Prologue
The Kievan Rus' as it was in the 11th century.
The history of Ukraine could perhaps be indroduced by the Kievan Rus', a powerful state in eastern Europe during the middle ages. The Kievan Rus' was founded by the Varangians, who came to the area of Novgorod and Ladoga from Scandinavia. They eventually moved south to the area of Kiev, which became the most important city in the Kievan Rus'. The state thrived, but soon fragmented into rivaling states, and when the Mongols invaded the Kievan Rus', Kiev and the Rus' were ruined. Soon, some surviving states became dominated and controlled by the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and eventually the Crimean Khanate. After the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged to become the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Meanwhile, one of the more powerful states of the former Rus', the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, soon conquered the rest of the Rus' states, and in 1547, Ivan IV of Moscuvy declared the formation of the Tsardom of Russia, which he considered the successor of the Kievan Rus'.
Bohdan Khmelnysky, father of the Ukrainian identity.
In 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky founded the Cossack Hetmanate and led an uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This led to a period of time known as "The Ruin", a 30-year war between Russia, Poland, the Turks and the Cossacks for control of Ukraine. Eventually Ukraine came under the control of Russia, with western Ukraine annexed during the Polish Partitions and southern Ukraine coming under Russian control during the annexations of the Crimean Khanate. Meanwhile, another region of western Ukraine, Galicia, was ruled by the Austrian Empire after the Polish Partitions.
The taking of the Warsaw arsenel.
This brings us to the start of the modern-era of Ukrainian independence, the 1830 Uprisings. The Uprisings began in November, when a Polish cadet attacked the Belweder Palace, the main seat of the Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, the de facto viceroy of Poland. This sparked a Polish uprising against the Russian government which eventually saw the Ukrainians, Belarussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians and many minorities in the newly-conquered Russian territories of the Caucasus also raising arms against the Russians. The Russian government and army simply could not fight against the mass of uprisings in its eastern territories. The chaos soon spread to the Austrian Empire, when Ukrainians in Russia convinced the Ukrainians and Hungarians in Austria to rebel against the Austrian government, soon joined by other minorities in Austria. These uprisings succeeded, except in the cases of Slovenia and Bohemia, where the Germans in the area were able to defeat the rebels.
King Pavlo Donchyshyn after his ascension to rulership of the newly-created Kingdom of Ukraine.
As the uprisings succeeded, many of the minorities began appointing leaders, who declared independence for themselves. The Ukrainians declared Pavlo Donchyshyn, a serf from western Ukraine who led the Ukrainians in the uprisings, to become the new monarch of the newly-created Kingdom of Ukraine.
The Second Congress of Vienna was coincidentally quite similar to the first one.
In 1835, the great powers of Europe gathered during the Second Congress of Vienna to discuss the return of peace in eastern Europe. The great powers decided to allow the newly-created states to maintain independence, but the Russian and Austrian Empires were allowed to continue having influence in eastern Europe, and the Ukrainians were to be divided into three separate states, the Kingdom of Ukraine, the Kingdom of Ruthenia, and the Don Cossack Hetmanate. This was to ensure that the Ukrainian state didn't become too strong.
Map of Europe in 1836 according to the popular strategy game, Victoria 2.
In the current year of 1836, the newly-independence states enjoy sovereignty, but the lands formerly part of the Austrian Empire are threatened by the Austrian Empire, who still has a considerable larger army than the new states. Meanwhile, the newly created former Russian states are enjoying independence free from worry of a Russian attack, who suffered a crisis after the assassination of Nicholas I, who ruled Russia during the Uprisings of 1830.
________________________________________________________________________________
Currently, Ukraine is no different than it was under the control of the Russian Empire; literacy is extremely low, the administration is inefficient, and the country's economy is dominated by agriculture, and industry is virtually nonexistant. Its army was in shambles and had no navy to speak of. The minorities ironically included in the newly created state could cause potential problems.
On January 1st of 1836, the Kingdom of Ruthenia petitioned for annexation into the Kingdom of Ukraine. The Ruthenians feared that the Austrians would invade and subjugate them. However, they hoped that uniting with Ukraine would deterr Austria from doing so. The nationalist sentiment in Ruthenia also made it reasonable to unite with Ukraine. This is where we start our AAR.
Sorry for such an unrealistic reason for Ukraine's independence, it's clear the powers of Europe wouldn't accept such a fate. Also, sorry for a short first update, Puush is down. :\ Also sorry to anyone who saw this post before I finished editing the many mistakes I made on this post.
