Modern events in the South-East of Ukraine, full of tragedy and threatening to develop into a full-scale military clash, prove that residents of different regions of this country have a serious difference in the historical and political perception of the events of the past. If the situation is simplified to the limit, then it can be described as a confrontation between pro-Western and pro-Russian ideas. Left-bank and right-bank Ukraine look at future state prospects differently. Such a conditional simplification of the existing picture reveals only general trends, in real life everything is much more complicated.
Different Ukraine
Supporters of the “European choice” and the forcible strengthening of a unitary state live not only in Lviv and Lutsk, they also exist in Nikolaev, Kherson, Odessa, Kharkov and even Donetsk, the whole question is the quantitative predominance of carriers of certain political sympathies. But in the world nothing happens just like that. The number of citizens hostile to Russia in the West of the country significantly (and even many times) exceeds the percentage of those among residents of the eastern and southern regions.regions. Ukrainians look to the past differently, relying on the traditions of family education and religious beliefs. The objective data of the polls testify that the left-bank Ukraine, not to mention the Crimea, is not as committed to the idea of a united and united state with one state language and a European vector of development as the inhabitants of the western regions. Why did it happen?
Within Poland
The division of Russian people into Russians and Ukrainians is the cornerstone of Ukrainian independence. The roots of this phenomenon should be sought in long-standing events that happened even before the annexation of the left-bank Ukraine to Russia.
In the XIII century, there was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which concluded an alliance (uniy) with Poland. It was in 1385, and after 184 years in Lublin (1569) another historical document was signed, under the terms of which a single state entity was created - the Commonwe alth. It also included territories that are part of modern Ukraine. The colonization of new lands began, accompanied by all the signs of oppression and enslavement of the indigenous population. Left-bank Ukraine, populated mainly by Orthodox people, was subjected to economic and religious repressions. There were also uprisings, but they were mercilessly suppressed.
The emergence of the Cossacks
Oddly enough, the very idea of creating border settlements with a special way of life andeconomic benefits originally belonged to the Poles. The inhabitants of such territories were exempted from many taxes for carrying out paramilitary monitoring of the lines entrusted to them, and their inhabitants stood out in a special class. Hence the historical name "Ukraine", which arose in those years when Poland suffered from Tatar raids in its southern region. The founders of the Cossacks were two elders, Predislav Lyanskoronsky (from Khmelnitsk) and Evstafiy Dashkovich (from the cities of Kanev and Cherkasy). The paramilitary formations successfully repulsed the attacks of the "infidels", often turning into counteroffensives and carrying out deep raids on the enemy's rear. An important incentive for such raids on Ottoman territories was material booty. The Cossacks gained combat experience.
Very inconvenient Zaporozhian Sich
The existence of the Zaporizhzhya freemen could not but disturb the leadership of Poland. This territory was actually uncontrolled, and Hetman Dimitry Vyshnevetsky, without explaining his goals, strengthened the island of Khortitsa in every possible way. Despite the importance of the Cossacks for the defense of the Commonwe alth, the new territorial entity began to pose a certain threat to the very existence of the state. Meanwhile, the Cossacks' preparations for a war of liberation continued until the 17th century, as did the establishment of military and political ties between the Cossacks and Muscovy, with which the Ukrainians felt closeness, both mental and religious.
The beginning of the war for the liberation of Ukraine
Anti-Polish uprising has begunin 1648, at the end of the "golden Polish decade", which had passed after the bloody suppression of popular unrest. During the outbreak of the war, under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, left-bank Ukraine separated from the Commonwe alth, and a new state arose, with the most democratic laws at that time - the Hetmanate. There was only one problem, but a very serious one. The Ukrainians did not have enough military and economic resources to fight the Poles.
The war went on for six years, it was bloody and exhausting. At the beginning of 1654, a letter was signed in the city of Pereyaslavl, documenting the annexation of the left-bank Ukraine to Russia. Muscovy acquired new territories, namely the Kyiv, Bratslav and Chernigov lands, assuming for its part the obligation to ensure the protection of the fraternal people from any adversary. An immediate declaration of war on Poland followed.
Left-Bank Ukraine within Russia (1667)
After 12 years of battles with varying success, the Russian-Ukrainian army still prevailed. Under the terms of the Andrusovo truce of 1667, the Polish side was forced to recognize the annexation of the left-bank Ukraine to the Moscow kingdom (and at the same time Smolensk and present-day Belarus, then Lithuanian territory). This peace was called "eternal" in the treaty, and Russia's sovereignty over Kyiv, according to its terms, was not questioned.
Left bank, right bank…
The subjunctive mood is hardly applicable to history, but remember aboutthe fact that the left-bank Ukraine was annexed to Russia in circumstances that threatened the very existence of the Ukrainian people, nevertheless follows. In the future, the government of the Russian Empire as a centralized state was forced to take measures that today would be called unpopular. In particular, the Zaporozhian Sich, having fulfilled its historical mission, was abolished by Catherine II. The events of the 20th century are a special topic. More than three and a half centuries, lived as part of Russia, historically formed a certain way of thinking, which differs from the pro-Western mentality characteristic of the inhabitants of the regions annexed in 1939. The left-bank Ukraine differs from the right-bank one. Unwillingness to reckon with this reality leads to many human tragedies…
