12.3 The History of Ukraine
This Lesson is Not Finished Yet
An interesting history of Ukraine can be read at the American Thinker.
This web page is a combination of what I've read about Russian and Ukrainian history and what a man who lived in the Soviet Union, and who fought in the Russian army told me. Living in Russia does not necessarily make you an expert since he tells me that you constantly hear Russian propaganda. Everytime he came home his Dad would make sure his children knew what was false propaganda and what was the truth and then he would tell them that their discussions must not be told to anyone outside of their home. One of the ways he follows the news from Russia currently is by listening to the Israeli Russian news. Israel has many Jewish people who escaped from Russia and so has its own Russian news station. He doesn't listen to Russian news from Russia because he says it is propaganda. How did I meet this expert on Russia and Ukraine? I went to the barber. He is my barber.
When Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union his Russian soldiers would seize wheat from Ukranians who needed the wheat for their own families. Stalin sold some of the wheat to England. Ukranian families starved. Ukranians never forgave Russia for that. Germany planned to invade Poland but was concerned that Russia along with England and France might defend Poland so he proposed a non-aggression pact with Russia. Russia signed the agreement including an agreement that Russia would get the eastern part of Poland and Germany would get the western part and Russia would get the Baltic states. Hours later, more than a million German troops crossed the border with Poland. World War II had begun. Within weeks, the Soviets occupied eastern Poland. The Soviet red army also seized Ukraine. Months later, Stalin’s troops marched into the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. .
According to history.com
Before the signing of the non-aggression pact, President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned Stalin that “it was as certain as that the night followed the day that as soon as Hitler had conquered France he would turn on Russia and it would be the Soviets’ turn next.” The words proved prescient when on June 22, 1941, Hitler unilaterally broke his deal with Stalin and launched the largest surprise attack in the history of warfare.
Western Ukranians who wanted independence from the Soviet Union collaborated with Nazi Germany. Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazi Germany did so in various ways including participating in German-supervised auxiliary police, Schutzmannschaft, in the German military, and serving as concentration camp guards. When the Nazis decided to kill the entire Jewish population of Kiev, the Ukranian police along with Nazis carried out the orders and the Jews were killed with machine guns in a ravine called Babi Yar.
After World War II was over the Soviet Union invaded eastern and central European countries. In 1949 the Soviet Union successfully tested an atom bomb. The European countries that were still free formed an alliance with United States and Canada to counter the threat of the Soviet Union. That alliance is called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO for short.
In 1985 Mikhael Gorbachev became head of the Soviet Union. He introduced reforms that made it a more free and democratic country. He tried to create closer ties with the West. He believed that good relations with the West were very important especially because nuclear weapons made bad relations dangerous. Ukraine broke away broke away from the Soviet Union and declared its independence in 1991. Following its independence, Ukraine formed a republic similar to the United States with separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It declared itself a neutral state. Vladimir Putin became ruled of the Soviet Union. He wanted Ukraine to be under Soviet control. Living under Soviet control was hard because it's socialist system was bad for the economy and there were few jobs.Ukrainians preferred to be associated with the European Union. Ukraine signed a trade agreement with the European Union. In 2013, after President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine suspended the agreement in favor of closer economic ties with Russia, mass protests and demonstrations known as the Euromaidan erupted, escalating into the Revolution of Dignity that led to the overthrow of Yanukovych and the establishment of a new government.. The new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the agreement with Europe again on 27 June 2014,and described this as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards membership of the European Union. The last thing Putin wanted was Ukraine becoming part of the European Union which he regarded as a threat to Russia. Putin responded to the agreement by having Russia invade and take away Crimea the oil rich part of Ukraine.. He also encouraged Ukrainians who lived in Donbas an area at the eastern end of Ukraine to fight the Ukrainians so as to be part of Russia. He then accused the Ukranians who fought back of genocide and used that as an excuse to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Putin thought that the invasion would be quick and easy but Western countries armed Ukraine and although vastly outnumbered by the Russian military they have won many battles. The Soviet Union has nuclear missiles which it hasn't used yet (Oct 11 2022) but if they use them they might win. The Soviet Union has called up many more soldiers and it's possible they will win that way. Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons against the West because Western countries supply Ukraine with weapons. One reason European countries do this is they worry that Russia may invade them and
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ukraine-underestimate-peoples-determination-defeat-russia