For over two years, Russia has been invading Ukraine, claiming that Ukraine is historically Russian territory. This makes as much sense as claiming Northern Italy is historically German. While this is technically correct, there have been 1000 years between then and now which have sent these two regions on different paths.
Recorded history starts around 900 AD, when the Varangians invaded the region between St. Petersburg and Kyiv and settled it. These Vikings became the Kievan Rus, which evolved into the Rurik dynasty, which ruled Russia until 1598. From 1060 the region evolved into a complex system of duchies, which is beyond the scope of this article. The principalities were absolute monarchies at this point, with a feudal system.
Kyiv was conquered by the Mongols in 1301.
What is now Kyiv was taken from the Mongols by Lithuania in 1362 and turned into a vassal state. It was fully absorbed into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1471.
The period under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the foundation of a Ukrainian identity that is significantly different from Russia. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged with the Kingdom of Poland in 1569 under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Before this point, they had been ruled by authoritarian kings or by Mongols.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth saw the foundation of the Sejm which balanced the power of a king with more power for local nobles. The economy evolved from a feudal system where slavery was forbidden. It was by no means a utopia. Still, under the Kingdom of Poland, education improved, and a relatively high level of religious tolerance led to Kyiv being home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, just like across all of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained this way until the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing from the Soviet Union in the leadup to the foundation of Israel. Ukrainians almost became a third pole in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth under the Treaty of Hadiach in 1658. This was the first time Ukrainians almost had their clearly distinct identity recognized in a treaty. While by modern standards, the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was a corrupt serf-powered oligarchy, for the time, it was relatively progressive, especially compared to the strict feudal system of Moscow. It was a center for trade and learning in Eastern Europe.
In 1667, the tide turned after the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lost to the Russian Empire, and Kyiv became a border city between Poland-Lithuania and Russia. Kyiv gradually lost its autonomy for the next century.
Following the Polish-Russian War of 1792 and the partition of Poland in 1795 the rest of Ukraine was annexed by Russia.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is very important in understanding why Ukrainians differ from Russians. Ukrainians had more freedom than Russians, so when they were reabsorbed into the Russian sphere of influence in 1795, it moved Ukraine back to a more primitive system. Their language and culture diverged from Russia. This can be clearly seen in the Four Universals, which formed the basis for the first free and democratic Ukrainian state in 1918. They are worth reading.
While Ukraine enjoyed relative freedom under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth leading to a strong sense of freedom and justice, Moscow stagnated. Moscow was a vassal state of the Golden Horde from 1282-1471, and after that, remained a Unitary Absolute Monarchy. Russia did experiment with legislatures in this period, the Zemsky Sobor was established in 1549 and gradually lost influence before being dissolved in 1684 by the Tsar. Twenty-seven years later, the Governing Senate was established by Peter I to represent the nobles, but it was subordinate to the Emperor. The Emperor always had the final say over the parliament. Russia remained a unitary absolute monarchy until 1906, over 300 years after the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth established a balance of power between the Sejm and the King. Between 1906 and 1917, four Dumas were established, but the Tsar was able to dissolve them on a whim, which he did. Hardly a democracy.
Russia did not experience an independent legislature until 1991. It lasted nine years before Vladimir Putin took over the country, and through corrupt elections, the Federal Assembly has been little more than a rubber stamp for Putin’s will for over twenty years.
I do not believe Russia is destined to be an authoritarian hellscape. The people of Russia have the power to stand up against their corrupt oligarchy whenever they want, but they just simply haven’t. Instead, their oligarchs have brainwashed them into believing NATO threatens them, but the only people threatened by NATO are the people in power. I hope the Russians realize this and turn against their government so they can be strong and free like Ukraine. Russia cannot change until Russians demand a democratic system.
When Ukraine became independent, they have successfully held elections every five or six years since 1994. Each president has been better than the last. Kuchma was very controversial and corrupt, followed by Yushchenko who supports joining the European Union and NATO. Yanukovych presided over democratic backsliding, culminating in mass protests and ousting him in 2014. Ukraine is going to continue to improve after the end of the war. It takes time to unravel centuries of corruption after being occupied by Russia for the majority of two centuries, but I believe once Ukrainian independence and security are guaranteed they will be able to do it.
This is the history of the Ukrainian people, and why it is so important to ensure they win this war.