Medieval Great Powers Graded By 2 Unqualified Children

Grading Ancient Empires

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The Full Edition Of The History Of The Now Semi-Invaded Nation Of Ukraine

History Of The Now Semi-Invaded Nation Of Ukraine (Part 1)

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #1 of this series going from the 7th Century BC To the Mongols!

The Early Eras

Old Great Bulgaria

Early Ukrainian history started with the Ancient Greeks who in the 7th Century BC set up colonies along the Black Sea. Later as the Greek City States got gobbled by the Romans these colonies were taken,they later formed up the Bosphorus Kingdom, a vassal to the Romans. Also in this era the Old Bulgarian Empire was formed which existed in the south of Ukraine and the Non-Roman part of Crimea, but in 668 they were forced out by a horde known as the Khazars who you will learn about later.

The Keivan Rus And Golden Age Of Kiev

The Kievan Rus

In 862 A Viking Prince by the name of “Rurik The Great” Came Into Modern Day Finland and began to conquer much of Eastern Europe. After he conquered Kiev he declared the Grand Principality of the Keivan Rus. The Kievan Rus were very different from the nations with Viking roots as they were based on trade instead of well, conquering and other incredibly violent things. 70 years after Rurik, Another member of the Rurikid Dynasty, Grand Prince Sviatoslav I expanded the Rus to control much of modern Ukraine. Sviatoslav acquired the land from a war against the Jewish Horde of the Khazars (Seriously there was like a Mongol Or Hunnic style horde that was actually Jewish!). Then we get to the 2nd most famous Kievan leader “Vladimir The Great ” He converted from the Norse Pagan Gods to Russian Orthodox Christanity and then decreed that all citizens must do the same. The Kievan Rus reached its max size under “Yaroslav The Wise” and he also wrote the “Russkaya Pravda” the most famous piece of Keivan literature and the constitution of the Rus. But after Yaroslav the Rus began its decline. The decline of their closest ally the Byzantine (Late Roman) Empire which would economically damage the Rus. Then the final nail in the coffin was the Mongol Invasions where after the failed Kievan sneak attack at Kalka River, Genghis Khan ordered the destruction of the Keivan Rus and it quickly fell with Kiev itself being destroyed by the Mongols who burned the city. 

Archer D’Angelo

A 6th Grader with experience at the Ps32 Journal as Editor. He often writes about History and Games. He focuses on the Global News Category. He also is good at Canva and other Design programs used for newspapers. He is a Big Fan of History Video and Board Games.

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The History of Ukraine Part 2

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #2 of this series going from The Mongols to the Annexation by the Russian Empire!

Lithuanians, Poles, And Cossacks

During the 14th century, Poland and Lithuania fought back against the Mongol invaders, and after these conflicts eventually most of Ukraine passed to the rule of Poland and Lithuania. More particularly, the north-west corner of Ukraine became part of Poland. The King of Poland adopted the title of “High Lord and heir of Ruthenia” (Ruthenia is the Ancient Roman name for Ukraine). Lithuania took control of the rest including Kyiv following the decisive Lithuanian Victory at the Battle of The Blue Waters (1362/63), and the Grand Duke of Lithuania then adopted the title of “Grand Prince of The Kievan Rus”(Grand Duchy Of Lithuania Map Below). 

Grand Duchy Of Lithuania

        Also in 1441 in a  very similar area to the State Of Old Great Bulgaria Islamic Crimean Khanate Declared independence from the Mongol Golden Horde and they would stay independent until their conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 1470s. Also the Italian City State Of Genoa founded some colonies on the Crimean coast (Map Below) until the 1470s Ottoman conquest.

Republic Of Genoa

Also some Lithuanian aristocrats who settled in Ukraine made many Ukrainians into serfs, or farmers who had to work on land that they did not own. Then in 1569 the Union of Lublin was established Uniting possibly the strongest alliances in all of European history between Poland and Lithuania into a unified nation and one of the strongest in Europe, The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Map on Right). 

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Also for many years dating back to the Keivan Rus there were Nomadic Peoples called the Cossacks who were a considerable amount (About 25 Percent) of The Ukrainian population. In 1648 after almost 100 years of Polish-Lithuanian rule the Cossacks led a fight against their rule. The Cossacks asked Russia to help them defeat the Poles. The Cossacks won independence from Poland, but their new state soon became annexed by Tzar Alexis I and became part of the Russian Empire. Starting a 340 year period of Russian and later Soviet Rule.

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History Of Ukraine Part 3

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #3 of this series going from Fall Of the Cossacks to The End Of World War II!

Swedish Empire

Russian Control

The Cossacks Had gone into hiding as Bandits and Mercenaries as Russia took full control of the Eastern half of Ukraine. The Eastern Ukrainian People were forced to work as second class to the Russian People under direct orders from the Czar. But In 1708 the Hetmanate reformed siding with the Swedish Empire (Map Right) in The Great Northern War which due to the pure Swedish Incompetence (It was definitely not the Cossacks Fault) led to a solid one and a half years of existence that ended at the decisive defeat to Czar Peter Romanov (Also Known as Peter The Great) of the Russian Empire at The Battle Of Poltava (1709). After Poltava the Cossacks were destroyed by Peter’s Streltsy. After that the Ukranians were further assimilated through a process known as “Russification” by the Romanovs. 

Partitions Of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Meanwhile Western Ukraine was under the increasingly unstable while peaceful Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. But in 1763 the Russian aligned Stanislaw Poniatowski was Elected the Grand Duke Of Poland-Lithuania. Poniatowski was a Liberal Ruler embracing the Ideals of the Enlightenment. But with these moves he made the lives of his citizens much better but strayed away from his old and more powerful friends who thought they were controlling him, the Russian Czardom. In 1772 They demanded they must end the Reforms or be partitioned between the Russians, Prussians, And Austrians and Stanislaw decided to stand and fight. The First Partition War of Poland was an Utter failure with much of eastern Ukraine being ceded to the Russians. Now with Ukraine almost united as a Russian territory and the chaos of the American and later French Revolution in the west kept the Russians Busy. But in 1792 Stanislaus decided to do just a little more reform and Russia yet again invaded this time taking Warsaw and then Partitioning Ukraine into Russia while Galicia (South-West Ukraine) went to Austria. Now Ukraine was basically Unified under Russia. But If you were wondering how the at that point tiny nation of Poland ended up well Tadeusz Kościuszko a veteran of the American Revolution, Strong Abolitionist against Slavery and Close Friend of Thomas Jefferson, Decided to try and reclaim the old Polish Territories. But in a decisive ambush in 1795 the elderly General Alexander Suvorov captured Kościuszko and Dissolved the Poland Lithuania Commonwealth. Making basically all Of Ukraine Russian. And Unifying the East and West of Ukraine in a way that it hadn’t been really since The Grand Duchy Of Lithuania.

Full Size Of The Russian Empire

In the 1800s Ukraine was very much Russian and began to industrialize as a completely Russian state. The Ukrainians kept their language but they were in the mind of others just a part of the Russian Empire. During WW1 3.5 Million Ukrainians fought on both the Russian and Austrian side. With many battles being Austrian Ukrainian Vs Russian Ukrainian. But by 1917 Russia was collapsing to Communists and Democrats alike. Ukraine took advantage of this by declaring independence and joining with the Germans. But after Germany surrendered The Soviet Union under Lenin Conquered Ukraine. 

 The Soviets put in new economic development into Ukraine but then Stalin said in a act of Genocide they had to make grain for the entirety of Russia before they could use it themselves leading to a Famine that killed 5 Million Ukrainians.Before World War II in 1939 The German Reich was allied with the Soviets in something called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and together they invaded Poland which actually included Galicia, the part of Ukraine given to Austria during the Polish Partitions. And for the first time since the Kievan Rus, Ukraine was Unified. But 3 Years Later in 1941 Germany ended the Pact in Operation Barbarossa and Germany declared war on the Soviets. They quickly Encircled Kiev capturing 600,000 Soldiers in a blitzkrieg. Ukraine was made into the state of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Under German occupation many of the Jews were sent to concentration camps in the Halocaust 600,000 Ukrainian Jews were murdered. It was an atrocity that still affects Europe to this day. Ukraine was a hotspot of Jews since the Kievan Rus and during the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Early Polish-Lithuanian period there was a Jewish Golden age in Ukraine. Nowadays however Ukraine has barely any Jews and this is mainly due to the Halocaust. Also the Reich basically made the Ukrainians into slaves under the German Reich. In 1945 the Soviets won the war and retook Ukraine but Ukraine was in ruin.

Archer D’Angelo

7th Grader with experience at the Ps32 Journal as Editor. He often writes about BKI News, History, and Games. He focuses on the BKI News & Global News Categories. He also is good at Canva and other Design programs used by the Terrapin Times. He is a Big Fan of History as well as Video and Board Games related to History.

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