Cossack Free State of Ukrayiina:
The land popularly known as Ukraine has long been a battlefield between various factions striving for control, a perpetual no-man's land between the powers of Russia, Poland, the Tatars, and the Ottomans, the kind of place where the people who want to disappear go to. Torn between religions, ethnicities, and loyalties, and far removed from the glory days of what once was Kievan Rus, Ukrainian lands gave birth to a new kind of nation, the one formed as much by the military prowess of its inhabitants as by the principles that made them leave their previous homes in search of freedom from political or religious oppression.
The history of the modern state of Ukraine begins in the XVIIth century, when after a long and bloody war, the cossack army under the leadership of ataman Bogdan Khmelnitsky succeeds in expelling the Poles from the Eastern Ukraine. Despite many offers of alliance from Russia in the north, Khmelnitsky decided that Russia was a dangerous ally at best, and determined to continue the free state of Zaporizhka Sich, with the capital at Zaporizhye.
Subsequent decades had proven him right, as the fledgling state had to beat back not only the Polish incursions and Tatar raids from Crimea, but two full-scale invasion attempts from Russia. Its population swelling due to many runaway serfs from Polish and Russian territories, and its warrior culture still intact, the Sich was able to warrant its independence by the force of its arms. Its government of the time has been considered the first true European democracy, electing its military, financial, and political leaders by popular assembly at Zaporizhye. Its presense at the crossing of regional powers made sure that any moves in the area by one power would be resisted by the others, and thus the new cossack state had finally been able to reassert its situation by 1680s.
In the XVIIIth century, as Poland-Lithuania's hold on the Western Ukraine weakened, the Sich cossacks were received in the western territories as liberators, thus expanding their dominion. With much greater land and population, a stronger administrative structure became necessary, with the government moving to the centrally positioned ancient capital of Kiev. Russia under Tsar Peter attempted to intervene, however, battle-hardened cossacks were able to stop the Russian army before it crossed into the Ukrainian heartland. From now on, the new state started calling itself the Cossack Free State of Ukrayiina, or, more commonly, Ukraine.
The next centuries saw Ukraine become the main source of experienced, hardened mercenaries for much of Europe and the Middle East, serving in the Russian, Swedish, Italian, and Ottoman armies. With an easy source of troops available for a right price to any pretender, Russia descended into civil war in early XVIIIth century following the assassination of Tsar Peter, the state in which Russia would be for over sixty years. With Russia in turmoil, much of its outlying provinces were picked up by the Swedes, Poles, Ukrainians, Ottomans, and the other powers in the area.
In 1775, Prince Mikhail Vyazemsky of Russia finally united what was left of his dominions with help of Ukrainian mercenaries, being crowned Mikhail II in Moscow. He has paid dearly for their services, with the territory of Ukraine becoming exponentially greater than it has ever been. While Ukraine has been a much more liberal society than most of Europe, a number of disgruntled Russian nobles in the territories seceded to Ukraine attempted rebellion, asking Poland to intervene on their behalf. The resulting war was long and hard-fought, with the other nations entering down the line. Sweden and Austria entered on the Polish side, while the Ottomans and the French sided with the Ukrainians. Most of the fighting occurred around Poland/Ukraine border, with the exception of the second front of French-Austrian warfare.
During the war, several shortcomings of Ukrainian military became apparent to the country's leadership. While the cossacks were skilled warriors and mercenaries, they did not necessarily possess the organized leadership needed for large-scale military operations where winning depended less on individual prowess, but more on a carefully executed plan. Also, Ukraine did not possess the kind of industry that could support large-scale warfare on its own without resorting to purchasing arms and amunition from the other countries.
By 1787, after series of inconclusive battles, the sides were pretty much just where they started. Subsequent treaty resulted in disputed territories partitioned between Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, while no other territorial gains were made. In Ukraine, much emphasis was put into developing military technology, and upgrading the army to become a strong, organized fighting force. In Austria, in a meanwhile, the war has created a large level of popular discontent due to many casualties for no apparent gain. The discontent in France was even stronger, resulting in King Louis XVI's toppling by a popular uprising. The newly declared French Republic found itself at odds with most of its neighbours, and thus had to depend on Ukrainian mercenaries to fend off the Austrian, British, and royalist attacks. The ideas of the republic were heavily based on the Ukrainian model, not the Enlightenment philosophy that started to become popular in years before the revolution. In exchange, Ukraine received much military technology that allowed it to replace many obsolete designs in service.
By 1794, the revolution in American colonies of Britain gave the independence to the newly created United States of America. The new country was dominated by rich planter aristocracy, with the capital in Philadelphia, while New York remained in British hands. Due to harsh conditions the planters imposed upon their slaves and poorer citizens, the immigration to the West of the Appallachians has experienced its first major drive.
While suspected of pro-republican-French sympathies, Ukraine managed to stay neutral of the European conflict, attempting to rebuild its economy and military forces to be on par with that of the rest of the continent. By 1796, the French republic made peace with most of its enemies, who recognized its right to existense.
The XIXth century saw two outbreaks of conflict in Europe, one due to Greek revolts in the Ottoman Empire, and one due to the attempts at Italian unification. In the first one, the Ottomans faced the onslaught of the British and French armies, finally creating a limited Greek state in Morea, technically subservient to the Sultan, but practically independent. In the second one, Austria, France, and Britain squared off in the Italian peninsula, resulting in the country being divided into spheres of control.
With the XXth century dawning, Ukraine found itself a regional power, with up-to-date military and infrastructure, surrounded by a resurgent Ottoman Empire to the south, and stable Russian Empire to the north. The eventual unification of Germany, and disintegration of Austria led to another European war, which pitted the alliance of France, Germany, and Sweden against Russia, Ukraine, Ottomans, and Britain. The war, starting in 1904 and continuing on and off until 1915, resulted in fast progress of military technology, and the overthrow of monarchies in Germany, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, with republican governments coming to power. The Treaty of Warsaw that ended the war saw much of the continent consumed by warfare, with very little gains, thus creating a balance of power.
Currently, Ukraine is a member of the European Democratic Bloc, created as an economical and military commonwealth in 1956 as a response to the threat of then-militaristic United Empire of America. After American Velvet Revolution of 1987, as the peaceful breakup of the Empire is often referred to, the Democratic Bloc came to include the Free States of Massachussets, Pennsylvania, and Greater Georgia.
Ukrainian peacekeepers are often deployed in the zones of military conflict throughout the world, usually being trusted upon as impartial, skilled force. While still a provider of agricultural products, Ukraine is now also a supplier of technological products, testing its first nuclear weapon in 1937, and sending a man into orbit by 1948.
The land popularly known as Ukraine has long been a battlefield between various factions striving for control, a perpetual no-man's land between the powers of Russia, Poland, the Tatars, and the Ottomans, the kind of place where the people who want to disappear go to. Torn between religions, ethnicities, and loyalties, and far removed from the glory days of what once was Kievan Rus, Ukrainian lands gave birth to a new kind of nation, the one formed as much by the military prowess of its inhabitants as by the principles that made them leave their previous homes in search of freedom from political or religious oppression.
The history of the modern state of Ukraine begins in the XVIIth century, when after a long and bloody war, the cossack army under the leadership of ataman Bogdan Khmelnitsky succeeds in expelling the Poles from the Eastern Ukraine. Despite many offers of alliance from Russia in the north, Khmelnitsky decided that Russia was a dangerous ally at best, and determined to continue the free state of Zaporizhka Sich, with the capital at Zaporizhye.
Subsequent decades had proven him right, as the fledgling state had to beat back not only the Polish incursions and Tatar raids from Crimea, but two full-scale invasion attempts from Russia. Its population swelling due to many runaway serfs from Polish and Russian territories, and its warrior culture still intact, the Sich was able to warrant its independence by the force of its arms. Its government of the time has been considered the first true European democracy, electing its military, financial, and political leaders by popular assembly at Zaporizhye. Its presense at the crossing of regional powers made sure that any moves in the area by one power would be resisted by the others, and thus the new cossack state had finally been able to reassert its situation by 1680s.
In the XVIIIth century, as Poland-Lithuania's hold on the Western Ukraine weakened, the Sich cossacks were received in the western territories as liberators, thus expanding their dominion. With much greater land and population, a stronger administrative structure became necessary, with the government moving to the centrally positioned ancient capital of Kiev. Russia under Tsar Peter attempted to intervene, however, battle-hardened cossacks were able to stop the Russian army before it crossed into the Ukrainian heartland. From now on, the new state started calling itself the Cossack Free State of Ukrayiina, or, more commonly, Ukraine.
The next centuries saw Ukraine become the main source of experienced, hardened mercenaries for much of Europe and the Middle East, serving in the Russian, Swedish, Italian, and Ottoman armies. With an easy source of troops available for a right price to any pretender, Russia descended into civil war in early XVIIIth century following the assassination of Tsar Peter, the state in which Russia would be for over sixty years. With Russia in turmoil, much of its outlying provinces were picked up by the Swedes, Poles, Ukrainians, Ottomans, and the other powers in the area.
In 1775, Prince Mikhail Vyazemsky of Russia finally united what was left of his dominions with help of Ukrainian mercenaries, being crowned Mikhail II in Moscow. He has paid dearly for their services, with the territory of Ukraine becoming exponentially greater than it has ever been. While Ukraine has been a much more liberal society than most of Europe, a number of disgruntled Russian nobles in the territories seceded to Ukraine attempted rebellion, asking Poland to intervene on their behalf. The resulting war was long and hard-fought, with the other nations entering down the line. Sweden and Austria entered on the Polish side, while the Ottomans and the French sided with the Ukrainians. Most of the fighting occurred around Poland/Ukraine border, with the exception of the second front of French-Austrian warfare.
During the war, several shortcomings of Ukrainian military became apparent to the country's leadership. While the cossacks were skilled warriors and mercenaries, they did not necessarily possess the organized leadership needed for large-scale military operations where winning depended less on individual prowess, but more on a carefully executed plan. Also, Ukraine did not possess the kind of industry that could support large-scale warfare on its own without resorting to purchasing arms and amunition from the other countries.
By 1787, after series of inconclusive battles, the sides were pretty much just where they started. Subsequent treaty resulted in disputed territories partitioned between Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, while no other territorial gains were made. In Ukraine, much emphasis was put into developing military technology, and upgrading the army to become a strong, organized fighting force. In Austria, in a meanwhile, the war has created a large level of popular discontent due to many casualties for no apparent gain. The discontent in France was even stronger, resulting in King Louis XVI's toppling by a popular uprising. The newly declared French Republic found itself at odds with most of its neighbours, and thus had to depend on Ukrainian mercenaries to fend off the Austrian, British, and royalist attacks. The ideas of the republic were heavily based on the Ukrainian model, not the Enlightenment philosophy that started to become popular in years before the revolution. In exchange, Ukraine received much military technology that allowed it to replace many obsolete designs in service.
By 1794, the revolution in American colonies of Britain gave the independence to the newly created United States of America. The new country was dominated by rich planter aristocracy, with the capital in Philadelphia, while New York remained in British hands. Due to harsh conditions the planters imposed upon their slaves and poorer citizens, the immigration to the West of the Appallachians has experienced its first major drive.
While suspected of pro-republican-French sympathies, Ukraine managed to stay neutral of the European conflict, attempting to rebuild its economy and military forces to be on par with that of the rest of the continent. By 1796, the French republic made peace with most of its enemies, who recognized its right to existense.
The XIXth century saw two outbreaks of conflict in Europe, one due to Greek revolts in the Ottoman Empire, and one due to the attempts at Italian unification. In the first one, the Ottomans faced the onslaught of the British and French armies, finally creating a limited Greek state in Morea, technically subservient to the Sultan, but practically independent. In the second one, Austria, France, and Britain squared off in the Italian peninsula, resulting in the country being divided into spheres of control.
With the XXth century dawning, Ukraine found itself a regional power, with up-to-date military and infrastructure, surrounded by a resurgent Ottoman Empire to the south, and stable Russian Empire to the north. The eventual unification of Germany, and disintegration of Austria led to another European war, which pitted the alliance of France, Germany, and Sweden against Russia, Ukraine, Ottomans, and Britain. The war, starting in 1904 and continuing on and off until 1915, resulted in fast progress of military technology, and the overthrow of monarchies in Germany, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, with republican governments coming to power. The Treaty of Warsaw that ended the war saw much of the continent consumed by warfare, with very little gains, thus creating a balance of power.
Currently, Ukraine is a member of the European Democratic Bloc, created as an economical and military commonwealth in 1956 as a response to the threat of then-militaristic United Empire of America. After American Velvet Revolution of 1987, as the peaceful breakup of the Empire is often referred to, the Democratic Bloc came to include the Free States of Massachussets, Pennsylvania, and Greater Georgia.
Ukrainian peacekeepers are often deployed in the zones of military conflict throughout the world, usually being trusted upon as impartial, skilled force. While still a provider of agricultural products, Ukraine is now also a supplier of technological products, testing its first nuclear weapon in 1937, and sending a man into orbit by 1948.