Left-bank Ukraine and its common history with Russia

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 the future state prospects in different ways. This 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 violent strengthening of the unitary state live not only in Lviv and Lutsk, they exist in Mykolayiv, Kherson, Odesa, Kharkov and even Donetsk, the whole question is the quantitative predominance of the bearers 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. Ukrainians look to the past in different ways, relying on the traditions of family upbringing and religious beliefs. The objective data of the surveys testify that left-bank Ukraine, not to mention the Crimea, is not so devoted to the idea of a single and conciliar state with one state language and European development vector, as residents of the western regions. Why did this happen?

In the composition of 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 the long-standing events that occurred before the left-bank Ukraine joined Russia.

In the 13th century, there was the Grand Lithuanian Principality, which concluded an alliance (union) with Poland. The case was in 1385, and in 184 in Lublin (1569) another historical document was signed, under the conditions of which a single state entity was formed - Rzeczpospolita. It included the territories that are part of modern Ukraine. The colonization of new lands began, accompanied by all signs of oppression and enslavement of the indigenous population. Left-bank Ukraine, populated mostly by Orthodox people, was subjected to economic and religious repression. There were also insurrections, but they ruthlessly suppressed.

The emergence of Cossacks

Strange as it may seem, the very idea of creating frontier settlements with a special way of life and economic benefits originally belonged to the Poles. Residents of such territories were exempted from many taxes for carrying out militarized monitoring of the boundaries assigned to them, and their residents were separated into a special class. Hence the historical name "Ukraine", which arose in those years when Poland suffered from the raids of the Tatars in its southern region. The founders of the Cossacks were two elders, Predislav Lyanskoronsky (from Khmelnytsky) and Eustace Dashkovich (from the cities of Kanev and Cherkassy). The paramilitary groups successfully repelled the attacks "bassurman", often turning into counter-attacks and carrying out deep raids along enemy lines. An important incentive for such raids on the Ottoman territories was material extraction. The Cossacks gained combat experience.

Very uncomfortable Zaporizhzhya Sich

The existence of Zaporozhye freemen could not but disturb the leadership of Poland. This territory was in fact uncontrolled, and Hetman Dimitry Vyshnevetsky, without explaining his goals, in every way strengthened the island of Khortitsa. Despite the importance of the Cossacks for the defense of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the new territorial formation began to pose a certain threat to the very existence of the state. Meanwhile, the preparation of the liberation war by the Cossacks continued until the 17th century, as did the establishment of military-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 began in 1648, at the end of the "golden Polish decade", which took place after the bloody suppression of popular unrest. In the course of the war, under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnytsky , the left-bank Ukraine separated from the Commonwealth, and a new state arose, with the most possible democratic laws at that time - the Hetmanate. The problem was only one, but very serious. There were not enough military and economic resources to fight the Poles in Ukrainians.

The war went on for six years, it was bloody and exhausting. In the beginning of 1654 in the city of Pereyaslavl a letter was signed, which documented the joining of the left-bank Ukraine to Russia. Muscovy acquired new territories, namely, the Kiev, Bratslav and Chernigov lands, accepting from its part the obligation to protect the fraternal people from any adversary. There was an immediate declaration of war to Poland.

Left-bank Ukraine as a part of Russia (1667)

After 12 years of battles, which took place with varying success, the Russian-Ukrainian army still prevailed. Under the terms of the Andrusov Truce in 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 the Lithuanian territory). This peace in the treaty was called "eternal", and Russia's sovereignty over Kiev under its terms was not questioned.

Coast left, shore right ...

The subjunctive mood is hardly applicable to history , but remember that left-bank Ukraine was joined to Russia in circumstances that threaten the very existence of the Ukrainian people, nevertheless follows. Later, the government of the Russian Empire as a centralized state was forced to take measures that would today be called unpopular. In particular, Zaporizhzhya Sich, having fulfilled its historical mission, was abolished by Catherine II. About the events of the XX century, the conversation is special. More than three and a half centuries, lived in Russia, historically formed a certain way of thinking, which differs from the pro-Western mentality characteristic of the inhabitants of the regions joined in 1939. Left-bank Ukraine differs from the right-bank. The unwillingness to reckon with this reality leads to many human tragedies ...