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The Eurasian Steppe has few natuaral barriers and for centuries eith rge coming and going of conquerors and traders as well as migratory tribes, a mixing of people and ideas occurred. As a result a large mumbers of ethnic minorities are found in Ukraine this has varied regionally and over time. The Ukraine has been called a 'nationalizing' state, still in the process of developing a unifying 'Ukrainian' identity. This is the result of centuries of existence within imperial structures and the lack of a Ukranian national state. It is unclear at this time how this will affect the various minority groups in the Ukraine. This process has consequences for Ukraine minority groups and for the stability of the new Ukranian state. [Korostelina] Many Russians both in the Ukraine and Russia itself see the growth of Ukranian national identity as a threat because they have never fully accepted the disolution of the Soviet Union. The largest minority group is the Russians (15-20 percent). The Ukraine's long history as part of the Tsarist Empire and the long border with Russia explains the Russian presence. The Russian minority poses a lot of potentially thory problems. They are concentrated in the eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula which was only recently transferred to the Ukraine (1954). And many Russians see themselves as not a minority in a Ukranian state, but the dominant ethnic group of a larger Russian-Ukrainian state. And many Russians in Russia itself have this outlook. Another important minority is the Crimean Tartars. After the Red Army liberated the Crimean during Worls War II, Stalin ordered the Crimean tartars deported (May 1944). Most were transported under terrible conditions to Central Asia. After the War and Stalin's death, some managed to return. There is also a romas (gypsy) minority. The Ukraine's Jewish community developed as oppression in Western Europe drove Jews east. It was destroyed by the Germans during World War II in horendous killing operations. There was a small Greek population in Odessa of ancient origins. The ancient Greeks were notable mariners and traders and established trading colonies at various Black Sea sites. And throughout the Middle Ages, Greek-oriented Byzantium and Constantinople was the regional trading center. There are a large number of additional, but generally small ethnic minorities in the Ukraine.
The Cossacks ( козаки́ ) were a predominantly East Slavic-speaking people appearing on the European Steppe, meaning Russians, Ukranins, Moldavians, and some Poles. The first references date to the lte medieval period in the aftemath of the Mongol invasions. They appeared in the sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper, Don, Terek, and Ural river basins, meaning southern European Russia and the Ukraine. The term Cossack is believed to have originated from Turkic, Kazakh meaning either 'horseman' or 'free man'. They played an important role in the historical and cultural development of both Russia and Ukraine. In the informally democratic society they developed, there was ethnic mixing, including some Tartar and Turkish people, but as Cossack society developed after Chritianization, the Cossacks acquired a decidely Christian ethos although without formal religious connections. Some sources claim the Khazars were a element in the origin of the Cossaaks. Whatever the etnnic origins, the Cossacks acquired a European orientation, becoming a major force combating Tartar raids in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire north into what is now the Ukraine and southern Russia. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Cossacks fouht the expansion of first the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then after the Great Northern war, the Tsrist Empire. As European Fedalism became imposed on Russia and Ukraine by the Tsarist state, run-away Russian and Ukanian serfs joined the Cossack companies. We suspect that escaping serfs may have sawmed what ever original Turic/Tartar element may have exusted. Eventually they became a kind of miltary estate within the Tsarist state.
The Greeks are known to be trading with what is now the Ukraine at the time of the Trojan War. In fact the real reason for the Trojan War was fir control of trade routes, espcially sources of horses. Troy became rich in large part because it dominated the trade ino tghe Black sea where the Steppe offerd a source of horses whih could be obtain by trade wih wht is now the Ukraine. Greek colonies have been escavated on the Crimean Peninsula. There was a small Greek population in Odessa of ancient origins. The ancient Greeks were notable mariners and traders and after the defeat of Troy established trading colonies at various Black Sea sites. And throughout the Middle Ages, Greek-oriented Byzantium and Constantinople was the regional trading center.
There is also a romas (gypsy) minority.
Both the boundaries of the Ukraine and the people ruling the area have changed markedly over time. The attitides toward Jews has varied significantly. Jewish history in the Ukraine began with the Khazars (6th century AD). The Kazar Empire became a major power, controling what is now the Ukraine as well as adjacent areas (8-10th centuries). Jews from Christian Europe (especially Byzantium) sought refuge in the Kazar Empire. The royal family evetually adopted Judaism. As a result, the Ukraine developed on of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Lithuania-Poland conquered the Ukraine (14th century). An expanding Russian Tsarist Empire defeated the Poles and seized he Ukraine and susequentkly Lithuania and large areas pf Poland. The Germans seized much of the Ukraine in World War I and were in the process of creating a satellite state when the Western Allies cracked the Western Front and forced the Germans to request an armistice (November 1918). In the mean time the Russian Revolutioin broke out and the Ukraine became on of the battlefields in the resulting Civil War (1919-21). The Blolsheviks managed to gain control of much of the Ukraine. The new Polish state in a war with the Bolsheciks manahged to gain control of areas of Beylorusia and the wesern Ukraine. World War II began with the invasion of Poland (September 1939). The Germans invaded first from the west followed by the Soviets from the east. The Soviets annexed eastern Poland. The southeastern area was incprporated into the Ukrainian, SSR. The Jewish population of the Ukraine at the onset of World War II nymbered about 1.5 million people. This was about 3 percent of the overall population. About 3.5 million people were eventually evacuated. Availablesources suggest that Jews were over represented in the evacuations because they were primarily urbanized and well educated and generally supported the regime. Those evacuated included scientists, skilled workers, and government officials. Some sources suggest that as many as one-half to two-thirds of Ukranian Jews managed to escape east and avoid the NAZI Holocaust. A factor here was where they lived. The furthur east they lived, the more chance they had to evacuate.
Many Russians both in the Ukraine and Russia itself see the growth of Ukranian national identity as a threat because they have never fully accepted the disolution of the Soviet Union. The largest minority group is the Russians (15-20 percent). The Ukraine's long history as part of the Tsarist Empire and the long border with Russia explains the Russian presence. The Russian minority poses a lot of potentially thory problems. They are concentrated in the eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula which was only recently transferred to the Ukraine, decission Nikita Khruschev was primarily responsible (1954). And many Russians see themselves as not a minority in a Ukranian state, but the dominant ethnic group of a larger Russian-Ukrainian society. And many Russians in Russia itself have this outlook. As aresult, here isresistance to the very idea of Ukranian indeppendence, not only among Ukraine's Eussian minority, but among Russians in the Russian Federation.
Another important minority is the Crimean Tartars. The Crimean Tartars and other Muslims suffered under Stalin's
atheism campaign supressing religions. As a result, many Tartars and other Muslims supported the Germans as a liberting force. Some joined the German military. The same occurred with other Muslim groups in the Caucaues. After the Red Army liberated the Crimean during World War II, Stalin accused the Tartats of collaboration and ordered the Crimean tartars deported (May 1944). Acting on the personal command of Stalin (May 11, 1944) the NKVD in two days (May 18-19), conducted a horific deportation operation, transporting some 240,000 people to Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhykistan and inner-Russia). Most were transported under terrible conditions. Many perished. Greeks, Bulgars, Azerbaijanis were also deported. After the War dempbilized soldiers an people liberated in tthe Reich were also deported. After Stalin's death (1953), some Crimean Tartars managed to return. One 1899 reported 20,000 Crimean Tartrs lived in Crimea. Crimean tatars were the modern indigenous population (one of the youngest ethnic groups in Europe) of the Crimean peninsula. hey are as aesult of Stalin's NKVD depoerations today only a small minority. Interestnigly, the Crimea is one of the most ancient stage of human dispersion in Europe. The Crimean peninsula was part of the Ukrainian Republic since ikita Khrushtchev gifted this territory to Ukraine as a commemoration signe to the 300th anniversary of the Russia–Ukraine condord (1954). President Putinordered a military invasion to take the Crimea back from the Ukraine (It was populated by Tartats, people of Asiaticv origins. Today the Crimean Tartars are well integrated into Ukranian/Russian society. The Tartars were, however, early enemies of the Slavic peoples. The Tartars were the inheritors of the Mongol Empire. Even after being beaten back by Russian armies, they maintained their presence on the Crimean Peninsula.
There are a large number of additional, but generally small ethnic minorities in the Ukraine.
Korostelina, Karyna. Research Professor and Fulbright New Century Scholar Fellow at George Mason Universtiy. , and a former Regional Exchange Scholar at the Kennan Institute. Kennan Institute talk, 2003.
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