Appendix. Milestone Moments in History That Explain the 2022 Invasion

(Pilger, 2017)

“War is like a game of chess... but with this little difference, that in chess a knight is always stronger than a pawn, while in war a battalion is sometimes stronger than a division and sometimes weaker than a company.

Social media loves lists: Ten ways to lose weight; seven low-impact exercises; five hacks that will put you to sleep. I offer you here a list of 11 historical data points to understand the current Ukrainian war. What this list shows is that empires rise and fall in an unending struggle for advantage and domination. The answer to the “why” question seems to be that, as soon as nation states gain power and influence, they long for more. They gain “more” either by direct conquest or by forging alliances for mutual self interest. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine shows that Russia seeks to conquer, while Ukraine seeks to ally itself with the Nato Bloc. To summarize—

1. 9th century: Kyivan Rus’—Vikings settle in the Ukraine and establish a pirate kingdom.

2. 1654: Pereiaslav Agreement—the Russian Tsar gives the Cossacks the mandate to rule Ukraine in exchange for defending Russia against the Poles.

3. 1876: The Ems Act—Tsar Alexander II bans all Ukrainian-language literature in Ukraine.

4. 1918: Ukrainian Independence—which lasted only three years until being absorbed by the USSR.

5. 1932-33: The Holodomor—Stalin’s genocide of four million Ukrainians in one winter.

6. 1945: The Enlarged Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic—the victorious Red Army restores Ukrainian-speaking areas to the state of Ukraine after WWII, but extends Russian control via the USSR.

7. 1954: The Transfer of the Crimean Peninsula—Khrushchev engineers the return of Crimea to Ukraine as its natural territory.

8. 1991: The collapse of the Soviet Union—Ukraine begins its third period of self-determination in 800 years.

9. 2014: The Annexation of Crimea and the War in the Donbas—Putin moves to re-establish a “New-USSR” consisting of former provinces of Ukraine promoted to nation status.

10. 2019: Split Between Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox—the Ukrainian branch became “self-led,” taking control back from the Moscow Patriarch Kiril after three centuries of Russian control.

11. 2021: Russia Amasses Forces on the Ukraine Border While Denying Its Intention to Attack—Putin delivers an ultimatum to NATO to stop interfering in Ukraine, arguing a military threat to Russia. Zelensky pursues a plan for inclusion in NATO and EU, arguing national sovereignty.

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