“If you mean “rich, independent, and industrialized,” then that particular potential was realized only once in the entire history of Ukraine. It was in 1930s, under Stalin, when millions of workers (free and prisoners alike) were employed for two decades to build power stations, steel mills, and many other objects of industry.”
You’re not serious, are you? Ukraine was independent under Stalin? Ukrainians were so happy under Stalin? Then one must ask why they welcomed the Nazis as liberators.
Forced collectivization under Stalin hit Ukraine especially hard.
>>>You’re not serious, are you? Ukraine was independent under Stalin? Ukrainians were so happy under Stalin? Then one must ask why they welcomed the Nazis as liberators.
Forced collectivization under Stalin hit Ukraine especially hard.<<<
Not everyone has welcomed Nazis as liberators.
There were two poor peasants and one urban shoe polisher who got jobs in newly established industries per every kulak sent to gulag in 1930s. Czarist regime before Stalin was a feudal tyranny and it wasn’t pretty. It is a primary reason why commies got an upper hand, and Stalin was popular in USSR, including Ukraine.