History of Urkraine

The following is a greatly abridged (believe it or not) timeline of the history of Ukraine. There is a much more detailed history available on the Guide to Ukraine site. I have tried to include most of the important events which have shaped Ukraine and its culture. Keep in mind that the links to maps near the end are to a site in Sumi, and transfer of the pictures may be very slow.

839 - Mention of Rus' in the Bertynsky chronicles associated with the mission to Ludwig I of the Frankish kingdom.

877 - Novgorod's Prince Oleg annexes Kyiv, and brings the capital of Rus' from Novgorod to Kyiv.

907-911 - Prince Oleg travels to Byzantine's capital Constantinopol (Ukrainian "Czarhorod") with a big army and demands an annuity to Kyiv.

945 - Prince Igor signs a treaty with Byzantine Empire - ready to accept Orthodox Christianity.

957 - Princess Olga (Igor's wife) becomes a ruler of Kyiv.

960-972 - Svyatoslav (Olga's son) becomes a Prince of Kyiv. He confrontates with Khazars, then attacks Bulgaria and fights with Byzantine Empire. At the time Svjatoslav is in the offensive on Bulgaria, Khazars attack Kyiv. He returns but gets killed in a skirmish with Pechenegs.

980 - Volodymyr The Great becomes a Prince.

988 - Official Christianization of Kyiv Rus'. Volodymyr accepts Orthodoxy and marries Byzantine Princess Anna.

1019 - Yaroslav The Wise - one of Volodymyr's sons becomes a Prince.

1027 - Construction of Svyata Sofia (St. Sophia) Cathedral.

1054 - Death of Prince Yaroslav.

1068 - Polovtzi attack Kyiv state for the first time.

1098 - 1099 - Magyars attack Halychyna.

1111 - Kyiv Princes conquer Polovtzi.

1113 - Volodymyr Monomakh - the last of great princes of Kyiv.

1155 - 1157 - Suzdal (Russian) Prince Yurii Dolgorukii (founder of Moscow) attacks Kyiv and becomes a prince for a short period of time.

1187 - The word Ukraine (Ukrayina) first used to describe Kyiv and Halychyna lands.

1223 - Ukrainians first battle Tatars in a battle near Kalko River - Tatars win.

1240 - Tatars capture Kyiv. The city is destroyed.

1256 - Lviv is founded by King Lev.

1360s - Lithuanian Prince Olgerd frees Kyiv from Tatars. It falls under Lithuanian control.

1387 - XVIII century - Poland rules Halychyna.

1475 - 1774 - Crimea (Krym) under Turkish (Osman) Empire's rule.

1490 - First mentioning of cossacks (kozaks).

1550 - Dmytro Vyshnyvetskii establishes a fortress of Zaporizhzhya.

1569 - Lyublinska Uniya (Lublin Union) - All Ukrainian territory under Lithuanian rule (except Polissia and Beresteyshchyna) transfers to Poland.

1576 - Founding of Ostrih Academy - first University-like school in Eastern Europe.

1590 - First Kozak uprisings (Kostynskiy, Mazyvako).

1608 - Fall of Ostrih Academy.

1630 - Kozak uprising against Poland.

1637 - Petro Mohyla establishes a Collegium in Kyiv.

1648 - Beginning of liberation of Ukraine from Polish rule headed by kozak het'man Bohdan Khmelnytskii

1654 - Agreement with Moskoviya (Moscow state).

1657 - Swedish-Ukrainian coalition against Russia.

1663 - Two het'mans in Ukraine. Het'man of the Left bank of Dnipro - in coalition with Russia; het'man from right bank - against Russia.

1670 - Establishment of Russian control under the right-bank kozaks.

1685 - Kyiv Orthodox Church Metropolitan (Patriarkhat) becomes a division of Moscow Metropolitan.

1687 - 1709 - Het'man Ivan Mazepa - period of palingenecy of Kozak state.

1708 - Treaty signed between Ukraine and Sweden.

1709 - Battle in Poltava (Ukraine). Russians defeat Swedish-Ukrainian army.

1709 - Death of Ivan Mazepa.

1720 - Russians prohibit the use of Ukrainian language

1744 - Construction of St. George Cathedral in Lviv.

1764 - Abolition of Zaporizhzhya Het'manate.

1772 - Russian, German and Austrian empires divide parts of Poland among themselves.(First division) Halychyna fells under Austrian control.

1775 - Second division of Poland. Austria annexes Bukovyna

1775 - Zaporizka Sich destroyed by Russians.

1778 - Establishment of Kherson.

1787 - Russians rebuild a village of Kodak into a city and name it after queen Ekaterina II (Katerynoslav). During Ukrainian Republic of 1917 - 1920 the city was renamed into Sicheslav ("In Honour of Sich"). In 1924 communists gave it a present name - Dnipropetrovsk (Combination of words "Dnipro" (main Ukrainian river) and "Petrovskii" (The last name of the major of the city, a Stalinist)).

1789 - Establishment of Nikolayev (Mykolayiv)

1780 - End of Het'manate.

1794 - Establishment of Odessa (Odesa).

1793 - Transfer of lands on the Right Bank to Russia from Poland excluding Halychyna, Bukovyna, Volyn and a part of Polissja, already annexed by Austria.

1798 - Ivan Kotlyarevskii publishes "Eneyida".

1831 - Repnev attempts to renew kozak army.

1834 - Establishment of The University of Kyiv.

1840 - Taras Shevchenko's first publication of "Kobzar", probably the most popular book in Ukrainian.

1861 - First railroad on Ukrainian territory (Peremyshl - Lviv).

1861 - Abolition of slavery in Russia.

1863 - Ukrainian language is officially prohibited to use by Russian government.

1905 - Annulment of restrictions on the usage of Ukrainian language in Russian empire.

1917 - Revolution in Russia. Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Hrushevskii becomes the president. The power of the new government is very weak, Russian czarists, communists and Germans try to conquer Ukraine again. President signs a treaty with Germans, but it was annulled in 1919 in Brest, Byelorussia, where Germany signed a treaty with Communist Russia. MAP: Ukrainian lands 1914-1919

1918 - Austrian empire breaks up. Newly established West-Ukrainian Republic is annexed by Czechoslovakia and Romania. MAP: Western Ukraine 1772-1914

1921 - Formation of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

1929 - Collectivization starts. All lands that belonged to Ukrainian farmers are taken away and put into a large "kolhosps" (co-operative farms.) People, who didn't want to give their land away were arrested and murdered. MAP: Ukraine in interwar years

1933-1934 - Artificial Famine in Ukraine, caused by Stalin's politics. At least three million people die.

1939-1940 - Annexation of Western Ukraine by Soviet Union according to a secret treaty with Nazi Germany.

1941-1944 - German occupation of Ukraine. Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). MAP: Ukraine during WW2

1943-1944 - Russians return. Massive immigration to the west (England, France, Canada, USA.)

1945-1947 - Discrimination and murders of Ukrainian population in Poland by Polish army and police.

1945-1955 - Continued fighting for liberation of Ukraine in the western regions.

1986 - Nuclear reactor explosion in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (picture)

1980's - National movement for the liberation of Ukraine "Rukh" is formed.

1990 - Ukrainian sovereignty is proclaimed.

1991 - Ukrainian independence is proclaimed. Elections of Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and the President Leonid Kravchuk.

1994 - Ukraine signs a cooperation treaty with NATO

1997 - Constitution is adopted. (the text of constitution) From The Guide to Ukraine

~Chris Williams