Ancient Ukraine[]
During the Iron Age, these were followed by the Dacians as well as nomadic peoples like the Cimmerians (archaeological Novocherkassk culture), Scythians and Sarmatians. The Scythian Kingdom existed here from 750–250 BCE.[1] Along with ancient Greek colonies founded in the 6th century BCE on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea, the colonies of Tyras, Olbia, Hermonassa, continued as Roman and Byzantine cities until the 6th century.
Roman Ukraine[]
In the 3rd century, the Goths arrived in the lands of Ukraine around 250–375, which they called Oium, corresponding to the archaeological Chernyakhov culture.[2] The Ostrogoths stayed in the area but came under the sway of the Huns from the 370s. North of the Ostrogothic kingdom was the Kiev culture, flourishing from the 2nd–5th centuries, when it was overrun by the Huns. After they helped defeat the Huns at the battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths were allowed by Romans to settle in Pannonia.
Medieval Ukraine[]
Part of Scythia in antiquity and settled by Getae, in the migration period, Ukraine is also the site of early Slavic expansion, and enters history proper with the establishment of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages but disintegrated in the 12th century. After the middle of the 14th century, present-day Ukrainian territories came under the rule of three external powers:[3]
- the Golden Horde
- the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland
- the Crimean Khanate
Colonial Ukraine[]
Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but its territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire, and later submerged fully into Russia. Two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. However, both occasions would ultimately see Ukraine's territories conquered and consolidated into a Soviet republic, a situation that persisted until 1991, when Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as "The Ukraine", but sources since then have moved to drop "the" from the name of Ukraine in all uses.
References[]
- ↑ Scythian. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
- ↑ Magocsi, Paul Robert (1996). A History of Ukraine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 27. ISBN 0-8020-0830-5.
- ↑ Ukraine :: History – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.