supreme Soviet), to which deputies are elected by a majority
system, with a second-ballot `run-off´ race in contests in which
there is no clear first-round majority. The executive state president,
directly elected for a five-year term, has decree powers and appoints
a prime minister and cabinet, drawn from the majority grouping
within the Supreme Soviet. In 1995 the president was given full
control over ministerial appointments.
History
The position of Ukraine towards the western end of the great Eurasian
steppes has meant that for much of its history wave after wave
of nomadic peoples have swept across it from the steppes to the
east, some of them settling for long periods, others passing through
on their westward journeys of migration and conquest.
Ukraine in the ancient world
The steppes of the southern Ukraine were populated during the 1st millennium
BC by the nomadic Scythians (see Scythia). From the 8th -7th centuries
BC Greek settlers founded many colonies on the northern shores
of the Black Sea (see, for example, Bosporan Kingdom), and the
Scythians themselves began to adopt a more settled way of life,
their place on the steppes being taken from the 4th century BC
by another nomadic people, the Sarmatians.
The Greek colonies later fell under Roman domination, but by
the 3rd- 4th centuries AD the whole of present-day Ukraine had
been overrun by the Goths. The Goths were in turn defeated by
the Huns when the latter began their onslaught on Europe.
The Middle Ages
The eastern Slav (Russian) peoples - Polyane, Severyane, Drevlyane,
Volhynians, and so on - inhabited the forested and wooded steppe
zones from the early Middle Ages. After a short period of Khazar
domination, they were, in the 9th century, included in the state
of Kievan Rus, whose capital Kiev and most other main centres
were in Ukraine. Christianity was adopted from the Byzantine Empire
in 988. The steppes remained the home of the nomadic Pechenegs
and Cumans.
Uniting Ukrainians, Russians (Muscovites), and Belarusians,
Kievan Rus became the leading power in eastern Europe, but was
destroyed in the early 13th century by the Golden Horde, a Mongol-
Tatar army led by a grandson of Genghis Khan. After the Mongol-
Tatar conquest, only the kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (Volhynia)
in west Ukraine remained outside the Mongol Empire, flourishing
from the early 13th to the mid-14th century. By the middle of
the 15th century most of Ukraine was ruled by the grand duchy
of Lithuania (then a vast empire). In the southeast the Crimean
khanate, one of the successor states of the Mongol Empire, was
formed in 1443, and remained independent until annexed by Russia
in 1783.
The early modern period
When Lithuania was absorbed by Poland in 1569, the Lithuanian-held
territory came under Polish rule, and the peasantry were reduced
to serfdom. Soon the struggle of the local Orthodox population
against the Polish Catholics began - a struggle that had social
and economic as well as religious and cultural dimensions. Particularly
militant were the Cossacks, who in 1648 rose and won independence
from Poland for central Ukraine, and a militarist state was established
by the hetman (elected leader) Bohdan Khmelnytsky (died 1657).
However, in return for military aid against the Poles, Khmelnytsky
was obliged to recognize the sovereignty of Russia over east Ukraine
in 1653.
East and west Ukraine were partitioned between Russia and Poland
in 1667. Russia introduced serfdom into east Ukraine (`Little
Russia´) in 1783. In the late 18th century, by the partitions
of Poland, Russia also secured control over all of west Ukraine
(to the west of the River Dnieper), except Galicia, which was
annexed by Austria in 1772. The Black Sea shores - which had been
conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th and 16th centuries
- were captured by Russia from Turkey in the later 18th century.
The struggle for independence
During the 14th-16th centuries the population of Ukraine had developed
a separate identity and a certain degree of national consciousness,
distinguishing themselves from the Russians of Muscovy (the Russian
state based on Moscow) - ` Muscovite´ is still the Ukrainian colloquialism
for `Great Russian´. Such sentiments were suppressed under the
tsars, and in 1720 Peter I banned the publication of books in
the Ukrainian language.
A romantic and nationalist movement in Ukrainian literature
began early in the 19th century, out of which emerged Ukraine's
national poet T H Shevchenko. At the same time secret nationalist
organizations flourished, especially in Galicia. Publications
in Ukrainian were banned again after the Polish uprising in 1863,
and only lifted with the Russian revolution, 1905. During the
late 19th and early 20th centuries there was rapid economic development
and urbanization, but under the late tsars suppression of Ukrainian
culture and `Russification´ intensified.
The revolutionary period
At the beginning of the 20th century nationalist agitation for autonomy
increased. With the outbreak of World War I, Russian forces invaded
Austrian-held Galicia, only to be ousted by the Austrians in early
1915. Western Ukraine continued to be the scene of many battles
throughout the war.
Following the 1917 February Revolution (see Russian Revolution),
the provisional government granted Ukrainian autonomy, recognizing
the authority of the newly formed Ukrainian Central Rada (council)
over central Ukraine. After the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks
in the 1917 October Revolution, the Rada, headed by Mykhaylo Hrushevsky,
proclaimed the Ukrainian National Republic (20 November). Shortly
afterwards the Bolsheviks declared the Ukrainian Soviet Republic
(December), and fighting between the Bolsheviks and nationalists
followed. The Russian civil war had started, and Ukraine was to
be one of the areas most fiercely contested.
In January 1918 the Ukrainian National Republic declared complete
independence from Russia, and the next month signed the Treaty
of Brest -Litovsk with the Central Powers. German and Austrian
forces helped the nationalists to oust the Bolsheviks from Kiev,
but, unhappy with the socialist policies of the nationalist government,
helped to overthrow it and installed a conservative regime under
Gen Pavlo Skropadsky, who took the title of `hetman of Ukraine´.
Following the final defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary in November
1918, Skropadsky resigned and a nationalist government took power
again in Kiev.
Meanwhile, nationalists in west Ukraine had declared (October
1918) the Western Ukrainian National Republic, and in January
1919 the union of the two independent Ukraines was declared. However,
the western republic claimed Galicia - previously part of Austria-Hungary,
and now also claimed by the newly independent Poland. Poland immediately
went to war with the Ukrainian nationalists, and occupied Galicia.
During the following two years of war the situation was chaotic.
The Bolshevik Red Army again penetrated Ukraine in late 1918,
only to be pushed back by the White Russians - the anti-Bolshevik
forces supported by the western Allies. The White Russians also
attempted to suppress Ukrainian nationalism, and by the end of
1919 the Ukrainian nationalists found themselves surrounded by
the Red Army, the Poles, and the White Russians.
By early 1920 the Red Army had ousted the Whites from Ukraine,
and the Ukrainian nationalists made a peace with Poland, by which,
in return for military aid, parts of west Ukraine (Galicia and
Volhynia) were transferred to Polish rule. The Poles and Ukrainians
were initially successful against the Red Army, but were eventually
defeated. A peace treaty was signed in March 1921 by which Poland
retained Galicia and Volhynia, and recognized Soviet control of
the rest of Ukraine.
The early Soviet period and World War II
When the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed in 1922, Ukraine
became one of the four original constituent republics. At first
the communists cooperated with the nationalists in carrying out
a policy of `Ukrainization´, but after the late 1920s all real
or suspected nationalists were severely persecuted, and during
the 1930s there was a mass purge of intellectuals, kulaks (` rich
farmers´) and the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The enforced collectivization of agriculture led to the famine
of 1932-33, when at least 7 million peasants died.
Following the Nazi-Soviet Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, Polish- controlled
west Ukraine was occupied by the Red Army from September 1939
until the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941. The Nazi occupation
of Ukraine witnessed mass deportations and exterminations of more
than 5 million Ukrainians and Ukrainian Jews. In 1944 Moscow ordered
the deportation en masse to Central Asia of Crimean Tatars, who
were accused of collaboration.
Sovietization and dissent
After World War II, Soviet-ruled Ukraine was enlarged to include territories
formerly under Polish (west Ukraine), Czechoslovak (Transcarpathian
Ukraine), and Romanian (north Bukovina and part of Bessarabia)
control and became a founding member of the United Nations. West
Ukraine remained the site of partisan resistance by the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army (UPA) until the early 1950s and, as part of a `sovietization´
campaign, there were mass arrests and deportations to Siberia
of 500,000 people and inward migration of Russians.
After the Soviet leader Stalin's death in 1953, Ukraine was
treated in a more conciliatory fashion by his successor Nikita
Khrushchev, who had been Ukrainian Communist Party (UCP) leader
1938-47. In February 1954, to `celebrate´ the 300th anniversary
of Slavic `fraternal union´ , Crimea was transferred back to Ukraine's
jurisdiction.
In the 1960s there was a Ukrainian literary revival and growth
of the dissident movement. In 1972-73 a crackdown on dissent was
launched and the Brezhnevite Vladimir Shcherbitsky replaced the
more liberal Petro Shelest as UCP leader. However, following the
1975 Helsinki Conference, human-rights monitoring groups became
active, and the officially abolished Uniate Church continued to
operate underground in west Ukraine. In the wake of the Chernobyl
nuclear power-plant accident in 1986, a popular environmentalist
movement, Green World, emerged in Ukraine.
Nationalism intensifies
Emboldened by glasnost, nationalist and pro-reform demonstrations increased,
led by the People's Movement of Ukraine for Restructuring (Rukh),
established in February 1989. Shcherbitsky was ousted as UCP leader
in September 1989, the Uniate Church was allowed to re-register
in December 1989, and in the March 1990 republic supreme-soviet
election, ` reform communist´ and Rukh candidates in the Democratic
Bloc polled strongly in a number of areas. In July 1990 the new
parliament declared the republic's economic and political sovereignty.
Declaration of independence
Ukraine's president, Leonid Kravchuk, was slow to condemn the August
1991 attempted anti- Gorbachev coup in Moscow, which had provoked
a series of Rukh-led pro-democracy rallies in Lviv (Lvov). However,
after the coup's failure, Kravchuk swiftly donned nationalist
colours, banning the UCP and declaring the republic's provisional
independence on 24 September 1991, pending a referendum in December,
which came out 90% in favour of independence. Simultaneously Kravchuk
was popularly elected president, capturing 61% of the vote.
Ukraine joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
formed in December 1991, and its independence was immediately
recognized by Canada, home to around 1 million Ukrainians, as
well as by Ukraine's central European neighbours. In the same
month its independence was recognized by the USA, who also accorded
it full diplomatic recognition, and by the European Community
(now the European Union).
Economic reforms and problems
A programme of market-centred economic reform and privatization was
launched, with prices freed in January 1992 but `temporarily´
re- regulated in February. A pipeline deal completed with Iran
helped to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Russia for oil. Coupons
( karbuvanets) were introduced as a secondary currency to the
rouble, pending the creation of an independent currency, the hryvna.
However, the continued strength of ex-communist apparatchiks threatened
to frustrate the programme. Production declined by 20% during
1992 and by early 1993 inflation stood at 35% a month and the
budget deficit at 44% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Direct presidential rule
In September 1993 President Kravchuk took direct control of government,
eliminating the post of prime minister. His action followed a
long-running power struggle with his prime minister, Leonid Kuchma.
In October 1993, with inflation at 70% a month and GDP contracting
by 20 % a year, a more conservative, centrally controlled economic
strategy was adopted. In the same month the UCP was allowed to
re- register.
Conflict over economic policy
In the April 1994 parliamentary elections, radical nationalists made
gains in the west and Russian unionists in the east and Crimea,
but the Communist and Socialist parties, in alliance, remained
the largest bloc. In June Vitaly Masol became prime minister and
in July former premier Leonid Kuchma, an advocate of closer ties
with Russia, defeated Kravchuk in the presidential election. Kuchma
unveiled an economic programme in October that included large-scale
privatization, cuts in subsidies, and decentralization.
In March 1995, in an effort to speed up the pace of economic
reform, Kuchma replaced Prime Minister Masol, an anti-reformer,
with the pragmatic Yevgheny Marchuk. The communist-dominated Supreme
Council, however, continued to block radical changes. In June
1995, faced with Kuchma's threat to hold a national referendum
on whether the public trusted the president or the parliament,
the council voted to give Kuchma full control over ministerial
appointments and enhanced decree powers.
Military reorganization
Ukraine inherited a substantial nuclear arsenal, but pledged to become
a nuclear-free state by 1994, while establishing an independent
200,000-400,000-strong army. In March 1992 it suspended agreed
tactical-arms shipments to Russia, claiming that there was no
assurance that Russia was dismantling them. Post-independence
quarrels with Russia over the division of military forces continued,
although agreement was reached in August 1992 on joint control
of the Black Sea fleet until 1995.
In November 1993 Ukraine became the last of the former Soviet
republics to ratify the START-I nuclear-arms reduction treaty.
This followed the signing of an agreement with the USA under which
Ukraine would dismantle the majority of its nuclear weapons in
return for $330 million of aid. A year later it ratified the Nuclear
Non- Proliferation Treaty. In June 1995 Ukraine returned the remainder
of its warheads to Russia for destruction, thus relinquishing
its nuclear status.
Crimean demands for autonomy
The Crimea - which, despite the return of 150,000 Tatars since 1989,
is 70% Russian - declared its independence, within Ukraine, in
September 1991. In May 1992 a declaration of sovereignty was made
but subsequently rescinded after Ukraine's hostile response. A
referendum held in March 1994 overwhelmingly supported greater
autonomy as well as favouring closer links with Russia. In response,
Ukraine annulled Crimea's constitution in March 1995 and sacked
its pro-Russian president, Yuri Meshkov.
Economic problems continue
During 1995 the Ukrainian economy shrank by 12% as radical economic
measures were introduced with the aim of bringing down inflation
from its 1993 level of 10,000% to a projected 40% by 1996. Blamed
for a growing `economic crisis´, Marchuk was sacked from the premiership
by President Kuchma and replaced by Pavel Lazarenko, the former
first deputy prime minister. In June a new constitution was adopted
that abolished the traditional hierarchy of soviets.
In September 1996 a new currency, the hryvna, was introduced,
and in December the constitution was amended to strengthen the
president's appointment powers. In February 1997, in response
to criticisms from the prime minister about the slow pace of change,
new finance and economy ministers were appointed by President
Kuchma. A month later, Viktor Pynzenyk, a deputy prime minister
and leading economic reformer, resigned after parliament delayed
passing the state budget. Kuchma campaigned further for closer
ties with Russia, negotiating a treaty in May 1997, and received
around 90% of the vote in Russian- speaking regions of E Ukraine
and in Crimea.
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