The border of Ukraine until 1917 more than once became a stumbling block between venerable history professors, famous politicians and cultural figures. The formation of a modern state stretched over centuries, during which ancient cities and peoples were replaced more than once or twice.
Coming of the Cimmerians
The first people on Ukrainian territory were the Cimmerians, who were mentioned in the reflection of the era - "Odyssey".
Ancient nomads who spoke one of the dialects of the Iranian language group visited the Black Sea region around the 9th century BC. steppes for two hundred years. The historical borders of Ukraine until 1917 were constantly changing, and it began almost 3,000 years ago, and since that time the territory has repeatedly expanded, decreased and assumed unimaginable shapes.
Since the nomads did not know the letters, they did not leave information about themselves, with the exception of archaeological sites and rare mentions in the chronicles of that time. Contemporaries had something to say about the terrible savages - most historians described the Cimmers as ruthless and skilled warriors, and the customs of the tribes awed enlightened peoples.
Wild Scythians
Herodotus in his writings ruthlessly walked through the customs and social system of the nomads and described in paints the ruthless extermination of the Chernoles aborigines by the Cimmerians. What was the border of Ukraine before 1917, we know, but it could lie anywhere, if the steppe horsemen did not force out the less developed inhabitants of the forests.
However, the fate of the Chernolesians very quickly befell the Cimmerians. They, in turn, could not repulse the Scythians, who raided the parking lots, robbed dwellings and led away horses in herds.
The next wave of nomads (Scythians) reached its peak in the 5th-4th centuries BC.
The first centralized stronghold of culture on the territory of Ukraine - Great Scythia - was described by Herodotus. The borders of Ukraine until 1917, from the time of the Scythians, took the form of an expanded rectangle around the Northern Black Sea coast from the Danube in the west to the eastern part of the Sea of Azov.
From the north, the space is limited by Pripyat and the line that runs through modern Chernigov, touches Kursk and Voronezh. In the III century BC, the Scythians in the Black Sea steppes finally replaced the Sarmatians. On the Black Sea plains, the tribes did not hold out for about six centuries (until the first millennium BC), until they were driven away by the Goths and Huns. After their invasion on the territory of Ukrainedominated by the Slavic tribes of the Antes and related Sklavians.
The border of Ukraine changed a huge number of times before 1917: at a slower pace during the time of nomads, and then changes in the shape of the territory began to occur at cosmic speeds.
Sklavins, Antes, Wends
The Gothic historian Jordanes writes and often mentions the Slavs. According to him, the Sclavin Slavs had a common ancestor, and they live in three Vendian tribes - the brave Wends, the strong Antes, and their smaller brothers, the Sclavins. But in the 7th century, the French chronicler and historian Fredegar said that “the clavins are the Wends.”
Archaeologists often find Antian treasures, consisting of gold and silver, mined during campaigns and raids on nearby territories. Antes warriors were armed with bows and arrows, shields, long swords were also included in the standard equipment. The Antes were considered the most powerful Slavic tribe: they were mercenary soldiers in the Byzantine army.
Prisoners were often used as slaves, selling them or taking a ransom from the nearest neighbors was a kind of etiquette of that time. Nevertheless, after some time, the captured slave could become a free and full member of the community. The main deity of the Antes - Perun - was considered relatively docile. Bloodless sacrifice is a fundamental principle of beliefs; among the offerings on the altars of idols, archaeologists found only cooked food, herbs and jewelry. During the time of the Ants, the process of the birth of Kyiv and Volhynia began, which inonce again changed the borders of Ukraine. However, 1917 was still a long way off.
The birth of Kievan Rus
The next milestone in the history of the development of the modern state was Kievan Rus. The city, which became the cultural and social center of a vast territory, was repeatedly rebuilt, burned and destroyed. Until 1917, the border of Ukraine changed along with it - it either covered nearby lands, or narrowed to the suburbs of Kyiv.
The state around the Kyiv settlement arose in the 9th century, when the distant Eastern Slavs and the tribes of the Finno-Ugric group united under the rule of the prince of the Rurik dynasty. The history of Kyiv as an independent city-state begins with the capture of the capital by Oleg, who brought the eastern Slavic tribes with him.
Rise of the State
The border of Ukraine before the revolution of 1917 (somewhere at the end of the 10th century, during the heyday of Kievan Rus) was across the Dniester and in the upper reaches of the Vistula River in the west, covered the Taman Peninsula in the southeast and was lost in the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina. Geography also helps to present the cities of Kievan Rus and understand its territorial structure. The oldest of the settlements is Kyiv, and Chernigov, ancient Pereyaslavl, glorious Smolensk, promising Rostov, new Ladoga, fabulous Pskov and new Polotsk followed it step by step.
The reign of princes Vladimir (960-1015) and Yaroslav (1019-1054) was the time of greatest prosperitystates. It's amazing what the border of Ukraine was like before the 1917 revolution! The territories have expanded extraordinary: from the Carpathians to the B altic steppes and the Black Sea region.
By the middle of the 12th century, a dark era of feudal fragmentation began in the mighty Kievan Rus, turmoil broke into a dozen separate principalities ruled by various branches of the Rurikovich. The beginning of 1132 is considered the official beginning of intra-family squabbles, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the power of the Prince of Kyiv was no longer recognized by Polotsk and Novgorod at the same time. Kyiv was not officially considered the capital until the very Tatar-Mongol invasion (1237-1240). What would be the border of Ukraine before the revolution of 1917, if there was no Troubles? Perhaps Kievan Rus would have grown to the size of Rome and Carthage, in order to ingloriously fall under the burden of problems beyond the strength of huge empires.
Collapse and Troubles
In the battle with the Mongols on the Kalka River (on the territory of modern Donetsk region) at the end of May 1223, almost all South Russian princes took part, many of them, as well as many noble boyars, fell in the battle. The closest relatives, servants and older descendants died with the princes, which led to the bleeding of the best clans of the country. The victory went to the Mongols, and the survivors were expected to be captured and disgraced. With the weakening of the southern Russian principalities, the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords stepped up their offensive, but the influence of the princes of Chernigov, Novgorod and Kyiv regions also increased. What would be the border of Ukraine before 1917, if everything turned out in favor of the Russians? Historians suggest thatpetty princelings would have squabbled with each other with the same result - in the battles for power and land, the most noble and well-born people of Kievan Rus would have perished.
Fall of Kyiv
In 1240, the Mongols (led by Batu Khan, the grandson of the formidable Genghis Khan) turned Kyiv into ashes. The remains of the city were received by Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, whom the Mongols recognized as the main one, like his son Alexander Nevsky. But they did not transport the capital city to Kyiv and remained in Vladimir - away from the wild nomads with their arrows, herds and incomprehensible customs.
Before the revolution in 1917, where was the border? Where in the days of Kievan Rus battles were in full swing. Then the trend was firmly and finally established that every span must be taken by force.
Galician Principality
In 1245, in Yaroslav, during the battle (in modern Poland, the city of Yaroslav on the San River), Danila of Galicia and his army defeated the regiments of the Hungarian and Polish feudal lords. Danila Galitsky on the basis of the Western alliance against the Golden Horde in 1253 received the title of king from the pope. The reign of Danil Romanovich was the period of the greatest rise of the Galicia-Volyn principality. The strength of the state caused concern in the Golden Horde. The principality was forced to pay tribute to the Horde constantly, and the rulers undertook to send troops for joint campaigns with the Mongols. Nevertheless, the Galicia-Volyn principality managed to successfully resolve many foreign policy issues in its favor.
The border of Ukraine before the revolution in 1917 changed rapidly. This ishappened in the time of Danila Galitsky. In the second half of the 13th century, the Galicia-Volyn principality did not control the south of the territory, but then regained control over these lands and gained access to the Black Sea. After 1323, all the newly acquired territories were again lost for many centuries. Polissya was annexed by Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century in a series of wars between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The territories that went to Poland in 1349 became a kind of symbol of the end of the heyday. Since this year, the Galicia-Volyn principality has been in official decline.
New territories
The border of Ukraine before the revolution of 1917, as already noted, changed a myriad of times, so at the time when Lithuania was able to resist the Mongols on the territory of modern Kirovograd, the outlines again changed beyond recognition.
Many Orthodox princes were not against rapprochement with Poland, although in 1381-1384, 1389-1392 and 1432-1439. There were three civil wars. Many cities, including, for example, Lvov, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, received their own government under the Magdeburg Law.
In the 90s of the XIV century. thanks to an alliance with the Mongols, his cousin Jagiello Vitovt managed to peacefully annex the entire vast territory south of the vast Wild Field. This is how the historical borders of Ukraine developed; before the revolution of 1917, they subsequently changed little. New areas allowed the economy and society of that time to gradually acquire recognizable features.
Hetmans and Ruins
The next reformer and iconicBogdan Khmelnytsky became the ruler. Rebellion 1648-1654 under his leadership led to the emergence of an autonomous hetman. It is not known for certain, before the intervention of the Cossack chieftain, where the border of Ukraine passed. Until 1917, the state experienced many more significant events. Vague and fragmentary information was often based only on ancient statutes and documents that had long lost their relevance. In Khmelnitsky, the Rada adopted a number of decisions, which resulted in the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667. Its course contributed to the development of civil wars between various hetmans. Left-bank Ukraine wanted to be part of Russia, while Right-bank Ukraine sought to create a strong alliance with Poland.
Beginning of Novorossiya
Now you know where the border of Ukraine was before 1917 at different historical stages. During the Northern War, Hetman Mazepa unexpectedly took the side of the Swedish King Charles XII, who was defeated in the battle of Poltava. As a result, the autonomy and rights of the Hetmanate were limited, and the management of the vast territory was under the jurisdiction of the Little Russian Collegium. The period after the collapse of the Russian Empire did not give any special territorial acquisitions.
The way Ukraine's border was formed before the revolution of 1917 depended on the state's foreign and domestic policy. The name "Novorossia" and the corresponding outlines of the territory of the country acquired at the end of the 18th century.
