When I think of the world, I see people as people. It has been challenging to understand how we have so easily dehumanized people by calling them troops forces and tallying numbers for deaths caused by tragedies. But, as the world continues to fall deeper into crisis, and your visibility to this crisis increases, remember, you are seeing people being impacted.

I used history.com and britannica.com as my significant sources. I recommend continuing your learning journey. This post is a snippet of the history of Ukraine; I hope it provides a tiny bit of background.

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country by area in Europe after Russia, which borders the east and northeast.

Ukraine, Country, Eastern Europe. Area: 233,032 sq mi (603,549 sq km). Population: (2021 est.) 43,879,000. Capital: Kyiv (Kiev). Ukrainians make up more than three-fourths of the population of Ukraine; there is a significant minority of Russians. Languages: Ukrainian (official), Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Belarusian, Bulgarian. Religions: Christianity (mostly Eastern Orthodox; other Christians, Roman Catholic, Protestant), Islam. Currency: hryvnya.

Source: “Ukraine Summary.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/summary/Ukraine.

On January 26, 1918, Ukraine declared its independence… Who were they declaring their independence from? Russia. I heard someone compare Russia to a toxic ex, and that is sort of what it feels like, but the story is a bit more complex than that. This is not the Ukrainies’ first fight for independence or even their second. I hope that they can finally find peace one day.

When Ukraine initially started its fight for independence from Russia, the Russian economy was di. They were devastated by WWI, so much so that riots broke out in Petrograd (Leningrad today) over food scarcity. Finally, demoralized army troops joined the strikers, and on March 15, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, ending centuries of czarist rule. 

After the overthrow of the czar in February 1917, Ukraine set up a provisional government and proclaimed itself a republic within the structure of a federated Russia. But unfortunately, this government wasn’t decisive and had difficulty imposing rule over its people.

“The [Ukrainian] administrative structure is in total disorder, completely incompetent and in no way ready for quick results. It would be in our interests to treat the Ukrainian government as a cover and for us to do the rest ourselves.”

Wilhelm Groener, a German army commander in Kiev

The defeat of the Central Powers and the signing of the armistice in November 1918 forced Germany and Austria to withdraw from Ukraine. At the same time, with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, an independent West Ukrainian republic was proclaimed in the Galician city of Lviv. The two Ukrainian states declared their union in early 1919. Still, independence was short-lived, as they immediately found themselves in a three-way struggle against troops from both Poland and Russia. The Ukrainian government briefly allied themselves with Poland but could not withstand the Soviet assault. In 1922, Ukraine became one of the original constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.); it would not regain its independence until the U.S.S.R.’s collapse in 1991.

Source: A&E Television Networks. (2009, November 5). Ukraine declares its independence. History.com. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ukraine-declares-its-independence