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Nov. 30, 2004 The situation in Ukraine represents a very unique test of American understanding. It was not long ago – a year to be exact – that the Republic of Georgia slipped out from under the thumb of crippling Russian dominance in a defiant chord against dependence. This past week the world has seen Viktor Yushchenko and his opposition movement in Ukraine strike many of the same chords in this song of independence. To fully understand why Yushchenko’s movement brings tens of thousands of Ukrainians out to protests in the streets of Kiev, we must understand the history of Ukraine. Americans are not normally versed in the histories of miniscule Eastern European nations, and this is much to the detriment of the overall learning process, as the history of Ukraine – social, economic, political – foreshadows well the startling changes that are to come from the former Soviet Union. In 1921, the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic was formed and a long history of close social and economic ties with Russia was formally created. Ukraine existed in much the same form as it does now, except under the stern hand of Josef Stalin. In 1937, during Stalin’s Great Purge, Ukraine ranked among the worst hit areas of ‘cleansing,’ with over 180,000 Ukrainians and Communist Party members murdered wholesale in the streets and dumped in hastily dug mass graves. In 1988, Ukrainians celebrated in the same roads they had once been purged in, praising God for 1,000 years of Christianity. Only two years earlier the reactor at Chernobyl had exploded and contaminated much of the surrounding area. Fifty years after the Great Purge, the Ukrainian connection to Russia seemed as strong as ever. Russian talons sank deep into the heart of Kiev, though, clinging to the small Soviet Republic’s dire need for energy and food during a time of famine. In 1990, with the Soviet Union weakening and Ukraine receiving more of its energy needs from Western Europe, the fragile nation declared its sovereignty. The Russian influence remained strong through Perestroika, which had a major cultural center in Ukraine, and still through the increased consumption of energy, which Russia had in droves. A string of pro-Russian, pro-Soviet leaders were elected with heavy backing from the Kremlin, and a strong pro- Russian sentiment retook Kiev and the Ukrainian government. In 1991, one year after declaring sovereignty, Ukraine was recognized as an independent nation. In 1994 and again in 1999, Leonid Kuchma, a moderate former Ukrainian Prime Minister with close ties to the Kremlin, was elected President of Ukraine. Kuchma played a low-key role in assuring that the next Prime Minister would be a pro-Russian Ukrainian as well, and that Prime Minister came in the form of Viktor Yanukovych. We are now at the present day, with Yanukovych as the Prime Minister of Ukraine and one Viktor Yushchenko, a man admired for his movie star looks, and also a former Prime minister of Ukraine. Yanukovych and Yushchenko both held high-ranking positions in their respective parties, and were both wildly popular amongst their constituents. In July of 2004, with President Kuchma vacating his seat, Yanukovych and Yushchenko kicked the campaign into high gear: Yanukovych sporting a blue campaign banner and Yushchenko carrying orange. Even before November, everyone in Ukraine knew this was going to be a referendum: Yanukovych and more pro-Russian attachment, or staunchly pro-Western and anti-Kremlin Yushchenko and his plan to join up with the European Union and move Ukraine from dependence on Russian oil? The very future of Ukraine was in the hands of the voters, and like the Republic of Georgia, complete chaos would ensue. ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 17-year-old Democrat with moderate, centrist ideals. He blames John Kerry's 2004 loss on John Kerry, and is authoring a pamphlet on how to refine the Democratic Party for Victory in 2008 and beyond. For more information, check out The New Democrat. Read the fantasy-fiction novel "Alcardia". Email: DeMBurns@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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