198-547: The Orange Revolution ( Ukrainian : Помаранчева революція , romanized : Pomarancheva revoliutsiia ) was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election run-off which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption , voter intimidation and electoral fraud . Kyiv ,
396-539: A non-confidence vote in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine , a decision Prime Minister Yanukovych refused to recognise. By the Constitution of Ukraine , the non-confidence vote mandated the government's resignation, but the parliament had no means to enforce a resignation without the co-operation of Prime Minister Yanukovych and outgoing President Kuchma. On 3 December 2004, Ukraine's Supreme Court finally broke
594-470: A revolt , and, with the help of Denmark , blockaded maritime trade to neutral Elbląg (Elbing). Báthory, unable to penetrate the city's extensive fortifications, succumbed to the demands for greater privileges and freedoms. However, his successful Livonian campaign ended in the annexation of Livonia and the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia , respectively), thus expanding
792-414: A weak yer vowel that would eventually disappear completely, for example Old East Slavic котъ /kɔtə/ > Ukrainian кіт /kit/ 'cat' (via transitional stages such as /koˑtə̆/, /kuˑt(ə̆)/, /kyˑt/ or similar) or Old East Slavic печь /pʲɛtʃʲə/ > Ukrainian піч /pitʃ/ 'oven' (via transitional stages such as /pʲeˑtʃʲə̆/, /pʲiˑtʃʲ/ or similar). This raising and other phonological developments of the time, such as
990-636: A body of national literature, institute a Ukrainian-language educational system, and form an independent state (the Ukrainian People's Republic , shortly joined by the West Ukrainian People's Republic ). During this brief independent statehood the stature and use of Ukrainian greatly improved. In the Russian Empire Census of 1897 the following picture emerged, with Ukrainian being the second most spoken language of
1188-670: A centuries-long tradition of a nobles' democracy ( Golden Liberty ). Henry already posed as a candidate before Sigismund's death and received widespread support from the pro-French factions. The choice was a political move aimed at curtailing Habsburg hegemony, ending skirmishes with the French-allied Ottomans , and profiting from the lucrative trade with France. It was also believed that an Austrian Archduke could be too powerful and attempt to limit noble privileges. French envoys had also offered large amounts of bribes, amounting to several hundred thousand ecus . Upon ascending
1386-454: A century, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, while its neighbours stabilised their internal affairs and increased their military might. The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791 , which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe. The revolutionary Constitution recast
1584-572: A contract with merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea . Countless rivers and waterways in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula , Pilica , Bug , San , Nida , Wieprz , and Neman . The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most of
1782-703: A fierce legal challenge to the election results using both the Ukrainian courts and the Election Commission complaint procedures. However, all their complaints were dismissed as without merit by both the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the Central Election Commission. On 10 January 2005 the Election Commission officially declared Yushchenko as the winner of the presidential election with the final results falling within 0.01% of
1980-544: A joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state revolution in Ukraine". The communists left the alliance: Symonenko opposed the idea of a single candidate from the alliance in the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004 ; but the other three parties remained allies until July 2006. (In the autumn of 2001 both Tymoshenko and Yushchenko had broached the idea of setting up such a coalition.) On 2 July 2004, Our Ukraine and
2178-501: A mass scale were opened to satisfy the demands of the nobility as consumers. At the height of the Great Northern War a coalition ( Warsaw Confederation ) against Augustus II was formed by Stanisław Leszczyński and other magnates sponsored by Sweden. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus entered the war as Elector of Saxony. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by
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#17327660659892376-603: A missed "chance to become a worthy member of the European family and to put an end to the rule of the oligarchy ". President Viktor Yushchenko decreed in 2005 that 22 November (the starting day of the Orange Revolution) will be a non-public holiday "Day of Freedom". This date was moved to 22 January (and merged with Unification Day ) by President Viktor Yanukovych late December 2011. President Yanukovych stated he moved "Day of Freedom" because of "numerous appeals from
2574-478: A mixture of: The end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1572 – after nearly two centuries – disrupted the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility. When presented with periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the szlachta exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not establish
2772-478: A network of centers and public organizations in Ukraine engaged in monitoring the media and elections. On November 30, 2004, at the very beginning of the protests, Karatnycky stated in his speech at the Knickerbocker Club : "I think the ‘orange revolution’ will win this time, and I can’t conceive of a set of circumstances under which Yushchenko won’t be president of the country". In the two years before
2970-441: A nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark , a large farmstead worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes and nobles in the early years of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade . The economic strength of Commonwealth grain trade waned from the late 17th century on. Trade relationships were disrupted by
3168-591: A policy of defending Ukraine's interests within the Soviet Union. He proudly promoted the beauty of the Ukrainian language and developed plans to expand the role of Ukrainian in higher education. He was removed, however, after only a brief tenure, for being too lenient on Ukrainian nationalism. The new party boss from 1972 to 1989, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky , purged the local party, was fierce in suppressing dissent, and insisted Russian be spoken at all official functions, even at local levels. His policy of Russification
3366-414: A rerun of the entire election rather than just the run-off, as a second-best option if Yanukovych was not awarded the presidency. On 8 December 2004 the parliament amended laws to provide a legal framework for the new round of elections. The parliament also approved the changes to the Constitution , implementing a political reform backed by outgoing President Kuchma as a part of a political compromise between
3564-565: A result of close Slavic contacts with the remnants of the Scythian and Sarmatian population north of the Black Sea , lasting into the early Middle Ages , the appearance of the voiced fricative γ/г (romanized "h"), in modern Ukrainian and some southern Russian dialects is explained by the assumption that it initially emerged in Scythian and related eastern Iranian dialects, from earlier common Proto-Indo-European *g and *gʰ . During
3762-644: A self-aware Ukrainian nation would threaten the unity of the empire. In 1804 Ukrainian as a subject and language of instruction was banned from schools. In 1811, by order of the Russian government, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was closed. In 1847 the Brotherhood of St Cyril and Methodius was terminated. The same year Taras Shevchenko was arrested, exiled for ten years, and banned for political reasons from writing and painting. In 1862 Pavlo Chubynsky
3960-476: A senior researcher at Freedom House , who was born in New York into a family of Ukrainian immigrants, has repeatedly traveled to Ukraine to meet with representatives of public groups, figures of the country's political elite, as well as people from Viktor Yushchenko's team. When opposition candidate Yushchenko visited New York, Karatnycky acted as a connector, organizing meetings with American associations, such as
4158-519: A series of blows during the following decades. Władysław's brother, John II Casimir , proved to be weak and impotent. The multicultural and mega-diverse federation already suffered domestic problems. As persecution of religious and ethnic minorities strengthened, several groups started to rebel. A major rebellion of self-governed Ukrainian Cossacks inhabiting south-eastern borderlands of the Commonwealth rioted against Polish and Catholic oppression of Orthodox Ukraine in 1648, in what came to be known as
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#17327660659894356-594: A series of mass protests, general strikes and sit-ins with the intent of crippling the government and forcing it to concede defeat. In view of the threat of illegitimate government acceding to power, Yushchenko's camp announced the creation of the Committee of National Salvation which declared a nationwide political strike. On 1 December 2004, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution that strongly condemned pro- separatist and federalisation actions, and passed
4554-613: A state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar political systems existed in the contemporary city-states like the Republic of Venice . Both states were styled "Serenissima Respublica" or the " Most Serene Republic ". At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization , absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization , confederation and federation, democracy and religious tolerance . This political system unusual for its time stemmed from
4752-416: A strong and long-lasting dynasty . This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Stefan Batory from Transylvania (1576–86), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This
4950-455: A substantial increase in the power of the Polish magnates , and the transformation of szlachta democracy into magnate oligarchy . The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over
5148-468: A term used from 1573 on), included: The three regions (see below) of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy . Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poseł ( deputy ) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions. Golden Liberty created
5346-535: A training camp for Ukrainian activists; according to him, "Croatians, Romanians, Slovakians, and Serbians – leaders of the group that led civic opposition to Milošević – taught Ukrainian kids how to ‘control the temperature’ of protesting crowds". Democratic activists were trained on how to resist government pressure, as well as establish communication with the public and the police. Karatnycky also served as president of Freedom House from 1996 to 2003 and executive director from 1993 to 1996, and in this position helped create
5544-890: A variant name of the Little Russian language . In a private letter from 1854, Taras Shevchenko lauds "our splendid Ukrainian language". Valuyev's decree from 1863 derides the "Little Russian" language throughout, but also mentions "the so-called Ukrainian language" once. In Galicia, the earliest applications of the term Ukrainian to the language were in the hyphenated names Ukrainian-Ruthenian (1866, by Paulin Święcicki ) or Ruthenian-Ukrainian (1871, by Panteleimon Kulish and Ivan Puluj ), with non-hyphenated Ukrainian language appearing shortly thereafter (in 1878, by Mykhailo Drahomanov ). A following ban on Ukrainian books led to Alexander II 's secret Ems Ukaz , which prohibited publication and importation of most Ukrainian-language books, public performances and lectures, and even banned
5742-479: Is a free nation and free people." According to him, this is one of the great achievements of the Orange Revolution. In the 2010 presidential election Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner which was labeled by some Yanukovych supporters as "an end to this Orange nightmare". Immediately after his election Yanukovych promised to "clear the debris of misunderstanding and old problems that emerged during
5940-646: Is based on the character of contemporary written sources, ultimately reflecting socio-historical developments, and he further subdivides the Middle period into three phases: Ukraine annually marks the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language on 9 November, the Eastern Orthodox feast day of Nestor the Chronicler . The era of Kievan Rus' ( c. 880–1240) is the subject of some linguistic controversy, as
6138-471: Is more mutual intelligibility with Belarusian , and a closer lexical distance to West Slavic Polish and South Slavic Bulgarian . Ukrainian is a descendant of Old East Slavic , a language spoken in the medieval state of Kievan Rus' . In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the language developed into Ruthenian , where it became an official language, before a process of Polonization began in
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6336-617: Is referred to as "Old Ukrainian", but elsewhere, and in contemporary sources, is known as the Ruthenian language, and from the end of the 18th century to the present what in Ukraine is known as "Modern Ukrainian", but elsewhere is known as just Ukrainian. Polish-Lithuania The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or
6534-544: The 2004 Ukrainian presidential election , the United States spent $ 65 million "to aid political organizations in Ukraine, paying to bring opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to meet U.S. leaders and helping to underwrite exit polls indicating he won a disputed runoff election." State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said that the U.S. money was not going to help a particular candidate, but to institutions that are necessary for free elections. Freedom House and
6732-471: The 2004 presidential election was considered to be in "ideal condition" for an outburst from the public. During this time, Ukrainians were impatient while waiting for the economic and political transformation. The results of the election were thought to be fraudulent. The Revolution empowered many Ukrainians to take to the streets and participate in the protests, some lasting as long as seventeen days. The protests did not have national participation, but mostly
6930-499: The 2010 presidential election , Yanukovych became Yushchenko's successor as President of Ukraine after the Central Election Commission and international observers declared that the presidential election was conducted fairly. Georgiy Gongadze , a Ukrainian journalist and the founder of Ukrayinska Pravda (a newspaper well known for publicising the corruption or unethical conduct of Ukrainian politicians),
7128-572: The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations . A year before the elections, Karatnycky, together with NDI and Freedom House, gathered 1,023 observers from Central and Eastern Europe, who organized the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations . Karatnycky himself took a direct part as an observer during the second round of the presidential elections and witnessed violations. In August 2004, he took part in
7326-505: The Danube River , never again to threaten central Europe. John Sobieski's death in 1696 arguably ended the period of national sovereignty, and Poland's relative authority over the region dwindled swiftly. By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought the Commonwealth to the brink of civil war and the state became increasingly susceptible to foreign influence. The remaining European powers perpetually meddled in
7524-555: The First Polish Republic , was a federative real union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , existing from 1569 to 1795. This state was among the largest and most populated countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its peak in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth spanned nearly 1,000,000 km (390,000 sq mi) and supported a multi-ethnic population of approximately 12 million as of 1618. The official languages of
7722-734: The Four-Year Sejm 's May Constitution , came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the Russian Empire, the German Kingdom of Prussia , and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy . By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918. The political doctrine of
7920-646: The Indo-European languages family, and it is spoken primarily in Ukraine . It is the first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians . Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet , a variant of the Cyrillic script . The standard language is studied by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Potebnia Institute of Linguistics . Comparisons are often made between Ukrainian and Russian , another East Slavic language, yet there
8118-677: The Khmelnytsky Uprising . It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav , for protection by the Russian Tsar. In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland, and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Khmelnytsky asked the Tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection. Russian annexation of Zaporizhian Ukraine gradually supplanted Polish influence in that part of Europe. In
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8316-723: The Latin language. Much of the influence of Poland on the development of the Ukrainian language has been attributed to this period and is reflected in multiple words and constructions used in everyday Ukrainian speech that were taken from Polish or Latin. Examples of Polish words adopted from this period include zavzhdy (always; taken from old Polish word zawżdy ) and obitsiaty (to promise; taken from Polish obiecać ) and from Latin (via Polish) raptom (suddenly) and meta (aim or goal). Significant contact with Tatars and Turks resulted in many Turkic words, particularly those involving military matters and steppe industry, being adopted into
8514-620: The National Democratic Institute also funded civic groups that counted votes and announced exit poll results. In late November 2004, Senator Richard Lugar arrived in Kyiv as a representative of President George W. Bush and delivered a message to President Leonid Kuchma : "you play a central role in ensuring that Ukraine’s election is democratic and free of fraud and manipulation. A tarnished election, however, will lead us to review our relations with Ukraine." Throughout
8712-569: The Novgorod Republic did not call themselves Rus ' until the 14th century; earlier Novgorodians reserved the term Rus ' for the Kiev , Pereyaslavl and Chernigov principalities. At the same time as evidenced by contemporary chronicles, the ruling princes and kings of Galicia–Volhynia and Kiev called themselves "people of Rus ' " (in foreign sources called " Ruthenians "), and Galicia–Volhynia has alternately been called
8910-723: The Ottoman Empire . In 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in the 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottomans. For its centuries-long opposition to Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity). During the next 16 years, the Great Turkish War would drive the Turks permanently south of
9108-644: The Polish Enlightenment began to sprout. In 1764, aristocrat Stanisław August Poniatowski was elected monarch with the connivance and support of his former lover Catherine the Great , a German noblewoman who became Empress of Russia. Poniatowski's attempts at reform were met with staunch resistance both internally and externally. Any goal of stabilizing the Commonwealth was dangerous for its ambitious and aggressive neighbours. Like his predecessors, he sponsored artists and architects. In 1765 he founded
9306-626: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . By the 18th century, Ruthenian diverged into regional variants, and the modern Ukrainian language developed in the territory of present-day Ukraine. Russification saw the Ukrainian language banned as a subject from schools and as a language of instruction in the Russian Empire , and continued in various ways in the Soviet Union . Even so, the language continued to see use throughout
9504-605: The Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791). In the preamble of the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791) the dualistic nature of the state was confirmed and separate monarchial titles of Stanisław August Poniatowski were included: King of Poland ( Polish : Krol Polski ) and Grand Duke of Lithuania ( Polish : Wielki xiązę litewski ), also the land envoys of the Polish Crown and
9702-567: The Socialist Party of Ukraine and Petro Symonenko of the Communist Party of Ukraine received 5.82% and 4.97%, respectively. Since no candidate had won more than 50% of the cast ballots, Ukrainian law mandated a run-off vote between two leading candidates. After the announcement of the run-off, Oleksandr Moroz threw his support behind Viktor Yushchenko . The Progressive Socialist Party's Nataliya Vitrenko , who won 1.53% of
9900-547: The Third Statute of Lithuania in which it was stated that the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is a federation of two countries – Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland where both countries have equal rights within it. In the 17th century and later it was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland' ( Polish : Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska , Latin : Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae ),
10098-641: The Thirty Years' War ; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. During this period, Poland was experiencing a cultural awakening and extensive developments in arts and architecture; the first Vasa king openly sponsored foreign painters, craftsmen, musicians and engineers, who settled in the Commonwealth at his request. Sigismund's eldest son, Ladislaus succeeded him as Władysław IV in 1632 with no major opposition. A skilled tactician, he invested in artillery , modernised
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#173276606598910296-499: The Union of Vilnius and Radom and the Union of Grodno . Lithuania's vulnerable position and rising tensions on its eastern flank persuaded the nobles to seek a closer bond with Poland. The idea of a federation presented better economic opportunities, whilst securing Lithuania's borders from hostile states to the north, south and east. Lesser Lithuanian nobility were eager to share the personal privileges and political liberties enjoyed by
10494-597: The Warsaw Confederation Act of 1573 , though the practical degree of religious freedom varied. Poland acted as the dominant partner in the union. Polonization of nobles was generally voluntary, but state efforts at religious conversion were sometimes resisted. After a long period of prosperity, the Commonwealth entered a period of protracted political, military, and economic decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbours, Austria , Prussia , and Russia , during
10692-620: The Warsaw Corps of Cadets , the first state school in Poland for all classes of society. In 1773 the king and parliament formed the Commission of National Education , the first Ministry of Education in European history. In 1792, the king ordered the creation of Virtuti Militari , the oldest military decoration still in use. Stanisław August also admired the culture of ancient kingdoms, particularly Rome and Greece; Neoclassicism became
10890-472: The bourgeoisie , resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a rather slow development of industries . The nobility could also regulate the price of grain for their advantage, thus acquiring much wealth. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin . Several ancient trading routes such as the Amber Road ( Pic. 4 ) extended across Poland–Lithuania, which
11088-399: The law of Ukraine "On protecting the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" was approved by the parliament, formalizing rules governing the usage of the language and introducing penalties for violations. The literary Ukrainian language, which was preceded by Old East Slavic literature, may be subdivided into two stages: during the 12th to 18th centuries what in Ukraine
11286-425: The 11th–12th century, but started becoming more similar to them around the 13th–15th centuries. The modern Russian language hence developed from the fusion of this Novgorod dialect and the common dialect spoken by the other Kievan Rus', whereas the modern Ukrainian and Belarusian languages developed from dialects which did not differ from each other in a significant way. Ukrainian linguist Stepan Smal-Stotsky denies
11484-456: The 13th century, eastern parts of Rus (including Moscow) came under Tatar rule until their unification under the Tsardom of Muscovy , whereas the south-western areas (including Kyiv ) were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . For the following four centuries, the languages of the two regions evolved in relative isolation from each other. Direct written evidence of the existence of
11682-625: The 13th century, when German settlers were invited to Ukraine by the princes of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, German words began to appear in the language spoken in Ukraine. Their influence would continue under Poland not only through German colonists but also through the Yiddish-speaking Jews. Often such words involve trade or handicrafts. Examples of words of German or Yiddish origin spoken in Ukraine include dakh ("roof"), rura ("pipe"), rynok ("market"), kushnir ("furrier"), and majster ("master" or "craftsman"). In
11880-657: The 16th century. From Gdańsk, ships carried cargo to the major ports of the Low Countries , such as Antwerp and Amsterdam . The land routes, mostly to the German provinces of the Holy Roman Empire such as the cities of Leipzig and Nuremberg , were used for the export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides , salt, tobacco, hemp and cotton from the Greater Poland region. In turn,
12078-639: The Americas rendered the Commonwealth's supplies less crucial which resulted in financial losses. Augustus III spent little time in the Commonwealth, instead preferring the Saxon city of Dresden . He appointed Heinrich von Brühl as viceroy and minister of Polish affairs who in turn left the politics to Polish magnate families, such as the Czartoryskis and the Radziwiłłs . It was also during this period that
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#173276606598912276-461: The Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after its adoption. The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and trade, though there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories – notably paper mills , leather tanneries , ironworks , glassworks and brickyards . Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers. The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in
12474-426: The Commonwealth imported wine, beer, fruit, exotic spices, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries , Pic. 5 ), furniture, fabrics as well as industrial products like steel and tools. The agricultural sector was dominated by feudalism based on the plantation system ( serfs ). Slavery was forbidden in Poland in the 15th century, and formally abolished in Lithuania in 1588, replaced by the second enserfment. Typically
12672-402: The Commonwealth of the Polish Kingdom, or the Commonwealth of Poland. Western Europeans often simplified the name to 'Poland' and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Poland, or just Poland. The terms 'Commonwealth of Poland' and 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów , Latin : Res Publica Utriusque Nationis ) were used in
12870-472: The Commonwealth was our state is a republic under the presidency of the King . Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that Rex regnat et non-gubernat ("The King reigns but [ lit. 'and'] does not govern"). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king ( Pic. 1 ). The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa , negotiated at
13068-469: The Commonwealth were Polish and Latin , with Catholicism as the state religion. The Commonwealth was established as a single entity by the Union of Lublin on 1 July 1569. The two nations had previously been in a personal union since the Krewo Agreement of 1385 and the subsequent marriage of Queen Jadwiga of Poland to Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania , who was crowned jure uxoris King of Poland. Their descendant, Sigismund II Augustus , enforced
13266-454: The Commonwealth's influence into the Baltics . Most importantly, Poland gained the Hanseatic city of Riga on the Baltic Sea . In 1587, Sigismund Vasa – the son of John III of Sweden and Catherine Jagiellon – won the election, but his claim was overtly contested by Maximilian III of Austria , who launched a military expedition to challenge the new king. His defeat in 1588 at the hands of Jan Zamoyski sealed Sigismund's right to
13464-431: The Cossack motherland, Ukrajina , as a self-appellation for the nation of Ukrainians, and Ukrajins'ka mova for the language. Many writers published works in the Romantic tradition of Europe demonstrating that Ukrainian was not merely a language of the village but suitable for literary pursuits. However, in the Russian Empire expressions of Ukrainian culture and especially language were repeatedly persecuted for fear that
13662-498: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : posłow ziemskich Korony Polskiey, y Wielkiego Xięstwa Litewskiego ) were mentioned. The English term Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and German Polen–Litauen are seen as renderings of the 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' variant. Other informal names include the 'Republic of Nobles' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita szlachecka ) and the 'First Commonwealth' ( Polish : I Rzeczpospolita ) or 'First Polish Republic' ( Polish : Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita ),
13860-490: The Kingdom of Poland; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking. Mining developed in the south-west region of Poland which was rich in natural resources such as lead , coal, copper and salt. The currency used in Poland–Lithuania was the złoty (meaning "the golden") and its subunit, the grosz . Foreign coins in the form of ducats , thalers and shillings were widely accepted and exchanged. The city of Gdańsk had
14058-483: The October 2004 presidential election. The 2004 presidential election in Ukraine eventually featured two main candidates: The election took place in a highly charged atmosphere, with the Yanukovych team and the outgoing president's administration using their control of the government and state apparatus for intimidation of Yushchenko and his supporters. In September 2004 Yushchenko suffered dioxin poisoning under mysterious circumstances. While he survived and returned to
14256-685: The Orange Revolution and Georgia 's 2003 Rose Revolution . In the aftermath of the 2011 South Ossetian presidential election (in December 2011) and during the protests following the 2011 Russian elections (also in December 2011) the Ambassador of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation Dmitry Medoyev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Putin's supporters named the Orange Revolution an infamous foreknowledge for their countries. Putin also claimed that
14454-476: The Orthodox church spoke Ruthenian. The 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement between Cossack Hetmanate and Alexis of Russia divided Ukraine between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia. During the following century, both monarchies became increasingly intolerant of Ukrainian own cultural and political aspirations. Ukrainians found themselves in a colonial situation. The Russian centre adopted
14652-515: The Poles to take and occupy Moscow for the next two years. The disgraced Vasili IV of Russia was transported in a cage to Warsaw where he paid a tribute to Sigismund; Vasili was later murdered in captivity. The Commonwealth forces were eventually driven out on 4 November 1612 (celebrated as Unity Day in Russia). The war concluded with a truce that granted Poland–Lithuania extensive territories in
14850-687: The Polish szlachta , but did not accept Polish demands for the incorporation of the Grand Duchy into Poland as a mere province, with no sense of autonomy. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł (Radvila Rudasis) and his cousin Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł , two prominent nobles and military commanders in Lithuania, vocally opposed the union. A fierce proponent of a single unified Commonwealth was Sigismund II Augustus , who
15048-470: The Polish nobility. Many Ukrainian nobles learned the Polish language and converted to Catholicism during that period in order to maintain their lofty aristocratic position. Lower classes were less affected because literacy was common only in the upper class and clergy. The latter were also under significant Polish pressure after the Union with the Catholic Church . Most of the educational system
15246-542: The Principality or Kingdom of Ruthenia. Also according to Andrey Zaliznyak, the Novgorodian dialect differed significantly from that of other dialects of Kievan Rus during the 11th–12th century, but started becoming more similar to them around 13th–15th centuries. The modern Russian language hence developed from the fusion of this Novgorodian dialect and the common dialect spoken by the other Kievan Rus, whereas
15444-557: The Russian Empire. According to the Imperial census's terminology, the Russian language ( Русскій ) was subdivided into Ukrainian (Малорусскій, ' Little Russian '), what is known as Russian today (Великорусскій, ' Great Russian '), and Belarusian (Бѣлорусскій, 'White Russian'). The following table shows the distribution of settlement by native language ( "по родному языку" ) in 1897 in Russian Empire governorates ( guberniyas ) that had more than 100,000 Ukrainian speakers. Although in
15642-460: The Soviet Union and a special term, "a language of inter-ethnic communication", was coined to denote its status. After the death of Stalin (1953), a general policy of relaxing the language policies of the past was implemented (1958 to 1963). The Khrushchev era which followed saw a policy of relatively lenient concessions to development of the languages at the local and republic level, though its results in Ukraine did not go nearly as far as those of
15840-519: The Soviet policy of Ukrainianization in the 1920s. Journals and encyclopedic publications advanced in the Ukrainian language during the Khrushchev era, as well as transfer of Crimea under Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction. Yet, the 1958 school reform that allowed parents to choose the language of primary instruction for their children, unpopular among the circles of the national intelligentsia in parts of
16038-734: The Swedish parliament, Charles crossed into the Commonwealth and vanquished the Saxe-Polish forces at the Battle of Kliszów in 1702 and at the Battle of Pułtusk in 1703. Charles then succeeded in dethroning Augustus and coercing the Sejm (parliament) to replace him with Stanisław in 1704. Augustus regained the throne in 1709, but his own death in 1733 sparked the War of the Polish Succession in which Stanisław once more attempted to seize
16236-551: The USSR, meant that non-Russian languages would slowly give way to Russian in light of the pressures of survival and advancement. The gains of the past, already largely reversed by the Stalin era, were offset by the liberal attitude towards the requirement to study the local languages (the requirement to study Russian remained). Parents were usually free to choose the language of study of their children (except in few areas where attending
16434-522: The Ukrainian Orange Revolution to its peaceful conclusion. According to one version of events recounted by The New York Times , Ukrainian security agencies played an unusual role in the Orange Revolution, with a KGB successor agency in the former Soviet state providing qualified support to the political opposition. As per the paper report, on 28 November 2004 over 10,000 MVS (Internal Ministry) troops were mobilised to put down
16632-432: The Ukrainian capital, was the focal point of the movement's campaign of civil resistance , with thousands of protesters demonstrating daily. Nationwide, this was highlighted by a series of acts of civil disobedience , sit-ins , and general strikes organized by the opposition movement. The protests were prompted by reports from several domestic and foreign election monitors as well as the widespread public perception that
16830-564: The Ukrainian language dates to the late 16th century. By the 16th century, a peculiar official language formed: a mixture of the liturgical standardised language of Old Church Slavonic , Ruthenian and Polish . The influence of the latter gradually increased relative to the former two, as the nobility and rural large-landowning class, known as the szlachta , was largely Polish-speaking. Documents soon took on many Polish characteristics superimposed on Ruthenian phonetics. Polish–Lithuanian rule and education also involved significant exposure to
17028-477: The Ukrainian language held the formal position of the principal local language in the Ukrainian SSR . However, practice was often a different story: Ukrainian always had to compete with Russian, and the attitudes of the Soviet leadership towards Ukrainian varied from encouragement and tolerance to de facto banishment. Officially, there was no state language in the Soviet Union until the very end when it
17226-465: The Ukrainian language. Examples include torba (bag) and tyutyun (tobacco). Because of the substantial number of loanwords from Polish, German, Czech and Latin, early modern vernacular Ukrainian ( prosta mova , " simple speech ") had more lexical similarity with West Slavic languages than with Russian or Church Slavonic. By the mid-17th century, the linguistic divergence between the Ukrainian and Russian languages had become so significant that there
17424-409: The Ukrainian school might have required a long daily commute) and they often chose Russian, which reinforced the resulting Russification. In this sense, some analysts argue that it was not the "oppression" or "persecution", but rather the lack of protection against the expansion of Russian language that contributed to the relative decline of Ukrainian in the 1970s and 1980s. According to this view, it
17622-458: The Yanukovych camp chose blue for themselves. Protests began on the eve of the second round of voting, as the official count differed markedly from exit poll results which gave Yushchenko up to an 11% lead, while official results gave the election win to Yanukovych by 3%. While Yanukovych supporters have claimed that Yushchenko's connections to the Ukrainian media explain this disparity,
17820-603: The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the Force of the People , a coalition which aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the incumbent authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine" – at the time President Kuchma and Prime Minister Yanukovych were the "incumbent authorities" in Ukraine. The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if Yushchenko won
18018-548: The Yushchenko camp should events have taken a more confrontational route. In such a scenario, this "presidential oath" Yushchenko took could be used to lend legitimacy to the claim that he, rather than his rival who tried to gain the presidency through alleged fraud, was a true commander-in-chief authorised to give orders to the military and security agencies. At the same time, local officials in Eastern and Southern Ukraine,
18216-452: The Yushchenko team publicised evidence of many incidents of electoral fraud in favour of the government-backed Yanukovych, witnessed by many local and foreign observers. These accusations were reinforced by similar allegations, though at a lesser scale, during the first presidential run of 31 October. The Yushchenko campaign publicly called for protest on the dawn of election day, 21 November 2004, when allegations of fraud began to spread in
18414-452: The acting authorities and opposition. In November 2009 Yanukovych stated that although his victory in the election was "taken away", he gave up this victory in order to avoid bloodshed. "I didn't want mothers to lose their children and wives their husbands. I didn't want dead bodies from Kyiv to flow down the Dnipro . I didn't want to assume power through bloodshed." The 26 December revote
18612-453: The aftermath of the 2010 presidential election . Apparently (in particular) the Party of Regions , All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" and Svoboda had applied for a permit to demonstrate there. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko got a dismal 5.45% of votes during the election. "Ukraine is a European democratic country", said Yushchenko in a sort of political will at the polling station. "It
18810-618: The army and fiercely defended the Commonwealth's eastern borders. Under the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf , he reclaimed regions of Livonia and the Baltics which were lost during the Polish-Swedish wars. Unlike his father who worshipped the Habsburgs, Władysław sought closer ties with France and married Marie Louise Gonzaga , daughter of Charles I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua , in 1646. The Commonwealth's power and stability began waning after
19008-463: The ascendance of the szlachta noble class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as
19206-480: The assembly in protest. Sigismund II used his authority as grand duke and enforced the Act of Union in contumaciam . In fear, the absent nobles promptly returned to the negotiations. The Union of Lublin was passed by the gathered deputies and signed by attendees on 1 July, thus creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sigismund's death in 1572 was followed by an interregnum during which adjustments were made to
19404-571: The author of which wrote that "Ukraine offers the best chance to build on the Georgian success in popular democracy — as long as the West and the democratic opposition play their cards right". The note also says that the United States has already spent $ 2 billion to support a "free and independent" Ukraine and it would be better if this money went to support Kuchma's democratic rivals, whose actions are inspired by Georgia and Serbia . Adrian Karatnycky,
19602-406: The campaign trail, the poisoning undermined his health and altered his appearance dramatically (his face remains disfigured by the consequences to this day). The two main candidates were neck and neck in the first-round vote held on 31 October 2004, winning 39.32% (Yanukovych) and 39.87% (Yushchenko) of the votes cast. The candidates who came third and fourth collected much less: Oleksandr Moroz of
19800-407: The chancellery and gradually evolved into the Ruthenian language. Polish rule, which came later, was accompanied by a more assimilationist policy. By the 1569 Union of Lublin that formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a significant part of Ukrainian territory was moved from Lithuanian rule to Polish administration, resulting in cultural Polonization and visible attempts to colonize Ukraine by
19998-538: The colour gave its name to an entire series of political labels, such as the Oranges ( Pomaranchevi in Ukrainian) for his political camp and its supporters. At the time when the mass protests grew, and especially when they brought about political change in the country, the term Orange Revolution came to represent the entire series of events. In view of the success of using colour as a symbol to mobilise supporters,
20196-542: The conservative magnates and Pope Innocent XII , who in turn voiced their endorsement. Imperial Russia and Habsburg Austria also contributed by financing Frederick, whose election took place in June 1697. Many questioned the legality of his elevation to the throne; it was speculated that the Prince of Conti had received more votes and was the rightful heir. Frederick hurried with his armies to Poland to quell any opposition. He
20394-455: The constitution as the "contagion of democratic ideas". Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion. Prussian minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg called the constitution "a blow to the Prussian monarchy", fearing that a strengthened Poland would once again dominate Prussia. In the end, the 3 May Constitution was never fully implemented, and
20592-408: The constitutional system; these adjustments significantly increased the power of the Polish nobility and established a truly elective monarchy . On 11 May 1573, Henry de Valois , son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici , was proclaimed King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in the first royal election outside Warsaw . Approximately 40,000 nobles cast a vote in what was to become
20790-584: The country's affairs. Upon the death of a king, several royal houses actively intruded in the hope of securing votes for their desired candidates. The practice was common and apparent, and the selection was often the result of hefty bribes directed at corrupt nobles. Louis XIV of France heavily invested in François Louis, Prince of Conti , in opposition to James Louis Sobieski , Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria and Frederick Augustus of Saxony . The latter's conversion from Lutheranism to Catholicism awed
20988-591: The country, and remained particularly strong in Western Ukraine . Specific developments that led to a gradual change of the Old East Slavic vowel system into the system found in modern Ukrainian began approximately in the 12th/13th century (that is, still at the time of the Kievan Rus') with a lengthening and raising of the Old East Slavic mid vowels e and o when followed by a consonant and
21186-540: The country. Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the 3 May Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European power. Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence and declared the Polish constitution Jacobinical . Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the Targowica Confederation , referring to
21384-542: The crown, this time with the support of France. The Pacification Sejm culminated in Augustus III succeeding his father. The relative peace and inactivity that followed only weakened Poland's reputation on the world stage. Aleksander Brückner noted that Polish customs and traditions were abandoned in favour of everything foreign, and neighbouring states continued to exploit Poland to their advantage. Moreover, Western Europe's increasing exploitation of resources in
21582-442: The demonstrations in Kyiv was unprecedented. By many estimates, on some days they drew up to one million people to the streets, in freezing weather. In total 18.4% of Ukrainians have claimed to have taken part in the Orange Revolution (across Ukraine). Although Yushchenko entered into negotiations with outgoing President Kuchma in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation, the negotiations broke up on 24 November 2004. Yanukovych
21780-508: The demonstrations, Ukraine's emerging Internet usage (facilitated by news sites that began to disseminate the Kuchma tapes ) was an integral part of the orange revolutionary process. It has even been suggested that the Orange Revolution was the first example of an Internet-organised mass protest. Analysts believe that the Internet and mobile phones allowed an alternative media to flourish that
21978-479: The desire to avoid bloodshed, the New York Times article suggests that siloviki , as the security officers are often called in the countries of the former Soviet Union , were motivated by personal aversion to the possibility of having to serve President Yanukovych, who was in his youth convicted of robbery and assault and had alleged connection with corrupt businessmen, especially if he were to ascend to
22176-409: The dominant form of architectural and cultural expression. Politically, however, the vast Commonwealth was in steady decline and by 1768, it started to be considered by Russians as a protectorate of the Russian Empire despite the fact that it was still an independent state. A majority of control over Poland was central to Catherine's diplomatic and military strategies. Attempts at reform, such as
22374-458: The east and marked its largest territorial expansion. At least five million Russians died between 1598 and 1613, the result of continuous conflict, famine and Sigismund's invasion. The Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21) forced Poland to withdraw from Moldavia in southeastern Europe, but Sigismund's victory over the Turks at Khotyn diminished the supremacy of the Sultanate and eventually led to
22572-733: The election, Yanukovych's party again was the largest, but Tymoshenko's finished far ahead of Yushchenko's for second place. The Orange parties won a very narrow majority, permitting a new government under Tymoshenko, but Yushchenko's political decline continued to his poor showing in the 2010 presidential election. On 1 October 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine overturned the 2004 amendments, considering them unconstitutional. A Circuit administrative court in Kyiv forbade mass actions at Maidan Nezalezhnosti from 9 January 2010 to 5 February 2010. The Mayor 's office had requested this in order to avoid "nonstandard situations" during
22770-725: The election, were provided to the Yushchenko camp. These conversations were likely recorded and provided to the opposition by sympathisers in the Ukrainian Security Services. According to Abel Polese, Kuchma was concerned about its reputation in the West ; because of a lack of natural resources to finance his regime he had to show a commitment to democracy in order to be targeted for Western financial assistance. In February 2004, an editorial "A Chestnut Revolution" appeared in The Wall Street Journal ,
22968-502: The erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution: These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors, which had been content to leave the Commonwealth alone as a weak buffer state, but reacted strongly to attempts by king Stanisław August Poniatowski and other reformers to strengthen
23166-407: The existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past. Similar points of view were shared by Yevhen Tymchenko , Vsevolod Hantsov , Olena Kurylo , Ivan Ohienko and others. According to this theory, the dialects of East Slavic tribes evolved gradually from the common Proto-Slavic language without any intermediate stages during the 6th through 9th centuries. The Ukrainian language
23364-409: The form of leaflets printed and distributed by the 'Democratic Initiatives' foundation, announcing that Yushchenko had won – on the basis of its exit poll. Beginning on 22 November 2004, massive protests started in cities across Ukraine. The largest, in Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) , attracted an estimated 500,000 participants, who on 23 November 2004 peacefully marched in front of
23562-579: The headquarters of the Verkhovna Rada , the Ukrainian parliament, many wearing orange or carrying orange flags, the colour of Yushchenko's campaign coalition. One of the most prominent activists of that time was Paraska Korolyuk , subsequently bestowed with the Order of Princess Olga . From 22 November Pora! undertook the management of the protests in Kyiv until the end of the demonstration. The local councils in Kyiv , Lviv , and several other cities passed, with
23760-460: The king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators . The Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the " Golden Liberty " ( Latin : Aurea Libertas or Polish : Złota Wolność ,
23958-417: The language of much of the literature was purely or heavily Old Church Slavonic . Some theorists see an early Ukrainian stage in language development here, calling it Old Ruthenian; others term this era Old East Slavic . Russian theorists tend to amalgamate Rus' to the modern nation of Russia, and call this linguistic era Old Russian. However, according to Russian linguist Andrey Zaliznyak (2012), people from
24156-669: The late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a major reform effort and enacted the 3 May Constitution , which was the first codified constitution in modern European history and the second in modern world history after the United States Constitution . The official name of the state was the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie , Lithuanian : Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė , Latin : Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae ). The Latin term
24354-572: The latter relatively common in historiography to distinguish it from the Second Polish Republic . In Lithuania, the state is referred to as 'Republic of Both Nations' ( Lithuanian : Abiejų Tautų Respublika ). The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances across the 13th and 14th centuries. The relations between the two states differed at times as each strived and competed for political, economic or military dominance of
24552-444: The leading candidate in calling for these reforms. After a clear lack of faith in the government had been instilled in the Ukrainian population, Yushchenko's role had never been more important to the revolution. Yushchenko was a charismatic candidate who showed no signs of being corrupt. Yushchenko was on the same level as his constituents and presented his ideas in a "non- Soviet " way. Young Ukrainian voters were extremely important to
24750-542: The merger of the Old East Slavic vowel phonemes и /i/ and ы /ɨ/ into the specifically Ukrainian phoneme /ɪ ~ e/, spelled with и (in the 13th/14th centuries), and the fricativisation of the Old East Slavic consonant г /g/, probably first to /ɣ/ (in the 13th century), with /ɦ/ as a reflex in Modern Ukrainian, did not happen in Russian. Only the fricativisation of Old East Slavic г /g/ occurred in Belarusian, where
24948-478: The merger to strengthen frontiers of his dominion and maintain unity as he remained childless. His death in 1572 marked the end of the Jagiellonian dynasty and introduced an elective monarchy , whereupon members of domestic noble families or external dynasties were elected to the throne for life. The Commonwealth's parliamentary system of government and elective monarchy , called the Golden Liberty ,
25146-402: The modern Ukrainian and Belarusian languages developed from the dialects which did not differ from each other in a significant way. After the fall of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, Ukrainians mainly fell under the rule of Lithuania and then Poland . Local autonomy of both rule and language was a marked feature of Lithuanian rule. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Old East Slavic became the language of
25344-473: The modern-day Ukrainian national identity. The Ukrainian regime prior to the Orange Revolution sought to create a path for democratization . Ukraine was considered a "competitive authoritarian regime" that is transitioning hybrid regime , allowing for room to fully transition into a liberal democracy, with a market based economy. The Ukrainian electorate sought to elect a candidate to bring economic and political reforms. Yushchenko quickly established himself as
25542-538: The murder of Osman II . This secured the Turkish frontier for the duration of Sigismund's rule. In spite of the victories in the Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) , the exhausted Commonwealth army signed the Treaty of Altmark which ceded much of Livonia to Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus . At the same time, the country's powerful parliament was dominated by nobles ( Pic. 2 ) who were reluctant to get involved in
25740-508: The name Little Russia for Ukraine and Little Russian for the language, an expression that originated in Byzantine Greek and may originally have meant "old, original, fundamental Russia", and had been in use since the 14th century. Ukrainian high culture went into a long period of steady decline. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was taken over by the Russian Empire. Most of the remaining Ukrainian schools also switched to Polish or Russian in
25938-412: The native language for the majority in the nation on the eve of Ukrainian independence, a significant share of ethnic Ukrainians were russified. In Donetsk there were no Ukrainian language schools and in Kyiv only a quarter of children went to Ukrainian language schools. The Russian language was the dominant vehicle, not just of government function, but of the media, commerce, and modernity itself. This
26136-544: The new monarch. The nobles simultaneously elected Stephen Báthory as co-regent, who ruled jure uxoris . Báthory's election proved controversial – Lithuania and Ducal Prussia initially refused to recognise the Transylvanian as their ruler. Piotr Zborowski supported Bathory as he wanted to promote a princely or ducal candidate. He also endorsed the Duke of Ferrara . The wealthy port city of Gdańsk (Danzig) staged
26334-518: The nobility remained apprehensive believing that William would not secure domestic interests. Instead, they turned to Jogaila , the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jogaila was a lifelong pagan and vowed to adopt Catholicism upon marriage by signing the Union of Krewo on 14 August 1385. The Act imposed Christianity in Lithuania and transformed Poland into a diarchy , a kingdom ruled over by two sovereigns; their descendants and successive monarchs held
26532-508: The organisers of the Russian protests in December 2011 were former (Russian) advisors to Yushchenko during his presidency and were transferring the Orange Revolution to Russia. A 4 February 2012 rally in favor of Putin was named the "anti-Orange protest" . In 2013 a Russian State Duma Oleg Nilov and former fellow Russian politician Sergey Glazyev referred to political adversaries as "different personalities in some sort of orange or bright shorts" and "diplomats and bureaucrats that appeared after
26730-541: The origin of the Orange Revolution in 2004. After two terms of presidency (1994–1999) and the Cassette Scandal of 2000 that significantly damaged his image, Kuchma decided not to run for a third term in the 2004 elections and instead supported Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential race against Viktor Yushchenko of the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc . The state of Ukraine during
26928-407: The outcome of the 2004 presidential election. This new wave of younger people born in a post-Soviet Ukraine had different views of the main figures in Ukraine. They were exposed to a lot of negativity from Kuchmagate and therefore had very skewed visions about Kuchma and his ability to lead their country. The abundance of younger people who participated showed an increasing sense of nationalism that
27126-489: The outcome of the round. So the complaints were not actively pursued and both candidates concentrated on the upcoming run-off, scheduled for 21 November. Pora! activists were arrested in October 2004, but the release of many (reportedly on President Kuchma's personal order) gave growing confidence to the opposition. Yushchenko's supporters originally adopted orange as the signifying colour of his election campaign. Later,
27324-522: The overall unity of Ukraine. During the elections campaign of the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election the Party of Regions ' campaign focused heavily on (what they called) "the chaos and ruins of 5 years of orange leadership". In March 2005 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk stated that Ukraine would not be exporting revolution. During Alexander Lukashenko 's inauguration (ceremony) as President of Belarus of 22 January 2011 Lukashenko vowed that Belarus would never have its own version of
27522-434: The political deadlock. The court decided that due to the scale of the electoral fraud it became impossible to establish the election results. Therefore, it invalidated the official results that would have given Yanukovych the presidency. As a resolution, the court ordered a revote of the run-off to be held on 26 December 2004. This decision was seen as a victory for the Yushchenko camp while Yanukovych and his supporters favoured
27720-425: The population said Ukrainian was their native language. Until the 1920s the urban population in Ukraine grew faster than the number of Ukrainian speakers. This implies that there was a (relative) decline in the use of Ukrainian language. For example, in Kyiv, the number of people stating that Ukrainian was their native language declined from 30.3% in 1874 to 16.6% in 1917. During the seven-decade-long Soviet era ,
27918-474: The preliminary ones. This Election Commission announcement cleared the way for Yushchenko's inauguration as the President of Ukraine . The official ceremony took place in the Verkhovna Rada building on 23 January 2005 and was followed by the "public inauguration" of the newly sworn President at Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( Independence Square ) in front of hundreds of thousands of his supporters. This event brought
28116-516: The present-day reflex is /ɣ/. Ahatanhel Krymsky and Aleksey Shakhmatov assumed the existence of the common spoken language of Eastern Slavs only in prehistoric times. According to their point of view, the diversification of the Old East Slavic language took place in the 8th or early 9th century. Russian linguist Andrey Zaliznyak stated that the Old Novgorod dialect differed significantly from that of other dialects of Kievan Rus' during
28314-472: The presidency by fraud. The personal feelings of Gen. Smeshko towards Yanukovych may also have played a role. Additional evidence of Yushchenko's popularity and at least partial support among the SBU officers is shown by the fact that several embarrassing proofs of electoral fraud, including incriminating wiretap recordings of conversations among the Yanukovych campaign and government officials discussing how to rig
28512-649: The presidency. The Communists also supported these measures. These came into effect in 2006 during which Yanukovych's Party of Regions won the parliamentary election, creating a coalition government with the Socialists and the Communists under his leadership. As a result, President Viktor Yushchenko had to deal with a powerful Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych who had control of many important portfolios. His premiership ended in late 2007 after Yushchenko had succeeded in his months-long attempt to dissolve parliament. After
28710-589: The printing of Ukrainian texts accompanying musical scores. A period of leniency after 1905 was followed by another strict ban in 1914, which also affected Russian-occupied Galicia. For much of the 19th century the Austrian authorities demonstrated some preference for Polish culture, but the Ukrainians were relatively free to partake in their own cultural pursuits in Halychyna and Bukovina , where Ukrainian
28908-442: The privilege of minting its own coinage. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko began issuing the first Polish banknotes. The country played a significant role in the supply of Western Europe by the export of grain (rye), cattle (oxen), furs, timber, linen , cannabis , ash , tar , carminic acid and amber . Cereals, cattle and fur amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to European markets by overland and maritime trade in
29106-703: The protests in Independence Square in Kyiv by the order of their commander, Lt. Gen. Sergei Popkov. The SBU ( Security Service of Ukraine , a successor to the KGB in Ukraine) warned opposition leaders of the crackdown. Oleksander Galaka, head of GUR (military intelligence) made calls to "prevent bloodshed". Col. Gen. Ihor Smeshko (SBU chief) and Maj. Gen. Vitaly Romanchenko (military counter-intelligence chief) both claimed to have warned Popkov to pull back his troops, which he did, preventing bloodshed. In addition to
29304-439: The public". Outright vote rigging diminished after the 2004 presidential election . No officials involved in the 2004 elections that preceded the Orange Revolution were convicted for election fraud. A 2007 study revealed that opinion about the nature of the Orange Revolution had barely shifted since 2004 and that the attitudes about it in the country remained divided along the same largely geographical lines that it had been at
29502-500: The refurbishment of the Warsaw Royal Castle into a modern palatial residence. Countless landmarks and monuments in the city bear a name referencing the Saxon kings, notably Saxon Garden , Saxon Axis and the former Saxon Palace . The period saw the development of urban planning, street allocation, hospitals, schools ( Collegium Nobilium ), public parks and libraries ( Załuski Library ). First manufactories producing on
29700-449: The region. In turn, Poland had remained a staunch ally of its southern neighbour, Hungary . The last Polish monarch from the native Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great , died on 5 November 1370 without fathering a legitimate male heir. Consequently, the crown passed onto his Hungarian nephew, Louis of Anjou , who ruled the Kingdom of Hungary in a personal union with Poland . A fundamental step in developing extensive ties with Lithuania
29898-418: The resolve of the Yushchenko campaign not to accept the compromised election results. In response, Yushchenko's opponents denounced him for taking an illegitimate oath, and even some of his moderate supporters were ambivalent about this act, while a more radical side of the Yushchenko camp demanded him to act even more decisively. Some observers argued that this symbolic presidential oath might have been useful to
30096-408: The results of the run-off vote of 21 November 2004 between leading candidates Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were rigged by the authorities in favour of the latter. The nationwide protests succeeded when the results of the original run-off were annulled, and a revote was ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court for 26 December 2004. Under intense scrutiny by domestic and international observers,
30294-567: The river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Grodno become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy. Urban population of the Commonwealth was low compared to Western Europe. Exact numbers depend on calculation methods. According to one source,
30492-577: The rural regions of the Ukrainian provinces, 80% of the inhabitants said that Ukrainian was their native language in the Census of 1897 (for which the results are given above), in the urban regions only 32.5% of the population claimed Ukrainian as their native language. For example, in Odesa (then part of the Russian Empire), at the time the largest city in the territory of current Ukraine, only 5.6% of
30690-492: The second run-off was declared to be "free and fair". The final results showed a clear victory for Yushchenko, who received about 52% of the vote, compared to Yanukovych's 44%. Yushchenko was declared the official winner and with his inauguration on 23 January 2005 in Kyiv, the Orange Revolution ended. In the following years, the Orange Revolution had a negative connotation among pro-government circles in Belarus and Russia . In
30888-687: The sixteenth and first half of the 17th century, when Ukraine was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, albeit in spite of being part of the PLC, not as a result. Among many schools established in that time, the Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium (the predecessor of the modern Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ), founded by the Orthodox Metropolitan Peter Mogila , was the most important. At that time languages were associated more with religions: Catholics spoke Polish, and members of
31086-554: The stronghold of Viktor Yanukovych , started a series of actions alluding to the possibility of the breakup of Ukraine or an extra-constitutional federalisation of the country, should their candidate's claimed victory not be recognised. Demonstrations of public support for Yanukovych were held throughout Eastern Ukraine and some of his supporters arrived in Kyiv. In Kyiv the pro-Yanukovych demonstrators were far outnumbered by Yushchenko supporters, whose ranks were continuously swelled by new arrivals from many regions of Ukraine. The scale of
31284-462: The term native language may not necessarily associate with the language they use more frequently. The overwhelming majority of ethnic Ukrainians consider the Ukrainian language native , including those who often speak Russian. According to the official 2001 census data, 92.3% of Kyiv region population responded "Ukrainian" to the native language ( ridna mova ) census question, compared with 88.4% in 1989, and 7.2% responded "Russian". In 2019,
31482-558: The territories controlled by these respective countries, which was followed by a new wave of Polonization and Russification of the native nobility. Gradually the official language of Ukrainian provinces under Poland was changed to Polish, while the upper classes in the Russian part of Ukraine used Russian. During the 19th century, a revival of Ukrainian self-identification manifested in the literary classes of both Russian-Empire Dnieper Ukraine and Austrian Galicia . The Brotherhood of Sts Cyril and Methodius in Kyiv applied an old word for
31680-779: The throne of Poland and Sweden. Sigismund's long reign marked an end to the Polish Golden Age and the beginning of the Silver Age. A devout Catholic, he hoped to restore absolutism and imposed Roman Catholicism during the height of the Counter-Reformation . His intolerance towards the Protestants in Sweden sparked a war of independence , which ended the Polish–Swedish union . As a consequence, he
31878-402: The throne, Henry signed the contractual agreement known as the Pacta conventa and approbated the Henrician Articles . The Act stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In June 1574, Henry abandoned Poland and headed back to claim the French crown following the death of his brother and predecessor, Charles IX . The throne
32076-421: The time of his election. The monarch's power was limited in favour of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance ). Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point onwards,
32274-408: The time of the revolution ( West and Central Ukraine being more positive about the events and South and Eastern Ukraine more cynical (seniors also). This research also showed that Ukrainians in total had a less positive view on the Orange Revolution in 2007 than they had in 2005. It has been suggested that since the Orange Revolution was impactful enough to interest people of all ages it increased
32472-404: The titles of king and grand duke respectively. The ultimate clause dictated that Lithuania was to be merged in perpetuity ( perpetuo applicare ) with the Polish Kingdom; however, this did not take effect until 1569. Jogaila was crowned as Władysław II Jagiełło at Wawel Cathedral on 4 March 1386. Several minor agreements were struck before unification, notably the Union of Kraków and Vilnius ,
32670-400: The urban population of the Commonwealth was about 20% of the total in the 17th century, compared to approximately 50% in the Netherlands and Italy ( Pic. 7 ). Another source suggests much lower figures: 4–8% urban population in Poland, 34–39% in the Netherlands and 22–23% in Italy. The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the nobles' privileged position when compared to
32868-516: The use of Ukrainian. The educational system in Ukraine has been transformed over the first decade of independence from a system that is partly Ukrainian to one that is overwhelmingly so. The government has also mandated a progressively increased role for Ukrainian in the media and commerce. In the 2001 census , 67.5% of the country's population named Ukrainian as their native language (a 2.8% increase from 1989), while 29.6% named Russian (a 3.2% decrease). For many Ukrainians (of various ethnic origins),
33066-424: The vote, endorsed Yanukovych, who hoped for Petro Symonenko's endorsement but did not receive it. In the wake of the first round of the election, many complaints emerged regarding voting irregularities in favour of the government-supported Yanukovych. However, as it was clear that neither nominee was close enough to collect an outright majority in the first round, challenging the initial result would not have affected
33264-425: The wars, and the Commonwealth proved unable to improve its transport infrastructure or its agricultural practices. Serfs in the region were increasingly tempted to flee. The Commonwealth's major attempts at countering this problem and improving productivity consisted of increasing serfs' workload and further restricting their freedoms in a process known as export-led serfdom. The owner of a folwark usually signed
33462-424: The wide popular support of their constituency, a largely symbolic refusal to accept the legitimacy of the official election results, and Yushchenko took a symbolic presidential oath . This "oath" taken by Yushchenko in half-empty parliament chambers, lacking the quorum as only the Yushchenko-leaning factions were present, could not have any legal effect. But it was an important symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate
33660-428: The years following, Polish settlers, nobles, Catholics and Jews became the victims of retaliation massacres instigated by the Cossacks in their dominions. The other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655, known as the Deluge , which was supported by troops of Transylvanian Duke George II Rákóczi and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg . Under the Treaty of Bromberg in 1657, Catholic Poland
33858-444: The years of the 'orange' hysteria". In 2016 the Russian newspaper Izvestia claimed, "in Central Asia weak regimes are already being attacked by extremists and 'Orange Revolutions'." In Russian nationalist circles the Orange Revolution has been linked with fascism because, albeit marginally, Ukrainian nationalist extreme right-wing groups and Ukrainian Americans (including Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Kateryna Yushchenko , who
34056-404: The years of the Orange power". According to influential Party of Regions member Rinat Akhmetov the ideals of the Orange Revolution won at the 2010 election "We had a fair and democratic independent election. The entire world recognised it, and international observers confirmed its results. That's why the ideals of the Orange Revolution won". According to Yulia Tymoshenko the 2010 elections were
34254-469: Was a need for translators during negotiations for the Treaty of Pereyaslav , between Bohdan Khmelnytsky , head of the Zaporozhian Host , and the Russian state. By the 18th century, Ruthenian had diverged into regional variants, developing into the modern Belarusian , Rusyn , and Ukrainian languages. The accepted chronology of Ukrainian divides the language into Old Ukrainian, Middle Ukrainian, and Modern Ukrainian. Shevelov explains that much of this
34452-475: Was a succession crisis arising in the 1380s. Louis died on 10 September 1382 and, like his uncle, did not produce a son to succeed him. His two daughters, Mary and Jadwiga (Hedwig), held claims to the vast dual realm. The Polish lords rejected Mary in favour of her younger sister Jadwiga, partly due to Mary's association with Sigismund of Luxembourg . The future queen regnant was betrothed to young William Habsburg, Duke of Austria , but certain factions of
34650-472: Was an early example of constitutional monarchy . The General Sejm , the bicameral Parliament , held legislative power; its lower house was elected by all szlachta (some 15% of the population). The king and his government were bound by a constitutional statute, the Henrician Articles , which tightly circumscribed royal authority. The country also exhibited unusual levels of ethnic diversity and great religious tolerance by European standards, guaranteed by
34848-422: Was born in the United States ) were involved in the demonstrations; Russian nationalist groups see both as branches of the same tree of fascism. The involvement of Ukrainian Americans led them to believe the Orange Revolution was steered by the CIA . Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( українська мова , ukrainska mova , IPA: [ʊkrɐˈjinʲsʲkɐ ˈmɔʋɐ] ) is one of the East Slavic languages in
35046-419: Was childless and ailing. According to historians, it was his active involvement which hastened the process and made the union possible. A parliament ( sejm ) convened on 10 January 1569 in the city of Lublin , attended by envoys from both nations. It was agreed that the merger will take place the same year and both parliaments will be fused into a joint assembly. No independent parliamentary convocation or diet
35244-481: Was crowned as Augustus II in September and Conti's brief military engagement near Gdańsk in November of the same year proved fruitless. The House of Wettin ruled Poland–Lithuania and Saxony simultaneously, dividing power between the two states. In spite of his controversial means of attaining power, Augustus II lavishly spent on the arts and left an extensive cultural and architectural ( Baroque ) legacy in both countries. In Poland, he expanded Wilanów and facilitated
35442-422: Was deposed in Sweden by his uncle Charles IX Vasa . In Poland, the Zebrzydowski rebellion was brutally suppressed. Sigismund III then initiated a policy of expansionism , and invaded Russia in 1609 when that country was plagued by a civil war known as the Time of Troubles . In July 1610, the outnumbered Polish force comprising winged hussars defeated the Russians at the Battle of Klushino , which enabled
35640-403: Was developing in the country. The Orange Revolution had enough popular impact that it interested people of all ages. In 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine numerous times. In late 2002, Viktor Yushchenko ( Our Ukraine ), Oleksandr Moroz ( Socialist Party of Ukraine ), Petro Symonenko ( Communist Party of Ukraine ) and Yulia Tymoshenko ( Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ) issued
35838-404: Was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa , whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as the Deluge (1655), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline. The Zebrzydowski Rebellion (1606–1607) marked
36036-490: Was exiled for seven years to Arkhangelsk . The Ukrainian magazine Osnova was discontinued. In 1863, the tsarist interior minister Pyotr Valuyev proclaimed in his decree that "there never has been, is not, and never can be a separate Little Russian language". Although the name of Ukraine is known since 1187, it was not applied to the language until the mid-19th century. The linguonym Ukrainian language appears in Yakub Holovatsky 's book from 1849, listed there as
36234-411: Was forced to renounce its suzerainty over Protestant Prussia ; in 1701 the once-insignificant duchy was transformed into the Kingdom of Prussia , which became a major European power in the 18th century and proved to be Poland's most enduring foe. In the late 17th century, the king of the weakened Commonwealth, John III Sobieski , allied with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to deal crushing defeats to
36432-448: Was formed by convergence of tribal dialects, mostly due to an intensive migration of the population within the territory of today's Ukraine in later historical periods. This point of view was also supported by George Shevelov 's phonological studies, which argue that specific features were already recognizable in the southern dialects of Old East Slavic (seen as ancestors to Ukrainian) as far back as these varieties can be documented. As
36630-407: Was gradually Polonized. In Ruthenia, the language of administrative documents gradually shifted towards Polish. Polish has had heavy influences on Ukrainian (particularly in Western Ukraine ). The southwestern Ukrainian dialects are transitional to Polish. As the Ukrainian language developed further, some borrowings from Tatar and Turkish occurred. Ukrainian culture and language flourished in
36828-403: Was held under intense scrutiny by local and international observers. The preliminary results, announced by the Central Election Commission on 18 December, gave Yushchenko and Yanukovych 51.99% and 44.20% of the total vote, which represented a change in the vote by +5.39% to Yushchenko and −5.27% from Yanukovych respectively when compared to the November poll. The Yanukovych team attempted to mount
37026-402: Was henceforth permitted. Subjects of the Polish Crown were no longer restricted in purchasing land on Lithuanian territory and a single currency was established. Whilst the military remained separate, a unified foreign policy meant that Lithuanian troops were obliged to contribute during a conflict not to their advantage. As a result, several Lithuanian magnates deplored the accords and left
37224-495: Was inevitable that successful careers required a good command of Russian, while knowledge of Ukrainian was not vital, so it was common for Ukrainian parents to send their children to Russian-language schools, even though Ukrainian-language schools were usually available. The number of students in Russian-language in Ukraine schools was constantly increasing, from 14 percent in 1939 to more than 30 percent in 1962. The Communist Party leader from 1963 to 1972, Petro Shelest , pursued
37422-408: Was joined by western and central Ukrainians. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 and it was the quest for that independence that supported the Orange Revolution. Ukrainians for the most part did not want to be too closely associated with the past history of the Soviet Union. The Austro-Hungarian roots in the eastern European geo-cultural area of Ukraine (formerly known as Poland-Lithuania ) helped shape
37620-417: Was kidnapped and murdered in 2000. Persistent rumours suggested that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma had ordered the killing. Gen. Oleksiy Pukach, a former police officer, was accused of the murder under the orders of a former minister who committed suicide in 2005. Pukach was arrested in 2010 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2013. The murder sparked a movement against Kuchma in 2000 that may be seen as
37818-423: Was lessened only slightly after 1985. The management of dissent by the local Ukrainian Communist Party was more fierce and thorough than in other parts of the Soviet Union. As a result, at the start of the Mikhail Gorbachev reforms perebudova and hlasnist’ (Ukrainian for perestroika and glasnost ), Ukraine under Shcherbytsky was slower to liberalize than Russia itself. Although Ukrainian still remained
38016-442: Was not subject to self-censorship or overt control by President Kuchma and his allies and pro-democracy activists (such as Pora! ) were able to use mobile phones and the Internet to coordinate election monitoring and mass protests. As part of the Orange Revolution, the Ukrainian constitution was changed to shift powers from the presidency to the parliament. This was Oleksandr Moroz 's price for his decisive role in winning Yushchenko
38214-407: Was officially certified as the victor by the Central Election Commission , which itself was allegedly involved in falsification of electoral results by withholding the information it was receiving from local districts and running a parallel illegal computer server to manipulate the results. The next morning after the certification took place, Yushchenko spoke to supporters in Kyiv, urging them to begin
38412-430: Was proclaimed in 1990 that Russian language was the all-Union state language and that the constituent republics had rights to declare additional state languages within their jurisdictions. Still it was implicitly understood in the hopes of minority nations that Ukrainian would be used in the Ukrainian SSR, Uzbek would be used in the Uzbek SSR , and so on. However, Russian was used as the lingua franca in all parts of
38610-430: Was subsequently declared vacant. The interregnum concluded on 12 December 1575 when primate Jakub Uchański declared Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor , as the next king. The decision was condemned by the anti-Habsburg coalition, which demanded a "native" candidate, known as "Piasts". As a compromise, on 13 December 1575 Anna Jagiellon – sister of Sigismund Augustus and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty – became
38808-400: Was substantially less the case for western Ukraine, which escaped the artificial famine , Great Purge , and most of Stalinism . And this region became the center of a hearty, if only partial, renaissance of the Ukrainian language during independence. Since 1991, Ukrainian has been the official state language in Ukraine, and the state administration implemented government policies to broaden
39006-487: Was usually employed in international treaties and diplomacy. By concluding the 1569 Union of Lublin the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained a separate state from the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland with its own name, laws, and territory. The name 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów ) came into force during the reign of Stephen Báthory (since 1582, and was officially used until 1795). On 28 January 1588, Sigismund III Vasa has confirmed
39204-415: Was widely used in education and official documents. The suppression by Russia hampered the literary development of the Ukrainian language in Dnipro Ukraine, but there was a constant exchange with Halychyna, and many works were published under Austria and smuggled to the east. By the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the collapse of Austro-Hungary in 1918, Ukrainians were ready to openly develop
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