Putin’s Inaccurate Historical Propaganda : The History of the Russian and Ukrainian Relations

Links to humanitarian organizations helping Ukrainian Refugees.
RESOURCES FOR UKRAINIAN REFUGEES AND SUPPORTERS
-docs.google.com/document/u/1/...
Polish Government Websites for Refugees seeking help
-www.gov.pl/web/ua
-pomagamukrainie.gov.pl/
Slovak Government Websites for Refugees seeking help
-ua.gov.sk/?csrt=1784813597448...
-pomocpreukrajinu.sk/
Estonian Websites helping refugees
-www.pagulasabi.ee/en
Information for Ukrainians escaping to Germany/Switzerland/Poland
-www.lphr.org/en/info-flucht/
Romanian Website helping Ukrainian Refugees
-www.gov.ro/ro/ucraina-impreun...
Hungarian Website helping Ukrainian Refugees
-helsinki.hu/wp-content/upload...
Websites to help find shelter for Ukrainians across Europe.
-www.eu4ua.org/
- / ukrainiansfindahost
-www.ukraineshelter.com/en?fbc...
-www.host4ukraine.com/
-everybedhelps.com/?fbclid=IwA...
-www.ukrainenow.org/looking-fo...
-wunderflats.com/page/ukraine/...
How you can help Ukraine- how-to-help-ukraine-now.super...
Links to donate to various Ukrainian Institutions- help-ukraine.carrd.co/
With the help of my friends and other humanitarian organizations I tried my best to find as many links and as much information as possible. If there are any problems with the information provided or you have extra information you would like to add please share them in the comments.
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0:00 Introduction
1:22 Kievan Rus'
2:54 Polish/Lithuanian/Mongol/Muscovite Period
3:55 Appropriation of the name Rus' & the Legacy of the Kievan Rus' by Muscovy
6:08 Russian Conquest & Russification
9:45 Early 20th Century
15:14 WW2 & Late 20th Century
22:08 21st Century & Language Laws
26:08 Conclusion
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#history #russia #ukraine #ProjectUkraine

[@MLaserHistory]

Extra Information & Clarifications Sources for all my videos are in the bibliography of my scripts available for free to download on my Patreon. www.patreon.com/mlaser?filters[tag]=script This video is not suppose to address every single inaccurate historical statement made by Putin, nor is it suppose to be an all encompassing video on the entire history of the Russian and Ukrainian relations. I sadly did not have time to go into much detail about identity history, religion, linguistics, ethnicity and how all these played a role in the history of the Russian Ukrainian relations. The point of this video is to introduce some of the basic historical facts about the Russian and Ukrainian relations and how this history is being inaccurately presented by Putin to justify his war. 0:26 Links to the articles shown in the video and also other extra information made by historians. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2022-02-28-competing-identities-past-and-future-russia-and-ukraine www.ox.ac.uk/news/features/analysis-putins-imperial-ambitions-and-ukraines-300-year-road-statehood blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2020/07/01/there-is-no-ukraine-fact-checking-the-kremlins-version-of-ukrainian-history/?fbclid=IwAR19mdATGB18xcIXv7BMGqVxh7cxLj0OD2vQ9dJ7wHuZn6WwVa7UkLB9bhc www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/ukraine-ww2-roots-conflict-podcast-keith-lowe/ foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/07/russia-war-ukraine-maps/ twitter.com/OxHistorian/status/1499746963398475779?s=20&t=bh-rQBGU0mXcGJmZvtQAjg www.cam.ac.uk/stories/ukraine-needs-solidarity-not-crimnesia huri.harvard.edu/news/putin-historical-unity 0:45 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Historical_Unity_of_Russians_and_Ukrainians 2:47 By the time of the Mongol invasion the idea of the Kievan Rus' as some sort of a single entity still existed. The nominal head of the Kievan Rus', usually the Prince of Kiev, and the eldest male member of the Rurikid dynasty, was supposed to hold power over the rest of the Rus' princess but in reality this was never really the case. 3:47 1480 is usually given as the date of Muscovite independence from the the Golden Horde but in reality there where many rebellions, treaties, back and forth, which gradually gave Muscovy more autonomy and power until they eventually became officially independent. 3:47 What is interesting, however, is that “There was nothing inevitable about Moscow’s rise to pre-eminence.” Moscow just happened to be the town that accumulated the most wealth and power but it didn’t have to be. If there happened to be some enterprising leaders in some other town we could have been talking today about Ryazan. The Formation of Muscovy Robert Crummey, p. 29. 4:13 The apostrophe at the end of the word Rus' is suppose to be pronounced as a Slavic soft 'i' but, in English pronunciation this last letter is omitted and since I am talking in English I did not pronounce it. 4:13 The word Rus', in it's earliest iteration, was originally supposed to only denote Norse people born and living in Eastern Europe who were one way or another connected with the land and its peoples (think of Ahmad ibn Fadlan's accounts for example). This name, however, over the course of the existence of the Kievan Rus' became to define the entire population of the Kievan Rus'. Since majority of the population of the Kieven Rus' was Slavic and, those who were not sooner or later assimilated into the larger Slavic population, the word Rus', by the end of the Kievan Rus', was used as an ethnonym for all the Eastern Slavs in general. I go into more detail about the etymology of this word in my Early East Slavic History video. 4:13 Ethnicity in the middle ages is complicated and I didn't really have time to get into it right now. If you want to know more read; Geary, Patrick J. The Myth of Nations : The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2002. 6:09 Of course there was a back and forth between Russia and the Commonwealth with many Ukrainians playing a part on both sides. The Russian conquest of Eastern Europe wasn't a one single event. Also, I am sorry, but there was just no time to talk about the Cossack Hetmanate. A Cossack state which arguably could be called one of the first Ukrainian polities that existed largely as a Russian vassal from the mid 17th century to the 18th century. 7:25 Ukrainian was one of multiple words that got used as identifiers by Ukrainians. Other words where Ruthenians, Little Rus' (although this one has some negative imperial connotations with it), Cossacks, etc. I did not talk about the Cossacks in this video because there was really no time. If you want to know more about them and what kind of a role they played in Ukrainian history and identity go read this article by an LSE professor. blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2020/07/01/there-is-no-ukraine-fact-checking-the-kremlins-version-of-ukrainian-history/?fbclid=IwAR19mdATGB18xcIXv7BMGqVxh7cxLj0OD2vQ9dJ7wHuZn6WwVa7UkLB9bhc 8:49 The word Little Russians came from the Patriarchal Eastern Orthodox divisions of the churches. Basically when the churches where being set up the Kyiv church was closer to Constantinople hence it was called Little Rus' church (in Byzantine Greek little and great can also mean distance like "great distance away") and the Muscovite church was further away hence it was called Greater Rus' Church. These words were suppose to denote nothing more than their distance from Constantinople but they later started to be used as the identifiers of the people who followed the respective churches in Kyiv or the one in Moscow. 9:27 Despite the Habsburg not cracking down on Ukraine as such, it was, for the most part, seen as a peasants language and culture, and Ukrainian speakers were not looked at with high value. Therefore, if one chose to actually embark on any meaningful carrier in the Austro-Hungarian Empire they usually had to learn German or Hungarian, and, in some instances, even Polish was more preferable over Ukrainian. Ukrainians, over all, as an ethnic group, weren't so actively suppressed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire as in the Russian Empire but, as many minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they were also not treated as equals. 11:27 There were several competing attempts by Ukrainians and Russians alike to establish a Ukrainian Socialist Republic in the aftermath of the war. There was the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets, etc. They all fought for control in the Ukrainian-Soviet War and where intermittently supported and denounced by the Russian Bolsheviks. They also had multiple members between them switching sides. Ultimately the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, which where the last and final party supported by Moscow, won and later renamed to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and joined the USSR. I did not mention this in the video because it all gets very confusing very fast. 12:52 There was the one main Narkomnat headed by Stalin but in reality the Narkomnats were a collegium of multiple institutions set up in the constituent states like Ukraine. They were suppose to prepare plans on how autonomy of various constituents state was to be handled in the USSR and how a complete civil equality for all citizens could be reached. The Narkomnats where a direct response by the Bolsheviks to the Ukrainian opposition to joining the USSR with their Ukrainian People's Republic. The Narkomnats did not only use their knowledge of "censuses, historical studies, and ethnographic, geographic, and linguistic surveys" for nation building within the framework of the USSR but also to more effectively force incompliant states into the USSR. Such as Georgie or Ukraine. The Narkomnats were definitely not perfect but they also definitely did not create "arbitrarily formed administrative units". 14:10 This entire centralization of power stemmed from an opposition to an earlier Soviet plan, pushed forth by Lenin, called korenizatsiya. This plan promoted indigenes cultures and languages within each of the socialist republic. The reasonings for this were very complicated and couldn't be explained quickly in a short video (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korenizatsiya). Basically under Stalin, Russification once again began to be a state policy in the USSR. 14:30 I don't have time to get into the Holodomor watch these videos for more information. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGXKf6avfJV-edU kzbin.info/www/bejne/n56Qd4yQqphlpM0 16:01 Czechia: Emanuel Moravec France: Robert Brasillach Slovakia: Jozef Tiso Poland: Blue Police Russia: Bronislav Kaminski Of course, there were many more Nazi collaborators in all these countries than I have listed. These are just examples. 18:36 I forgot to mention it in the video but the Tatars were a sizable minority in Crimea by the end of WW2. In reality their numbers have been steadily declining due to russification and last time they were a majority in Crimea was in 1861. 20:18 31.7% of Urban families where also of mixed heritage so also think of that when looking at ethnic demographics. Rapawy, Stephen. "Ethnic reidentification in Ukraine", (1997). 21:26 There were several other same treaties signed in Budapest with other post Soviet countries like Belarus and Kazakhstan. 22:22 I will not go into detail of the modern events as there are plenty of articles explaining it (e.g. www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/why-russia-attacked-ukraine.html, www.vox.com/2022/2/23/22948534/russia-ukraine-war-putin-explosions-invasion-explained, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity). 23:25 There are also various regional language laws some of which are far harsher than the national ones but some of these are currently legally being disputed and also differ from region to region.

[@kormannn1]

21:15 didn't Crimea wanted to be independent both from Ukraine and Russia after the fall of USSR?

[@MLaserHistory]

@@kormannn1 No, at the end of USSR in 1990 Crimea was elevated by the USSR to a "Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" this republic then, one year later when Ukraine declared independence, declared itself to be a "sovereign constituent part of Ukraine". A referendum for this was then held which I talked about in the video and which was in favor of independence. Crimea, however, joined Ukraine not just as another oblast but as an "Autonomous Republic of Crimea" within Ukraine. A status it held until the 2014 annexation. What is interesting is that the oblasts of Odessa and Zakarpathia, during the independence referendum, voted not just in favor of independence but also in favor (around 80%) to be granted an Autonomous Republic status within Ukraine just like Crimea was. This was, however, ignored by the Kyiv government despite the large number of non-Russian and non-Ukrainian minorities living in both of these regions. Ironically, despite Putin's claims, Crimea was treated the most fairest and equitable out of all the Oblasts in Ukraine. But that didn't fit well with his agenda so he had to change it up.

[@MLaserHistory]

​@@user-xr4bo3ln6f Yes, there where tensions between autonomous Crimea and Ukraine since the beginning as one wanted more autonomy and the other more direct control. The Crimean president who organized the referendum, Meshkov, wasn't poisoned, there's Russian propaganda claiming that Ukraine tried to poison him but since there's no evidence of this other then Russia saying it, I wouldn't trust it. He was, however, seized by Ukraine. This was because he was a huge pro-Russian and the Crimean parliament limited his power fearing his measures as the Crimean parliament, in accordance with the 1994 referendum, wanted more autonomy not succession and unification with Russia. Meshkov, however, had different plans. What exactly, is hard to say because he often contradicting himself but most likely succession and unification with Russia as it was later found out he was on the Russian payroll. In response to parliament limiting his powers he dissolved the Crimean parliament in September of 1994 (the referendum took place March of that year). Obviously Ukraine did not agree with any of this, nor did it approve the referendum meaning it was done illegally under Meshkov oversight. Ukraine, therefore, seized Meshkov, deported him to Russia, reestablished the Crimean parliament, and rewrote the Crimean constitution in order to be more in line with Ukraine. Basically the Kyiv government used the unrest in Crimea in their favor to give less autonomy to Crimea which was the opposite of what Crimean people wanted. The Crimean referendum itself wasn't technically in favor of succession or unification with Russia but in favor of granting large autonomy to Crimea. But this didn't happen due to the rewriting of the constitution. This new constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was agreed upon by also Russia who, among other things, agreed with it in the 1997/8 Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty. So the whole situation, as with anything in history, is complex. Ukraine wanted more direct control and Crimea wanted more autonomy. But never did Crimea officially state that it wanted to be part of Russia or succeed from Ukraine.

[@poziloyxoichik3041]

Why don't you talked about the policy of "коренизации" or corenisation in the USSR during 1920 and early 1930? With the help of this policy, local people(including ukranians) were finally able to govern themselves, instead of being govern by russians as it was in empire. And yes, Bolsheviks created ukranian soviet socialist republic not because they could not control it without the help of locals. They could, because, by that time, Ukranian national identity was weak(Because of russification and because the whole idea of "ukranian people" came very late, in the mid-late 19 century). The Bolsheviks created the Republic because they were the internationalist and supporters of people's self determination. As most of Bolsheviks themselves were Jews and Ukrainians(it was because of repressive policy towards the minorities in empire). Sorry for such a long comment, but I hope that you will read it and understand (I'm from Russia). Despite the fact, that I disagree with some things in the video, overall it is good.

[@ketelin4285]

@@MLaserHistory And how you see the situation of the separatist republics today ? From what i know these were always part of Russia and i think after all the separatist war they will not be eager to join the Ucraine . The tatar posession of Crimeea is quite far fetched , ie is like advocating to give the the US to the native americans if we are talking about 1700's . Btw are there similarities with Catalonia ? Ie , different language but the teritories were under a single crown over history ?

[@tomaskukucka9164]

As a fellow Slovak, i can't help but think that this world-class take on Putin's claims would be quite useful translated to our own language as well. Producing your content in English is of course absolutely reasonable in an English-speaking online world, but i'd say a lot of our neighbours don't have the possibility or the will to access counterpoints to Russian narrative in such a palatable format as this video of yours, and simply fall victim to it and adapt it as their own unchallenged opinion. Being from Slovakia, you surely know to what kind of political situation it leads - where questionable populist politicians make use of such an opinionated population, and how critically thinking some of our neighbours are (not :/). Would you perhaps consider translating this excellent piece to Slovak, or perhaps collaborating with some of our local KZbin channels please? It might really make a difference in people who "just don't know whom to trust" and a well-presented counterpoint might go a long way! :)

[@0DarkWolfSVK]

Would love this to be done

[@DavidKubesa]

I also think that this is a good idea, especially after I read several statements from some Slovak politicians. Edit: and to be fair, of course also from some Czech ones.

[@lucasroach7835]

And then put on television so our less connected rural citizens can watch :D

[@MrPrince600]

or he could make slovak subtitles

[@iroxursoxwithjello]

This!!! I was gonna share it on facebook for my uncle in Bardejov who's praying Russia comes all the way to bratislava, but ofc he doesnt speak english. Please make a slovak version of this video!

[@dmitriygryaznov9210]

TBH, I doubt this video would change any minds, but thank you anyway for taking the time to make it as a good reference is always good to have.

[@MLaserHistory]

Perhaps, but at least it helps give people information and put some things into context for the ones that don't know that much about it.

[@katarinajanoskova]

Maybe. But I don't think it's designed so much to changed minds as to inform. Although I'd say I have have always enjoyed history and grew up in a country neighbouring Ukraine, would have been hard pressed to say much about it (or its history) three weeks ago.

[@Artur_M.]

There are plenty of people around the world that either know nothing about the history of Ukraine or what little they learned came from side notes to the history of Russia, which absolutely dominates how the history of the whole 'Eastern Europe' is presented in the 'West'. So I'd say that a video such as this is very needed.

[@abroamg]

It changed my mind, I saw the former ussr country's as one people but I am against Russia forcing reunification ect. So now I won't consider them the same but similar with a complicated history :)

[@dmitriygryaznov9210]

@@abroamg That's great to hear! Perhaps my original comment was too deeply colored with an Eastern European's perception of the situation.

[@maximilienrobespierre7927]

I've been born and raised in Kyiv. I speak both Russian and Ukrainian - although I can barely write in Russian (can read it tho). And here's another funny consequence of the centuries of russification: I have a very ethnically Ukrainian surname. Only a few years ago I realized that our while life, everyone in my family were pronouncing it the Russian way. The way I realized that is, after moving to the US, and speaking English on a daily basis, I noticed that when saying my surname in English, I defaulted to switching the emphasis on a different syllable. Which happened to make my name sound more similar to other famous Ukrainian names thag end with the "enko" ending - such as Shevchenko, Honcharenko, Fomenko, etc. And then it hit me.

[@NationalistVietnamese]

To le guilotine!

[@xaafuzckers9196]

Robespierrenko

[@aspacelex]

It's important to remember that even if Ukraine was an entirely ethnically Russian country, the invasion would still be wrong, just like it was wrong when Hitler attacked the Sudetenland.

[@gogolghosh5426]

Correct

[@mazinmazin2991]

why?

[@aspacelex]

@@mazinmazin2991 Because a state claiming to represent an ethnicity doesn't get to invade independent nations where that ethnicity is also present and/or prominent.

[@damianpos8832]

@@aspacelex tell that to Israel

[@matthewsteele99]

@@damianpos8832 nice false equivalence

[@PakBallandSami]

putin: ukraine once was a part of russia we are just taking it back literally every country with had an empire once: hold my beer

[@slimpickens32]

He really, really didn't think this through. Every country has a "best of" map showing them as a great empire, or at least "traditional territories" that no longer belong to it. Looking at you Konigsberg, I mean Kaliningrad.

[@ToaOfFusion]

Imagine if Britain used that line of logic to justify invading the US or Canada

[@gguy3600]

Mongolia: *casually claims nearly all of Russia*

[@slimpickens32]

@@gguy3600 Them's the rules.

[@januarysson5633]

@@slimpickens32 And Kaliningrad belonged to Germany before World War II. Maybe Putin will give it back in the cause of ideological consistency. 😉

[@PoliticswithPaint]

Thank you for your input. The history of Eastern Europe is really complex and really hard to compress in a short video. The Rusyns in particular are quite fascinating to me, a lot of people don't even know they exist.

[@PakBallandSami]

your videos are way batter then M. Laser

[@whitegoose2017]

The greatest lie that Putin himself believes is that the Eastern Slavs are one people - Russians. That just simply isn't true. Look at Germans for example. There's Bavarians, Swabians, Austrians, et cetera, so on. Even in smaller countries like Finland these divisions exist. There are Karelians and Ingrians whom unfortunately have almost completely been absorbed into the Finnish cultural identity, but they're still there. Historically there's many more and the remnants of those sub-cultures are deeply ingrained in the local dialects that persist even though we have a standardized Finnish language, which is taught to everyone.

[@luka1608]

@@whitegoose2017 Umderstand your point but why are they called Ukrainians??? Why not other name??? Because Ukraine means Krajina which means border.

[@whitegoose2017]

​@@luka1608 There's historical precedence for that actually. Ukrainians (Ruthenians as they were called once upon a time) have been a part of many different empires and they were always the borderlands. As part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Golden Horde, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and as it turns out being part of the Russian Empire is only a brief moment in the history of the region. Krajina is a Slavonic word, which means border in many Slavonic languages and in such a way it isn't surprising at all that Ukrainians see themselves as a borderland. Question just is whose borderland, well, they think it is theirs. Historically in all the lands everywhere the borders usually got shafted first, like raided and pillaged. They were the first to suffer.

[@olya896]

@@luka1608 word край has several meanings. Just use translation and you'll see. First of all it's a land))

[@hdufort]

This is a great video. One component to the Ukrainian identity is missing. The Cossacks of the Black Sea coast, and how Ukraine briefly unified with them to try to secure a fully independent kingdom.

[@MLaserHistory]

I mean there's a bunch of stuff missing. The whole Cossack history, ideology, and later interpretations by Ukrainian thinkers is missing. I just couldn't really talk about it as again this video is not suppose to be all encompassing or even can be all encompassing.

[@sebastiansmatana4552]

Okay so this is actually something that interests me i love history and i hate the practice of obscuring or changing historical facts in favor of political agenda but im kind of in the dark when it comes to connection between Ukrainians and Cossacks. Since i heard many many Ukrainians essentially stating that Ukrainians are Cossacks or that they have Cossack heritage not as individual but as a nation But to my knowledge Cossacks are a different i guess ethnic group tbh i don't even know how to classify them

[@desudesudesudesudesudesu]

​@@sebastiansmatana4552 Cossacks aren't really an ethnicity, but rather a class term. The original Cossacks, in a lot of cases, were Ruthenian (Ukrainian) peasants who ran away to practically ungoverned frontiers in the border with the Crimean Tatars (who frequently raided said frontier), many times to escape oppression from the Polish szlachta or to seek loot and fortune. They ended up forming an autonomous self-governing warrior republic centered around Sich, in Zaporizhia. This gets muddled up by both Poland and Muscovy employing "registered" Town Cossacks, which were mercenaries who were a lot of times looked at with disdain by the Zaporizhian cossacks, who commonly held an anti-Polish attitude. The existence of the Cossack Hetmanate which surged in 1648 from a rebellion further muddies the definition of Cossacks. It's arguably the first proto-Ukrainian state, it controlled most land around the Dnipro, but the Hetmanate's power base came from Town Cossacks, and they came to form essentially a non-polonised Ruthenian nobility. The Zaporizhian Sich still existed at the same time as the Hetmanate and voted for the Hetmans, its a bit confusing 😂 . The Hetmanate eventually fell into Muscovite vassalage (various attempts were tried for a formation of a Poland-Lithuanian-Ruthenian state by the town cossacks who just wished they had official noble status, again, very different from the wishes of the Zaporizhian cossacks who just wanted independence, self-governance and maybe even abolition of serfdom), some attempts at independence were tried, notoriably by Ivan Mazepa, but both the Hetmanate and the Zaporizhian cossacks ended up being destroyed by Catherine the Great. A lot of the Cossacks from the Hetmanate were integrated into the nobility as the author of the video said. Some of the remaining Zaporizhian cossacks eventually got "reintegrated" and got their own place in Kuban (current day Russia). Kuban rebelled during the Russian Civil War, and some Ukrainophile leaders wanted to unite with Ukraine (particularly, the Second Hetmanate, pro-German government ruled by Skoropadskyi, who claimed Cossack lineage). Kuban eventually got fully russified under Stalin. There are also the Don Cossacks, but those are primarily registered Cossacks from Russia, the Don Basin, and Sloboda Ukraine. Nowadays, Don Cossacks have a negative connotation with russified pro-war people, thanks to the Russian government employing "Neo-Cossack" groups, ie, basically big LARP military groups where you too can be a registered cossack™. After WW1 and especially after WW2, the Cossacks as a way of life, noble class and even military unit (ie registered) pretty much got slowly eradicated. There are no Cossacks anymore, outside of a few Ukrainian and Russian brigade designations.

[@myhal-k]

Concerning the status of the Rusyn language in Ukraine - it is a bit controversial, as the Transcarpathian regional administration actually recognized it as a distinct language in 2007. That, sadly, had no further implications, such as schools or publishing. Rusyn schools, or rather 'saturday schools' existed here up to 2017-2018, but they all were funded by people, zero funds from the government on this. Publishing books in Rusyn is a thing here, but once again, purely funded by authors themselves. On the other hand, I need to admit, that there is a Rusyn TV Show on state television (!), and I'm serious right now, it is called 'Русинська Родина' (basically 'a Rusyn Family'), so everything is not as bad as it might be. The official position of the government always rather to ignore the question altogether.

[@MLaserHistory]

As far as I understand it, it was an up and down thing. For example, after the 2012 language law Rusyn was even recognized as a minority language but that was than again repealed in the 2014 law and onwards. I mean as with anything in the video there's always more that can be said about the various topics in the video since my video was not suppose to be all encompassing rather than an introduction. Anyways, thanks for sharing all the information.

[@erenjeager1058]

@@MLaserHistory Hey. In your opinion, historically speaking would you say that Lviv is more Ukrainian or Polish? Since as fat as i am concerned theese teritories were concered by early Polish kings in the early middle ages. And they were always a part of the crown. They were taken from the Kievan Rus. The majority of todays Ukraine was concered by Lithuania and then found it self in Poland due to the mergere between Poland and Lithuania in 14th century. I think that Lviv was Polish much longer than Ukrainian. I am asking from a purely historical perspective not political i ofc fully support Ukrains independence especially since it lies in the political intreat of Poland. Im just curious of ur opinion. PS, Poland as a country never colaborared with nazis so we like do deny our involvement in the Holocaust because there was no involment. Cheers

[@myhal-k]

@@MLaserHistory sure thing, there's always more of a story to tell, that's why I'm trying to give my humble input too. So, while the Rusyn language isn't officially recognized and supported on a national level, the language itself is pretty much alive and publishing is happening thanks to particular individuals and authors

[@liveforever9888]

I live in eastern Slovakia very close to the Ukranian border living in and surrounded by rusyn villages. They all consider themselves cousins of Ukranians but not Ukranian.

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

@@liveforever9888 do they feel more affinity to any other country? Do they want go be their own independent country?

[@GuthlacYT]

I thoroughly enjoyed this! the Russo-Ukrainian war is an interesting reminder of the 19th century marrying together of ethnic and national identities, and it's one which I had naively hoped was no longer of concern in the modern world. It's an important service that the use and misuse of history by politicians is dissected and analysed. I wish it were less divisive to do so

[@justinemot2282]

Thank you! I also naively thought that ethnic and national identities aren't such a big deal. But it becomes a big deal when a country jumps out straight from the dark ages to annex another country and force the people to lie that they don't exist and never existed before.

[@LaplacianDalembertian]

All of these analogies with 20th century do not matter, todays Ukraine is a Hyper-Nazi-Terrorist state, first of such kind, after Al-Qaeda and ISIS. These two Al-Qaeda/ISIS weren't able to make their own state, but HNT-Ukraine did by hijacking already existing country in 2013. All 20th century parallels are unrelevant, it is completely new historical beast of Totalitarian type. Remember when there were people gatherings in Odessa because people were unhappy with electricity problem? All these people suddenly disappear, I guess they all are in the ground now. Only "good old totalitarians" of 20th century were wasting efforts on concentration camps, today in HNT-Ukraine they just bury those who disagree.

[@pauleugenio5914]

Thank you for this super well sourced video 👍😎 And extra credit for detailing not only when the source for a quote was published, but also the date you retrieved it 🌟👌

[@viatka1966]

As a Ukrainian I can't thank you enough for this video. I know that we aren't ideal, and I can agree that our laws may be harsh for ethnic minorities, yet I am certain these issues will be resolved in the future. You need to understand that for the past 8 years we were at war with Russia, and you cannot even imaginve the extent of propaganda war Russia waged against us. You agree to recognize rusyn language and their ethnicity? Be assured that in a month's time russians will use it to cause all manner of provocation to question your territorial integrity in that region. We have that story with hungarian minorities on the border, couple of years ago there was an issue people from that region had with the fact that they were forced to use ukrainian language while many people from the villages used hungarian or other languages. Hungary, being pro-russian, immediately jumped to the occasion and with the help of russian propaganda started creating the narrative that maybe those bordering territories should not be Ukrainian in the first place. It is very tiring to live under constant pressure like that, when your neighbors want to destabilise your country, constantly question your right for nationality, your regional integiry etc. In the face of such events it's all to easy to be a bit draconian with our laws to preserve our identity and territories. In the end of a day, we just want to be left alone, we do not want anything from anyone. If you check the map of UNR from 1918, you can see that there are a bunch more terriotories there than we have now - so what? We don't have any territorial claims even though we could, we do not question other countries territorial integrity based on the fact that they have ukrainian-speaking minorities, or because they mistreat ukrainians. I hope that the war will end in our victory, Russia will finially chill, and we can go back to peace times, when we can make laws and policies for the prosperity of all.

[@vladimirskala]

Territorial integrity is one of the bedrocks of international law. A prosperous Ukraine integrated into EU brings many more positives for the whole region than this preposterous annexation of Ukrainian territory (either by Russia or Hungary). We've had irredentism here before and it led to the biggest catastrophe in human history. Also, Ukraine will have to eventually realize that to be a member of the club it needs to bring its protection of minorities up to the EU standards. That will mean a recognition and support of the Rusyn minority, like in all the other EU countries where they live. Rusyns have been supporting Ukraine left and right, despite all the bad history. No one living in Rusyn homeland is clamoring for any territorial concessions.

[@gogolghosh5426]

@@robertabella1806 revisionist like you = history distortion

[@winterrising8738]

@@viatka1966 down with naazi ukraine, go russia!

[@Ebreh]

@@vladimirskala well Rusyns are the same as a Ukrainians, so there is no need to separate Ukrainian nation with creating a new one

[@vladimirskala]

@@Ebreh That is the same as saying Ukrainians are just little Russians so there is no need to split the great Russian nation and anyone who disagrees is a NAZI. Ironic. They tried to do this with our people in Slovakia. For 40 years under communism our people were forced to become Ukrainian. Ukrainian culture and education was forced on our people. School children failed because suddenly they had to learn in a language they didn't understand well and so they switched to Slovak (that was the case in my father's school). Our most famous folk ensembles had to pay lip service to the communist ethno-ideology by having musicians proficient in playing bandura (a completely foreign musical instrument to us, it's like forcing every Ukrainian folk ensemble to have musicians proficient in fujara, total nonsense) in order to qualify for funding. You may not realize this, but what you're saying is chauvinistic and it sounds exactly the same as what Russians keep saying about Ukrainians.

[@myhal-k]

In the light of what's happening today, I'd like to remind you all how the First Czechoslovak Republic came short with Subcarpathian Rus almost the same way they did with Crimea now. Not as that region was of any significance in terms of resources, but the scenario soviets performed back then was pretty similar. The faith of, per that time the autonomous subject of Czechoslovakia, was decided to join Ukrainian SSR while having only Czech and Russian representatives on the table. Not as if they asked any people from Subcarpathian Rus or Ukraine. Of course, many people in Subcarpathia were shifting their political views towards Ukrainian identity for a few decades by that time, but the very same ugly action from the 'bigger brother' to decide everything for the people, while ignoring their own voice, just makes me mad. As a Subcarpathian Rusyn, as a citizen of Ukraine, I just can't watch this horror going on again and again. WW2 destroyed my grandparents' lives, and now I'm facing the same story happening.

[@d0nutwaffle]

Hey, aren't you the person who was featured on Ecolinguist's Rusyn episodes? Best wishes for you and family from Poland.

[@firmonkey8782]

В 1946 году жители Закарпатья хотели войти напрямую в состав РСФСР. Но Сталин определил их в УССР, где их записали в украинцы. В своё время и галичане считали себя русинами, но власти Австро Венгрии истребили тех, кто имел твёрдую русскую идентичность, а уцелевшие бежали в Россию и другие страны. Среди оставшихся утвердили украинскую идентичность. Австро венгры так сделали, поскольку боялись, что Галиция добровольно уйдёт в состав России. Но на Закарпатье русины сохранились. Оно, в отличие от Галиции, входило в венгерскую часть государства. А там была своя политика: венгры не искореняли неугодные самоопределения, вместо этого они заставляли подвластные им народы учить свой язык. Благодаря этому мы знаем, кто такие русины, и украинцы ещё могут обратно стать русскими, которыми они были раньше.

[@myhal-k]

@@firmonkey8782 there are, quite surprisingly, some accurate historical facts among what you're listing here. But also, modern Russians also have a chance to once again become Buriats, Sakha, Chud, Meria, Karels, and many many more nations! I wish you guys good luck with coming back to the roots.

[@firmonkey8782]

@@myhal-k вы сторонник теории о том, что русские это финно угры?)) Может быть, русские ещё и историю Руси украли?

[@freikorpsdamonisch8127]

@@myhal-k ахах, красиво підколов московита, дякую.

[@ACruelPicture]

16:30: Ukrainians: Bless you! You have freed us! Erich Koch: I wouldn't say "freed". More like "under new management"

[@lemkowithhistory]

Fantastic job mentioning Rusyns here. It is unfortunate we have been used as political pawns once again by forces greater than our own.

[@MLaserHistory]

1918 coming back around again.

[@hedgeclipper418]

For people who think this linguistic nationalism is somehow unprecedented in democratic countries, consider that Quebec currently has a law almost identical to Ukraine's law. This is called Bill 101, and forces the vast majority of the population to study in French. L'Office Québécois de la Langue Française also enforces the policy that non-French communications must always have a French translation. Actually, all these language laws sound just like Quebec. It something that linguistic groups do when they feel threatened by immersion in a larger language group. It's petty and it's nationalistic, but it's by no means "genocide".

[@lenas6246]

"petty"? You realise that those laws were adopted AFTER russaia alredy invaded? Did i miss the genoceide of quebec by the rest of canada? You are both settlers anyway, which is also not the case in ukraine

[@guydreamr]

@@lenas6246 All lands outside the savannas of Africa, where humankind first evolved, are ultimately occupied by "settlers."

[@Casper_Coffins]

here from a plug oversimplified made to come visit you. your coverage on the topic was excellent and indepth. well done!

[@ataitokoev3572]

Just a small note: russians were a biggest ethnic group even before WW2 and all deportations. In 1926 census 42% of population was russian (tatars 25%). If we look at 1897 census, then the percentage of russians will be still very high - 33% (tatars 35%), so it's not right to assume that crimea was majority tatar before WW2. I'm not justifying russian annexation of Crimea ofc, but yea, russians did live in crimea for more than a century and were the biggest ethnic group there.

[@MLaserHistory]

Yes, that was my mistake. Since about the 1864 census (50.3% Tatars) onwards the Tatars were a minority in Crimea, before then they were a large majority, around 85%. Their numbers steadily declined due to strong Russification measures and at the turn of the century there were 35% and round 25% in the 1920s. The WW2 deportation was mostly the last nail in the coffin which has been building up since the mid 19th century.

[@lenas6246]

aha because this is how long they were genociding crimean tatars

[@gitarbro2175]

The question of Crimea it's not about ethnic groups here, it's about international low, anexing Crimea into Russia is bad, because the way, how it done(i mean against internetional low, ukrainian constitution and etc.) You can't ocuppie part of enother country only because of "historicly russian region" or because of "russian-speaking peolple" We had it in 19 and 20 sentury, and we understood, that it's bad way to recognise the borders of different countries, so we made an international low to do it By the way, just a small reminder, if one country can ocuppie enother, with the same arguments, wich now and in 2014 uses russian propaganda, we will make third world war in Europe, because there is no ethnicly monument country(even in Europe)

[@mykytka7133]

Russians and Ukrainians were counted as one thing during Russian rule. They wanted to create "Three-united Russian people"

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

As someone with a quarter Ukrainian ancestry (my grandmother's family is from Lviv), I found this video interesting!

[@LordDark102]

Lwów was majority Polish and only after about 1947 majority Ukrainian so you might not be so Ukrainian.

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

@@LordDark102 The last name from that side doesn't really sound Polish, though.

[@steadyjumper3547]

If you do believe in Russia Reasoning, they why can’t the British empire unite, the Roman, the German. You see it’s a slippery slope before everyone does it and we’re right back where we started in 1939

[@victormanuelalonsoalbert7287]

It's like if Tunisia could gain all of the original Carthaginian land or a random island in the pacific could unite Madagascar,Sri Lanka,the Malay Archipielago,Taiwan and all of the pacific islands (besides Australia) because of them all being related to polynesians

[@charliemagnebautista2902]

@@victormanuelalonsoalbert7287 if Putin saying Ukraine was once part of Russia so it was justifiably invaded now so can Mongolia invade half of Asia again?

[@victormanuelalonsoalbert7287]

@@charliemagnebautista2902 Yep,but Ukraine can do a reverse with the Kievan Rus

[@charliemagnebautista2902]

@@victormanuelalonsoalbert7287 tbh i think the Russian military is somehow overhyped

[@boku5192]

Watching this I've remembered a thing that bothers me about Rusyns, which is that if the eastern part of Czechoslovakia had not been randomly cut of and given to Ukraine during USSR, almost all Rusyns would be now living in Slovakia enjoying much greater freedom of national expression than in Ukraine. Now they are just scattered between Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland. I feel kind of bad for them. To me they seem to be the most affected victims of "nobody asked us" phenomena of USSR. Curios what other Slovaks/Rusyns/Ukrainians think about this.

[@MLaserHistory]

I have a Rusyn friend who, jokingly, describes his ethnos as the "Slavic Gypsies". Perhaps not the most "pc" term but it does go to show how some Rusyns might think of themselves, their history, and the way they have been treated by others.

[@boku5192]

@@MLaserHistory Strange but makes sense. :-/

[@Darkknight-qe5ls]

@@MLaserHistory ukranian are gypsies

[@lenas6246]

you wont find any support for any kind of separatism in ukraine right now for obviuous reasons. The reason ukraine wants crimea back even though its histoircally the land of three other indigenous groups is that the rule of law has to be restored, meaning everyone has to get back to 1991 borders. A sensible thing would be to recognize rusyn as a language and treat it like other minority languages. Also governmental support for various minority cultures would be nice, kinda like some things that are now done for crimean tatars. Idk what to do with russian "minority" though

[@thecringekid5744]

22:29 While representing Moldova as being part of the EU/Romania is very based, it sadly isn't accurate at this moment.

[@ArturSchopenhauer]

Hey, I'm also Polish (Pomerania) and I almost exclusively watch KZbin in English. Your voice and English are really good! Keep making more videos - only way is up for you! Subbed!

[@theeternalsuperstar3773]

As a Pomeranian Pole, does it ever weird you out that the place where you like was populated almost exclusively by Germans for almost 1,000 years? I'm not accusing Poland of steeling land, It's just something I was wondering about.

[@Artur_M.]

This is a great video, explaining a lot of stuff I've been occasionally ranting about in the KZbin comments for over a decade now, except far better. Of course much more could be added in details. There were some particular bits, which I feel specifically compelled to comment about due to my Polish perspective but maybe I'll do that later in separate comments (or in responses to other comments). Anyway, for years I wished for the people in the 'west' and in the whole world to pay more attention to the history of this part of Europe. I never imagined my wish would kinda come true in such terrible circumstances. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

[@MLaserHistory]

Ou man I am waiting for some semantic comment about the quick throwaway line about Poles liking to deny they had Nazi collaborators. God knows I already got a bunch of those comments even though my whole point was that just because a country had collaborators that does not represent the entire population/country or their experiences during WW2. Anyways, this video could have been far better but I also wanted it out as soon as possible so I kind of compromised I guess. It's not that great but it was out in 2 weeks so positives and negatives.

[@Artur_M.]

@@MLaserHistory Yeah... I also had in mind many things specifically about the Polish-Ukrainian relations, but on the second thought it could easily divert the focus from the main topic. There could also probably be a whole another video (or a series) about the role of the Rus'/Ruthenian/East Slavic culture and language(s) within Poland-Lithuania, especially the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania.

[@Artur_M.]

@@MLaserHistory Sorry, I accidentally posted my previous comment before finishing it. It's edited now. Pro tip: don't write comments while in a tram.

[@MLaserHistory]

@@Artur_M. OU yeah there's like a billion other things I could have talked about. Such is the nature of the topic when I try to cover 1200 or so years of history in one video.

[@Artur_M.]

@@MLaserHistory BTW a Polish 'HistoryTuber' ThrashingMadPL just droped a video essentially attempting to do the same as you did with this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6Oslo2mgLqposk It's in Polish and doesn't have English subtitles yet but I think you might find it interesting.

[@IliyanStoychev]

Thank you for the video. I am Bulgarian and we have a similar issue with N.Macedonia. We claim that we are one people, basically what Putin is saying, but the countries changed. Can you research it independentely and make a video regarding that issue. My question is - when Bulgarians claim that N. Macedonians are Bulgarians, but with a new artificial ethnic identity, have they any solid ground to stay and metaphorically? It's also an extremely interesting topic in similar light to the current video you have uploaded, but with a Balkan tinge. I guess I have my biases as a Bulgarian, although I've read alot of history. N. Macedonians(alot of them atleast), we already, they are more than biased. Can you make a video in which you, as an un-biased Slovak, justly research this issue and present it to us? If you do it, please start from medieval up through modern and even contemporary(?) history.

[@MLaserHistory]

I mean the main thing to consider in the Macedonian topic or even in this Russian Ukrainian topic is that ethnicity is a social construct. Meaning a society constructs it. However, the added caveat is that part of what defines ethnicity is the idea that it must be perceived as biological, natural, despite it being a social construct. On top of that, ethnicity is very rarely deliberately constructed and often is created within social situations like the Ukrainians living under Polish-Lithuanian control for multiple centuries or the Bulgaro-Slavs of Macedonia living under Serbian and Byzantine control on multiple occasions. In the end what creates an ethnicity is a combination of internal identifiers and external approvals which are perceived to be biological and natural by a population through psychological factors like kin-selection. Macedonians and Ukrainians and in-fact any recognized ethnic group in the world was created this way. History is here to basically just explain the context in which these ethnicities where created, evolved, or where destroyed, but it cannot explain whether X people are Y people or not because that's socially created. It can, however, just like I have done in the video, talk about if the people did construct and ethnic identity, why they did it, how they did it, and in what context they did it, and how does that effect other events including current ones. Russians calling Ukrainians made up would be like French calling English made up. It's all made up but it's also not perceived as being made up.

[@epicmusic9029]

@@MLaserHistory kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIayfoltn5KjorM kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKTWe2mNiJJ2b80 Hindu nationalists have huge anti west beliefs which has turned into anti intellectualism causing promotion of pseudoscientific and revisionist history ideas. They’re supporting Putin cuz of perceiving him as a strong leader like the façade of our current Indian prime minister.

[@IliyanStoychev]

@@nikolamilicevic1040 Yes, it is almost identical.

[@NikTcl]

1) Macedonians we are Greeks. They are Yugo Slavians.

[@Achachucha]

Excellent, thanks for the free Video Matus and some much needed context.

[@thekoneill8]

Wow Very well done Sir. Short, sweet, & to the point. Thank you Hoooah.

[@jtgd]

It’s easy for Putin to argue his points without Ukrainian perspective. The fact that a majority of Ukrainians support independence over annexation or alliance with Russia says a lot about Putin’s horseshit excuses. “Genocide of Russians.” If Ukrainians and Russians are one people, Genocide makes no sense, especially when Ukrainians obviously know the history of their own homeland. That’s like Trump or Biden invading Canada and telling Canadians a “history” of how Americans and Canadians are one people, and that Britain created the “Canadian identity” to weaken America

[@stichfull]

Canadian identity was literally created by the Brits to counter balance American lol. Just look at the Durham report.

[@FOLIPE]

@@Wasserkaktus I think this idea that modern ethnic identities stopped being produced magically after 1492 and that European, Asian and African ethnic identities all predate 1492 is pretty incorrect. Sure Canadian is not an ethnic group (mostly, I believe, because they have anglo-canadians and quebeckers), but as for American one can certainly argue since there are people on the census who identify solely as "American" in the same way that "African-American" is certainly an ethnic group.

[@sotch2271]

You don’t know how much people think that

[@arnoldvezbon6131]

So you will just ignore the events of 2014 when Kiev literally sent the military to dombas? Were they sent to give hugs and kisses to the ethnic Russian there? Clown

[@cachdeques]

thank you for you video, and to put historical facts into perspective. I learnt a lot from you today.

[@user-ei5lu5op2g]

Imagine China doing uno reverse and attack vladivostok/outer manchuria. like, it belonged to the qing empire so I'll take it back. If it happens it will be the backstab of the century ahah.

[@mosesyi5523]

qing was founded by Manchus, cousins of Koreans

[@cpt.mystic_stirling]

If Russia wasn’t corrupt, authoritarian, and other shady shenanigans, maybe some wouldn’t mind Slav unification…

[@vanjazed7021]

@@protestant8419 not even close to the same scale. Ukraine has a lot of it's own problems and corruption, but Russia's situation is just fucked up

[@darth3911]

Unfortunately that became impossible when Russia lost WW1.

[@baneofbanes]

@@darth3911 as if it wasn’t corrupt and authoritarian under the czars.

[@darth3911]

@@baneofbanes It was a monarchy under the czars and the idea behind monarchy is that one man rules the way he sees fit. For that reason the czar system was not corrupt but rather it was just a bad system. But that’s not the point. Thing right before and during WW1 Russia owned almost all slavic lands with the exception of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. If Russia had won its borders would have been greatly expanded southwards thus making a united slavic nation possible. That was the point I of my first comment I only kept it simple as I expected it’s intended audience would have some knowledge of WW1.

[@Darkknight-qe5ls]

Russia dont want your poor country 🤣

[@user-tv9bi4kf5p]

Quite objective and reasoned video. As a Ukrainian, I like that the information is presented quite constructively with in-depth study of the topic, and not as if a person had just learned about the existence of this country and after reading an article in twenty minutes to express hypocritical sympathy for us or against Ukraine ,as if we were not living people, but heroes of a TV series or football match. Recently, I saw the guy support Russia just because he likes the Bolsheviks

[@troublemaker1778]

So bizarre seeing people still believing modern day Russia are anywhere close to being communist or bolsheviks. Also, nice Sam profile pic 😎

[@user-tv9bi4kf5p]

@@troublemaker1778 As far as I noticed in the West, people are also often convinced that only Russia was part of the USSR and, for example, still believe that Chernobyl is in Russia. For them, all Slavic languages it is the Russian language. I can't blame them, because they don't have to know it, but I won't hide that it annoys me a lot. And also Memories broken The truth goes unspoken I’ve even forgotten my name I don’t know the season Or what is the reason I’m standing here holding my blade

[@troublemaker1778]

@@user-tv9bi4kf5p Yeah, I totally get the annoyance. Personally I’ve also kind of disliked the way westerners often refer to the Soviet Union as “Russia” in WW2. It always felt like the efforts of the other ethnicities weren’t noticed A desolate place Without any trace It’s only the cold wind I feel

[@user-tv9bi4kf5p]

@@troublemaker1778 I understand that this may be a simplification due to lack of knowledge, but such people sometimes romanticize the Soviet Union, and it is not a question of any interest in this aesthetic, it is specifically irrational romanticization. The USSR was not at all the country of the cool Bolsheviks, as they imagine it. If they heard from their relatives sad stories about famine, exile in Siberia, or crazy propaganda, etc., or at least knew about the repression, they would have a completely different opinion. It’s me that I spite As I stand up and fight The only thing I know for real There will be blood-shed The man in the mirror nods his head

[@RM-el3gw]

i can empathize with you. Venezuelans also encounter the same BS when the discussion of the current state of Venezuela comes up. Many blindly blame the US without proper fundament, completely ignoring a much more complicated setting, and the involvement of China, Cuba, Russia and Iran in keeping Venezuela miserable and easy to control. Like you said, they just read a handful of articles from their preferred biased news source and don't really know what they're talking about. Very frustrating.

[@mrrobot6926]

this video is criminally underrated, only 80k views? this should have MILLIONS!!

[@joelgarcia3354]

It’s like if USA try to invade Latinoamerica just because we identify ourselves as Americans too (from America, the continent)... ohh wait... Manifest Destiny lol

[@peterg7380]

I'm Ukrainian, and thanks a lot for this video. It's very well researched and accurate, and I hope that it reaches as many people as possible. Great job 👍

[@raeward1605]

Thank you for your clear and simple explanation of the history of the Ukraine people and the diverse ethnic background. It is all new to me even at 66yrs old as a New Zealander. We were not taught any Slavic or Russian history growing up. I have been to Kazakhstan and have a great respect for all people from these countries with so much conflict and suffering in their history. I sincerely hope peace will be achieved soon and that the needless killing and the horrific destruction will stop. 🙏🙏❤

[@T.GLongstaff]

True story there are drawings done by a eight year old boy living in Kievan Rus in the 12th century found recently. They are adorable drawings done by a little boy from almost a thousand years ago. The drawings are of knights and monsters. They are little sketches done by the little boy during school. It’s cool because it gives us insight into what living like a child back then was like. I thought it was pretty cool to find doodles done by a child from that long ago.

[@RandomVidsforthought]

His name is onfim

[@user-xs2wg9xd8n]

Не было киевской Руси была земля русская

[@jayasuryangoral-maanyan3901]

I'm confused about the narkomnats. You say that they based their borders on many historical factors to define which lands would go to national Soviet governments, yet Siberia has many large areas where russians are a minority, the north had Finnish related people and the south has Chechens. Am I missing something?

[@Ravi9A]

...It's still an imperialist Bureaucracy my dude

[@MLaserHistory]

That is extremely complicated. I am talking largely about Ukraine in all the things I say in this video. There were many different Narkomnats established for different peoples which had different agendas and went about doing their duties very differently. Also, ultimately, they were created by the Bolsheviks for their own aims so even though their goal was to do what I stated in the video, which is what they largely did in Ukraine, this did not always translate to other regions of the USSR.

[@jayasuryangoral-maanyan3901]

@@MLaserHistory thanks. I guess I should do some reading on the narkomnats myself.

[@andreman2767]

I also may add, part of this work - creation authonomies within RSFSR

[@historyrhymes1701]

Such an informed take! We often fail to realize just how dynamic ethnic identity is.

[@MLaserHistory]

And I didn't even have time to get into the historical theories on ethnicity like the Vienna School, the Toronto School, and the Oxford School. It is a very complicated thing and this video did not really even scratch the surface.

[@kigas24]

Probably the best video on Ukraine-Russia's shared history I've seen

[@kigas24]

@@rodrigobuitron did you not watch the video? It literally goes point by point on how Putin's version of Ukrainian history is objectively wrong. Or are you just deluded? I get it now.

[@DenTheBritsh]

@@kigas24 fake 🇺🇦is support 🇮🇱but he want to invade🇰🇼and 🇺🇦 want to join NATO and Russia think is threat

[@darnit1944]

​@@DenTheBritshFor a British person, your grammar is as fake as... A Russian bot.

[@Shadowgunner785]

Very good video, there's a paper I actually wrote on this subject and how the Russian leadership uses this history to justify itself in many of the former Soviet and Russian imperial territories. It's amazing to see it play out in this video. Good job!!!

[@user-kc4qw6nc7w]

Donde puedo encontrar tu articulo?

[@alexzero3736]

Ah, very nice of you to just forgot/ignore about New Russia.

[@BCSTS]

@@alexzero3736 ???

[@allesarfint]

2:28 "I'm a strong, mature adult, I won't cry" 2:33 rolls in the floor crying like a little baby

[@PakBallandSami]

That last clause, in particular, visibly annoyed Putin. “The monuments in Europe,” he told his fellow authoritarian leaders, “were erected to our regular Red Army soldiers. … They were mainly farmers and workers, many of whom also suffered from the Stalin regime-some of them were repressed kulaks, some had family members sent to labor camps. These people died as they were liberating the European countries from Nazism.” But it wasn’t just Putin’s comments that were unusual; it was how he delivered them. In front of him, Putin had a thick pile of archival documents, from which he read at length in support of his version of history.

[@nicholasdarrylh.9062]

remember, russia was originally going to support hitler. only reason they turned on germany is because the nazis went for russia

[@slavsya]

@Nicholas Darryl H. I'm sorry but "Russia" was the last one nation in EUROPE to sign a pact with Hitler. Please look it up

[@JibAcademy2010]

You are the first youtuber to talk about Rusyns. I’ve been begging others for a while now to talk about them. Thank you so much! I hope to hear others talk about Rusyns in the near future!

[@ukraineisnotrussia6810]

We ukranians have been fighting for our freddom from polish and russian rule for 400 years, just facts

[@splicoo1950]

🇭🇷❤🇺🇦✌

[@Ravi9A]

based

[@ukraineisnotrussia6810]

@@splicoo1950 Slava Hrvatskoj

[@dharmapersona2084]

@@Ravi9A 🌞🌞

[@splicoo1950]

@@ukraineisnotrussia6810 ❤❤

[@liveforever9888]

I live in eastern Slovakia very close to the Ukranian border living in and surrounded by rusyn villages. They all consider themselves cousins of Ukranians but not Ukranian.

[@justinemot2282]

I like your voice and calm demeanor explaining everything a lot!

[@Falcon364]

This is a fantastic video, and anyone with questions about the war should watch this!

[@alexcorvuscazador5596]

If the Mongols, Arabs,Spanish, French or even worse the English get ahold of such superb logic for war we are all screwed, expect to hear throat singing and a mini earthquake of hooves, exactly one 5 seconds later after the "history" class gets to Mongolia.

[@tejdandekar]

Always looking forward to your videos,

[@veritasetcaritas]

Great video, thanks a lot for this.

[@ProfBoggs]

Can anyone elaborate on 24:26 where Lazer notes the "the language of the respective indigenous people" vs. "the language of their minority"? Preferably with a simple example? I feel that needs some unpacking. I suspect that my confusion results from imagining a country in which there is generally only one major minority language (e.g., Canada with French, at least if you overlook the First Nation and Inuit languages), and not multiple indigenous languages spoken in the same location (e.g., Ukrainian, Greek and Russian).

[@MLaserHistory]

It's just two synonymous terms being used in the paper. As in the paper uses the word minority as it is used by other states in central Europe like Slovakia or Romania, but in Ukraine they use the words indigenous people instead. Hence why the indigenous people part is in quotations as it is quoting a Ukraine legal document even though the paper calls the people minorities rather than indigenous people.

[@ProfBoggs]

@@MLaserHistory Ok, that clarifies things. I wasn't sure if the difference between the synonyms had important legal consequences that hinged on which definition was used

[@anthonykatsivalis224]

This is a good resource for my paper I am writing, keep up the good work

[@jamesmmcgill]

This reminds me of Minitrue from 1984, where many of its employees were told to erase any signs or proofs of history before the birth of Ingsoc, including sensoring old newspapers, manipulating history, etc.

[@jtgd]

It’s essentially assimilation of a smaller ethnic group into a larger one. Happens all the time and throughout history. From ancient Greece to the modern day

[@FOLIPE]

If you look into it of course every national narrative is both a specific point of view and highly simplified versions of real history, sometimes also added with fantasy. That's true for pretty much any country to different degrees. Several people/countries could legitimately "claim" any historical civilization, culture, area or people, with different levels of reasonability.

[@Inara590]

Yeah, but if the city they claim as their own - let’s say Kyiv - has stood on their land for 1500 years, and it’s the same land where all their anscestors lived and are buried, practicing the same culture, and they can trace its uninterrupted history from themselves back into the haze of history- the conclusions are not hard for them to reach. They don’t need to use any mental acrobatics to convince themselves that this land is theirs. They just know it.

[@freikorpsdamonisch8127]

@@Inara590 Exactly.) Probably the best comment on this topic, especially good that it is short one. Ancestors and cemeteries mean a lot, grandparents tales and soul of the land, spiritual space between people. That's Russians who must convince themselves and do some mental acrobatics.

[@sk-sm9sh]

The extent to which things are simplified, the amount of fantasy, and the correctness is basically all the things that matter. Also the way such movements govern their country matters too. Many nationalist movements did endup creating successful secular governments allowing minorities to prosper equally along side the majority group. But for whatever reasons such secular structures didn't form in Moscow where historically it kept falling into very brutal line of governing where instead of finding ways of making multicultural society work they figured better way is to forcefully and often brutally eradicate all minorities.

[@Crudeliciousbops]

Very interesting video, and very well made! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@killian9314]

This “russification” sounds Scarily similar to the One china goal of the CCP that it uses to justify reeducating the Uyghur chinese to turn them into Han chinese

[@baneofbanes]

That’s exactly what it is. It’s colonialism.

[@thenecromorpher]

@@baneofbanes Well, "neo-colonial". I think the common end date for colonial possessions end in the 50's/60's or 70's, largely due to either Britain or France taking their time decolonizing, or Portugal insisting their over-seas possessions were a part of Portugal.

[@martig1000]

@@baneofbanes Rather imperialism.

[@catalinmarius3985]

Thank you for this video, this is the proper way to beat propaganda, not calling out fake news (which it is) but actually explaining why it's fake news with sources and evidence. In an unrelated topic, you previously made videos of the early history of all Eastern European people, are you planning to do a video on the early history of Romanians/Moldavians?

[@MLaserHistory]

Yes. I also plan to remake some of my early Slavic history videos as I have learned much since making them and I want to more accurately deal with the topics in the future. However, currently I am trying to do a doctorate in history so I don't really have that much time on extensive video production.

[@abhinavyadav4381]

Hey i have one question for you why did the horse archery decline in hungary

[@MLaserHistory]

Mostly due to increased urbanization and sedentary lifestyle and westernization, all of which could not support a culture and economy of nomadic archery.

[@historyfin1234]

Hey, there seems to be some technical problems in your videos when ever I try to watch them through TV. The problem disappears when i switch to smartphone or pc.

[@MLaserHistory]

Sadly I don't think I can do much about that. That's an internal KZbin problem. I'll let them know about this but that's sadly as much as I can do. Thanks for letting me know though.

[@user-ju7dx8mu6d]

Thank you for this. It is very helpful to have a concise counter narrative to the overwhelming Putin propaganda. I will try to point many people to this.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

Thanks for all this detailed background. I always figured the separate Ukrainian language and culture didn't pop up overnight meaning Putin was clearly full of ... something ... but it's always good to know actual facts.

[@somethingelse4424]

Exactly. Having a whole ass distinct language should be a massive enough grain of salt to take with whatever Putin says.

[@yeboxxxchannel2505]

​@@somethingelse4424 Let alone Poland, Czechia or Slovakia. Who use extremely different language and LATIN ALPHABET. Putin is really full of bulsh#t if you ask me.

[@inspector_beyond]

As a history buff and a Russian citizen, I never expected Putin warping history like that.

[@createyourownfuture3840]

Every country does that. It's not just Russia doing that. Have you never seen examples of US propaganda?

[@karaqakkzl]

I thought you learn this in school?

[@inspector_beyond]

@@karaqakkzl you dont learn that Ukrainian, aka Ruthenian culture existed since Kyiven Rus fell and modern Ukrainan and Belarussian lands were in control of Poland-Lithuania

[@shwethang4347]

@@createyourownfuture3840 another whataboutism

[@createyourownfuture3840]

@@shwethang4347 What whataboutism? If literally everyone does that, why can't I?

[@camilloa.1680]

Challenge: take a shot everytime he says: "Rus"

[@AmorEvol_UA]

Thank you for the great explanations and let people understand what was the way of Ukraine. Best regards.♥

[@AdrianKramarzyk]

one comment - poles do not deny that we had collaborators during II WW. you are talking about private opinion of SOME people and SOME politicians. your comment is quite hurtful. BUT great job anyway, well done.

[@sharemind]

Great summary, thanks

[@vaclavnikl6842]

Thank you for your work. I really appreciate it.

[@matt_the_trucker]

This is good info more people need to know about this .. I knew it was smattering of the history of the vicinity dating back to the 8th and 9th century but nothing is detailed as what has been mentioned here again very informative

[@DerekWitt]

Volga Germans were also heavily persecuted by the Russian Imperial government. Initially Czarina Catherine II invited Germans to colonize along the Volga River in the 18th Century. However, Alexander II eroded much of the rights of the Volga Germans, including being forced to constript. This persecution forced many Volga Germans to emigrate to other parts of Europe or the Americas. I contacted the Bishop of Saratov in 2011. I asked him whether he knew of any records remaining of the Volga Germans. Unfortunately we suspected that those records were destroyed by Stalin before or during WWII. The remaining Volga Germans were exiled to Siberia, killed, or deported. In a way, what is happening to the Ukrainians is reminiscent of the struggles faced by the Volga Germans.

[@apotato5567]

Most Volga Germans were deported to Kazakhstan

[@pogo8050]

Russia must take the stop persecuting ethnic minorities challenge and chill tf out

[@DerekWitt]

@@pogo8050 agreed. Putin claiming to invade Ukraine to "rid them of Nazis" holds no water since Voldomar Zelenskyy is Jewish himself.

[@pogo8050]

@@vladimirthegreen6097 do you mean to say they were the most loved minority?

[@pogo8050]

@@vladimirthegreen6097 that’s obviously not fair to everyone else. But I fail to see how that justifies the subsequent deportation to labor camps

[@Joseph_yy]

Can you do a similar video on Taiwan? The same propaganda used by Russia is also used by China, despite Taiwan has never been part of communist China, and have a lot less to do with China than people will assume. The history behind it is quite interesting yet complex.

[@ems4884]

Missed this one when you released it. But thanks for doing this.

[@zulubeatz1]

Very helpful & well-timed explanation. Thank you. Good work.

[@orfelius7415]

I understand that this video centers around Russian-Ukrainian relations not Polish-Ukrainian relations but I feel compelled to notice that Chmielnitsky's Uprising as well as later subsequent Hetmanate state were quintesential to creating modern Ukrainian identity as a whole and as such probably deserved at least a brief mention. Secondly at 3:00 it is mentioned that Poland and Lithuania flat out conquered Kievan Rus which is not necessarily true. Most of the dukedoms in the area voluntarily bend the knee to Polish King (in case of Duke of Galich-Volyhna) or Grand Duke of Lithuania (in case of the rest of them). That being said they went on to subjugate various Rus statelets one way or another. Thirdly Poles did in fact have somewhat of a legitemate claim to the rest of Galicia-Lodomeria when they fought for it against West Ukrainian People's Republic since the population of a lot of the region was at least partially inhabited by poles or by families with mixed heritage. Its hard to draw a border nationality wise when the last hard border in place there has existed about 500 years. Not to mention also the fact that act that WUPR outright refused to negotiate with the Poles even when Entente tried to broker some kind of agreement like they did in the Czech-Polish conflict. Fourthly I very much regret you not mentioning the Rusyn genocide after WW 2 when USSR and Polish puppet government decided to forcibly move the entire Rusyn population from the Carpathian regions in order to uproot Ukrainian partisants, UPA. This destroyed a whole identity of local people's and on the maps you can still see long abandoned Rusyn villages. (Sorry if all of this sounds overtly negative because while I have personally didn't learn much from the video I'm also aware that most of the people watching this video don't know much about history of Eastern Europe)

[@rubenjames7345]

Really amazing presentation. Well done.

[@someguyfromanotherplanet5284]

Just imagine some fool claiming that you are his brother, and believing such rubbish so much that he tries to kidnap you. Politicians can be morons.

[@fausdr3868]

Damn! I'm Ukrainian and you just described this whole situation so accurately that it would seem unrealistic to hear that from peoples who's far from our country.

[@amiable_monster]

Can I just applaud your comment? Because that's exactly what it looks like!

[@someguyfromanotherplanet5284]

@@fausdr3868 Well, there's probably another reason for Russia's invasion too which has to do with "security", but it's still their fault. I don't think any sensible Ukranian would want to join the country that made them go through something as terrible as the Holodomor famine; continuously invades other countries for no good reason; and on top of all that, can barely take care of itself. Stay strong.

[@someguyfromanotherplanet5284]

@@amiable_monster Exactly. This case along with the Palestinian crisis (and a whole lot of other things) has made me lose my faith in humanity. Are we really better than the lower animals whom we claim we are better than? Or maybe we are just sophisticated and pompous versions of rabid wild beasts.

[@davidmurphy563]

Excellent and insightful. Ďakujem.

[@Ejosii]

Love your vids and the points you bring up MLazer, disagree with some things on this one, agree on others. But I'm just a YT commentator competing with hundreds of other voices and bots.If I knew you in real life, it would be an honour to discuss these topics with you.

[@svarg432]

Unfortunately there is no mention of the pivotal moment in Rus history which explains the current pretext to the Russian-Ukrainian wars. This pivotal moment was the razing of Kyiv in 1169 which weakened Kyiv as the political center of the Rus state and created a distinction between two different rival Rurikid branches that would eventually form the opposing Ukrainian and Russian nations. The founder of the Ukrainian Rurikid branch was Mstyslav Iziaslavych (who led the defense of Kyiv), while the founder of the Russian Rurikid branch was Andrey Bogoliubsky (who led the attack against Kyiv) son of Yuri Dologrukiy. After Andriy Bogoliubsky defeated Kyiv he razed and sacked the sacred capital and through this he demonstrated that he wasn't interested in establishing himself as the Grand Prince of the Rus state and was more interested in consolidating his own rival legacy in the north eastern Rus territories of Suzdal. Mstyslav Iziaslavych and Andriy Bogoliubsky basically began the rivalry and established the rivaling Rurikid lineages that formed the separate Ukrainian and Russian states with which these two people identify themselves with. There is so much more information to get into. It is too bad that everyone neglects mentioning the autochthonous theory on the origin of Rus', which would explain why Ukrainian nationalists consider Kyiv to be the original heartland and origin of Rus' identity. The video was one of the best videos I have seen that give a clearer historical context to the conflict between the two rival people. There are many more layers however, that can only be explained by a Ukrainiocentric history buff (like myself).

[@svarg432]

@@vladimirthegreen6097 why is that funny?

[@svarg432]

@@vladimirthegreen6097 you never heard of the Междоусобная война на Руси (1146-1154) between the Monomakhovychi Volynskyi (which was the dynasty that founded the Kingdom of Rus) and the Rostov-Suzdal Monomakhovychi (which was the dynasty that founded Muscovy)?

[@svarg432]

@@vladimirthegreen6097 what makes you think I speak fluent Muscovian?

[@alexzero3736]

And how is that connected to modern day? The history is true, But this was an age of feudal division of Rus. Where are the countries of Ryazan, Tver, Novgorod, etc. ?

[@svarg432]

@@alexzero3736 can you be more specific and elaborate your question?

[@cz5899]

Dope info 👍 and easy to understand, thank you

[@peterhaslund]

Well researched and presented. Amazing that the Ukraine somehow survived. Slava Ukraini!

[@htoodoh5770]

This makes me think. Can the byzantine called themselves Roman? The same goes for the HRE. They are inhabited by different people.

[@MLaserHistory]

Depends. In the end all these things are social constructs and as such it depends on how you choose to define them. The important thing here is that even though social constructs they are still very important to people and viewed by some as "natural", in essence not socially constructed but stemming from some kind of a natural order. Even if not true this naturalist take on ethnicity, identity, etc. must be taken into consideration because it effects real world decisions of real people. So basically it is a very complicated subject and it often just depends on ones definition of the words which can change from person to person. But I will add this. Romans had a very different idea of the Roman State and of ethnicity than medieval people did and then we have now. Also, Byzantines call themselves Romans and many western medieval writers did not dispute this so as far as recognition is concerned calling Byzantium Rome wouldn't be considered out of place at all.

[@adamelsik5061]

Byzantine empire = Eastern Roman empire = Roman empire. I have done my bachelors thesis on "Evolution of administration in Byzantine empire/Late Roman Empire", unfortunately it is in slovak, so if u dont know slovak u wouldnt be able to read it. But i make some good points why it is the same state, based on views, opinions and research of historians.

[@stephenhill545]

They did call themselves Romans

[@zulubeatz1]

The volume and intensity of the resistance to the Russian invasion tells you how Ukraine feels about Putin's claims.

[@EmperorMato]

Very interesting and helpful video. Thank you!

[@fiorellino]

Concerning minority languages, there is no Moldavian language. Moldavians speak Romanian. The Moldavian language is a Russian invention, so Moldova would still be influenced by Moscow and not get close to it's sister country, Romania.

[@part9952]

This is so interesting! I am from Austria love eastern slavic culture and slavic culture in general so much! Thank you for this thorough research and analysis!! Edit: i also really get how ukrainians want to be their own identity. As an austrian, i have met so many ignorant people who just call us germans or don’t even know that we are a country. It’s not the same situation ukraine is in, by far, since our relationship to Germany is pretty good, but i just get how they wanna be recognized as a separate entity rather than just labeling them as „russians“.

[@firmonkey8782]

Австрийцы отличаются от немцев тем, что у них есть самостоятельная история. Сначала была Священная Римская империя, потом многонациональная Австро-Венгрия, которая в итоге распалась. Германия же стала государством только для немцев. У Австрии и Германии 2 разных проекта государства, поэтому они не будут объединяться.

[@firmonkey8782]

Украина и Россия (и Беларусь с ними) - это другой случай. Украина и Беларусь несколько веков входили в состав Польши, где их угнетали по национальному признаку. То есть, все отличия от русских, которые они приобрели, возникли благодаря польской оккупации. В Германии благодаря феодальной раздробленности немецкий язык разделился на множество диалектов. Можно ли считать, что Германия должна разделиться на многие страны по диалектным границам?

[@part9952]

@@firmonkey8782 нет, конечно это бессмысленно. Но все не так просто. история и геополитика действительно запутанные и тяжелые темы. Не так просто все объяснить одним комментарием. Насчёт Германии и Австрии и вообще по поводу того, что вы тут написали я с вами согласен. Но Украина.. пусть свободно живут на своей собственной земле.. в чем проблема? Даже если они по культуре братья русских. У них своя собственная страна. Вот хотя бы мое мнение) и простите если ошибся - я изучаю русский самостоятельно. Я не носитель)

[@firmonkey8782]

@@part9952 скорее всего, Украину заново в состав России включать не будут. Только Донбасс войдёт в состав России, который для этого восстание поднимал.

[@part9952]

@@firmonkey8782 я согласен. Лучше всего будет какое-то решение в середине. Давай Донбасс и Крым (там же для этого проголосовали насколько я знаю) в Россию и остальная территория останется суверенной Украиной.

[@m.b.4884]

Thanks for your big work! Good job!

[@henrikkjuus90]

This has been very enlightening. European history has been a passion of mine for a long time, but my knowledge of eastern european have always been a bit lacking. Thank you for providing context for the conflict in Ukraine.

[@dharmapersona2084]

This is a long and detailed video, nice! 😄

[@show___2815]

Finally someone shut down putins lies

[@Mike8Bitch]

Zbožňuju tvoje ztvárnění videí :)

[@chunkycornbread4773]

Very informative thank you

[@jeremiasrobinson]

Uralic speakers caught up in the middle.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Perhaps Putin should have learned from History, rather then rewriting it.

[@not_averge]

0:39 why are Walachia and Moldovia switched but also the same colour?

[@dotpy7928]

Very deep, accurate and detailed explanation. Thank you.

[@metkic94]

I think that the problem is in Crimea it is very strategical place and Russia can't cope with losing it during communist period. Also I doubt that rusians in Donetsk and Luhansk could integrate in wester Ukraine and therefor it was easy for Putin to turn them into separatists. Maybe Ukraine could have integrated separatists into their state if they had more time but I think after leveling their cities it all fell to the ground which Putin hoped for because after that lines were drawn.

[@user-cu8rd2tq9v]

I am Ukrainian, and gotta say, this is by far the best English speaking video on the topic I've seen so far! I was getting so sick of Western "analytics" of the war with russia by people who read two American articles about the conflict, probably didn't even know where Ukraine is on a map just a month ago and went on the Internet with their opinions, smh. Of course, there were some parts I wish would be spoken of more thoroughly or some misconceptions here and there, but as for a single 20 min video - this is pure gold! You managed to quickly tell the history of Ukraine, and most importantly, to show the real picture of centuries of war between Ukraine and russia, rather than "brotherhood relations" which russia always claims about. In conclusion, I'd like to say that from a Ukrainian perspective, I consider this to be the best timeline for our nation in the whole history. This war is sacred, as we finally see THE LAST war between our countries, the victory of Independent Ukraine and the downfall of russian empire. The victims of this war will be remembered as Saints and the participants of it will be considered Heros forever. With my whole heart, despite the circumstances, I believe in the brightest future for us Thanks so much again and Glory to Ukraine! 🇺🇦

[@CaptCanuck4444]

Excellent summary, thank you.

[@user-iy7ju3vf9n]

Thank you for your effort!