Ukraine
was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the
10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was
incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus
laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A
new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th
century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite
pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years.
During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic
territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist
Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of
independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet
rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over
8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for
some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was
achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as
the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic
reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange
Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to
overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally
monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO.
Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor
YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime
minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election, brought on by a
political crisis in the spring of 2007, saw Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, as head of an
"Orange" coalition, installed as a new prime minister in December
2007.