Nationalism And Imperialism In Ukraine: An Analysis

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On November 21, 2013, Ukraine's President, Viktor Yanukovych decided to pull out of a treaty with the European Union to be in close touch with Russia, prompting protests in Ukraine's capital, Kiev. Nationalism and Imperialism played an immense role in this event. The Ukrainians in this situation were exhibiting elements of nationalism, reason being is that they want to be part of the European Union and not Russia; so, by protesting, they wanted the president to know that Ukraine is much more superior than Russia and more superior than the government. Russia on the other hand, was exhibiting imperialism because they wanted to acquire the land of Crimea, which belonged to Ukraine.

A common language is a key element of nationalism. The western side of Ukraine speaks Ukrainian, which is the official language of the country, but the majority of the eastern side of Ukraine speaks Russian. When President Yanukovych announced that he rejected an offer with the European Union and accepted a fifteen billion bailout from Vladimir Putin (Russia’s President), numerous Ukrainians (especially in the western part) were outraged and betrayed. They felt that way because Yanukovych was basically selling them out and they were not in total agreement with him. The eastern part of Ukraine was "okay" with it per se because they want to be closely allied with Russia. I believe that the reason why they want to be part of Russia is because they speak the language, they are accustomed to Russian culture and celebrate Russian holidays, and they identify themselves as ethnically Russian.

Land is another essential element of nationalism. Ukraine was (or still is) having an identity crisis because the country is wedged between two continents, E...

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...ower would expand while the Ottoman Empire was declining and Europe was not in acceptance of that situation. France, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire teamed up to eventually defeat Russia and Russia did not get to Crimea.

This current event is very relevant to our topic in class because we’ve been learning about nationalism and imperialism in the 19th century and how it helped unify countries and such. Like the Italian unification they did everything they could get Austria off the country. Ukrainians are doing the same by protesting and rebelling; so, that they can show that they are way more superior than Russian. On March of 2014, Putin signed a treaty that would state that Crimea is part of Russia, sadly. The western pull of Ukraine and Russia is not new; it has been going on for centuries. Ukraine needs is stability so that it can grow to have its own identity.

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