Why Ukraine Has Seen Centuries of Conflict

History ^ | OCT 5, 2022 | JESSE GREENSPAN

[MinorityRepublican]

The land within the borders of modern Ukraine, a Texas-sized nation often called the “breadbasket of Europe,” has long been coveted by the region’s powers. During Antiquity, the Greeks, Romans and Huns, along with a slew of lesser-known empires, from the Scythians to the Sarmatians, each established a presence there at one point or another.

More recently, from the Middle Ages to the present, the Vikings, Mongols, Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Ottomans, Swedes, French, Austrians, Germans, Romanians and Czechoslovakians have all marched in, with some staying far longer than others.

Never fully independent until the collapse of the Soviet Union, though there were periods of semi-autonomy, Ukraine has been divided up and stuck back together several times. (Fittingly, the name “Ukraine” means “on the edge” or “borderland,” and its national anthem declares, “Ukraine has not yet perished.”) Through it all, Ukrainian history and identity has been a highly contentious topic, particularly in the context of the 2022 Russian invasion.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, for example, has stated that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” and that Ukraine isn’t a real state, an echo of when earlier generations of Russians referred to Ukraine as “Little Russia.” Yet many Ukrainians vehemently disagree with these characterizations, pointing to their country’s distinct language, culture, traditions and shared civic principles.

“A lot of really important history that Putin and Russian nationalists see as their ancestry happened in Ukraine,” says Stephen Brain, an associate professor at Mississippi State University, who specializes in Russian history. He adds that “for very long periods” Russia and Ukraine were “part of the same state.”

“On the other hand,” Brain says, “Kiev was the capital of its own state before Moscow existed.” Ukraine spent long stretches outside Russian control, and, according to Brain, “Ukrainians increasingly do perceive themselves as a separate nationality.”

[Wuli]

But sak those “minorities” (how long part of Ukrain??) if they think of their “culture” as Ukrainian or Russian and my guess is most will say at least NOT “Russian”.

[Peter ODonnell]

I suspect you are entirely correct, the current state of both NATO and the U.S. military and state dept seem to be a mix of pro-globalist adventurism and some lingering afterglow of an earlier sanity which we took for granted in earlier decades (perhaps). I suspect that these organizations are sprinkled with less enthusiastic globalist sentiments that are held out of view for professional reasons. The trick is going to be to drain these swamps and get the saner perspective back into a more dominant leading role. I can only see that being remotely possible if a number of western countries, notably the USA, ditch their globalist governments. But even then that alone is no guarantee of change.

[Cronos]

Travo - Until the 1930s Crimea was Tatar and Ukrainian

So by your logic, Crimea should be returned to Ukraine

[MinorityRepublican]

Might is right.

[Cronos]

No response?